About Us

“Inspyral” is a neologism of “Inspire” and “Spiral”. The astronomical term “Inspiral” refers to two celestial bodies spiraling around each other, each pulled by the other’s gravitational field.

 About Jeremy & Kelsey Philo

Jeremy has always loved challenges. He grew up in Alaska commercial fishing in the summers and spending the winters in Oklahoma. When he was fifteen, he found a unicycle in his friend’s garage, and they spent the next two weeks falling enough times to eventually ride a few feet. He joined the Marines right out of high school and served two tours in Iraq. After the Marines, he studied entrepreneurship at the University of Oklahoma. He wanted to make a positive impact on the world, and to do it in his own way. While in college, he taught his friends to unicycle and juggle, performing in Prairie Folk Circus.

Kelsey was a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma when she was involved in a tragic accident with a firetruck during an ice storm that broke her spine, left her paralyzed, and nearly killed her. Doctors told her to accept the fact that she would never walk again. She slowly recovered and later found hula hooping as a way to exercise while calming the anxiety of her residual PTSD. She heard about a group of other ‘circus-y’ people who met at a nearby park, so she took her hula hoops there and met Jeremy for the first time.

Together, they ran the community circus jam for the next six years. Kelsey taught hula hoop classes and Jeremy taught juggling to kids in libraries under the mentorship of Monica Buck. Before they were even engaged, Kelsey and Jeremy formed Inspyral LLC and purchased “Juggle Whatever” to continue the tradition of using circus arts to teach people of all ages about growth mindset. They were married that same year surrounded by family and friends who enjoyed a surprise bride & groom fire dance.

Their passion for creating magical experiences through performance and costuming has grown into Inspyral Circus, where they have the opportunity to perform for large crowds at all kinds of events. Their fundamental motivation is to INSPIRE and EMPOWER people, and to teach about the importance of resilience and grit.

A Family Business

Things really took off when Kelsey’s mom Vicky realized it was hard to find quality costuming for their performances, so she brushed off her sewing machine and started making Kelsey’s costume designs with her friend Denni. Kelsey’s favorite part of the entire company is creating costumes with her mom and Denni. Each Inspyral Circus costume is truly a group effort involving designing, sewing, editing, and styling.

Growing Family, Growing Team

With their first baby due in August 2021, Kelsey realized she would need help running the business after the baby came. She asked Casey Evans to quit her job and join Inspyral’s administration as their first employee. Thankfully, Casey agreed! They worked together out of a tiny office/costume room in the Philos’ home.

With Casey as the only other event manager, Kelsey often had to bring Kenai to events to help the performers. Sometimes, Kenai loved it! Sometimes, he didn’t.

Room to Grow

In early 2023, Inspyral Circus had to move operations out of the Philos’ home in order to make space to welcome their baby girl, Lula. They signed a lease on a 4,000 sq ft space in Bixby, Oklahoma that would become their headquarters, office, practice space, and store all of their equipment and costumes. They hired more staff to help run the warehouse, make new LED costumes and handle the day-to-day operations.

Inspyral Circus currently has 40 performers on its active casting roster and has attracted talent from across the nation to be a part of the team. They uphold their values of bringing quality, unique performance art to everyone - staying true to the local communities that have made them successful and maintaining the quality of performances into the future.