June 6, 2025 • 28 mins
What happens when a pole studio mogul decides to close the doors, for good?
In this episode, we chat with Andrijana, founder of Pole Queens, former state competitor, and pole industry powerhouse. She once ran four successful studios, owned a franchise, and built a name in the pole world. Now? She’s stepped away from it all.
We dive into why she left studio ownership behind, what she learned from building (and unbuilding) a business, and how she’s channeling her passion into new projects like her pole grip brand. It’s raw, honest, and full of takeaways for anyone navigating change, burnout, or big decisions in the fitness world.
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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Hello everybody, all our twirly-whirly little
princesses and princes and themdays.
We are back with anotherexciting episode of Pole
Obsession with myself, FelixKane, and the wonderful
Elizabeth Damasette.
We are here today with thewonderful Adriana, who is the
owner-operator of, or was theowner-operator of Pole Queens,
(00:22):
which has had four studios inVictoria, the owner of Holtite
Brip, and a former state levelcompetitor with aspirations we
hear of coming back steppingback onto the competitive stage.
So thank you very much for beingwith us today and we can't wait
to talk to you about all thingspole and competition and
(00:42):
business.
Thanks for
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
being here.
I want to start with just howyou got in the industry in the
first place like take us back tothe very beginning.
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Okay, sure.
So I used to live in Queenslandand when I moved down from
Queensland, I didn't really haveany friends.
I met a girl that was like adress shopping sort of sales
lady.
I And we became really closefriends.
(01:12):
And she said to me, we need tostart hanging out.
We all used to go to thislocation in Paran to have
coffee.
Coffee eventually turned intococktails.
And then one day she turned upand said to us...
Oh my God, next week you allneed to bring exercise clothing.
I have booked us into poledancing courses.
And this was back in about 2014.
(01:34):
So obviously, you know, a littlebit more taboo back then.
And we were all like poledancing.
Oh no, what made you think wewant to do that?
And so she had booked seven ofus in and not really read the
fine print.
She paid for all of us and thestudio were kind of like, you're
not really going to get a refundon this one.
(01:55):
So I kind of felt sorry for her.
I knew she'd try to do somethingnice for this group of friends
and I ended up handing her themoney to go to this class that I
wasn't planning on going to.
And then she was really sad andI thought, oh, it's a lot of
money to just hand away.
I'm going to a class.
So I started out back in 2014and I I can't say that I
(02:20):
immediately enjoyed it I kind offelt like I was a little bit of
a baby giraffe learning to walkfor the first time and also a
bit of a hippopotamus trying toclimb up this pole while my
instructor just looked soelegant and graceful while she I
still remember her and she's onmy socials now which is kind of
cute but she was just so amazinghow she did everything and I
(02:45):
thought why does she make thislook so easy and I make this
look so terrible so I sort ofgot a little bit obsessed of
trying to look like her, I guessyou could say.
And after my first term, Ithought, you know, this has been
great.
I'm giving up here.
But I also used to be a rock androll swing and lindy hop
competitor.
(03:05):
And I hold a few state titlesacross Australia for that.
And just before I started poledancing, I did a competition
with a dance partner who livedin Queensland.
And then Halfway through the endof the course, I did another
competition with him.
When I did that competition, hewas like, oh my God, you're so
much stronger.
What have you done?
(03:26):
I was like, I've been going toballet and yoga.
I lied about pole dancing.
That's what made me stick to it.
So I stuck to it and then thenext bit was, um, and also cut
me off here if I'm just ravingon too much.
Uh, but after I did that, um,second course, I decided I
(03:49):
wanted to compete.
Uh, I did my first competition,which was like an in-house
studio competition and I kind ofdid it for a bit of fun.
Uh, didn't tell anybody.
And, um, of course everybodyfound out and then the pressure
was on and then I was determinedto win this competition.
So So I took first place andthen I was like, that's it.
(04:12):
I want to be an instructor.
I want to own a studio.
I'm going to open 10 studios andthe dream just continued from
there.
Is
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
that your second term of pole where you competed?
I
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
think it was the second or third term.
Yeah, I was in a very beginnerlevel and it was just in a
studio competition where youcompete against other students
that are in your same level.
UNKNOWN (04:33):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:33):
And so who was this instructor of yours that was
such a beautiful dancer?
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
Her name was Kelly Byrne.
SPEAKER_00 (04:40):
Okay, I don't know Kelly.
I'm going to have to set you up.
We're all going to set you up.
SPEAKER_02 (04:48):
I love that the, like, increase in strength was
notable from, like, your dancepartner.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (04:54):
yeah.
I mean, so...
We used to do partnered aerialsand there was this one where he
sort of lifts you up and bothlegs go over the shoulder and
I've got to jump at the sametime and he's put his hands down
to lift me up and as he's liftedand I've jumped, I actually
jumped completely over his headand he was like, you know, like
(05:16):
I was in trouble.
I'd made this big mistake nowand what were we going to do?
And I was like, it's okay, I canjump less, like, you know.
Amazing.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
So then where did you go from there?
What was your next steps?
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Well, after that happened, I actually had a major
injury.
I lost 70% functionality in myankle playing netball.
I ruptured three of my mainligaments entirely.
And I also have what's calledcomplex regional pain syndrome.
So sometimes what happens is mybody pretends like that limb
(05:50):
doesn't belong to me.
I was on crutches for 19 weeks.
I was unable to walk, unassistedfor 12 months.
months and not able to drive forabout another six months after
that.
And I was devastated.
My dreams were absolutelyshattered that I may never
become a studio owner.
I may never dance again.
(06:10):
I was going to like the OlympicPark Sports Medical Clinic where
they deal with all theprofessional athletes of
Victoria.
And it was not looking good forus.
So I I kept at it and they sortof told me to give up on my pole
dancing dream.
(06:30):
I'd be lucky if I would run,jump or squat ever again.
And I just kept at it and slowlybut surely returned to classes.
