Rising from the Ashes
On January 7th, 2025, the skies over Santa Monica were thick with smoke. While driving through town, the owner of The Cypress Center noticed the haze and felt the first flickers of unease. “I was home that day—it was my bookkeeping and billing day,” Kimberley Russell recalls. “As I ran errands in Santa Monica, I started seeing smoke while driving. Then the news alerts started—fire in the Palisades, dangerous winds, mandatory evacuations.”
Her instinct was immediate. She picked up the phone and called her front desk. “I told everyone to leave immediately and close the clinic,” she says. “Thankfully, they all got out safely—as did our patients.”
But the sense of safety was short-lived. Her husband, on a flight to Florida, texted back reassuringly when she warned him of the spreading fires. “There’s no way your building is going to burn down,” he told her. “That wound up being the farthest thing from the truth.”
The Cypress Center—home to a team of practitioners and a beloved destination for clients seeking wellness and rehabilitation—was destroyed. “It was devastating,” she says. “I lost my livelihood and the epicenter where my employees and patients came together to work toward their goals. I had only just purchased the clinic a few months earlier, in October 2023. I wanted to keep it PT-owned and operated, and uphold the high standards that had defined the clinic for so long.”
In the immediate aftermath, something remarkable happened. “One simple word: connection,” she says. “There was an outpouring of support. Patients, staff, friends—everyone was calling, texting, checking on each other. Everyone just wanted to know that we were safe and not alone.”
That spirit of support extended beyond the Palisades. “Another studio owner, Ofie Dates of Ofie’s Elite Physiques, ran a fundraising event for me,” she says. “And Sam—the previous owner and a Pilates instructor—donated all her profits from YouTube tutorials and book sales in March. Their generosity... I’ll forever be grateful.”
Despite the devastation, there was never any doubt about rebuilding. “I knew I had to do it—for the community, for my patients, and for my staff. Not rebuilding was never an option,” she says. “I recently secured a lease in Santa Monica, and I’m planning to reopen in June. I chose the location because I wanted to be close to the clients who were affected by the fires. I hope it brings a little relief and a sense of normalcy.”
As plans for the new Cypress Center took shape, the overwhelming belief from her community helped fuel the process. “They believed in me more than I believed in myself at times. Their support lifted me through the hardest days.”
Though the setting may be new, the mission remains the same. “The core treatment approach that Cypress was built on—quality one-on-one care—will never change,” she says. “But I do appreciate everything so much more now. I have incredible employees and clients who are so supportive of what we’re doing.”
The fire tested her, but it didn’t break her.
“I’ve always known I was resilient—you have to be to own a business. But this was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. And it wasn’t just me. My staff, my patients... they were all impacted. I had to rebuild for them.”
Even as she prepares to reopen in Santa Monica, her clients are already showing up. “I’m overwhelmed by how many have told me they plan to follow me to the new space,” she says. “Some said they’ve been waiting because they haven’t found the level of care we offered anywhere else. That makes the fear of reopening disappear—at least a little.
“The BASI family, especially Rael Isacowitz, and his team have reached out to help me rebuild. They hosted a fundraiser to help many affected by the fires. A portion of what was raised was donated to me to help with the cost of new equipment and the ability to continue to be the BASI West SIde Host Site. They have gone above and beyond!,” she said.
Looking back, she shares the advice she would give any studio owner faced with sudden loss: “Remember why you started your practice in the first place. That ‘why’ is what will carry you through.”
Kimberly Russell, P.T., MPT, is the owner of The Cypress Center and a licensed Physical Therapist. Originally from New York, she studied Biology at Villanova University and later earned her Master’s in Physical Therapy from the University of New Mexico in 2006. Kimberly has worked in orthopedic outpatient clinics across several U.S. states and is trained in Maitland, IPA, Grastin, Visceral Mobilization, and Cranial Sacral techniques. She lives in California with her husband Eric, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, and their son Hollan, a nationally competitive Motocross rider.
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