April 19, 2025 • 44 mins
Join us for a powerful episode as we sit down with five incredible performers — Chelle Hafner, Nicole Harbour, Bee, Buki, and Robyn — to talk all things Australian Pole Championships. From amateur debuts to professional stages, these athletes share their personal journeys, behind-the-scenes moments, and what it’s really like to compete in Australia’s most prestigious pole competition. Whether you’re a competitor, student, or fan, this is an episode full of heart, grit, and unforgettable stories from the pole community.
Thanks for tuning in to Pole Obsession with Felix Cane and Elizabeth Domazet! If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes content and updates on future episodes. See you next time for more pole excitement and insider insights! 🎙️✨
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi everybody and welcome back to another episode
of Pole Obsession.
We have a really exciting gueston today and an exciting episode
for you because we're talking tosome past competitors of the
Australian Pole Championshipscompetition.
I'm going to pass you on to mybeautiful co-host Elle and here
(00:20):
you go.
Hello everyone.
Thanks for listening again.
So we're talking to somecompetitors Previous
professionals and amateurs.
And I'm not sure, we might havea group person too.
Do any of you do group?
Maybe, maybe.
So, and battle.
I know that Shell's done battlebefore.
So we've got like pretty muchall divisions covered.
(00:43):
So we're going to go through andthey're just going to introduce
themselves really quick and letyou know who they are, what
state they're from, whatdivision they've competed in and
any titles that they may havewon.
So we might start with Shell,who's got probably the longest
I'm Shell and I've been poledancing for a long time and last
year I competed at AustralianPole Championships and I got the
(01:06):
Trickster Award and the InspireAward and I've competed a fair
few times as well.
I've gotten second place andfirst place at Queensland a
couple of times and nationals.
I got third place in 2019 whichwas fun and a whole stack of
other awards as well.
That I can't remember.
(01:28):
Battle, trickster.
Battle, battle, yeah.
I usually just put them down ina list and then just forget
about it until next time someoneasks me.
You need to take a photo of yourtrophies.
You need to take a photo of yourtrophies.
Send it to me so I can pop it upwhen you tell me about this.
UNKNOWN (01:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
Thank you.
And this is Robyn.
So tell us about who you are,Robyn.
Hi, I'm Robyn.
I've been competing in APC since2022.
I believe it was my first onefor ACT.
I've been an amateur every year.
I've been so close, so close toplacing just a little bit off.
But I did get people's choicelast year.
(02:14):
Yeah, very exciting.
And you've also helped with theAPC organisational side of it as
well.
Yes.
So 2023.
I believe I was up in Queenslandhelping at nationals and I've
helped in a few state heats aswell here and there.
Yeah so you know behind thescenes not just as a competitor
(02:34):
which who knows which one's morechaotic right?
UNKNOWN (02:38):
I do.
SPEAKER_00 (02:38):
It's crazy.
Regardless it's crazy.
And welcome Nicole.
Tell us your little dark selfsitting in your car.
We can slightly see you.
Can you hear me?
Yeah.
Okay, yeah, it's my peacefulplace away from studio and kids.
Amen.
(02:59):
Yeah, well, I don't actuallycan't remember.
I think 2017 was my first QPC or2016.
Was that the Madonna year?
Madonna was 2018.
And then I think so must havebeen 2017 was my first year.
And I got Sponsor's Choice.
(03:20):
I did Black Cat, so the onewhere I was a cat.
Yeah.
I think that was 2017.
So I got– yeah, I was QPCSponsor's Choice and then I got
a wild card to APC.
So that was my very first APC.
And then the next year I gotRunner Up when I did Madonna and
so then did APC that year aswell.
(03:43):
And then, yeah, I've done– I didQPC up until lockdown when
people didn't do them.
But because I got pregnant andhad a baby.
So then, yeah, I had a baby in2022.
And then I came back and wonQueensland Pole Champs in 2023.
(04:09):
And then got Best Technique atAPC 2023.
Then got pregnant again, so ran
SPEAKER_01 (04:17):
QPC.
UNKNOWN (04:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Well, that's the thing.
I think just people maybe don'tall know that you run the
Queensland Pole Championships aswell.
Yeah, yeah.
So I run a few Queensland eventsup here and, yeah, I took on QPC
last year.
And I've emceed various stateheats and APC when it was down
(04:42):
in Vic still.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
So I've been involved with itfor a while, since 2017.
There you go.
Yeah.
That's a long time, actually,when you think about it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Amazing.
I'm Bea, and I've been competingfor the last five years.
I'm Victorian, and I firstcompeted with the Victorian Pole
(05:04):
Championships in 2023 in theamateur division, where I was
really lucky to get secondplace.
From there, I got third.
wild-carded to nationals with myfirst nationals in the amateur
division and I got third.
The following year I competed atprofessional level and I
(05:25):
actually came first at theVictorian Pole Championships
where I then went on tonationals again and I actually
got third against all the mostamazing pole dancers and it was
just such an honour and my firstprofessional APC got third.
And that was last year, which isamazing.
(05:46):
Last year, yeah.
So you are a current titleholder.
Current title holder, yeah.
Very exciting.
Thank you.
And now we're going to move onto Buki.
Buki, let us know aboutyourself.
Hello.
I am Buki.
I am a Victorian as well.
Last year in 2024 was actuallymy first ever...
(06:11):
time competing in Australianpole championships.
So I did the Victorian polechampionships.
I was awarded People's ChoiceAward, which was super fun.
I was super surprised by thatand super thankful.
And then I got to compete forthe first time also in the
Australian pole championships inTasmania.
And that was an amazingexperience.
(06:32):
And I was very, very thankful tobe a part of it.
And were you just as thankfulthat now you're professional?
It's questionable.
It's questionable.
No, but look, I guess that's theultimate goal is you want to
keep moving up and it had tohappen at some stage and I want
that to happen.
And I think it's just a goodchance for me to push myself
(06:55):
even harder this year.
Yeah, I'm excited that you'redoing it this year.
Very good.
Very good.
I'm going to ask the questionand then whoever jumps in first
can have it.
It's like a special buzzer.
Everybody can choose their noiseand the noise I hear first.
(07:17):
That's dangerous.
The question is, what made youdecide to enter APC and was
there a moment where you justsaid to yourself, okay, yes, I'm
doing this.
I'm all in.
I'm going to do this.
Well, I'll go because I lovethis question so much.
So basically, I was a polebunkie in 2019 and I had never
(07:43):
competed in any comp before andI was just absolutely obsessed.
I didn't actually even know atthe time that it was the
national comp.
I just thought it was aVictorian comp and it was
actually the national one.
And it was just so amazing.
I was just a pole monkey.
I was just asking all thecompetitors, how would you like
your poles cleaned?
(08:03):
And I just made sure that theywere all perfect.
But I was just mesmerized.
Honestly, I was, I only reallyjust started advanced classes
and I was just determined to geton that stage one day.
And then fast forward to 2023and I finally got there and
(08:24):
finally competed and thenactually placed.
So it was basically like, thankyou to Bethany Finlay, Natty
Stephens, Mel Grace.
I believe that, yeah, they wereall in that yacht.
And that was me falling in lovewith competing.
It was that.
Oh, that's so lovely.
(08:44):
Yeah, they're pretty amazing forwhat?
Like all of you guys are though.
Yeah, and now you're thatperson, you know, to somebody.
How cool is that?
It's still so weird to me tothink.
But you are that person now,which is cool.
Yeah, all the little polemonkeys getting inspired.
I love it.
(09:04):
Yeah, and I remember seeing youwhen you did– start to compete
and I'm like oh well I call themkittens I said oh you're a poll
kitten for us and you'recompeting now and you're like
yeah I've been watching it andI'm ready now Elle I'm ready I'm
ready let's go I'm ready I'veworked my ass off let's go I'm
like oh you are ready all rightI emceed that one and yeah I was
(09:29):
like oh I loved watching youYou're amazing.
All right, so I'm going to moveon to my next question and I
might ask you, Nicole, what'sthe best thing about competing?
For me it's being on stagebecause I love the opportunity
(09:51):
to be up there and, well, one, Iguess a lot of times like we all
love pole so much but you don'talways get to, express it to
someone else like on stage likethe hard work that you actually
do and let people see the hardwork you do so yeah but I also I
guess I started competing beforethe massive rise of social media
(10:14):
as well so and everyone can sortof show on social media what you
can do but I just love being onstage and I think competing is
great for that opportunity aswell like just to well yeah like
put all your hard-earned work, Iguess, to use because otherwise
(10:36):
I know for some people it isjust something to a hobby, but
like if you want to seesomewhere where it can go and
like you can, you know, be onstage and then obviously be
recognized, but then also takethe opportunity that will then
see if you want to pursue it assomething more than that, like
competing gives you that avenueas well.
(10:56):
So I think, yeah, I don't know.
I'm not really making senseright now.
I know that.
But I think competing is areally good stepping stone for
people that want to make poletheir career as well.
Like it's– you know, you can doit.
For me, it's the love of beingon stage, but I know for someone
like people, it's also, youknow, letting people out there
(11:19):
see what you can do as well.
And, yeah, like– competing isfun.
I think it's fun.
I know not everyone thinks it'sfun.