I remember when I wanted toreturn to classes, my main
studio actually denied me theability to come back because I
was not able to complete a fullwarm-up.
(06:50):
There was obviously the runningelement in the cardio warm-up
and I wasn't able to run.
And I went off to anotherstudio.
They obviously could see howpassionate I was and that I
wanted to do this.
And they got me in to do aprivate lesson to do a modified
warm-up so I could actuallyattend their studios.
(07:13):
So then I started to go aroundall of Victoria and try as many
of the studios as I couldbecause I knew this is what I
wanted to do and I wanted to getback into it.
So it took me a while to be ableto get back and follow with my
dream.
But I eventually opened my firststudio in 2016, which was the
(07:33):
Craigieburn location.
And I opened that under afranchise at the time.
After that, I kind of stilldidn't want to stop.
I just had this, I want to openat least three was my goal.
And so somewhere along the line,I decided it's time for me to
open another studio.
(07:54):
I was still in the franchise.
Things didn't quite work out inthat franchise with me.
So I decided to part waysamicably with the studio, sorry,
with the franchisor.
And, uh, that's when pole Queensreally came about.
So that was in about 2019.
And as soon as that happened, Iexpanded into aerial silks as
(08:15):
well.
After aerial silks, a weeklater, I opened another
location.
So that ended up being, um, thepole Queens Knox studio.
Uh, when I opened that studio, Ialso included hoops.
So I've been off a adding thesetwo new syllabuses to my service
(08:35):
offerings, but we were nowrunning Pole, Silks and Hoops.
After that, so Knox opened in2019.
Six months later, I purchased astudio regionally because I knew
that this is what I wanted, thethird one, and I also was
(08:55):
looking at the time atfranchising my brand and And I
thought if I opened a regionalstudio, it might be nice and
challenging for me to be able tolearn how to manage things and
be able to really offer everybit of advice to a franchisee.
So I started building my manualsto open and offer franchising.
(09:19):
When it was time for me to takeover the sale location, COVID
hit.
Me and my dad were in theredoing all these renovations with
a planned open day and we had noidea there was this toilet paper
shortage at all when I firstWhen I'm taking my dad back to
(09:40):
Melbourne to get on a plane,I've got no food in my house, no
toilet paper, no nothing.
The world's gone into chaos andI had no idea because I didn't
have a TV or a phone or anythingfor almost two weeks of these
renovations that dad and I wereconducting.
So sale didn't, it got to openfor like a week and that was it.
(10:01):
We closed.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:03):
I mean, I have so many questions.
SPEAKER_01 (10:06):
Yeah.
Then, during COVID, I ended updoing the Pole Queen's Melton
studio.
And, yeah, so that one was in2020, 2021.
Yes, 2021.
That's a
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
lot.
I want to go back, though.
When you were going to all thestudios around Melbourne...
Yep.
To learn different things fromthose studios.
What did you learn from each andwhat were the best things that
you picked up that you took withyou to your studios?
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
Oh, there were so many things like, um, you know,
sometimes it was, okay.
So just as an example, one ofthe things that I absolutely
loved about, um, pole princess,which is no longer around, uh, I
used to see their dancers andtheir dancers looked like they
mattered their height or bodyshape.
They had legs for days.
(11:01):
Like they just had theseamazingly long and flexible.
And, um, I don't even know howto explain it any more than
that.
These kind of legs and And Ithink that came from, you know,
what they were doing in theirwarm-ups and that there was a
lot of a dance element in there,which I loved.
Like I thought this was great tobe able to bring this into, you
(11:22):
know, eventually when I openedmy own studio.
So, you know, some of the otherthings that I liked about some
of the other studios wassometimes they had great
cultures, which I was like, oh,I hope we have that.
Or, you know, there might'vebeen something that just sort of
gave me a little bit of a,here's the, what this studio is
doing, but I could do this andthis and this and this as well,
(11:44):
you know, that they might nothave been doing and things like
that.
So there was lots of things.
I think I, all up, I went toabout five or six different
studios in in Melbourne just tosee what they were all about.
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
I mean, it's a good way to do it.
So when you say great culture,what do you mean
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
by that?
So I did go to one studio that Ifound was very cliquey.
If you weren't part of theclique, you know, you're kind of
definitely an outsider and youweren't always treated amazingly
and particularly, like Iremember, there was this
situation with a competitionyesterday that I had entered.
(12:22):
I'd come for a practice sessionand I came into the studio.
There was nobody in the poll.
I asked everybody, is anyone onthis poll?
They said no.
I did my warm-up.
I put my earphones in.
I'd done about threerun-throughs and then a girl
came in and was like, that's mypoll.
Get off my poll.
And I was like, I was mortified.
Yep.
And the thing that had also beensaid was, you're only a
(12:47):
beginner, I'm elite.
And I was like, oh, sorry, mate,like I don't care who you are.
I'm pretty sure the names onthese poles belong to the lady
outside, so how about you keepmoving.
So it turned into this bigthing.
Eventually that lady ended upapologising to me at the
competition and, oh, I was justreally stressed out is what she
(13:08):
said to me and I was like,that's okay, but, you know, I'm
a beginner and this is my firstpole dancing comp, like, you
know, maybe just, Think aboutthat next time.
But it was kind of a situationwhere, you know, all the girls
in the room were like, ooh, youknow, wanting to get in on the
little, you know, cat fight thathad happened at the studio.
And I was like, oh, God, I don'tever want to deal with that in
(13:30):
my studios.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:32):
Over a pole.
SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
Over a pole.
Over a pole.
So, you know, when we ranclasses, definitely one of the
things I would say is it's veryimportant to move around.
I understand we like to have thesame routine, but, you know, try
a different pole each week.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's no my pole because atthe end of the day I owned them.
SPEAKER_02 (13:53):
Yeah.
It's funny, isn't it, howterritorial people can get about
their poles.
