Draft:Case Lawrence

Case McKay Lawrence (born October 2, 1972) is an American entrepreneur, businessman and attorney. Lawrence is the founder of Sky Zone (formerly CircusTrix), the largest developer, operator, and franchisor of trampoline parks globally and a member the company's Board of Directors. Case in known for pushing the indoor active entertainment industry and experience economy concept forward through continuous innovation, earning multiple awards for himself and for the brands  he operated. This recognition has earned him a spot as a judge for the annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Mountain Region. Additionally, he shares his entrepreneurial lessons and experience by mentoring college students as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship at the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business in Provo, Utah and as a member of the University's President's Leadership Council. On January 4, 2024, he declared his candidacy to replace Representative John Curtis in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Utah's 3rd Congressional District,   to expand his impact on community through public service.

Early Life and Education
Born in Tucson, Arizona to Laurel Stott and Larry R. Lawrence, a former General Authority Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spent 1991 to 1993 as a missionary for the church serving and teaching people in Budapest, Hungary. During this time he learned to speak the Hungarian language and is still fluent. Case resides in Utah County, Utah with his wife, Kerri (Lee). They have six (6) children.

In 1997 Lawrence graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Brigham Young University (BYU) and in 2000 he obtained a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Duke Law School.

Professional Career
In the 2000's, after law school, Lawrence worked for Venture Law Group in Silicon Valley, in the middle of the dot-com bubble and was involved in legal work for many emerging online businesses, such as transitioning the original x.com to PayPal for Elon Musk.

Lawrence's first startup was CargoBay, a real estate investing company he started in 2004 that managed office space and catered to small businesses. He ran the company for six years before the Great Recession disrupted the real estate industry, causing CargoBay to fold.

While exploring opportunities back in the legal field, Lawrence happened upon the idea that would become Sky Zone. During a trip to San Francisco with his family, a friend suggested Lawrence visit a local trampoline park. Lawrence loved how the experience combined entertainment, sports, and exercise. He left that trip with the intent to create a trampoline park. His goal was to start a small facility to provide enough money for his family while he found a job practicing law.

Lawrence eventually moved his family to Provo, Utah and started CircusTrix instead of pursuing work as an attorney. The first indoor park, SkyWalk, was opened in Madera, California in 2011. The second park, dubbed Defy Gravity, was opened in Durham, North Carolina in mid-2012.

Under Case's leadership as CEO, CircusTrix eventually became the largest developer, operator, and franchisor of trampoline parks globally. Boasting over 320 facilities and more than 10,000 individuals, overseeing leading industry brands such as Sky Zone, Rockin' Jump, DEFY, Superfly, Ryze, and others.

Case has been a key figure in moving the trampoline park industry forward through continuous innovation. He introduced ninja parks (small scale attractions similar to America Ninja Warrior courses), and Cirque de Soleil-style attractions in his parks, and lead the initiative to explore experimentation with social needs programs within the CircusTrix parks, taking a particular interest in supporting individuals with down syndrome because trampoline jumping is a beneficial recreation activity for children with down syndrome. Case has helped to pioneer the creation of accessible, local extreme recreation that gets kids and adults off screens and embracing fitness through active entertainment – moving the industry beyond just being trampoline parks. Case supported the G-tramp freestyle trampolining movement and other initiatives like it that have helped to fuel the growth of indoor extreme recreation and aerial sports parks in the US from 40 to more than 460 in the span of five years (2012-2016) and the industry continues to expand with new offshoot concepts stemming from Case and Sky Zone. He even offered a first of it's kind endorsement deal for the American Ninja Warrior star Kevin Bull in 2016. Beyond in-park innovation, he gained national recognition for his ability to market to millennials in 2016 from Inc.com.

Lawrence transitioned out of the CEO role in 2019 and took a role on the company's board of directors. Following the early and sustained success under his leadership, government mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic closed many Sky Zone parks for extended periods of time in 2020 and into 2021. Lawrence was not sure that his company would ever open again, especially considering the financial losses that were incurred during that time. CircusTrix eventually did recover from the pandemic and continues its expansion plans.

The CircusTrix corporate identity rebrand of all of its trampoline parks under the Sky Zone brand took place in 2023.

Professional Awards
While Case was the active CEO of CircusTrix (Sky Zone as of 2023) he and the company received many awards, including:


 * EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 – Utah Region – Consumer Services
 * Utah Business CEO of the Year Honoree 2019
 * Utah Business Fast 50 Honoree 2018, 2019
 * Inc. 5000 (CircusTrix) – No. 1377 (2020), No. 1333 (2019), No. 1790 (2018), No. 1012 (2017)
 * Inc. 5000 (Sky Zone) – No. 1709 (2017), No. 652 (2016), No. 273 (2015), No. 152 (2014), No. 180 (2013), No. 588 (2012), No. 2707 (2011)

Adjunct Professor
Beginning in April 2020, Case Lawrence joined the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business in Provo, Utah as an Adjunct Professor to teach Entrepreneurship. In addition to teaching, Lawrence mentors BYU students with their startups by helping them refine and validate their ideas; and to prepare for and overcome adversity.