The Cowley Family: Open to Life's Windows of Opportunity

Resident Feature by Liz Burnett

Photographs courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com

Meet some Marple neighbors, The Cowleys, a family of four who’ve lived in Broomall for 12 years. Parents Shawn and Alison (“Ali”) Cowley are perfect examples of what’s possible when we take a “Try it!” and tenacious approach to life’s windows of opportunity.

Shawn Cowley grew up in Upper Darby. He has only one brother but otherwise a “typical DELCO family: tons of aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family,” all of whom still live in Delaware County. Shawn attended Upper Darby High School. He graduated from Penn State in 2002, with a B.S. in Turfgrass Science.

Unlike Shawn, Ali lived in two other states before age 7, when her family moved to Emmaus, PA, her dad’s hometown. Ali attended Emmaus High School, where she was a Varsity diver and served as her class Vice-President. She then also attended Penn State, at first pursuing an Engineering degree, thinking she might like working for her father’s engineering firm. But she decided to switch to “something more social”: Secondary Education with a focus in Biology, and graduated in 2001.

Even though Ali and Shawn had both been students at Penn State’s main campus at the same time, their paths didn’t cross until after graduation. On Memorial Day weekend 2002, Ali had off from her part-time retail store job. She asked her good friend, Jim, if she could come hang out at a Long Beach Island, NJ beach house with him and other mutual friends who’d be there that weekend. Ali got lost trying to find Jim’s house, and didn’t arrive until 2am. When she walked in and met one of Jim’s friends, Shawn, Ali said “it was love at first sight!” (They laugh when Shawn says “It was love at first week” for him with Ali.)

Shawn and Ali Cowley

Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com

When they met, Shawn had just started working as an Intern doing golf course maintenance at Aronimink Golf Club, and Ali had recently signed a contract to teach in Hawaii starting that August. Their romance blossomed so quickly that Shawn followed Ali to Hawaii. The “chance encounter” through their mutual friend Jim was the window of opportunity for this charming couple to meet.

Shawn returned from Hawaii in April 2003, to help with Aronimink hosting the Senior PGA Championship. Ali moved back to PA that summer, and started teaching Science at Arcola Middle School in Eagleville. In May 2005, they got married, at Ali’s parents’ house. In 2006, she earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction, and five years later, she was transferred to Methacton High School, where she’s been enjoying teaching Biology and Environmental Science ever since.

In 2007, Shawn and Ali moved into their house in the Old Marple Estates section of Broomall. They were thrilled to find a great house just two doors down from Shawn’s brother. and about an equal commute to their jobs.

Shawn and Ali’s son Owen, who turns 11 this month, is a 5thgrader at Russell Elementary. He loves outdoor games, swimming, hiking, playing Minecraft and building Legos. Since 1st grade, he’s been a Troop 315 Cub Scout. Owen was on Team SPAIN, the Marple Newtown Soccer Association team that won the championship in November. He’s smart, loves reading and is very creative, a combination that’s enabled him to write and illustrate his own interesting comic books. He’s also a very caring and protective big brother for his little sister, Brooke.

The Cowley children (left to right): Owen and Brooke

Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com

Brooke, age 4, is a super-happy high-energy little girl who attends Cornerstone Learning Center two days a week. The other weekdays, Shawn’s parents care for Brooke. She loves swimming, playing soccer, climbing on playground equipment, running, and riding her new bike. She’s also quite creative with Legos, play dough and paint.

Shawn and Ali love their neighborhood! “Our neighbors are really nice,” Ali raved. “We love how everyone waves Hi, and how convenient it is to walk to the library and some stores, especially to The Soft Pretzel Factory, which sells $1 ice cream cones on Mondays.” And The Cowleys’ tradition of hosting an annual Halloween party for family and friends is a costume party invitation that their guests always take VERY seriously!

As Shawn worked at some of the well-known local golf clubs, he proved himself a natural for that type of work. By 2008, he was working as the Superintendent at Radley Run Country Club in West Chester. A sudden and serious autoimmune disease prevented him from continuing there. Thanks to a surgery and a hard but steady four-year recovery, he returned to full health. While regaining his health, he evaluated his priorities, and in 2014, he confidently started his own business, Expert Lawn Care Services (www.ExpertLawnPA.com). His company provides fertilization, weed control, and general lawn repair services for residential and commercial customers in Delaware County, the Main Line, and Chester County. Shawn’s education and experience combined with his detailed approach to his customers’ lawn maintenance and two great team members have resulted in steady business growth every year.

A “random” good deed by a neighbor in the summer of 2017 put Ali on the path for starting her own business. The neighbor gave Ali a small used snow cone machine, which reminded her how much she had loved those slushy summer treats as a kid. Unable to find any ready-made or recipes for syrups that don’t contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, flavors and dyes, Ali the Scientist got busy concocting and testing her own all-natural recipes that use organic sugar and nothing artificial. By the following summer, her taste-testers (family and friends) encouraged her to start selling her deliciously flavored snow cones. Ali named her new business OBA’s All Natural Snow Cones (www.OBASAllNatural.com), using the first letter of each family member’s first name to create the word OBA’s. Ali the Teacher became Ali the Entrepreneur as she learned how to get a startup business and unique product fully licensed, insured, certified, and marketed both online and locally.

OBA’s All Natural Snow Cones come in almost 20 yummy flavors, and are popular at fundraisers for schools and youth sports programs and also at farmers’ markets. When Ali and Shawn sell snow cones at an event, Owen runs the cash register and provides great customer service. This business is environmentally friendly: The snow cone machine runs on a giant battery that’s recharged at their home using renewable energy credits. Ali’s dream is to someday run the business from a food truck that’s covered with solar panels whose energy runs the snow cone machine and the truck’s engine with zero emissions.

Owen, Ali, Shawn and Brooke Cowley

Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com

The Cowley Family’s spare time is often filled with large family gatherings and parties. Other activities Shawn and Ali enjoy are exercising and running (often with Owen) and competing occasionally in sprint triathlons. Shawn also likes “playing some blues harmonica (“not in a band, just for fun”) and taking lessons to improve.

Ali and Shawn love traveling. Later this month, they’ll celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary in Hawaii (“where it all started”). They also love adventures, like when they camped out for two nights on the street in New York City to get tickets to see Saturday Night Live.

The Cowley Family at New Ardmore Park

Photo courtesy of Sierra Clark Photography www.SierraClarkPhoto.com

Shawn and Ali Cowley are teaching their children by example how powerful their “Try it!” approach to life is. They both admit that turning an idea into a successful business is a lot of hard work. But their results show that a tenacious spirit and commitment to find a way to fix challenging problems is more rewarding than not trying and wondering for the rest of your life “What if I had tried?”

Do you know a neighbor who has a story to share?

Nominate your neighbor to be featured in one of our upcoming issues! Contact us at LBurnett@BestVersionMedia.com