Definitely, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:59):
They run to their poles sometimes, put their water
there and then just do whateverthey need to just so it's their
pole.
It's like so funny to you guys.
Yeah.
Just be kind.
Just be kind.
SPEAKER_02 (14:12):
When you were introducing Ariel Silks and
Lyra, were you also teaching allof those as well or did you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Yes.
Yeah.
So I had– I'm not going to lie.
I wasn't a fan of hoops.
I just– I'm a wuss.
I don't like the bruising.
I love it.
It looks so great and I'menvious of everybody who can do
hoops but– Yeah, I'm a wuss.
End of story.
But silks, I had done quite afew classes in silks and things
(14:42):
like that.
And I purchased an onlinesyllabus and then I rewrote the
syllabus of how I thought thingsneeded to be.
And I particularly found that asa studio owner and developing my
own manuals and syllabus, Ifound it important for me to
teach some of the classes.
So I would take the customerfrom the start of the journey
(15:05):
online up until possiblycompetitor level.
I found this important because Igot to see– that I might have
missed in the syllabus.
And then I just constantly keptimproving them.
I kind of, it's awful to say,but I, and my customers know
that this used to happen.
I used to say, you're the littleguinea pig.
(15:25):
And so they would get, you know,through the journey while I
would watch how they went withthe syllabus.
And each time, each term, therewould be some sort of a
correction just to make surethat, you know, the next lot
that were coming behind themwere them plus better.
You know
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
what I mean?
UNKNOWN (15:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
But I think that, you know, that sort of stays the
same, even if it is it stagnatesfor a little while, even with
like some of my beginnersclasses now as well.
I'm like, oh, I should add thatin or I should mention this or I
should like as we learn and growas people, we can like feed it
in constantly.
So I think I don't think that'sa bad thing.
I think it's a really good thingto be doing.
UNKNOWN (16:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
be open like learning and changing and
growing with the syllabus as asour like clients become more
informed and maybe they'recross-training and there's so
much more information availablenow so yeah yeah yeah I agree
good job
SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
so what
SPEAKER_02 (16:15):
was
SPEAKER_00 (16:15):
So what was your step?
Because you did mention that youhad a franchise first before you
created your own company.
So what was your step intogetting into a franchise and
choosing which one?
Because there's a few out there.
There's not a lot in ourindustry, but there is a few in
our industry that made youchoose that one.
(16:36):
And then what made you decide togo your own way instead?
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
Okay, so I...
The very first studio that Iwent and inquired about.
So at first I thought step onewas I'm going down Franchise
Avenue.
This was before I had my injury.
I thought to myself, I wouldn'teven know where to start with
everything.
And My dad was actually mybiggest supporter.
(17:04):
He kept telling me, you can dothis on your own.
You don't really need someoneelse.
And I'm like, no, I can't, Dad.
And, you know, anyways, I wentdown the territory of looking at
these things.
The very first franchise that Iwent to, I was headset sold.
Hook, line and sink are ready togo.
And I went and interviewed allthe franchisees.
(17:26):
And then I started getting thesephone calls from these
franchisees saying, please stop.
Please buy my studio.
I really want out.
And I was mortified that thiswas happening.
They, you know, they were tryingto basically sneak a sale from
each other and things like that.
And I didn't know what to doabout it.
(17:47):
I didn't know whether to tellthe franchisor or not.
Eventually, I told thefranchisor.
But it kind of gave me, youknow, this was a promotion that
we were all one big family andsisters.
And all of a sudden thesesisters were having this big cat
fight.
So I stepped away from thatfranchise and I looked at
(18:08):
another one.
The one that I looked at afterthat, I wasn't overly excited
about because I'd had some badtasting vibes from that
franchise for a little bit aswell and so then I found this
one that was I'd never heard ofthem before I met with the
(18:29):
franchisor and she basicallyshared the same passion and
compassion to the situation thatI did and I thought wow she's a
great fit and she thought I wasa great fit and I started
teaching and then I went downthe franchise avenue.
(18:49):
There was definitely someteething issues.
I wanted to get out even beforeopening the doors, but I was now
locked in this agreement.
So I thought I'll give it mybest shot for as long as I can.
But the relationship was justvery, very difficult.
We We just didn't see eye to eyeon a lot of things, you know,
(19:15):
and I appreciate that she wantedher brand to look a certain way
and I think she didn't reallythink about all the other things
that we could all do to betterthe brand.
And so it was very restrictive,in my opinion, and it just
(19:36):
wasn't working.
I wasn't the first to leave thatfranchise.
There were quite a lot of otherfranchisees that left, and I
think it...
It was just kind of the righttiming while the others were
leaving.
I thought, I'm just going to tryand see how I go.
I picked up the phone and said,you know, we've been doing this
for three years.
We're, you know, not enjoyingit.
(19:57):
And I would really like out.
And she was like, I think you'reright.
And I was like, hallelujah.
So we separated and I did my ownthing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
Oh, good.
So was that easy to
SPEAKER_01 (20:08):
get out?
Not really.
It took three years.
But, yeah, I think it was justmaybe right timing.
And I think, you know, after afew experiences and things like
that, yeah, I think it just sortof made sense to both of us at
the time.
Okay, good.
SPEAKER_02 (20:26):
And I think maybe like clear communication and
those sorts of things.
situations is always best evenif it's like not a a pleasant
conversation to have at leastlike like you say you can both
part ways amicably rather thanlike turning it into a big drama
correct um i'm gonna go off on atangent because you mentioned
your dad a back in the day whenpole was, like, less mainstream,
(20:53):
I would have thought, like, mydad, for example, took him such
a long time to come around andbe supportive.
But your dad sounds like he'sbeen, like, super supportive of
pole.
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
Yeah.
Wow.
Okay.
So let me tell you about my dad.
I feel like flipping the cameraaround right now to show you
that he's in ripping walls downwhile I'm in front.
Do
SPEAKER_03 (21:12):
it.
