Jima King

Owner & Founder

My name is Jima King. I was born and raised in Arlington, TX. I graduated from University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science. Fresh out of college and with the help of my parents, Jack and Tina Richie, I founded Spirals Gymnastics in 1982. Spirals has moved several times from its original location in Grand Prairie, and we have grown with each move. We’ve created many great programs that make Spirals more than just a gymnastics school.

My vision for Spirals really took a turn in 2002, when we added a swimming pool to our facility. Our goal was to build a curriculum that focuses not solely on winning, but on goal setting and recognizing each individual’s accomplishments. In 2004, we created Ed-venture Camp, a program that truly stands out from all the rest. The first year of our After School Program was in 2005, and now we are thriving more than ever. In 2012, we created Ed-venture Kids Academy, a private preschool with a great curriculum, focusing on Kindergarten readiness and physical education. For our 30th year anniversary, we changed our name to Spirals Gym and Ed-venture Kids Center, reflecting our wide variety of programs. In 2015 came our greatest expansion yet. We opened a new location in Kennedale geared for higher-level gymnastics, cheer and Go Ninja!

Although my parents are no longer with us, my family and I continue to carry on the dream that they started so many years ago. I have two wonderful children, Abbey and Grayson. My husband, Simon, is a sounding board as we move forward. We have three dogs, named Lulu, Charlie and Georgia. We have truly remained a family-owned and operated business, which makes me very proud. It has been quite an amazing journey, and I look forward to many more exciting years to come!

Simon King

Owner

My name is Simon King. I was born and raised in London, England, or very-far-northeast Texas as I like to call it. I graduated from the University of Liverpool with Bachelors of Science in Physics and Materials Science before completing a Phd at the University of Oxford in Nuclear Engineering.

A long and winding road with quite a few highlights brought me to Texas in 2005 to work as a quant for the Bass family. I met Jima pretty soon after arriving and we married in 2008 since which time I have become gradually more and more involved in Spirals. This culminated in our building the Kennedale facility together in 2015. Nominally, I run Kennedale and Jima runs Mansfield. However, there is considerable overlap. Not having a gymnastics background, Jima is firmly in charge of the product and marketing, while I handle the business side of things (and fix toilets). I also run our other joint business, Texas Music Live.

Jima and I look forward to many more years together. We are both serial entrepreneurs and who knows what might come next.

Abbey Watson

After-school program director (Mansfield)

Graduated Martin High School 2010 • CPR certified

Hello! My name is Abbey and I am the After School director here in Mansfield. I am looking forward to working with each and every one of your children and helping them grow as the school year unfolds. I hope that by the end of each year, I know each child for their uniqueness and that I have been able to relate to and care for each of them in a way that meets their individual needs. With that being said, I’d like to share a bit about myself with you. I am 30 years old, and I have been working with children almost my entire life. I have three child of my own, although they have four legs and fur. Their names are Hercules, Leonidas, and Oddyseus. I enjoy any time spent with my friends and family. I can’t wait to meet you all, and I hope you are just as excited for the school year as I am!