I know that some people, mystudents, some of them where I'm
like compete, they're like, ah,and I'm like, no, it's fun.
And you go through, likeeveryone sort of says the
process, which is they're like,oh, I can do this.
(11:40):
I can do this.
I'm crap.
I can't do this.
And now all of a sudden you geton stage.
You're like, I can do this.
I'm amazing.
And you get off and you're like,I am amazing.
Like, yay me for doing this.
Like, cause I am amazing.
Um, but Yeah, I think I justlove the opportunity to show
people what I can do and alsobeing able to express your own
(12:02):
style.
I think that's nice too, likedo, you know, what you want to
be, not always having to be.
Yeah, I don't know.
Yeah.
Sorry, did that really answerthe question?
No, it's a great answer and Ithink you're 100% right.
You're able to express your ownstyle and, yeah, I think that's
one really great thing about APCis we love all different styles.
(12:27):
So whatever type of dancer youare, get out there and just do
whatever style you like.
So I think that bringsoriginality and difference and
you're able to be yourself onthe stage.
So I think it's really importantto be able to do that.
Yeah, I mean one year I was acat, the next I was Madonna, and
then I did a really slowemotional piece.
Yeah, very contemporary.
(12:48):
Totally mix it up, yeah.
You said was so importantbecause you touched on if you
want to be a professional poledancer, like how you can get
yourself out there by, you know,presenting yourselves on these
stages, but also for those andfor those of us who love
performing and don't have a job.
full-time performing, which isthe majority of pole dancers.
I would say that's like a coupleof people that might have a
(13:09):
full-time pole dancing gig, butthe majority of us don't.
So it does give us thatopportunity to express
ourselves, to get on stage, pushourselves, to show, like to do
all of those things.
It gives you so manyopportunities.
And I think so many positivethings come from it.
And yeah, I do think it's agreat opportunity for lots of
different outcomes.
So I was inspired by what yousaid.
(13:31):
Describe the moment you steppedout on stage.
Like what were you feeling?
What were your emotions?
I don't know if anyone else sortof experiences this when they
step on stage.
And I feel like I can't actuallysay it out loud because I feel
like you're behind the curtainand you're about to walk out and
it's like this whole like...
comes over you and you're justlike I'm on but to be honest
(13:53):
stepping onto the VPC stage thefirst time I was like don't trip
um that was probably my initialfirst thought um but it's like
something completely takes overand you just have this desire to
want to entertain that'sprobably the first thing that
comes into my mind is like I'mhere to put on a show I'm here
to entertain um and that'sexactly how I feel and how I go
(14:15):
out there and express myself soyeah Was it different on the VPC
stage to the APC stage?
I will say yes.
I think that I am someone that Ilove to be around people that
support me, not saying that, youknow, when you're on a bigger
stage and you're not, home.
(14:36):
So VPC would probably be morehome for me, um, that I felt
like I had a huge supportnetwork around me.
Um, so going out to APC, I felta little bit more nervous for
sure.
Um, because stepping out, I waslike, Oh, I know I've got people
back home that will love towatch me, but I'm like, am I
going to have the same feelingstepping out here?
Um, so I was probably way morenervous, especially obviously
(14:59):
being a national comp.
Um, but I was definitely morenervous because I'm like, I
think people are going to loveme.
Like, of course I'm there toperform for judges as well um
and stepping out but once I didthe first thing I was like oh
I'm so loved oh my gosh oh mygod people are entertained
they're cheering so yeah no itwas it did have initial first
(15:22):
feeling but as soon as you knowyou get straight into it and
you're whipping out those tricksor you're just even doing a
quick little head flick yeah Youget the loves pretty quickly.
Yeah, the audience is usuallypretty amazing at state and
national.
I think the big thing with stateis you're bringing your crowd.
So you know that they're goingto be screaming and cheering for
(15:43):
you.
When you're going to nationals,if it's in a different state,
you still bring people, but youcan only bring so many people.
Not everyone wants to travelinterstate to watch you,
surprisingly.
I don't know why they don't.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
What did APC teach you aboutyourself, both as a dancer and a
(16:04):
person, Robyn?
Actually, a hard question forme.
It was very mean of you, wasn'tit?
Yeah.
I guess the first time I didAPC, I was not in the mindset to
do it.
I was doing a pageant the sameyear.
Two weeks later was my firstcomp.
So I literally whipped somethingtogether, showed out.
(16:25):
I was like, that's what you get.
That's what we're doing.
But then from there, like,because I knew I could do it,
I've done my first comp, I'vegotten the first nerves out, I
could do a lot better the nextyear.
So it made me realise I couldchallenge myself a lot more than
I was doing.
And I progressed a lot in mystrength, not so much my
flexibility, but my strengthquite a bit.
(16:48):
And then I did a lot better thatyear.
And that was an ACT New SouthWales combined state heat.
Still so close to placing, soclose.
And then...
from there as well because thenI helped at nationals watching
everyone it didn't bring me downknowing I was so close yet like
I didn't place it wanted itpretty much just inspired me
(17:10):
more where I could see littlethings that where it was
something in my style orsomething that was actually
achievable um and then I guessit put me more in a mindset
where I'd want to train more bymyself, which is something I'd
never do before.
Like I'd have to be with someoneelse to be motivated.
But now I can just go into mypole room, do what I need and
(17:31):
train and actually get excitedfor comp.
Oh, that's nice.
Yes.
I want to do a comp now.
That would be great.
You should do a comp again.
I know what you can do, mate.
Do you?
Which one?
Battle.
I'm doing Battle with Shell.
(17:54):
I'm doing Battle with Shell.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, come do QPC.
Do you know what?
I'll have to come somewhere elsebecause WA never wants to do it.
Nobody enters Battle, so I cannever do it because nobody's in
there.
I'm just me by myself wooing myown self.
I'll come somewhere else and doBattle.
Yeah, absolutely.
Why not?
(18:15):
I'll come.
I'll do all of them.
yeah the battle um girl did yousurprise yourself with what you
were able to achieve throughoutthe process of like comp
training and and competing yeahespecially i guess with um you
know after having kids um i wasalways like you know i can do
(18:38):
what i can do it and then icommit to it and i'm like what
have i done and then i just haveto like you know keep my myself
going and That was, I guess Icould pat myself on the back and
be like, oh, I actually did it.
But every single time that I doa competition, I grow a little
bit as a person, as a performer.
(19:00):
And I love being on stage.
Same as Nicole.
I love being on stage.
And it's like I commit to a compand then I'm like, oh, yeah,
that's right.
Now we have to do all thistraining, which is less fun.
And then I get to stage.
I'm like, this is why I do it.
This is why I do it.
I guess I surprise myself.
I try to do different stuffsometimes and sometimes it
(19:20):
works, sometimes it doesn't, butthen I feel like it grows, like
a little bit of it leaves itsimprint on me as a performer and
then I grow from that.
And so that's nice being able tolook back on where I came from
to where I am now is great.
Yeah, you've done a lot.
You've done also pretty much alldivisions.
Did you ever do amateur or didyou go straight to pro?
(19:44):
I went straight to pro.
pole dancing in 2009.
And there was a competition thatwas running then that isn't
around now.
It's the Asia Pacific PoleChampionships.
And I competed at that nationalcomp because it was national.
There was no state divisions atthat point.
I got first place at that compnine months after I started pole
(20:05):
dancing and then I was stuck inpro for the whole rest of the
time.
That's what you get
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
for being
SPEAKER_00 (20:11):
too good,
SPEAKER_01 (20:11):
Shel.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Sorry?
That's what you get for beingtoo good.
Well, there was no other compsaround at that point.
It's like you're pro or youdon't compete.
Yeah, that's true.
There was only that one in MPD,right?
Yeah, there was Miss Pole and,yeah, Asia Pacific Pole Champs,
yeah.
(20:33):
Yeah, and then we came in andthat's it.
And they, I think, stopped theyear that we came in.
But so...
What's the difference?
What do you find the differencewith comp prep between when
you're doing a doubles or battleor pro?
Doubles, I don't have to focusas much on cardio, so I don't
(20:54):
have to, you know, do the regimeof making sure I train a certain
amount of time so that I buildup the stamina for my routine so
I'm not dying by the end of it.
It's more just focusing oncleaning up the skills and then
sequencing what skills I want todo.
Doubles is just hilarious thewhole time.
I love doing doubles.
(21:15):
It is such a fun thing to do,but it's very time-consuming.
It's hard trying to get twopeople doing a routine and stuff
like that.
And then, you know, doing thenormal solo pro is physically
exhausting, but also you canjust completely tap into what
you want to do, and so there'smore self-expression through
(21:35):
that one.
Yeah.
What would you pick if you couldonly compete in one forever?
Pro.
Yeah, I knew you'd say pro.
You guys are all like, it's thehardest, but I do it.
That's the one.
What does everybody else say?
I want everybody else to chimein.
Yeah.
Well, I was just about to say,okay, Shell, let's do doubles,
(21:56):
but, you know.
Yes, Nicole.
Yes.
Yes.
Can you actually?
Can I take that back now?
Yeah.
You can't really do Queensland,guys.
Bad news.
