At Knoxville Moms Blog, we love working with local businesses. We’ve discovered throughout our past year that there are many inspirational and innovative women behind many successful businesses—right here in Knoxville! We’re starting a monthly series spotlighting these amazing women and telling their story. If you know a woman that should be highlighted, be sure to email us at info{dot}knoxvillemomsblog{dot)com and tell us why you think they should be featured on our site.
It’s been eighteen years since my brother suggested we look into opening a family business. I was finishing up college at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina where I majored in English and received my South Carolina teaching certificate. My brother had graduated from North Carolina State University and was working in sales. Both of us grew up in Knoxville, and although my brother had found a new home in North Carolina, I knew that I wanted to eventually call this great city my home again.
You can imagine my trepidation as a 21 year old who took her life savings to invest in a business with the rest of her family! And by life savings, I mean every bit of allowance and money earned over the summers along with finances from a few stocks my grandfather had given me throughout the years. My fears, however, soon turned to excitement when I discovered The Little Gym!
The Little Gym was started in 1976 by a man named Robin Wes. Robin immigrated to the United States (Seattle) from a very harsh educational system in South Africa. Many of the students he knew and competed with came from highly competitive, stressful gymnastics and sports programs where students dropped out because they burned out and they were taught the sport in a way that eliminated their self-confidence and self-esteem. Robin believed that there had to be a better way. With his training in Child Development, Kinesiology, and Physical Education, Robin dreamed of creating a program that grew children’s motor skills (the foundation of all movement) through gymnastics. He developed a structure and curriculum that taught children just as they learn: by seeing, hearing, doing, and feeling. The non-competitive environment allowed children in Seattle to grow their skills and their self-esteem through true accomplishments. They learned to love themselves for who they are, that exercise is not only necessary to lead a healthy life, but that it is fun, and they learned what it was like to take risks-that it was okay to fall off of the balance beam as long as they were ready to jump back up and try again. Robin found that children were not afraid to raise their hand in the school classroom and answer a question that the teacher had posed to the students. Robin’s program enhanced children’s listening skills through special directive-based music that he developed and produced specifically for his The Little Gym. The program developed the children’s attention spans and helped parents to know what they could reasonably expect from their children based on the developmental milestones of the child.
People started taking notice of Robin’s gym and because of its successful teaching philosophies and curriculum, he decided to franchise the concept. Today, there are over 300 The Little Gyms all over the world!
After college graduation, I worked in our first The Little Gym location in North Raleigh, North Carolina. I then moved back to Knoxville to marry my high school sweetheart and to teach high school English for two years. Finally, the time had come to open the first The Little Gym in Knoxville, only the second The Little Gym in Tennessee. We opened our doors on September 11, 2001. Although that was one of the worst days in American history, it was a truly humbling experience to open during a time when our families so desperately needed something positive to share with their children.
Over the years, we grew our The Little Gym of Knoxville program to where we had 650 children attending classes on a weekly basis. In February, 2009, we opened The Little Gym of Farragut. We have enjoyed offering gymnastics, sports, and dance classes to children who simply want to learn and have fun. The completely non-competitive aspect of The Little Gym curriculum is the core of our teaching philosophy. We want children to feel good about what they are working on in each of our lesson plans. We never force a child to attempt a skill; rather, we encourage children to try their best. And if, along the way, a child develops so much love for the sport of gymnastics that he or she wants to compete, we’ll refer the family to one of our local competitive gyms.
And over the years, my husband and I were fortunate to welcome children of our own into the world. I am the proud mother of three extremely active boys who are involved in basketball, soccer, baseball, flag football, and The Little Gym! They are especially excited that The Little Gym International now has a partnership with Lego Duplo and Lego Juniors since they enjoy Lego building time at home. As a family, we love to play sports together, watch movies, and travel.
My The Little Gym journey has allowed me to experience a career as an owner, instructor, accountant, janitor, repairwoman, and sometimes a counselor to employees or students! I have had the privilege of working with The Little Gym International to train instructors at other The Little Gyms all over the country to teach our dance program. I also enjoy working as a field consultant to other The Little Gym owners and have worked with owners from Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Illinois. Now, my journey is taking me to a new area of SERIOUS FUN! I am a licensed educator through Kindermusik International and will be teaching Kindermusik at The Little Gym classes beginning February 2, 2015.
I can’t imagine my life without The Little Gym. Through it all I have learned so much and I truly believe it has made me a better parent to my three children. This is a business where I feel honored to have made a difference, to have positively impacted the lives of so many children in our community. It’s not about making money, or simply surviving enough to pay the bills. It’s about creating and maintaining the type of environment where children feel safe and loved. It’s about watching a child grow in confidence. It’s about seeing a child accomplish a skill for the first time. It’s about helping a child make new friends while learning about teamwork. It’s about knowing that at the end of the day, we have contributed to the overall growth and development of a child. And that gives me the most satisfaction.
My family and I are honored to offer The Little Gym program in the communities that we call home and where we once roamed soccer fields and baseball fields, and participated in dance and piano recitals and gymnastics classes. We believe it is a privilege to work with every child who walks through our door!