Do it.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (21:14):
Do it.
Where's the– why can't I– hangon.
There we go.
Flip.
Do it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Oh, he's in there.
Oh, my gosh.
We love him.
Such a good dadder.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
Yeah.
And he's actually sick as a dogright now.
So basically what happened, I'mEuropean, so I come with a
Serbian background.
In my culture...
Pole dancing, it's not somethingthat women do.
It's only for strippers.
That's it.
That's the view of the Vulcanmentality.
(21:50):
But my dad, who is literally– hecame here when he was 21– My dad
is not only my biggestsupporter, but he was the one
who was more okay with it thanwhat my mum was.
So when I eventually told myparents, because I didn't tell
anybody that I pole danced.
Up until this competition,nobody knew.
So when I told my parents, mymum's like, I want to come to a
(22:15):
class.
I want to see what you're doing.
And I'm like, oh my God.
And embarrassingly, I had toask, at the time I was at Pole
Divas in Moonee Ponds and I'mringing Tanya and I'm going, Hi.
My mom wants to come and seewhat I'm doing.
And she's like, that's okay.
Bring her along.
And my mom sits in the room withthis, like, yeah, keep laughing,
Felix.
Like, this is just, she sits inthe room with these arms folded
(22:38):
with this, you know, crankylooking face.
And we walk out and she's like,okay, whatever.
Sure.
And I'm like, Jesus.
Meanwhile, when I rang myparents to tell them that I've
started pole dancing, my mom'slike, you did what?
And my dad's like, she's doingpole dancing.
(22:59):
And my mom says, what do youwear?
And my dad goes, she's wearingg-string.
What do you think she's wearing?
And my mom's like, how would youknow what she's wearing?
And they're having thisargument.
And I'm like, oh, my Lord.
And I'm like, I'm just– I'mgoing for fitness, mum.
And my dad's going, this is verygood for strength.
I see on the sunrise thismorning.
(23:22):
And my mum's going– she's askingall these questions, mind you.
And– She's then accusing my dad,how does he know about these
pole
SPEAKER_03 (23:30):
dancers?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
And my dad's like all defensive.
It's all over the news.
And mum's like, well, I watchthe news with you.
And dad's like, well, you don'tpay attention.
So there's this big familyfight.
And I'm like, okay, bye.
I'm out.
And I hang up the phone.
And eventually then my mum wantsto come to the studios.
My parents live in Townsvilleand my parents were sharing like
(23:53):
nearly every single post soproudly.
to the entire of Townsville thattheir daughter owns pole queens
and come to her classes.
And I'm like, oh, these parents,they just don't get it.
Anyway, so my parents, myparents were never in a good
financial, well, sorry, theywere in a great financial
situation.
And then when my brother passedaway, he had a tragic accident.
(24:16):
My parents pretty much losteverything.
So they weren't able tofinancially help me, but my dad
is a builder.
And my dad said to me when Itold him I wanted to open this
studio and whatever, he said tome, I will go and get some
credit cards.
We will buy you some poles and Ibelieve in you.
Let's do this.
And I was like, oh, dad.
(24:36):
And he's like, no, you're asmart kid.
I know you can do this.
You're passionate.
You have to give it a go.
And I'm like, oh.
But my dad being my biggesthero, he just kept pushing,
pushing, pushing.
And I was like, you know what?
He's right.
With him by my side, he's right.
So I saved up some money becausenone of us could at the time
(24:58):
sort out anything about gettinga loan.
I saved up some money and I quita job that I was getting paid
about$140,000 a year to open myfirst studio in cash.
Wow.
Yeah.
What was your other job?
My other job.
I worked for the Department ofEducation and it's called space
(25:22):
management.
Nobody knows what that is.
Yeah.
I was a subject matter expert inspatial data systems, which is
basically like there is, let'ssay you've got a studio.
What would happen in thesesystems is that the system will
allow you to put an area arounda room and say that in this room
(25:42):
the flooring is carpeted andthen you can assign all these
assets to it and then you canspit out reports to know exactly
what is what.
And so I used to do that for theDepartment of Education where
there was like, thousands ofschools with thousands of
buildings and thousands of roomsand it would do things like help
the government determine fundingfor cleaning a facility or going
(26:03):
out to tender to get newcleaners or maintenance or
whatever the situation might be.
SPEAKER_02 (26:08):
Amazing.
Do you think that that helpedyou with running like your
business?
I'm always curious to how likewhere your experience in like
past industries has like how itfilters through but
SPEAKER_01 (26:22):
So I have a huge corporate background.
As a child, I had scholarshipsto private schools, but after my
brother passed away, I droppedout of school and I didn't do
uni or anything like that.
The first thing I did at the ageof 17 was become a nail tech.
I started like doing acrylicnails and things, started a
(26:42):
business.
And then after that, I worked inan accounting firm.
I worked in a financial firm.
I worked in a university.
I worked in an operations andcommercial services kind of
role.
From there, I then worked in,I've also worked in McDonald's
and video stores and Woolworths.
I also worked in the world'slargest chemical company.
(27:05):
I did business admin for CEOsand things like that.
So my background in terms ofwork I have seen everything that
makes something run like it'salways been an operational kind
of role and it's I think thatthat has given me a huge
(27:26):
stepping stone to do Like tobecome the studio owner.
I mean, I couldn't even straddlewhen I started teaching and
opened my first studio.
So my background was more from abusiness sense versus a hugely
popular pole dancer who's outthere winning the competitions
and things like that.
SPEAKER_02 (27:45):
yeah
SPEAKER_01 (27:46):
I want one even though you are a winner as well
SPEAKER_02 (27:49):
yeah also it sounds like you are like a like a real
workhorse as well like you youyou're not afraid of hard work
which I think a lot of the timesyou don't see how much work goes
into like studio owning runningand building all of those things
um so I think that yeah it'sit's a very um thankless sort of
a job sometimes I think it wasit's very difficult to
(28:11):
appreciate just how much goesinto it.