We'll come somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01 (22:09):
We'll come somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00 (22:11):
Oh, my God, I'd love to see that.
We'd do it as an excuse just tosee each other.
Yeah, that's it.
Bring the babies.
Yeah, that's it.
Can we make it groups andinclude the babies?
And that's it.
She has babies.
And have them run around on thefloor underneath us trying to
catch them.
(22:32):
You can take my
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
babies.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
I'll just give you the babies.
Yeah.
Shell, you touched on, like, thetypes of training that you do
for the different divisions withhaving to include a lot more
cardio than, like, in pros solothan in, say, a group division.
(22:55):
So I wanted to sort of put thequestion to the group, like when
you structure your trainingregime, how does that look?
Like what do you, yeah, if I hadto like just, if you could give
just a summary to someone who'smaybe never done any comp
training or prep before, likewhat do those weeks leading up
to the date look like and whattypes of training do you do?
(23:18):
Do you cross train?
Do you focus on training?
on strength do you focus on andwhen have you finished your
choreography so just i guess thetimeline and what those sort of
um that comp training reallylooks like for you um yeah so
whoever's got a good conciseanswer first can go i i could
say that um i'd say Definitely amonth out for myself, I have to
(23:43):
have my routine solid and done.
So I'm doing at least when I'mgetting in for a training
session, I can get threerun-throughs done.
Usually the first one, terrible.
Second one's pretty on point.
And the last one's just, you'rejust building your endurance by
that point.
But I have tried to incorporatewith my training that when I'm
(24:04):
at that stage, as soon as youfinish training, grab a skipping
rope, start skipping and reallytry and keep that endurance
going.
So you can really focus on yourbreath.
Um, cause there's nothing worsethan when you, you know, you're,
you get on stage, you've got allthis adrenaline and you, you
know, you're pumping through,but your adrenaline is taking
over.
You haven't got any breath tojust like calm your, uh, a
(24:25):
little bit.
So, um, That has really, reallyhelped for myself is just, you
know, do a run through, grab askipping rope and skip for a
minute straight afterwards.
It's not easy.
I suck at that.
But it has definitely helpedwith my endurance.
So, yeah, that's a littletraining tip that I've been
doing.
That's a great tip.
I'm the complete opposite.
(24:45):
Oh, sorry.
Oh, are you?
You're the complete opposite.
You go, Bea.
You go.
Mine's pretty similar, but Ilike to have six weeks out that
it's all done.
And then I'm just polishing.
And, but I don't mind if even atsix weeks, I can't do it
(25:07):
perfectly.
Like, but I definitely need tobe able to do it perfectly two,
three weeks beforehand.
But at six weeks beforehand, theroutine is done.
Like I don't do any changes, nochoreography changes, nothing
like that.
Like six weeks, I have exactlywhat I want.
So prior to that, I'm thinkingabout combos and, all that
(25:27):
stuff, writing everything downthat I must have in it.
And then six weeks out, theroutine is done.
And then just working onpolishing.
I try to do two run-throughs inevery training session.
And they mostly focus on gettingthrough the routine.
(25:47):
So if I'm starting to struggle,I won't stop the music and redo
it.
Because I think if on the day...
I was really struggling.
I have to keep going.
Like I don't have a choice.
So I've never, even with theworst run I could possibly
imagine, I've never stopped themusic.
And even if I was slipping allthe way down, I just keep going.
(26:10):
And then like four weeks out,that should start to improve.
But even if it's not, I just tryto stay as positive as possible.
Like I've still got four weeksinstead of feeling like, oh my
God, I've only got four weeks.
I'm like, I've still got fourweeks.
It'll be okay.
So I try to start, that's when Istart to really change my like
(26:33):
mindset.
I'm starting to like really getinto and dive into like my
nutrition and like better sleep,better hydration.
And I'm actually prepping myskin for four weeks out.
So I like cut out oils.
I cut out greasy foods, evenlike extra salts.
(26:53):
Anything that could possiblymake my skin slippy on the day
that the week before I eatpretty much the exact same foods
the whole time.
I won't even run the routinethree to five days before the
comp.
And I just watch my video.
I'll watch the best run video sothat I'm not psyching myself
(27:14):
out.
If I have a terrible run, Idon't watch it ever again.
It happened, but it's fine.
I just try to stay positive.
I rewatch.
the good one, and I just watchit to remember but not to
critique too much because I'vejust got to stay positive.
And then I get to the day and Ihave the same nutrition like
(27:34):
food.
I'm very strict on that.
And I've always found that'sbeen the best way, that if I'm
just always thinking about howexcited I am to get on the stage
and just positive vibes all theway through, I end up doing the
best run on the day.
Wow, what an answer.
Yeah, I'm just very, verydisciplined and very
(27:55):
disciplined.
You reminded me just then ofNaomi Capelli because she's
exactly the same.
You and I, everything, thenutrition, the way she trains,
everything.
But she trains closer to compthan what you would though.
But, yeah, very similar in allof that sort of stuff, which
blows my mind that you guys arethat deep, you know.
(28:17):
Like that's a lot.
Guys, just get a skipping rope.
Just get a skipping rope.
It does make me calmer.
B, that is incredible whatdiscipline you have.
That's awesome.
I'm actually going to take a lotof those things that you've said
(28:37):
and like literally run themdown.
Thank you.
I've actually learned a lot likefrom my very first comp.
I was running it like three,four times the day before.
and i've just learned so muchlike one of those other
questions you asked felix likewhat or um al what have you
(28:57):
learnt from all your comping ithink the most i can take away
is the prep i've learnt andadapted my prep so much that now
this six weeks out like mentalhealth like planning like
nutrition all that stuff that ihave developed has been
basically since the start of myfirst vpc every comp before that
(29:20):
was just a learning curve justlearnt after every time i was
like ah yep i didn't do a greatrun because xyz let's cut that
out let's restart let's dosomething else and this has been
been the best but i've learnedevery time yeah give you guys a
heart attack go on We want tohear it.
(29:41):
I choreograph in my car on longdrives.
It's always the best time whenroutines come to me when I'm
driving, which is not good.
I do not condone that to anyonebecause you should be
concentrating on the road.
And I'm one of those people thatwill change my routine the night
before.
I have a heart attack.
That would give me a heartattack.
(30:02):
Yeah.
My heart is attacking.
I like you something if I'mlike, oh, I think it's from– and
I don't know how much everyone–I'm an organized chaos person.
I've always just been that kindof person in life.
Like if I'm too prepared tooearly, it just– I feel like
stuff just– it won't– I won'tenjoy it.
But, yeah, I'm sort of a– Ijam-pack my life full of lots of
(30:25):
stuff.
So for me, I'm like, yeah, nightbefore.
And I've found that when I havetraveled for comps and not
trained the day before, I don'tdo as well.
I do better when I do train thenight before.
I think for me mentally I haveto do a run through the night
before to just go yay or naybecause then I'm like, oh, that
didn't work.
Okay, then you know what, youhave to do the next day.
(30:47):
Or if it does work, I'm like,okay, yay, that works for me for
the next day.
And I know so many people thatare like a week out, they're
like, oh, thank God I had myroutine all done and it was
fine.
I was sick and then I couldstill do it.
I'm like, oh, I would die if Ididn't have that last week to
train.
I'm up shit creek without apaddle.
Sorry, y'all, I don't know ifI'm allowed to swear.
(31:08):
It's fine.
But it just, I think that's howI kind of, because I love the
performance side, it's how Ikeep the performance so genuine
and like enjoyment on stage isbecause I'm sort of, yeah, I'm
just, yeah.
(31:29):
I'm just not an over-preparedperson.
That's why I'm good at runningcomps.
I can do things last minutereally well.
If you ever need something lastminute, I'm your gal.
Yeah.
Amazing.
What a great answer compared tobees as well, right?
Yeah, I'm the complete opposite.
I remember one comp I did, I hada cheesy mite scroll on the way
(31:50):
to the comp and I did reallywell that comp.
So now I'm like, I just needcarbs.
Just give me the carbs beforethe comp and I'll be fine.
UNKNOWN (31:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:59):
B would be like hyperventilating.
What's going on?
Oh, my God.
Breathing in and out.
I mean, it's definitely aspectrum, isn't it?
Same thing doesn't work foreverybody.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So just quietly, I'm definitelymore of a underprepper
SPEAKER_01 (32:22):
than an overprepper.
SPEAKER_00 (32:23):
But what about back then in the day when you were
doing MPD?
You trained hard.
Did I?
Wow.
We hope so because otherwiseit's so unfair.
I trained a lot because I wasdoing a lot of teaching, a lot
of performing, but I did not doa lot of pole prep.
(32:44):
Majority of my performances areall improvised.
So I didn't even choreographthem.
Yeah.
Ah.
guys.
But I'm good at improvising.
I'm not as good atchoreographing as I am at
improvising.
So that's why, you know, youplay to your strengths.
I'm not going to, because I getmore stressed if I have to
remember things than if I don't.
(33:05):
And you know that you've got toput in the things that you're
really good at.
Well, you know, I have a roughidea of where I'm going to put
something.
So yeah, if it's a big, a bigbit of the music, the spatchcock
is going to go there.
If there's another big bit, I'llput the eagle there and then
everything else is just rollingaround recovering.
