Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbie Dwiggins.
Hi Abbie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I grew up in American Fork, Utah, and started gymnastics at age 11! I quickly fell in love with the sport and knew that I wanted to coach and someday have my own gym! The manager promised me that the day I turned 16, I could start coaching and that is exactly what I did! I’ve been coaching at a variety of gyms in Utah for a little over 10 years now! Over the last 10 years, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a coach and have continually dreamt about having a gym of my own someday!
In 2020, when COVID hit most all of the gyms shut down and I resorted to just doing private lessons to keep financials afloat because classes were no longer being held due to the pandemic. Through private lessons, I met a lot of new people and learned that there was a big interest in private lessons for many tumblers in Utah County. Once businesses started to open again my husband and I had an unforeseen opportunity (We didn’t plan to open a gym of our own for at least 5-10 more years) to open a gym of our own. With the newfound popularity of private lessons, we decided we would open a gym dedicated to private lessons and specialty clinics to help athletes focus on one skill at a time and gain true mastery.
We were able to find a building, sign a lease, and build out an entire gym 100% debt-free within 5 weeks (July 31st 2020-September 4th 2020). From September 2020-April 2021 the gym grew far more than we expected. The gym was full every day with camps, clinics, private lessons, and birthday parties! At this point, we were running out of parking spots and we had people request that we start normal/consistent classes on a daily basis. We had signed a 3-year lease in this building, but at that point, we knew we needed to expand. Another unforeseen opportunity arose and we jumped on it! Our landlord knew that parking was becoming an issue and told us he had bought the old Lehi Police Station just a block away and asked if we would have interest in moving into the space.
Our current building was 2700 square feet and this new building, the old Police Station, was 6000 square feet which was a little intimidating, but we decided to take the chance and move forward with the deal! Before we knew it we were drawing up plans and moving forward with the new gym! We moved into the newly remodeled space in September 2021 and now have 66 classes running weekly, 21 employees, and 360+ students. We are constantly in awe of how far DTA has come in just 14 months of being established. Through this process of building DTA I was still actively chipping away at my degree and I can now proudly say that as of July 2021 I have finally earned my Bachelors Degree in Business Management, my dream gym is still 100% debt-free and I get to share my love for tumbling each and every day!
I am truly living the dream! Additionally, my husband has been incredible support! He has always known my dreams to open a gym and when each opportunity has come to open or expand he has supported it full-heartedly and has been the mastermind in making each buildout a reality, DTA would not be where it is today without him! I am grateful to be a co-owner with him and to have his continual support!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In some ways, I feel like it has been smooth, but there are always struggles of course! When we moved into our first building we were on Cloud 9 because we were finally able to own our own business, but we didn’t really think about parking and that became a huge roadblock really fast!
Another struggle is there is a lot of legal work that comes with being a business owner that they don’t exactly teach you about in college… so we have been learning A LOT! There really is no better way to learn how a business works than just doing it!
We’ve been impressed with DTA Tumbling, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
DTA Tumbling is a 5 Star Tumbling Gym in Lehi, Utah and we live by the words “BASICS BUILD CHAMPIONS.” Your athlete’s progress and ability to learn proper form means a lot to our DTA Team! Our program is run on firm progressions and prerequisites simply because we keep the bigger picture in mind! We are preparing your athletes for more than just tomorrow, we are preparing them for any and all tumbling opportunities they may have in the future.
At DTA we hold productive classes that get kids excited to tumble and help them push toward specific goals! Tumbling is an element that can be used for dance, gymnastics, cheer, etc. so we firmly believe that time spent in tumbling classes should not be wasted. In our program, we prioritize small teacher-to-student ratios, goal setting, and hiring coaches that have a strong tumbling background to get your athletes where they need to go!
Visit DTATumbling.com to learn more about Tumbling, Acro, Ninja, and Birthday Parties!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’ve lived in Utah my whole life! I am grateful that I get to have a Tumbling Gym so close to home! We love Lehi!
Pricing:
- Kids Classes Ages 3-18 ($64/Monthly)
- Adult Tumbling Ages 16+ ($64/Monthly)
- Birthday Party Gym Rental ($60 Per Hour)
- Birthday Party Packages Starting at $170
Contact Info:
- Email: DTATumbling@gmail.com
- Website: DTATumbling.com
- Instagram: DTA_Tumbling
Image Credits
Lyndsey Kaye Kennedy Dene
