If it seems like Scott and Kim Holstein’s personal and professional lives are twisted together like a pretzel, that’s because it’s true.

It started innocently enough. When Scott met Kim in 1994, she described herself as “obsessed with pretzels” and wanted to leave her job in advertising to start her own business.

“My obsession was her, so if she wanted to do pretzels, that’s what I wanted to do, too,” said Scott, then a struggling actor.

So the two started a business. And got married. And moved to Wilmette and had three children.

Earlier this year, Kim and Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels celebrated its 15th anniversary. It’s been growing ever since the two tried to concoct a pretzel recipe all those years ago in Kim’s Lincoln Park kitchen.

“They were terrible,” Kim reminisced, her eyes rolling back as she laughed.

“But we kept at it,” Scott added.

Now the company specializes in soft pretzels with tasty ingredients inside and out. They can be found everywhere from grocery stores to Barnes and Noble cafes and even Nascar events.

But even in those slow-going first few years, Scott and Kim knew they wanted to create a business that gave back to its community. From day one, “Pretzels With a Purpose” has been their charitable outlet. They mentor students in inner-city schools, provide entrepreneurial advice to small business owners and plant trees for everyone who signs up for their Pretzel Club.

Their latest effort is giving away 100,000 chocolate-covered pretzel rods to area schools – no strings attached – so they can sell them to raise funds. But unlike other fundraisers, the schools pay nothing. The pretzels are donated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“It’s a great way to give back,” Scott said. “Every single dollar they get goes to them.”

So far, schools from Evanston, Glencoe, Northbrook, Buffalo Grove and Chicago have requested the pretzels.

“You can’t just rely on the big guys,” Scott said. “Everybody should pitch in. When small businesses do their part, it all adds up.”

Kim and Scott's microwaveable pretzels are fed into a packaging and freezing machine at the company's Chicago bakery. (John P. Huston, Tribune reporter)

It helps that the pretzel business has increased. Kim and Scott’s Pretzels has hired new employees, even in the recession economy, and expanded its distribution of microwaveable soft pretzels to national stores such as Whole Foods, Target, Jewel and some Costcos. They even opened a pretzel-centric restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, called Café Twist.

What started out in Kim’s Lincoln Park kitchen now operates with 75 employees in a 40,000-square-foot building in Chicago that once housed a picture frame factory. They retrofitted the space to work as a large-scale bakery, and are looking at acquiring a second location.

Owning and operating a business with your spouse, while simultaneously raising three children, can sometimes be a challenge, and the two are asked frequently about it.

“It is an unusual relationship,” Kim admitted. “It’s not for everyone, but I think it’s worked incredibly well for us.”

“We have some ground rules,” said Scott, casting an eye at his wife across the table. “One rule is we can’t talk about business in the bedroom. So sometimes we have to say, ‘I need to talk to you in the hallway.’”

For more information about Kim and Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels, visit its Web site at kimandscotts.com. Schools wishing to take part in the free pretzel fundraiser program should e-mail julie@kimandscotts.com.