So when it comes to comp prep,the first thing I have to do as
soon as I've agreed to do acomp, I need to have a song.
(33:28):
If I don't have a song, it's nothappening.
Like I'm putting it off until Ihave a song, even if it's like a
few weeks out.
So I need a song.
In terms of training, I do crosstrain.
So strength in the gym, Pilates.
This year, I've been putting insome more cardio to help with my
endurance.
Definitely not skipping afterdoing a run through.
(33:49):
I would die.
But just general like runningstepper machine.
I hate the stepper machine, butit's so good for you.
In terms of actual poletraining, I'll do it in the
afternoon.
So I'm not too tired from themorning because I'll generally
do my other training then, havemy work day, come home, do some
training.
(34:09):
I'll try and split it up so I'mnot doing too much and I'm not
fatiguing my body because youwant to make sure you actually
recover, you don't injureyourself as well.
So there'll be days where I'mjust doing spin tricks or I'm
just doing static or I'm justdoing Corrie.
I probably wouldn't train morethan four days a week for pole
until it gets really close tocomp.
(34:32):
I will aim...
aim is a very general term tohave my routine ready a month
out so then I have a little bitof leeway to do it and then I'll
aim for like two to threerun-throughs as well and then
the week of comp I won't do anytraining for at least a day or
two beforehand I same I have tostart with a song I need to be
(34:55):
inspired so I need music andthen once I find the song it's
it starts choreographing itselfin my head.
And then I'm Nicole and I'mdriving around, picking the kids
up from school, choreographingroutines in my head.
I know I shouldn't do it either,but I do.
Or maybe it's I don't have anyother quiet time.
Yeah.
I start choreographing it to themusic in my head and I find that
(35:16):
things just start happening.
It's just like it takes a lifeof its own.
I definitely like to start,ideally like to start the
physical training a few monthsout from the competition, even
if it's just starting to putcombos together and to fit
things into the music where Iwant it to be.
I prefer to train in the mid tolate afternoon.
(35:40):
But the reality is I just got totrain more if I can get a piece
of time.
And sometimes that's at, youknow, 9.30 in the morning before
I teach class or sometimes it'sat 9 o'clock at night after I
teach class.
I got to have my routinesolidified a month before the
competition so then I can justfocus on polishing it or taking
(36:00):
out the little bits that don'tquite work the way I want it to,
really kind of troubleshootingit there.
I like to do a minimum of threerun through sessions a week.
And I usually stupidly make myroutine so hard that I can't do
more than one run through ineach session.
Or if I do, if I do, it's like,okay, so we're doing this half
(36:24):
of the routine because that'sall my second wind stamina will
allow me to have.
I don't do any other crosstraining because my ACLs on both
knees are kind of not reallythere so for me my pole dance
routine is my cardio so i justgot to take more time to make
sure i rest and recover andstretch and trigger point so
(36:45):
that i don't get worn out andyou know repeating the same
thing over and over um nutritionis everything so eating healthy
eating clean One month out fromcomp, I won't touch alcohol or I
will restrain myself from eatingexcessive amounts of ice cream
or chocolate.
So I eat really healthy and Istay away from alcohol and try
(37:07):
to get extra sleep.
I never do a run through the daybefore my comp unless the last
run through I did two daysbefore was a disaster.
And then I'll do another one.
But I prefer not to.
And on the day of the comp, Inever do a full run through on
(37:27):
stage because I don't want toeat into my energy reserves.
So actually performing thatnight, because so many times
I've made the mistake of doing afull run through.
And it was amazing only to thennot have not to be fresh enough
to do it properly when it comesto it on the night.
So that's what I've worked outfor myself.
I've noticed that with yours.
Like you never ever do a fullrun.
(37:48):
You'll just do bits or you'll doa bit.
Like if I'm worried about notfitting around the truss, I'll
do that bit to check my space orto check how the floor feels or
the spin of the pole, but I'llnever do a full run through, no.
Yeah, yeah.
And only pros are the ones thatnever do a full run through.
Amateurs always do a full run.
Yeah, because they've got to doit for their mental health.
(38:10):
Yeah, we do.
Yeah.
Battle, always do a full run.
Group don't and pros don't.
So that's interesting, isn't it?
Can I just say I've been sort ofwatching us a little bit and
there's been two points in timewhere we've all nodded like in
(38:31):
agreement, like nodded so hard.
The first one was, Shell, whenyou said there was like– like
sometimes in training where youjust like it's a real grind and
you're just pushing through andjust pushing through and just
pushing through but at the endof it you know it's worth it and
we're all like yeah yeah this isyeah that's like childbirth
you're all as well like you havea child then you forget about
(38:53):
you get pregnant again like whathave i done first freaking cramp
you get when you go into laborand you're like What have I
done?
And the second one was whenRobin said stair machine.
We all were like, oh, yeah, it'shorrible.
SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
It's really horrible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's horrible.
SPEAKER_00 (39:12):
So we feel really strongly about those two things.
Your body language, guys.
We're reading it.
Our little bobble heads werelike, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Agree, agree.
I will say, Michelle, I totallyagree with you on the alcohol
thing.
That is one thing majorly that Icompletely cut out.
(39:35):
It is huge what alcohol can doto your body, your skin type,
your mental state.
One drink is enough to make youdepressive on your muscles the
next day, yeah.
Yeah, and it just takes all yourenergy and absolutely.
I cut out alcohol basically fromthe moment I'm like, oh, yeah,
I'm going to do it.
(39:55):
I have three kids, so I'm notthat stressed.
That's fair.
That's fair.
I don't have kids yet.
I don't drink.
And so what I used to when I wasyounger, but I don't anymore at
all.
But it's incredible.
Yeah, I think that the toll thatit takes on your body, I don't
(40:17):
think people realize how long ittakes to recover and also the
cumulative effects of it aswell.
Exactly.
And when I say drink, I don'tdrink that much at all, but I
can tell one drink makes a lotof difference.
Yeah, just one drink.
When you notice it the most.
Like if I have a drink nowbecause I haven't drank for
years, I'm like,
SPEAKER_01 (40:37):
oh, I get poisoned.
SPEAKER_00 (40:40):
Take it away.
And I used to drink like a fishbecause I thought it was cool.
I would like to ask you all, allof you, this question because I
think this is reallyinteresting, this question.
Is there a piece of feedbackfrom a judge or a fellow
competitor that has really stuckwith you?
So whoever wants to answerfirst.
(41:01):
I've got an answer straight upin my head.
It was actually something SusieQ said to me like years ago.
It was before I had Madison, soit would have been before 2012.
So I was notorious.
Like, you know, coming from agymnastics background, I would
always be like trick, trick,trick, trick, trick, trick,
trick, trick, trick, trick,trick.
And it was her advice was it'snot what you do, it's how you do
(41:24):
it.
And that didn't fully understandit at the time, but it's taken
me forever to realise that it'skind of everything.
Is
SPEAKER_01 (41:33):
there
SPEAKER_00 (41:33):
anybody that doesn't actually look at their feedback?
A lot of people don't.
Yeah, most people don't look attheir feedback.
Most people don't ask for theirfeedback.
Most people don't ask for theirscores.
We only give out scores and wevery rarely give out feedback,
to be fair, because when you'vegot 40 competitors on stage,
judges don't have time to writefeedback.
So it's rare that we have any.
(41:53):
But when it comes to scores,most people do not ask for their
scores and we don't send themout.
you know, for the chance thatthey don't want to know what
they are.
So like if they do well, mostpeople don't want to know that.
So, yeah, a lot of people do notwant to know.
I feel that way.
I'll be honest.
I'm not someone that will readmy feedback or ask for scores or
(42:17):
anything.
Sometimes I haven't even watchedmy performance because I'm so
satisfied sometimes of how I'vebrought out on stage and done
something for myself and whatI've trained for.
I might be a bit naive and Idon't want to hear anything
negative about it because I'mhappy with how I did on you know
that's that's good enough for mebut then if I have been super
(42:38):
satisfied sometimes I've havelooked at them and then gone all
right sick I'm going to improveon this I'm really going to
focus on that um but I'll behonest it's taking me to get to
a certain point to actually getto myself to a read my own
comments and things like thatbecause I was too scared,
especially when I first startedout as competing.
I was terrified.
(42:59):
I didn't want to hear anythingnegative.
I was like, you know, just ababy polar.
I didn't want to hear that mytoes weren't pointed.
I know I don't have the greatestfeet, and then over time I have
gotten better.
I think I viewed one of my compsthat I was really satisfied last
year with that I read, but therehave been many performances that
I was like, nope, I was happywith how it was.
(43:22):
And I'm going to leave it withthat just for my own mental
health.
That's how I felt.
And I didn't want it to hinder,you know, anything else.
So yeah, that's just sort of myfeedback when it comes to asking
for my scorings or, you know,what are the judges have said.
So, or I have actually gone andspoken to a judge personally and
just said, Hey, can I just getlike, you know, it's a bit, it's
a bit nicer when you actually goand speak to someone about it
(43:43):
rather than reading it on a bitof paper and you're like, Oh,
same trick three times.
Like, damn it.
Yeah.
So yeah.
