When Alli Cooper moved her young family to Nashville, she expected big city excitement, but instead felt herself missing out on all the fun her friends were having back home. So she returned to Oklahoma where she could live life more fully and have it all. From building a fitness career to finding her dream home, Alli shares why she decided to move back to Oklahoma in this episode of Why I Moved.
My name is Alli Cooper. I’m a mom and a fitness instructor. Here are a few reasons why I moved back to Oklahoma.
When I was little, we lived in Owasso, Oklahoma. We moved away to Albuquerque, New Mexico for several years. Then college brought me back. I went to Oklahoma City University, and I ended up getting a job with the Radio City Rockettes. I did that for five years. I moved away in season and then I always came back to Oklahoma. Then I ended up retiring from the Rockettes. I moved back to Oklahoma, ended up meeting my husband here, and started our family.
Watching Oklahoma Grow From Afar Gave Her FOMO
We moved to Tennessee for a few years. We thought while the kids are little, we’ll try somewhere else. We’ll move away and see how that goes. Big city vibes, live music, fun, high energy. Just a bigger city feeling. But as we were there, we realized we just missed Oklahoma and the feel of it. From afar, I had the most FOMO. I would see all of my friends going to these new fun places and restaurants, going to Thunder games, going here, going there. For my mental health I truly had to unfollow everyone because I was so sad. Everyone was having so much fun. Oklahoma was growing and just bursting at the seams. It looked so fun, and I was just sad to miss out.
The Modern State Beats the Stereotype
I feel like people think we’re living in a past life. People think that they’re going to see tumble weeds and overalls. People think they’re going to see you riding your horse to school, living in the Little House on the Prairie. It does exist, but there’s also such wonderful new development and fun things happening.
The Business Dream She Left Behind Was Waiting For Her in Oklahoma
My best friend and I had this crazy idea to start this thing called The Sweat Assembly. At first, it was like, bring your own mat, show up in the parking lot of Plant or in the parking lot of the Classen Curve. But we ended up moving away and that little dream sort of died off. Then my friends opened a brick and mortar, The Sweat Society, that was sparked from that. We took The Sweat Assembly vibe and idea and decided we can bring this concept into the studio.
It’s turned into the dream that we had from the start. I was able to come back and be a part of all of that and something that didn’t exist in Oklahoma before. Just five years ago, something like that didn’t exist, and now it does. I feel like I get to be a part of making that a reality, and that’s pretty awesome.
How the Thunder Put Oklahoma City on the Map for Her
The Thunder has really shined a light on Oklahoma City. It’s helped me realize this is actually a really awesome place. I feel like with the Thunder, other businesses have come back.
The energy. It’s just fun and friendly. It’s almost like this big team is in the audience. We’re all in it together is what it feels like in Oklahoma.
A Dream Home Fifteen Minutes From Everything
The cost of living is unbeatable. I feel like I live in my absolute dream home. If you picked up my exact home and put it in any other city, it would be double – triple – the cost, I mean, just because of where it is.
On top of that, we’re fifteen minutes from everything. Yet, truly, driving fifteen minutes outside of town, we have trees. This is silly – but there’s a little red fox that lives under the house next door, it really feels like a fairy tale.
You drive out here and it’s like, “Is this Oklahoma? This doesn’t feel like Oklahoma.” But it is.
Oklahoma Treats Family Like a Priority
I wasn’t able to teach fitness while I was in Tennessee because it just wasn’t feasible. There was no childcare. It would take 45 minutes to get there. It just wasn’t possible.
In Oklahoma, everything is more child friendly. We have childcare at our studio where I teach, so I’m able to bring my kids with me.
It’s just sort of a second thought in most places – and the world is slowly getting there, a little bit – but I feel like Oklahoma does a really good job of being like, “Oh, you have a family.” Everything is more family friendly, just naturally, because that is a priority. And I feel like people see kids as people here versus, “Oh, the kids are here.”
The Quintessential Childhood
My kids love being from Oklahoma City. It’s so funny, while we lived in Tennessee, never once were they like, “We love being from Tennessee.” But here they enjoy the Thunder. They love watching the Thunder games, and they think it’s cool that they’re from Oklahoma City. They love the skyline. It doesn’t feel too overwhelming to them.
They get to be part of what feels like a big city to them. But it still feels cozy, for lack of a better word. It really does feel like a small town but they get those big city elements, like the basketball games, going downtown, going to the Myriad Gardens. We get to go to the Science Museum and all these places that feel just as cool as the big cities, but it’s still got that small town feeling. Both can exist, and I feel like it’s the most quintessential childhood we can offer them.