So I think when you are aworkforce, yeah, it does help.
SPEAKER_00 (28:19):
Thank you for listening to part one of our
episode with Adriana from PoleQueens.
Stay tuned as we'll be releasingpart two next week.
Hello everybody, all our twirly-whirly little
princesses and princes and themdays.
We are back with anotherexciting episode of Pole
Obsession with myself, FelixKane, and the wonderful
Elizabeth Damasette.
We are here today with thewonderful Adriana, who is the
owner-operator of, or was theowner-operator of Pole Queens,
(00:22):
which has had four studios inVictoria, the owner of Holtite
Brip, and a former state levelcompetitor with aspirations we
hear of coming back steppingback onto the competitive stage.
So thank you very much for beingwith us today and we can't wait
to talk to you about all thingspole and competition and
(00:42):
business.
Thanks for
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
being here.
I want to start with just howyou got in the industry in the
first place like take us back tothe very beginning.
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Okay, sure.
So I used to live in Queenslandand when I moved down from
Queensland, I didn't really haveany friends.
I met a girl that was like adress shopping sort of sales
lady.
I And we became really closefriends.
(01:12):
And she said to me, we need tostart hanging out.
We all used to go to thislocation in Paran to have
coffee.
Coffee eventually turned intococktails.
And then one day she turned upand said to us...
Oh my God, next week you allneed to bring exercise clothing.
I have booked us into poledancing courses.
And this was back in about 2014.
(01:34):
So obviously, you know, a littlebit more taboo back then.
And we were all like poledancing.
Oh no, what made you think wewant to do that?
And so she had booked seven ofus in and not really read the
fine print.
She paid for all of us and thestudio were kind of like, you're
not really going to get a refundon this one.
(01:55):
So I kind of felt sorry for her.
I knew she'd try to do somethingnice for this group of friends
and I ended up handing her themoney to go to this class that I
wasn't planning on going to.
And then she was really sad andI thought, oh, it's a lot of
money to just hand away.
I'm going to a class.
So I started out back in 2014and I I can't say that I
(02:20):
immediately enjoyed it I kind offelt like I was a little bit of
a baby giraffe learning to walkfor the first time and also a
bit of a hippopotamus trying toclimb up this pole while my
instructor just looked soelegant and graceful while she I
still remember her and she's onmy socials now which is kind of
cute but she was just so amazinghow she did everything and I
(02:45):
thought why does she make thislook so easy and I make this
look so terrible so I sort ofgot a little bit obsessed of
trying to look like her, I guessyou could say.
And after my first term, Ithought, you know, this has been
great.
I'm giving up here.
But I also used to be a rock androll swing and lindy hop
competitor.
(03:05):
And I hold a few state titlesacross Australia for that.
And just before I started poledancing, I did a competition
with a dance partner who livedin Queensland.
And then Halfway through the endof the course, I did another
competition with him.
When I did that competition, hewas like, oh my God, you're so
much stronger.
What have you done?
(03:26):
I was like, I've been going toballet and yoga.
I lied about pole dancing.
That's what made me stick to it.
So I stuck to it and then thenext bit was, um, and also cut
me off here if I'm just ravingon too much.
Uh, but after I did that, um,second course, I decided I
(03:49):
wanted to compete.
Uh, I did my first competition,which was like an in-house
studio competition and I kind ofdid it for a bit of fun.
Uh, didn't tell anybody.
And, um, of course everybodyfound out and then the pressure
was on and then I was determinedto win this competition.
So So I took first place andthen I was like, that's it.
(04:12):
I want to be an instructor.
I want to own a studio.
I'm going to open 10 studios andthe dream just continued from
there.
Is
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
that your second term of pole where you competed?
I
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
think it was the second or third term.
Yeah, I was in a very beginnerlevel and it was just in a
studio competition where youcompete against other students
that are in your same level.
UNKNOWN (04:33):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:33):
And so who was this instructor of yours that was
such a beautiful dancer?
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
Her name was Kelly Byrne.
SPEAKER_00 (04:40):
Okay, I don't know Kelly.
I'm going to have to set you up.
We're all going to set you up.
SPEAKER_02 (04:48):
I love that the, like, increase in strength was
notable from, like, your dancepartner.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (04:54):
yeah.
I mean, so...
We used to do partnered aerialsand there was this one where he
sort of lifts you up and bothlegs go over the shoulder and
I've got to jump at the sametime and he's put his hands down
to lift me up and as he's liftedand I've jumped, I actually
jumped completely over his headand he was like, you know, like
(05:16):
I was in trouble.
I'd made this big mistake nowand what were we going to do?
And I was like, it's okay, I canjump less, like, you know.
Amazing.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
So then where did you go from there?
What was your next steps?
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Well, after that happened, I actually had a major
injury.
I lost 70% functionality in myankle playing netball.
I ruptured three of my mainligaments entirely.
And I also have what's calledcomplex regional pain syndrome.
So sometimes what happens is mybody pretends like that limb
(05:50):
doesn't belong to me.
I was on crutches for 19 weeks.
I was unable to walk, unassistedfor 12 months.
months and not able to drive forabout another six months after
that.
And I was devastated.
My dreams were absolutelyshattered that I may never
become a studio owner.
I may never dance again.
(06:10):
I was going to like the OlympicPark Sports Medical Clinic where
they deal with all theprofessional athletes of
Victoria.
And it was not looking good forus.
So I I kept at it and they sortof told me to give up on my pole
dancing dream.
(06:30):
I'd be lucky if I would run,jump or squat ever again.
And I just kept at it and slowlybut surely returned to classes.
I remember when I wanted toreturn to classes, my main
studio actually denied me theability to come back because I
was not able to complete a fullwarm-up.
(06:50):
There was obviously the runningelement in the cardio warm-up
and I wasn't able to run.
And I went off to anotherstudio.