Thank you for listening to partone of our episode with past and
present Australian PoleChampionships competitors.
If you're thinking of enteringthe Australian Pole
Championships, entries closethis Monday, the 21st of April
(44:06):
and we would love to see yourentries for the state heats.
We are looking for entries forprofessional, amateur, group and
battle.
So this is your sign to get yourentries in and we will talk to
you soon.
Hi everybody and welcome back to another episode
of Pole Obsession.
We have a really exciting gueston today and an exciting episode
for you because we're talking tosome past competitors of the
Australian Pole Championshipscompetition.
I'm going to pass you on to mybeautiful co-host Elle and here
(00:20):
you go.
Hello everyone.
Thanks for listening again.
So we're talking to somecompetitors Previous
professionals and amateurs.
And I'm not sure, we might havea group person too.
Do any of you do group?
Maybe, maybe.
So, and battle.
I know that Shell's done battlebefore.
So we've got like pretty muchall divisions covered.
(00:43):
So we're going to go through andthey're just going to introduce
themselves really quick and letyou know who they are, what
state they're from, whatdivision they've competed in and
any titles that they may havewon.
So we might start with Shell,who's got probably the longest
I'm Shell and I've been poledancing for a long time and last
year I competed at AustralianPole Championships and I got the
(01:06):
Trickster Award and the InspireAward and I've competed a fair
few times as well.
I've gotten second place andfirst place at Queensland a
couple of times and nationals.
I got third place in 2019 whichwas fun and a whole stack of
other awards as well.
That I can't remember.
(01:28):
Battle, trickster.
Battle, battle, yeah.
I usually just put them down ina list and then just forget
about it until next time someoneasks me.
You need to take a photo of yourtrophies.
You need to take a photo of yourtrophies.
Send it to me so I can pop it upwhen you tell me about this.
UNKNOWN (01:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
Thank you.
And this is Robyn.
So tell us about who you are,Robyn.
Hi, I'm Robyn.
I've been competing in APC since2022.
I believe it was my first onefor ACT.
I've been an amateur every year.
I've been so close, so close toplacing just a little bit off.
But I did get people's choicelast year.
(02:14):
Yeah, very exciting.
And you've also helped with theAPC organisational side of it as
well.
Yes.
So 2023.
I believe I was up in Queenslandhelping at nationals and I've
helped in a few state heats aswell here and there.
Yeah so you know behind thescenes not just as a competitor
(02:34):
which who knows which one's morechaotic right?
UNKNOWN (02:38):
I do.
SPEAKER_00 (02:38):
It's crazy.
Regardless it's crazy.
And welcome Nicole.
Tell us your little dark selfsitting in your car.
We can slightly see you.
Can you hear me?
Yeah.
Okay, yeah, it's my peacefulplace away from studio and kids.
Amen.
(02:59):
Yeah, well, I don't actuallycan't remember.
I think 2017 was my first QPC or2016.
Was that the Madonna year?
Madonna was 2018.
And then I think so must havebeen 2017 was my first year.
And I got Sponsor's Choice.
(03:20):
I did Black Cat, so the onewhere I was a cat.
Yeah.
I think that was 2017.
So I got– yeah, I was QPCSponsor's Choice and then I got
a wild card to APC.
So that was my very first APC.
And then the next year I gotRunner Up when I did Madonna and
so then did APC that year aswell.
(03:43):
And then, yeah, I've done– I didQPC up until lockdown when
people didn't do them.
But because I got pregnant andhad a baby.
So then, yeah, I had a baby in2022.
And then I came back and wonQueensland Pole Champs in 2023.
(04:09):
And then got Best Technique atAPC 2023.
Then got pregnant again, so ran
SPEAKER_01 (04:17):
QPC.
UNKNOWN (04:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Well, that's the thing.
I think just people maybe don'tall know that you run the
Queensland Pole Championships aswell.
Yeah, yeah.
So I run a few Queensland eventsup here and, yeah, I took on QPC
last year.
And I've emceed various stateheats and APC when it was down
(04:42):
in Vic still.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
So I've been involved with itfor a while, since 2017.
There you go.
Yeah.
That's a long time, actually,when you think about it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Amazing.
I'm Bea, and I've been competingfor the last five years.
I'm Victorian, and I firstcompeted with the Victorian Pole
(05:04):
Championships in 2023 in theamateur division, where I was
really lucky to get secondplace.
From there, I got third.
wild-carded to nationals with myfirst nationals in the amateur
division and I got third.
The following year I competed atprofessional level and I
(05:25):
actually came first at theVictorian Pole Championships
where I then went on tonationals again and I actually
got third against all the mostamazing pole dancers and it was
just such an honour and my firstprofessional APC got third.
And that was last year, which isamazing.
(05:46):
Last year, yeah.
So you are a current titleholder.
Current title holder, yeah.
Very exciting.
Thank you.
And now we're going to move onto Buki.
Buki, let us know aboutyourself.
Hello.
I am Buki.
I am a Victorian as well.
Last year in 2024 was actuallymy first ever...
(06:11):
time competing in Australianpole championships.
So I did the Victorian polechampionships.
I was awarded People's ChoiceAward, which was super fun.
I was super surprised by thatand super thankful.
And then I got to compete forthe first time also in the
Australian pole championships inTasmania.
And that was an amazingexperience.
(06:32):
And I was very, very thankful tobe a part of it.
And were you just as thankfulthat now you're professional?
It's questionable.
It's questionable.
No, but look, I guess that's theultimate goal is you want to
keep moving up and it had tohappen at some stage and I want
that to happen.
And I think it's just a goodchance for me to push myself
(06:55):
even harder this year.
Yeah, I'm excited that you'redoing it this year.
Very good.
Very good.
I'm going to ask the questionand then whoever jumps in first
can have it.
It's like a special buzzer.
Everybody can choose their noiseand the noise I hear first.
(07:17):
That's dangerous.
The question is, what made youdecide to enter APC and was
there a moment where you justsaid to yourself, okay, yes, I'm
doing this.
I'm all in.
I'm going to do this.
Well, I'll go because I lovethis question so much.
So basically, I was a polebunkie in 2019 and I had never
(07:43):
competed in any comp before andI was just absolutely obsessed.
I didn't actually even know atthe time that it was the
national comp.
I just thought it was aVictorian comp and it was
actually the national one.
And it was just so amazing.
I was just a pole monkey.
I was just asking all thecompetitors, how would you like
your poles cleaned?
(08:03):
And I just made sure that theywere all perfect.
But I was just mesmerized.
Honestly, I was, I only reallyjust started advanced classes
and I was just determined to geton that stage one day.
And then fast forward to 2023and I finally got there and
(08:24):
finally competed and thenactually placed.
So it was basically like, thankyou to Bethany Finlay, Natty
Stephens, Mel Grace.
I believe that, yeah, they wereall in that yacht.
And that was me falling in lovewith competing.
It was that.
Oh, that's so lovely.
(08:44):
Yeah, they're pretty amazing forwhat?
Like all of you guys are though.
Yeah, and now you're thatperson, you know, to somebody.
How cool is that?
It's still so weird to me tothink.
But you are that person now,which is cool.
Yeah, all the little polemonkeys getting inspired.
I love it.
(09:04):
Yeah, and I remember seeing youwhen you did– start to compete
and I'm like oh well I call themkittens I said oh you're a poll
kitten for us and you'recompeting now and you're like
yeah I've been watching it andI'm ready now Elle I'm ready I'm
ready let's go I'm ready I'veworked my ass off let's go I'm
like oh you are ready all rightI emceed that one and yeah I was
(09:29):
like oh I loved watching youYou're amazing.
All right, so I'm going to moveon to my next question and I
might ask you, Nicole, what'sthe best thing about competing?
For me it's being on stagebecause I love the opportunity
(09:51):
to be up there and, well, one, Iguess a lot of times like we all
love pole so much but you don'talways get to, express it to
someone else like on stage likethe hard work that you actually
do and let people see the hardwork you do so yeah but I also I
guess I started competing beforethe massive rise of social media
(10:14):
as well so and everyone can sortof show on social media what you
can do but I just love being onstage and I think competing is
great for that opportunity aswell like just to well yeah like
put all your hard-earned work, Iguess, to use because otherwise
(10:36):
I know for some people it isjust something to a hobby, but
like if you want to seesomewhere where it can go and
like you can, you know, be onstage and then obviously be
recognized, but then also takethe opportunity that will then
see if you want to pursue it assomething more than that, like
competing gives you that avenueas well.
(10:56):
So I think, yeah, I don't know.
I'm not really making senseright now.
I know that.
But I think competing is areally good stepping stone for
people that want to make poletheir career as well.
Like it's– you know, you can doit.
For me, it's the love of beingon stage, but I know for someone
like people, it's also, youknow, letting people out there
(11:19):
see what you can do as well.
And, yeah, like– competing isfun.
I think it's fun.
I know not everyone thinks it'sfun.
I know that some people, mystudents, some of them where I'm
like compete, they're like, ah,and I'm like, no, it's fun.
And you go through, likeeveryone sort of says the
process, which is they're like,oh, I can do this.
(11:40):
I can do this.
I'm crap.
I can't do this.
And now all of a sudden you geton stage.
You're like, I can do this.
