Quite the juggling act: EPHS grad turns passion into profession

In the parking lot of a popular Eden Prairie coffeehouse, Kayla Malmgren pops the trunk of her car and begins rooting around in her collection of boxes and totes. After a few moments, the effervescent 23-year-old redhead retrieves what she was looking for, and the impromptu show begins. She launches a series of colorful balls high into the air, catching them one by one, only to launch them into the air over and over again.

“Seven balls is my personal best,” she explains as balls effortlessly move between her hands and the sky.

Balls are just one of Malmgren’s juggling skills. “I can juggle pretty much anything,” she said. “Balls, rings, clubs, fire, knives – you name it.” She even holds a world record in joggling (jogging plus juggling), completing a women’s 4×100 meter relay while juggling three items in 1:15.88, set in 2017.

Malmgren started juggling with Jugheads Youth Juggling Company in fourth grade. Today, the 2020 Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) graduate is a professional juggler who runs REACH Youth Juggling Club. Her mission is to spread the joy and benefits of juggling to a new generation.

“I want more kids to be able to learn to juggle,” she said. “I’ve seen juggling transform the lives of kids. Especially kids with mental or physical disabilities.”

Failure and persistence

Malmgren was first introduced to juggling by her cousins, who took lessons at Jugheads in Edina. “We would go to their annual show every May,” she said.

After trying a Jugheads summer camp, Malmgren signed up for after-school lessons and never looked back.

Though juggling seems second nature today, Malmgren insists it didn’t come naturally. “There was a lot of failure and persistence,” she said. Small successes kept her motivated. “Once you get it once, it’s addicting.”

Malmgren continued juggling with Jugheads through her senior year of high school. “COVID was during my senior year,” she recalled. “We couldn’t do a summer camp, but we did juggling lessons in students’ driveways.”

After graduating from EPHS, Malmgren attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter to study education. “I was ready to give up juggling,” she said. “Keep it as a hobby but not pursue it professionally.”

That all changed in the summer of 2021 when a talent agent called and booked her for a Fourth of July parade. The agency was so impressed with Malmgren’s performance that they signed her, officially making her a professional juggler.

Switching gears

During her junior year of college, Jugheads hired Malmgren as a coach. Once a week, she made the hour-long drive north to Edina to teach juggling. When Jugheads announced it would close after its May 2023 show, Malmgren couldn’t imagine a world without juggling lessons and quickly pivoted to fill the gap. She dropped her education major and took advantage of Gustavus Adolphus College’s create-your-own-major option, focusing on entertainment, business and coaching in hopes of starting her own juggling school.

Malmgren graduated in May 2023, and REACH Youth Juggling debuted that September. “Everything kind of fell into place,” she said. She hired as many of her Jugheads friends as she could, along with a business manager to handle day-to-day operations.

REACH is open to students in second through 12th grades and offers an after-school club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with levels ranging from fun to skills to pro. (There are also adult drop-in opportunities on Tuesday evenings.) Lessons are taught by world-class jugglers and take place at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina. The first half of the year is devoted to learning tricks, while the second half focuses on preparing for the annual show.

Reaching for the stars

Malmgren named the business REACH to represent all of the attributes that she associates with juggling: Respect, Enthusiasm, Authenticity, Community, and Hard Work.

“It’s rewarding,” she said. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Watching students master a skill that once seemed impossible is still one of Malmgren’s greatest thrills. “When they get it – watching that happen – it’s amazing,” she said.

But even struggling with a skill is an opportunity for growth, Malmgren said. “I want to desensitize failure,” she said. “It’s OK.”

Malmgren emphasizes that message with her coaches, too. Dropping a ball during a lesson isn’t the end of the world. It’s a chance to pick it up and start again.

For jugglers, dropping a ball, pin or knife is part of the process — picking it up and starting again is the only route to mastery. “There’s always a personal challenge element to it,” she said.

That’s one of the things Malmgren loves about juggling. It gives anyone the chance to challenge themselves to expand their abilities. “It’s for anyone,” she said. “There’s always a way for inclusion.”

Personal growth

At its most basic, juggling is defined as “object manipulation with risk,” but Malmgren said it’s so much more than that.

On the surface, it may look like mastering the art of catching and throwing items, but Malmgren said the mental component of juggling is just as important. The key, she said, is balancing both the mental and physical aspects.

“It’s very psychological,” she said. “If I had to think about every throw, I wouldn’t be able to juggle.”

Among other things, juggling has taught Malmgren, who has ADHD, how to focus. “I can run five balls for a minute,” she said. “It’s almost meditative. I focus on keeping my body steady, and muscle memory takes over.”

Malmgren’s muscle memory is so strong that, even as she talks, her gestures often mimic the catch-and-toss motion of juggling.

If it seems like juggling has shaped many aspects of Malmgren’s life, it’s true. From helping her focus to building her confidence to teaching public speaking/presentation skills, Malmgren can’t say enough about the benefits of juggling.

“It changed my life,” she said. “I have reaped the benefits of juggling just by happenstance.”

And she hopes to offer similar life-changing experiences to her students. Her classes focus not only on learning the art of juggling and improving hand-eye coordination and balance, but also on coaches getting to know students – their strengths, weaknesses, and passions – and helping them work toward their goals.

Malmgren now has her sights set on introducing more students to juggling in a school setting. “I want to get into more gym classes,” she said, recently completing a fundraiser to bring a week-long juggling course to six Edina schools. “And then we’ll have a place for them to go continue it when they love it.”

Of course, kids can always use the Internet to learn to juggle. Malmgren acknowledges that. But for her, there is something extra special about learning to juggle and sharing that space with fellow students who become friends.

“It’s way more fun in person,” she said.