They obviously could see howpassionate I was and that I
wanted to do this.
And they got me in to do aprivate lesson to do a modified
warm-up so I could actuallyattend their studios.
(07:13):
So then I started to go aroundall of Victoria and try as many
of the studios as I couldbecause I knew this is what I
wanted to do and I wanted to getback into it.
So it took me a while to be ableto get back and follow with my
dream.
But I eventually opened my firststudio in 2016, which was the
(07:33):
Craigieburn location.
And I opened that under afranchise at the time.
After that, I kind of stilldidn't want to stop.
I just had this, I want to openat least three was my goal.
And so somewhere along the line,I decided it's time for me to
open another studio.
(07:54):
I was still in the franchise.
Things didn't quite work out inthat franchise with me.
So I decided to part waysamicably with the studio, sorry,
with the franchisor.
And, uh, that's when pole Queensreally came about.
So that was in about 2019.
And as soon as that happened, Iexpanded into aerial silks as
(08:15):
well.
After aerial silks, a weeklater, I opened another
location.
So that ended up being, um, thepole Queens Knox studio.
Uh, when I opened that studio, Ialso included hoops.
So I've been off a adding thesetwo new syllabuses to my service
(08:35):
offerings, but we were nowrunning Pole, Silks and Hoops.
After that, so Knox opened in2019.
Six months later, I purchased astudio regionally because I knew
that this is what I wanted, thethird one, and I also was
(08:55):
looking at the time atfranchising my brand and And I
thought if I opened a regionalstudio, it might be nice and
challenging for me to be able tolearn how to manage things and
be able to really offer everybit of advice to a franchisee.
So I started building my manualsto open and offer franchising.
(09:19):
When it was time for me to takeover the sale location, COVID
hit.
Me and my dad were in theredoing all these renovations with
a planned open day and we had noidea there was this toilet paper
shortage at all when I firstWhen I'm taking my dad back to
(09:40):
Melbourne to get on a plane,I've got no food in my house, no
toilet paper, no nothing.
The world's gone into chaos andI had no idea because I didn't
have a TV or a phone or anythingfor almost two weeks of these
renovations that dad and I wereconducting.
So sale didn't, it got to openfor like a week and that was it.
(10:01):
We closed.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:03):
I mean, I have so many questions.
SPEAKER_01 (10:06):
Yeah.
Then, during COVID, I ended updoing the Pole Queen's Melton
studio.
And, yeah, so that one was in2020, 2021.
Yes, 2021.
That's a
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
lot.
I want to go back, though.
When you were going to all thestudios around Melbourne...
Yep.
To learn different things fromthose studios.
What did you learn from each andwhat were the best things that
you picked up that you took withyou to your studios?
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
Oh, there were so many things like, um, you know,
sometimes it was, okay.
So just as an example, one ofthe things that I absolutely
loved about, um, pole princess,which is no longer around, uh, I
used to see their dancers andtheir dancers looked like they
mattered their height or bodyshape.
They had legs for days.
(11:01):
Like they just had theseamazingly long and flexible.
And, um, I don't even know howto explain it any more than
that.
These kind of legs and And Ithink that came from, you know,
what they were doing in theirwarm-ups and that there was a
lot of a dance element in there,which I loved.
Like I thought this was great tobe able to bring this into, you
(11:22):
know, eventually when I openedmy own studio.
So, you know, some of the otherthings that I liked about some
of the other studios wassometimes they had great
cultures, which I was like, oh,I hope we have that.
Or, you know, there might'vebeen something that just sort of
gave me a little bit of a,here's the, what this studio is
doing, but I could do this andthis and this and this as well,
(11:44):
you know, that they might nothave been doing and things like
that.
So there was lots of things.
I think I, all up, I went toabout five or six different
studios in in Melbourne just tosee what they were all about.
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
I mean, it's a good way to do it.
So when you say great culture,what do you mean
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
by that?
So I did go to one studio that Ifound was very cliquey.
If you weren't part of theclique, you know, you're kind of
definitely an outsider and youweren't always treated amazingly
and particularly, like Iremember, there was this
situation with a competitionyesterday that I had entered.
(12:22):
I'd come for a practice sessionand I came into the studio.
There was nobody in the poll.
I asked everybody, is anyone onthis poll?
They said no.
I did my warm-up.
I put my earphones in.
I'd done about threerun-throughs and then a girl
came in and was like, that's mypoll.
Get off my poll.
And I was like, I was mortified.
Yep.
And the thing that had also beensaid was, you're only a
(12:47):
beginner, I'm elite.
And I was like, oh, sorry, mate,like I don't care who you are.
I'm pretty sure the names onthese poles belong to the lady
outside, so how about you keepmoving.
So it turned into this bigthing.
Eventually that lady ended upapologising to me at the
competition and, oh, I was justreally stressed out is what she
(13:08):
said to me and I was like,that's okay, but, you know, I'm
a beginner and this is my firstpole dancing comp, like, you
know, maybe just, Think aboutthat next time.
But it was kind of a situationwhere, you know, all the girls
in the room were like, ooh, youknow, wanting to get in on the
little, you know, cat fight thathad happened at the studio.
And I was like, oh, God, I don'tever want to deal with that in
(13:30):
my studios.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:32):
Over a pole.
SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
Over a pole.
Over a pole.
So, you know, when we ranclasses, definitely one of the
things I would say is it's veryimportant to move around.
I understand we like to have thesame routine, but, you know, try
a different pole each week.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's no my pole because atthe end of the day I owned them.
SPEAKER_02 (13:53):
Yeah.
It's funny, isn't it, howterritorial people can get about
their poles.
Definitely, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:59):
They run to their poles sometimes, put their water
there and then just do whateverthey need to just so it's their
pole.
It's like so funny to you guys.
Yeah.
Just be kind.
Just be kind.
SPEAKER_02 (14:12):
When you were introducing Ariel Silks and
Lyra, were you also teaching allof those as well or did you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Yes.