I'm amazing.
And you get off and you're like,I am amazing.
Like, yay me for doing this.
Like, cause I am amazing.
Um, but Yeah, I think I justlove the opportunity to show
people what I can do and alsobeing able to express your own
(12:02):
style.
I think that's nice too, likedo, you know, what you want to
be, not always having to be.
Yeah, I don't know.
Yeah.
Sorry, did that really answerthe question?
No, it's a great answer and Ithink you're 100% right.
You're able to express your ownstyle and, yeah, I think that's
one really great thing about APCis we love all different styles.
(12:27):
So whatever type of dancer youare, get out there and just do
whatever style you like.
So I think that bringsoriginality and difference and
you're able to be yourself onthe stage.
So I think it's really importantto be able to do that.
Yeah, I mean one year I was acat, the next I was Madonna, and
then I did a really slowemotional piece.
Yeah, very contemporary.
(12:48):
Totally mix it up, yeah.
You said was so importantbecause you touched on if you
want to be a professional poledancer, like how you can get
yourself out there by, you know,presenting yourselves on these
stages, but also for those andfor those of us who love
performing and don't have a job.
full-time performing, which isthe majority of pole dancers.
I would say that's like a coupleof people that might have a
(13:09):
full-time pole dancing gig, butthe majority of us don't.
So it does give us thatopportunity to express
ourselves, to get on stage, pushourselves, to show, like to do
all of those things.
It gives you so manyopportunities.
And I think so many positivethings come from it.
And yeah, I do think it's agreat opportunity for lots of
different outcomes.
So I was inspired by what yousaid.
(13:31):
Describe the moment you steppedout on stage.
Like what were you feeling?
What were your emotions?
I don't know if anyone else sortof experiences this when they
step on stage.
And I feel like I can't actuallysay it out loud because I feel
like you're behind the curtainand you're about to walk out and
it's like this whole like...
comes over you and you're justlike I'm on but to be honest
(13:53):
stepping onto the VPC stage thefirst time I was like don't trip
um that was probably my initialfirst thought um but it's like
something completely takes overand you just have this desire to
want to entertain that'sprobably the first thing that
comes into my mind is like I'mhere to put on a show I'm here
to entertain um and that'sexactly how I feel and how I go
(14:15):
out there and express myself soyeah Was it different on the VPC
stage to the APC stage?
I will say yes.
I think that I am someone that Ilove to be around people that
support me, not saying that, youknow, when you're on a bigger
stage and you're not, home.
(14:36):
So VPC would probably be morehome for me, um, that I felt
like I had a huge supportnetwork around me.
Um, so going out to APC, I felta little bit more nervous for
sure.
Um, because stepping out, I waslike, Oh, I know I've got people
back home that will love towatch me, but I'm like, am I
going to have the same feelingstepping out here?
Um, so I was probably way morenervous, especially obviously
(14:59):
being a national comp.
Um, but I was definitely morenervous because I'm like, I
think people are going to loveme.
Like, of course I'm there toperform for judges as well um
and stepping out but once I didthe first thing I was like oh
I'm so loved oh my gosh oh mygod people are entertained
they're cheering so yeah no itwas it did have initial first
(15:22):
feeling but as soon as you knowyou get straight into it and
you're whipping out those tricksor you're just even doing a
quick little head flick yeah Youget the loves pretty quickly.
Yeah, the audience is usuallypretty amazing at state and
national.
I think the big thing with stateis you're bringing your crowd.
So you know that they're goingto be screaming and cheering for
(15:43):
you.
When you're going to nationals,if it's in a different state,
you still bring people, but youcan only bring so many people.
Not everyone wants to travelinterstate to watch you,
surprisingly.
I don't know why they don't.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
What did APC teach you aboutyourself, both as a dancer and a
(16:04):
person, Robyn?
Actually, a hard question forme.
It was very mean of you, wasn'tit?
Yeah.
I guess the first time I didAPC, I was not in the mindset to
do it.
I was doing a pageant the sameyear.
Two weeks later was my firstcomp.
So I literally whipped somethingtogether, showed out.
(16:25):
I was like, that's what you get.
That's what we're doing.
But then from there, like,because I knew I could do it,
I've done my first comp, I'vegotten the first nerves out, I
could do a lot better the nextyear.
So it made me realise I couldchallenge myself a lot more than
I was doing.
And I progressed a lot in mystrength, not so much my
flexibility, but my strengthquite a bit.
(16:48):
And then I did a lot better thatyear.
And that was an ACT New SouthWales combined state heat.
Still so close to placing, soclose.
And then...
from there as well because thenI helped at nationals watching
everyone it didn't bring me downknowing I was so close yet like
I didn't place it wanted itpretty much just inspired me
(17:10):
more where I could see littlethings that where it was
something in my style orsomething that was actually
achievable um and then I guessit put me more in a mindset
where I'd want to train more bymyself, which is something I'd
never do before.
Like I'd have to be with someoneelse to be motivated.
But now I can just go into mypole room, do what I need and
(17:31):
train and actually get excitedfor comp.
Oh, that's nice.
Yes.
I want to do a comp now.
That would be great.
You should do a comp again.
I know what you can do, mate.
Do you?
Which one?
Battle.
I'm doing Battle with Shell.
(17:54):
I'm doing Battle with Shell.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, come do QPC.
Do you know what?
I'll have to come somewhere elsebecause WA never wants to do it.
Nobody enters Battle, so I cannever do it because nobody's in
there.
I'm just me by myself wooing myown self.
I'll come somewhere else and doBattle.
Yeah, absolutely.
Why not?
(18:15):
I'll come.
I'll do all of them.
yeah the battle um girl did yousurprise yourself with what you
were able to achieve throughoutthe process of like comp
training and and competing yeahespecially i guess with um you
know after having kids um i wasalways like you know i can do
(18:38):
what i can do it and then icommit to it and i'm like what
have i done and then i just haveto like you know keep my myself
going and That was, I guess Icould pat myself on the back and
be like, oh, I actually did it.
But every single time that I doa competition, I grow a little
bit as a person, as a performer.
(19:00):
And I love being on stage.
Same as Nicole.
I love being on stage.
And it's like I commit to a compand then I'm like, oh, yeah,
that's right.
Now we have to do all thistraining, which is less fun.
And then I get to stage.
I'm like, this is why I do it.
This is why I do it.
I guess I surprise myself.
I try to do different stuffsometimes and sometimes it
(19:20):
works, sometimes it doesn't, butthen I feel like it grows, like
a little bit of it leaves itsimprint on me as a performer and
then I grow from that.
And so that's nice being able tolook back on where I came from
to where I am now is great.
Yeah, you've done a lot.
You've done also pretty much alldivisions.
Did you ever do amateur or didyou go straight to pro?
(19:44):
I went straight to pro.
pole dancing in 2009.
And there was a competition thatwas running then that isn't
around now.
It's the Asia Pacific PoleChampionships.
And I competed at that nationalcomp because it was national.
There was no state divisions atthat point.
I got first place at that compnine months after I started pole
(20:05):
dancing and then I was stuck inpro for the whole rest of the
time.
That's what you get
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
for being
SPEAKER_00 (20:11):
too good,
SPEAKER_01 (20:11):
Shel.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Sorry?
That's what you get for beingtoo good.
Well, there was no other compsaround at that point.
It's like you're pro or youdon't compete.
Yeah, that's true.
There was only that one in MPD,right?
Yeah, there was Miss Pole and,yeah, Asia Pacific Pole Champs,
yeah.
(20:33):
Yeah, and then we came in andthat's it.
And they, I think, stopped theyear that we came in.
But so...
What's the difference?
What do you find the differencewith comp prep between when
you're doing a doubles or battleor pro?
Doubles, I don't have to focusas much on cardio, so I don't
(20:54):
have to, you know, do the regimeof making sure I train a certain
amount of time so that I buildup the stamina for my routine so
I'm not dying by the end of it.
It's more just focusing oncleaning up the skills and then
sequencing what skills I want todo.
Doubles is just hilarious thewhole time.
I love doing doubles.
(21:15):
It is such a fun thing to do,but it's very time-consuming.
It's hard trying to get twopeople doing a routine and stuff
like that.
And then, you know, doing thenormal solo pro is physically
exhausting, but also you canjust completely tap into what
you want to do, and so there'smore self-expression through
(21:35):
that one.
Yeah.
What would you pick if you couldonly compete in one forever?
Pro.
Yeah, I knew you'd say pro.
You guys are all like, it's thehardest, but I do it.
That's the one.
What does everybody else say?
I want everybody else to chimein.
Yeah.
Well, I was just about to say,okay, Shell, let's do doubles,
(21:56):
but, you know.
Yes, Nicole.
Yes.
Yes.
Can you actually?
Can I take that back now?
Yeah.
You can't really do Queensland,guys.
Bad news.
We'll come somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01 (22:09):
We'll come somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00 (22:11):
Oh, my God, I'd love to see that.
We'd do it as an excuse just tosee each other.
Yeah, that's it.
Bring the babies.
Yeah, that's it.
Can we make it groups andinclude the babies?
And that's it.
She has babies.
And have them run around on thefloor underneath us trying to
catch them.
