Dominique Dawes became an instant household name during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as part of the “Magnificant Seven,” the first American women’s team to take home the gold medal for all-around competition.
Three decades later, Dawes is bringing her gold medal to her new Dominique Dawes Academy in Alpharetta, which has a free open house from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and officially starts classes Monday.
More than 450 families have already RSVPed for the Saturday event to check out the facilities and take photos with Dawes and the medal, according to Dominique Dawes Academy CEO Adam Zeitsiff.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
“It’s surreal to be back in Atlanta,” Dawes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview at the facility on Friday. “This will be my sixth gymnastic academy and first one here 30 years after the Olympics. I wish we were crafty enough to have planned it this way, but we didn’t.”
The academy, which has 30 employees, features an area for ninja challenges, space for toddlers, and an array of gymnastics equipment in a wide-open 20,000-square-foot space that used to house a Total Wine retail shop.
Dawes, who is married with four kids ages 8 to 12, opened her first academy in 2020 in her home state of Maryland.
“After the culture of the gymnastics world came out in 2016, I had to process how toxic, harsh and abusive it’s been,” she said, referencing an Indianapolis Star series uncovering a systemic pattern of sexual abuse in USA Gymnastics. Those revelations, she said, led to an overhaul in terms of how children are treated and protected in Olympic sports.
With her academy, she said, “I want to do things differently and rebrand the sport of gymnastics with the right environment and the right people.”
She opened her first academy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she admitted was a serious challenge. She was so busy handling day-to-day operations, she had no time to actually coach gymnastics.
“I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I knew commitment and work ethic and sacrifice,” Dawes said. “But I had to learn about marketing and HR and communicating with vendors.”
To guide her, she tapped multiple business coaches, consultants and people in the gymnastics retail industry.
“I’m smart enough to surround myself with smarter people,” she said.
At the same time, she said she had to do the “grunt work’ for more than four years. “I’d get calls about sewage, about HVAC issues,” she said.
The good news is she drew enough customers to generate real income, enabling her to open more academies in the Maryland and Virginia area.
But by 2024, she realized she needed help if she was going to expand her business. Enter Trivest, a Coral Gables, Florida private equity firm that brought in management and money that enabled Dawes to open in Alpharetta as well as two locations in Houston later this year.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
“I’m now focused more on being an ambassador and board member,” she said.
Zeitsiff said the philosophy behind the gym isn’t “about pressure but getting people to come in and have fun and teach kids to be healthy and active.”
Dawes said most customers will be recreational students, not Olympic wannabes: “I just think gymnastics provides a great foundation for any athlete: strength, coordination, balance and flexibility.”
The primary age range for the academy runs from nine months to about age 13, Dawes said.
“We want kids to come in and take part in trial classes,” she said. “We offer month-to-month memberships. There is no long-term commitment. Just come see if you like the environment.”
She hopes to add multiple academies in metro Atlanta if the Alpharetta location thrives.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The Olympics and her academy aren’t her only direct ties to Atlanta. She became a limited partner with the Atlanta Falcons two years ago.
“I wanted to diversify my portfolio and lend my expertise in different fields,” Dawes said. So far, she said she has learned a lot just hanging out with Falcons majority owner and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank.
She has visited the new Arthur M. Blank Children’s Hospital and taken part in a charity golf tournament for the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research.
“It’s not just about winning and putting together a championship team, but the impact he’s had in the Atlanta community,” she said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
If you go
Dominique Dawes Academy opening day party
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Free, 380 North Point Circle, Alpharetta. dominiquedawesgymnasticsacademy.com
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