Yeah.
So I had– I'm not going to lie.
I wasn't a fan of hoops.
I just– I'm a wuss.
I don't like the bruising.
I love it.
It looks so great and I'menvious of everybody who can do
hoops but– Yeah, I'm a wuss.
End of story.
But silks, I had done quite afew classes in silks and things
(14:42):
like that.
And I purchased an onlinesyllabus and then I rewrote the
syllabus of how I thought thingsneeded to be.
And I particularly found that asa studio owner and developing my
own manuals and syllabus, Ifound it important for me to
teach some of the classes.
So I would take the customerfrom the start of the journey
(15:05):
online up until possiblycompetitor level.
I found this important because Igot to see– that I might have
missed in the syllabus.
And then I just constantly keptimproving them.
I kind of, it's awful to say,but I, and my customers know
that this used to happen.
I used to say, you're the littleguinea pig.
(15:25):
And so they would get, you know,through the journey while I
would watch how they went withthe syllabus.
And each time, each term, therewould be some sort of a
correction just to make surethat, you know, the next lot
that were coming behind themwere them plus better.
You know
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
what I mean?
UNKNOWN (15:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
But I think that, you know, that sort of stays the
same, even if it is it stagnatesfor a little while, even with
like some of my beginnersclasses now as well.
I'm like, oh, I should add thatin or I should mention this or I
should like as we learn and growas people, we can like feed it
in constantly.
So I think I don't think that'sa bad thing.
I think it's a really good thingto be doing.
UNKNOWN (16:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
be open like learning and changing and
growing with the syllabus as asour like clients become more
informed and maybe they'recross-training and there's so
much more information availablenow so yeah yeah yeah I agree
good job
SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
so what
SPEAKER_02 (16:15):
was
SPEAKER_00 (16:15):
So what was your step?
Because you did mention that youhad a franchise first before you
created your own company.
So what was your step intogetting into a franchise and
choosing which one?
Because there's a few out there.
There's not a lot in ourindustry, but there is a few in
our industry that made youchoose that one.
(16:36):
And then what made you decide togo your own way instead?
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
Okay, so I...
The very first studio that Iwent and inquired about.
So at first I thought step onewas I'm going down Franchise
Avenue.
This was before I had my injury.
I thought to myself, I wouldn'teven know where to start with
everything.
And My dad was actually mybiggest supporter.
(17:04):
He kept telling me, you can dothis on your own.
You don't really need someoneelse.
And I'm like, no, I can't, Dad.
And, you know, anyways, I wentdown the territory of looking at
these things.
The very first franchise that Iwent to, I was headset sold.
Hook, line and sink are ready togo.
And I went and interviewed allthe franchisees.
(17:26):
And then I started getting thesephone calls from these
franchisees saying, please stop.
Please buy my studio.
I really want out.
And I was mortified that thiswas happening.
They, you know, they were tryingto basically sneak a sale from
each other and things like that.
And I didn't know what to doabout it.
(17:47):
I didn't know whether to tellthe franchisor or not.
Eventually, I told thefranchisor.
But it kind of gave me, youknow, this was a promotion that
we were all one big family andsisters.
And all of a sudden thesesisters were having this big cat
fight.
So I stepped away from thatfranchise and I looked at
(18:08):
another one.
The one that I looked at afterthat, I wasn't overly excited
about because I'd had some badtasting vibes from that
franchise for a little bit aswell and so then I found this
one that was I'd never heard ofthem before I met with the
(18:29):
franchisor and she basicallyshared the same passion and
compassion to the situation thatI did and I thought wow she's a
great fit and she thought I wasa great fit and I started
teaching and then I went downthe franchise avenue.
(18:49):
There was definitely someteething issues.
I wanted to get out even beforeopening the doors, but I was now
locked in this agreement.
So I thought I'll give it mybest shot for as long as I can.
But the relationship was justvery, very difficult.
We We just didn't see eye to eyeon a lot of things, you know,
(19:15):
and I appreciate that she wantedher brand to look a certain way
and I think she didn't reallythink about all the other things
that we could all do to betterthe brand.
And so it was very restrictive,in my opinion, and it just
(19:36):
wasn't working.
I wasn't the first to leave thatfranchise.
There were quite a lot of otherfranchisees that left, and I
think it...
It was just kind of the righttiming while the others were
leaving.
I thought, I'm just going to tryand see how I go.
I picked up the phone and said,you know, we've been doing this
for three years.
We're, you know, not enjoyingit.
(19:57):
And I would really like out.
And she was like, I think you'reright.
And I was like, hallelujah.
So we separated and I did my ownthing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
Oh, good.
So was that easy to
SPEAKER_01 (20:08):
get out?
Not really.
It took three years.
But, yeah, I think it was justmaybe right timing.
And I think, you know, after afew experiences and things like
that, yeah, I think it just sortof made sense to both of us at
the time.
Okay, good.
SPEAKER_02 (20:26):
And I think maybe like clear communication and
those sorts of things.
situations is always best evenif it's like not a a pleasant
conversation to have at leastlike like you say you can both
part ways amicably rather thanlike turning it into a big drama
correct um i'm gonna go off on atangent because you mentioned
your dad a back in the day whenpole was, like, less mainstream,
(20:53):
I would have thought, like, mydad, for example, took him such
a long time to come around andbe supportive.
But your dad sounds like he'sbeen, like, super supportive of
pole.
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
Yeah.
Wow.
Okay.
So let me tell you about my dad.
I feel like flipping the cameraaround right now to show you
that he's in ripping walls downwhile I'm in front.
Do
SPEAKER_03 (21:12):
it.
Do it.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (21:14):
Do it.
Where's the– why can't I– hangon.
There we go.
Flip.
Do it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Oh, he's in there.
Oh, my gosh.
We love him.
Such a good dadder.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
Yeah.
And he's actually sick as a dogright now.