(22:32):
You can take my
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
babies.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
I'll just give you the babies.
Yeah.
Shell, you touched on, like, thetypes of training that you do
for the different divisions withhaving to include a lot more
cardio than, like, in pros solothan in, say, a group division.
(22:55):
So I wanted to sort of put thequestion to the group, like when
you structure your trainingregime, how does that look?
Like what do you, yeah, if I hadto like just, if you could give
just a summary to someone who'smaybe never done any comp
training or prep before, likewhat do those weeks leading up
to the date look like and whattypes of training do you do?
(23:18):
Do you cross train?
Do you focus on training?
on strength do you focus on andwhen have you finished your
choreography so just i guess thetimeline and what those sort of
um that comp training reallylooks like for you um yeah so
whoever's got a good conciseanswer first can go i i could
say that um i'd say Definitely amonth out for myself, I have to
(23:43):
have my routine solid and done.
So I'm doing at least when I'mgetting in for a training
session, I can get threerun-throughs done.
Usually the first one, terrible.
Second one's pretty on point.
And the last one's just, you'rejust building your endurance by
that point.
But I have tried to incorporatewith my training that when I'm
(24:04):
at that stage, as soon as youfinish training, grab a skipping
rope, start skipping and reallytry and keep that endurance
going.
So you can really focus on yourbreath.
Um, cause there's nothing worsethan when you, you know, you're,
you get on stage, you've got allthis adrenaline and you, you
know, you're pumping through,but your adrenaline is taking
over.
You haven't got any breath tojust like calm your, uh, a
(24:25):
little bit.
So, um, That has really, reallyhelped for myself is just, you
know, do a run through, grab askipping rope and skip for a
minute straight afterwards.
It's not easy.
I suck at that.
But it has definitely helpedwith my endurance.
So, yeah, that's a littletraining tip that I've been
doing.
That's a great tip.
I'm the complete opposite.
(24:45):
Oh, sorry.
Oh, are you?
You're the complete opposite.
You go, Bea.
You go.
Mine's pretty similar, but Ilike to have six weeks out that
it's all done.
And then I'm just polishing.
And, but I don't mind if even atsix weeks, I can't do it
(25:07):
perfectly.
Like, but I definitely need tobe able to do it perfectly two,
three weeks beforehand.
But at six weeks beforehand, theroutine is done.
Like I don't do any changes, nochoreography changes, nothing
like that.
Like six weeks, I have exactlywhat I want.
So prior to that, I'm thinkingabout combos and, all that
(25:27):
stuff, writing everything downthat I must have in it.
And then six weeks out, theroutine is done.
And then just working onpolishing.
I try to do two run-throughs inevery training session.
And they mostly focus on gettingthrough the routine.
(25:47):
So if I'm starting to struggle,I won't stop the music and redo
it.
Because I think if on the day...
I was really struggling.
I have to keep going.
Like I don't have a choice.
So I've never, even with theworst run I could possibly
imagine, I've never stopped themusic.
And even if I was slipping allthe way down, I just keep going.
(26:10):
And then like four weeks out,that should start to improve.
But even if it's not, I just tryto stay as positive as possible.
Like I've still got four weeksinstead of feeling like, oh my
God, I've only got four weeks.
I'm like, I've still got fourweeks.
It'll be okay.
So I try to start, that's when Istart to really change my like
(26:33):
mindset.
I'm starting to like really getinto and dive into like my
nutrition and like better sleep,better hydration.
And I'm actually prepping myskin for four weeks out.
So I like cut out oils.
I cut out greasy foods, evenlike extra salts.
(26:53):
Anything that could possiblymake my skin slippy on the day
that the week before I eatpretty much the exact same foods
the whole time.
I won't even run the routinethree to five days before the
comp.
And I just watch my video.
I'll watch the best run video sothat I'm not psyching myself
(27:14):
out.
If I have a terrible run, Idon't watch it ever again.
It happened, but it's fine.
I just try to stay positive.
I rewatch.
the good one, and I just watchit to remember but not to
critique too much because I'vejust got to stay positive.
And then I get to the day and Ihave the same nutrition like
(27:34):
food.
I'm very strict on that.
And I've always found that'sbeen the best way, that if I'm
just always thinking about howexcited I am to get on the stage
and just positive vibes all theway through, I end up doing the
best run on the day.
Wow, what an answer.
Yeah, I'm just very, verydisciplined and very
(27:55):
disciplined.
You reminded me just then ofNaomi Capelli because she's
exactly the same.
You and I, everything, thenutrition, the way she trains,
everything.
But she trains closer to compthan what you would though.
But, yeah, very similar in allof that sort of stuff, which
blows my mind that you guys arethat deep, you know.
(28:17):
Like that's a lot.
Guys, just get a skipping rope.
Just get a skipping rope.
It does make me calmer.
B, that is incredible whatdiscipline you have.
That's awesome.
I'm actually going to take a lotof those things that you've said
(28:37):
and like literally run themdown.
Thank you.
I've actually learned a lot likefrom my very first comp.
I was running it like three,four times the day before.
and i've just learned so muchlike one of those other
questions you asked felix likewhat or um al what have you
(28:57):
learnt from all your comping ithink the most i can take away
is the prep i've learnt andadapted my prep so much that now
this six weeks out like mentalhealth like planning like
nutrition all that stuff that ihave developed has been
basically since the start of myfirst vpc every comp before that
(29:20):
was just a learning curve justlearnt after every time i was
like ah yep i didn't do a greatrun because xyz let's cut that
out let's restart let's dosomething else and this has been
been the best but i've learnedevery time yeah give you guys a
heart attack go on We want tohear it.
(29:41):
I choreograph in my car on longdrives.
It's always the best time whenroutines come to me when I'm
driving, which is not good.
I do not condone that to anyonebecause you should be
concentrating on the road.
And I'm one of those people thatwill change my routine the night
before.
I have a heart attack.
That would give me a heartattack.
(30:02):
Yeah.
My heart is attacking.
I like you something if I'mlike, oh, I think it's from– and
I don't know how much everyone–I'm an organized chaos person.
I've always just been that kindof person in life.
Like if I'm too prepared tooearly, it just– I feel like
stuff just– it won't– I won'tenjoy it.
But, yeah, I'm sort of a– Ijam-pack my life full of lots of
(30:25):
stuff.
So for me, I'm like, yeah, nightbefore.
And I've found that when I havetraveled for comps and not
trained the day before, I don'tdo as well.
I do better when I do train thenight before.
I think for me mentally I haveto do a run through the night
before to just go yay or naybecause then I'm like, oh, that
didn't work.
Okay, then you know what, youhave to do the next day.
(30:47):
Or if it does work, I'm like,okay, yay, that works for me for
the next day.
And I know so many people thatare like a week out, they're
like, oh, thank God I had myroutine all done and it was
fine.
I was sick and then I couldstill do it.
I'm like, oh, I would die if Ididn't have that last week to
train.
I'm up shit creek without apaddle.
Sorry, y'all, I don't know ifI'm allowed to swear.
(31:08):
It's fine.
But it just, I think that's howI kind of, because I love the
performance side, it's how Ikeep the performance so genuine
and like enjoyment on stage isbecause I'm sort of, yeah, I'm
just, yeah.
(31:29):
I'm just not an over-preparedperson.
That's why I'm good at runningcomps.
I can do things last minutereally well.
If you ever need something lastminute, I'm your gal.
Yeah.
Amazing.
What a great answer compared tobees as well, right?
Yeah, I'm the complete opposite.
I remember one comp I did, I hada cheesy mite scroll on the way
(31:50):
to the comp and I did reallywell that comp.
So now I'm like, I just needcarbs.
Just give me the carbs beforethe comp and I'll be fine.
UNKNOWN (31:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:59):
B would be like hyperventilating.
What's going on?
Oh, my God.
Breathing in and out.
I mean, it's definitely aspectrum, isn't it?
Same thing doesn't work foreverybody.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So just quietly, I'm definitelymore of a underprepper
SPEAKER_01 (32:22):
than an overprepper.
SPEAKER_00 (32:23):
But what about back then in the day when you were
doing MPD?
You trained hard.
Did I?
Wow.
We hope so because otherwiseit's so unfair.
I trained a lot because I wasdoing a lot of teaching, a lot
of performing, but I did not doa lot of pole prep.
(32:44):
Majority of my performances areall improvised.
So I didn't even choreographthem.
Yeah.
Ah.
guys.
But I'm good at improvising.
I'm not as good atchoreographing as I am at
improvising.
So that's why, you know, youplay to your strengths.
I'm not going to, because I getmore stressed if I have to
remember things than if I don't.
(33:05):
And you know that you've got toput in the things that you're
really good at.
Well, you know, I have a roughidea of where I'm going to put
something.
So yeah, if it's a big, a bigbit of the music, the spatchcock
is going to go there.
If there's another big bit, I'llput the eagle there and then
everything else is just rollingaround recovering.
So when it comes to comp prep,the first thing I have to do as
soon as I've agreed to do acomp, I need to have a song.
(33:28):
If I don't have a song, it's nothappening.
Like I'm putting it off until Ihave a song, even if it's like a
few weeks out.
So I need a song.
In terms of training, I do crosstrain.
So strength in the gym, Pilates.
This year, I've been putting insome more cardio to help with my
endurance.
Definitely not skipping afterdoing a run through.
(33:49):
I would die.
But just general like runningstepper machine.
I hate the stepper machine, butit's so good for you.
In terms of actual poletraining, I'll do it in the
afternoon.
So I'm not too tired from themorning because I'll generally
do my other training then, havemy work day, come home, do some
training.
(34:09):
I'll try and split it up so I'mnot doing too much and I'm not
fatiguing my body because youwant to make sure you actually
recover, you don't injureyourself as well.
So there'll be days where I'mjust doing spin tricks or I'm
just doing static or I'm justdoing Corrie.
I probably wouldn't train morethan four days a week for pole
until it gets really close tocomp.
(34:32):
I will aim...
aim is a very general term tohave my routine ready a month
out so then I have a little bitof leeway to do it and then I'll
aim for like two to threerun-throughs as well and then
the week of comp I won't do anytraining for at least a day or
two beforehand I same I have tostart with a song I need to be
(34:55):
inspired so I need music andthen once I find the song it's
it starts choreographing itselfin my head.
And then I'm Nicole and I'mdriving around, picking the kids
up from school, choreographingroutines in my head.
I know I shouldn't do it either,but I do.
Or maybe it's I don't have anyother quiet time.
Yeah.
I start choreographing it to themusic in my head and I find that
(35:16):
things just start happening.
It's just like it takes a lifeof its own.
I definitely like to start,ideally like to start the
physical training a few monthsout from the competition, even
if it's just starting to putcombos together and to fit
things into the music where Iwant it to be.
I prefer to train in the mid tolate afternoon.
(35:40):
But the reality is I just got totrain more if I can get a piece
of time.
And sometimes that's at, youknow, 9.30 in the morning before
I teach class or sometimes it'sat 9 o'clock at night after I
teach class.
I got to have my routinesolidified a month before the
competition so then I can justfocus on polishing it or taking
(36:00):
out the little bits that don'tquite work the way I want it to,
really kind of troubleshootingit there.
I like to do a minimum of threerun through sessions a week.
And I usually stupidly make myroutine so hard that I can't do
more than one run through ineach session.
Or if I do, if I do, it's like,okay, so we're doing this half
(36:24):
of the routine because that'sall my second wind stamina will
allow me to have.
I don't do any other crosstraining because my ACLs on both
knees are kind of not reallythere so for me my pole dance
routine is my cardio so i justgot to take more time to make
sure i rest and recover andstretch and trigger point so
(36:45):
that i don't get worn out andyou know repeating the same
thing over and over um nutritionis everything so eating healthy
eating clean One month out fromcomp, I won't touch alcohol or I
will restrain myself from eatingexcessive amounts of ice cream
or chocolate.
So I eat really healthy and Istay away from alcohol and try
(37:07):
to get extra sleep.
I never do a run through the daybefore my comp unless the last
run through I did two daysbefore was a disaster.
And then I'll do another one.
But I prefer not to.
And on the day of the comp, Inever do a full run through on
(37:27):
stage because I don't want toeat into my energy reserves.
So actually performing thatnight, because so many times
I've made the mistake of doing afull run through.
And it was amazing only to thennot have not to be fresh enough
to do it properly when it comesto it on the night.
So that's what I've worked outfor myself.
I've noticed that with yours.
Like you never ever do a fullrun.
(37:48):
You'll just do bits or you'll doa bit.
Like if I'm worried about notfitting around the truss, I'll
do that bit to check my space orto check how the floor feels or
the spin of the pole, but I'llnever do a full run through, no.
Yeah, yeah.
And only pros are the ones thatnever do a full run through.
Amateurs always do a full run.
Yeah, because they've got to doit for their mental health.
(38:10):
Yeah, we do.
Yeah.
Battle, always do a full run.
Group don't and pros don't.
So that's interesting, isn't it?
Can I just say I've been sort ofwatching us a little bit and
there's been two points in timewhere we've all nodded like in
(38:31):
agreement, like nodded so hard.
The first one was, Shell, whenyou said there was like– like
sometimes in training where youjust like it's a real grind and
you're just pushing through andjust pushing through and just
pushing through but at the endof it you know it's worth it and
we're all like yeah yeah this isyeah that's like childbirth
you're all as well like you havea child then you forget about
(38:53):
you get pregnant again like whathave i done first freaking cramp
you get when you go into laborand you're like What have I
done?
And the second one was whenRobin said stair machine.
We all were like, oh, yeah, it'shorrible.
SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
It's really horrible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's horrible.
SPEAKER_00 (39:12):
So we feel really strongly about those two things.
Your body language, guys.
We're reading it.
Our little bobble heads werelike, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Agree, agree.
I will say, Michelle, I totallyagree with you on the alcohol
thing.
That is one thing majorly that Icompletely cut out.
(39:35):
It is huge what alcohol can doto your body, your skin type,
your mental state.
One drink is enough to make youdepressive on your muscles the
next day, yeah.
Yeah, and it just takes all yourenergy and absolutely.
I cut out alcohol basically fromthe moment I'm like, oh, yeah,
I'm going to do it.
(39:55):
I have three kids, so I'm notthat stressed.
That's fair.
That's fair.
I don't have kids yet.
I don't drink.
And so what I used to when I wasyounger, but I don't anymore at
all.
But it's incredible.
Yeah, I think that the toll thatit takes on your body, I don't
(40:17):
think people realize how long ittakes to recover and also the
cumulative effects of it aswell.
Exactly.
And when I say drink, I don'tdrink that much at all, but I
can tell one drink makes a lotof difference.
Yeah, just one drink.
When you notice it the most.
Like if I have a drink nowbecause I haven't drank for
years, I'm like,
SPEAKER_01 (40:37):
oh, I get poisoned.
SPEAKER_00 (40:40):
Take it away.
And I used to drink like a fishbecause I thought it was cool.
I would like to ask you all, allof you, this question because I
think this is reallyinteresting, this question.
Is there a piece of feedbackfrom a judge or a fellow
competitor that has really stuckwith you?
So whoever wants to answerfirst.
(41:01):
I've got an answer straight upin my head.
It was actually something SusieQ said to me like years ago.
It was before I had Madison, soit would have been before 2012.
So I was notorious.
Like, you know, coming from agymnastics background, I would
always be like trick, trick,trick, trick, trick, trick,
trick, trick, trick, trick,trick.
And it was her advice was it'snot what you do, it's how you do
(41:24):
it.
And that didn't fully understandit at the time, but it's taken
me forever to realise that it'skind of everything.
Is
SPEAKER_01 (41:33):
there
SPEAKER_00 (41:33):
anybody that doesn't actually look at their feedback?
A lot of people don't.
Yeah, most people don't look attheir feedback.
Most people don't ask for theirfeedback.
Most people don't ask for theirscores.
We only give out scores and wevery rarely give out feedback,
to be fair, because when you'vegot 40 competitors on stage,
judges don't have time to writefeedback.
So it's rare that we have any.
(41:53):
But when it comes to scores,most people do not ask for their
scores and we don't send themout.
you know, for the chance thatthey don't want to know what
they are.
So like if they do well, mostpeople don't want to know that.
So, yeah, a lot of people do notwant to know.
I feel that way.
I'll be honest.
I'm not someone that will readmy feedback or ask for scores or
(42:17):
anything.
Sometimes I haven't even watchedmy performance because I'm so
satisfied sometimes of how I'vebrought out on stage and done
something for myself and whatI've trained for.
I might be a bit naive and Idon't want to hear anything
negative about it because I'mhappy with how I did on you know
that's that's good enough for mebut then if I have been super
(42:38):
satisfied sometimes I've havelooked at them and then gone all
right sick I'm going to improveon this I'm really going to
focus on that um but I'll behonest it's taking me to get to
a certain point to actually getto myself to a read my own
comments and things like thatbecause I was too scared,
especially when I first startedout as competing.
I was terrified.
(42:59):
I didn't want to hear anythingnegative.
I was like, you know, just ababy polar.
I didn't want to hear that mytoes weren't pointed.
I know I don't have the greatestfeet, and then over time I have
gotten better.
I think I viewed one of my compsthat I was really satisfied last
year with that I read, but therehave been many performances that
I was like, nope, I was happywith how it was.
(43:22):
And I'm going to leave it withthat just for my own mental
health.
That's how I felt.
And I didn't want it to hinder,you know, anything else.
So yeah, that's just sort of myfeedback when it comes to asking
for my scorings or, you know,what are the judges have said.
So, or I have actually gone andspoken to a judge personally and
just said, Hey, can I just getlike, you know, it's a bit, it's
a bit nicer when you actually goand speak to someone about it
(43:43):
rather than reading it on a bitof paper and you're like, Oh,
same trick three times.
Like, damn it.
Yeah.
So yeah.
Thank you for listening to partone of our episode with past and
present Australian PoleChampionships competitors.
If you're thinking of enteringthe Australian Pole
Championships, entries closethis Monday, the 21st of April
(44:06):
and we would love to see yourentries for the state heats.
We are looking for entries forprofessional, amateur, group and
battle.
So this is your sign to get yourentries in and we will talk to
you soon.
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