So basically what happened, I'mEuropean, so I come with a
Serbian background.
In my culture...
Pole dancing, it's not somethingthat women do.
It's only for strippers.
That's it.
That's the view of the Vulcanmentality.
(21:50):
But my dad, who is literally– hecame here when he was 21– My dad
is not only my biggestsupporter, but he was the one
who was more okay with it thanwhat my mum was.
So when I eventually told myparents, because I didn't tell
anybody that I pole danced.
Up until this competition,nobody knew.
So when I told my parents, mymum's like, I want to come to a
(22:15):
class.
I want to see what you're doing.
And I'm like, oh my God.
And embarrassingly, I had toask, at the time I was at Pole
Divas in Moonee Ponds and I'mringing Tanya and I'm going, Hi.
My mom wants to come and seewhat I'm doing.
And she's like, that's okay.
Bring her along.
And my mom sits in the room withthis, like, yeah, keep laughing,
Felix.
Like, this is just, she sits inthe room with these arms folded
(22:38):
with this, you know, crankylooking face.
And we walk out and she's like,okay, whatever.
Sure.
And I'm like, Jesus.
Meanwhile, when I rang myparents to tell them that I've
started pole dancing, my mom'slike, you did what?
And my dad's like, she's doingpole dancing.
(22:59):
And my mom says, what do youwear?
And my dad goes, she's wearingg-string.
What do you think she's wearing?
And my mom's like, how would youknow what she's wearing?
And they're having thisargument.
And I'm like, oh, my Lord.
And I'm like, I'm just– I'mgoing for fitness, mum.
And my dad's going, this is verygood for strength.
I see on the sunrise thismorning.
(23:22):
And my mum's going– she's askingall these questions, mind you.
And– She's then accusing my dad,how does he know about these
pole
SPEAKER_03 (23:30):
dancers?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
And my dad's like all defensive.
It's all over the news.
And mum's like, well, I watchthe news with you.
And dad's like, well, you don'tpay attention.
So there's this big familyfight.
And I'm like, okay, bye.
I'm out.
And I hang up the phone.
And eventually then my mum wantsto come to the studios.
My parents live in Townsvilleand my parents were sharing like
(23:53):
nearly every single post soproudly.
to the entire of Townsville thattheir daughter owns pole queens
and come to her classes.
And I'm like, oh, these parents,they just don't get it.
Anyway, so my parents, myparents were never in a good
financial, well, sorry, theywere in a great financial
situation.
And then when my brother passedaway, he had a tragic accident.
(24:16):
My parents pretty much losteverything.
So they weren't able tofinancially help me, but my dad
is a builder.
And my dad said to me when Itold him I wanted to open this
studio and whatever, he said tome, I will go and get some
credit cards.
We will buy you some poles and Ibelieve in you.
Let's do this.
And I was like, oh, dad.
(24:36):
And he's like, no, you're asmart kid.
I know you can do this.
You're passionate.
You have to give it a go.
And I'm like, oh.
But my dad being my biggesthero, he just kept pushing,
pushing, pushing.
And I was like, you know what?
He's right.
With him by my side, he's right.
So I saved up some money becausenone of us could at the time
(24:58):
sort out anything about gettinga loan.
I saved up some money and I quita job that I was getting paid
about$140,000 a year to open myfirst studio in cash.
Wow.
Yeah.
What was your other job?
My other job.
I worked for the Department ofEducation and it's called space
(25:22):
management.
Nobody knows what that is.
Yeah.
I was a subject matter expert inspatial data systems, which is
basically like there is, let'ssay you've got a studio.
What would happen in thesesystems is that the system will
allow you to put an area arounda room and say that in this room
(25:42):
the flooring is carpeted andthen you can assign all these
assets to it and then you canspit out reports to know exactly
what is what.
And so I used to do that for theDepartment of Education where
there was like, thousands ofschools with thousands of
buildings and thousands of roomsand it would do things like help
the government determine fundingfor cleaning a facility or going
(26:03):
out to tender to get newcleaners or maintenance or
whatever the situation might be.
SPEAKER_02 (26:08):
Amazing.
Do you think that that helpedyou with running like your
business?
I'm always curious to how likewhere your experience in like
past industries has like how itfilters through but
SPEAKER_01 (26:22):
So I have a huge corporate background.
As a child, I had scholarshipsto private schools, but after my
brother passed away, I droppedout of school and I didn't do
uni or anything like that.
The first thing I did at the ageof 17 was become a nail tech.
I started like doing acrylicnails and things, started a
(26:42):
business.
And then after that, I worked inan accounting firm.
I worked in a financial firm.
I worked in a university.
I worked in an operations andcommercial services kind of
role.
From there, I then worked in,I've also worked in McDonald's
and video stores and Woolworths.
I also worked in the world'slargest chemical company.
(27:05):
I did business admin for CEOsand things like that.
So my background in terms ofwork I have seen everything that
makes something run like it'salways been an operational kind
of role and it's I think thatthat has given me a huge
(27:26):
stepping stone to do Like tobecome the studio owner.
I mean, I couldn't even straddlewhen I started teaching and
opened my first studio.
So my background was more from abusiness sense versus a hugely
popular pole dancer who's outthere winning the competitions
and things like that.
SPEAKER_02 (27:45):
yeah
SPEAKER_01 (27:46):
I want one even though you are a winner as well
SPEAKER_02 (27:49):
yeah also it sounds like you are like a like a real
workhorse as well like you youyou're not afraid of hard work
which I think a lot of the timesyou don't see how much work goes
into like studio owning runningand building all of those things
um so I think that yeah it'sit's a very um thankless sort of
a job sometimes I think it wasit's very difficult to
(28:11):
appreciate just how much goesinto it.
So I think when you are aworkforce, yeah, it does help.
SPEAKER_00 (28:19):
Thank you for listening to part one of our
episode with Adriana from PoleQueens.
Stay tuned as we'll be releasingpart two next week.
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