Meet Pole Coach Metro Mikee, Owner of Metropolis

Pole on the Call Podcast — Season 3
Pole Coach Metro Mikee, Owner of Metropolis

In this episode, Cris Rivers & Mændy Mac learn all about pole coach & owner of Metropolis, Metro Mikee!

BIO:
MetroMikee was born in his favorite city, Harrisburg, PA! He lived his childhood in various Global locations, including Lawton, Oklahoma, Wurzburg, Germany, Columbia, South Carolina, Hanau, Germany and numerous places in central Pennsylvania including but not limited to Harrisburg and Dillsburg (home of the dill pickle drop). Raised in a military household, he was educated with an emphasis in respect and empathy, as well as an understanding that everyone has an important story to tell.

Mikee started his Beauty Career in March of 2010. As an Honors Graduate of Susquehanna Township High School, he attended Empire Beauty School in Harrisburg and graduated with perfect attendance as well as a 4.0 GPA. His first lovee was manicuring and nail art, but his true lovees are haircutting, hairstyling, and Expressing his clients feeling’s through haircolor. He is currently a fully licensed cosmetologist and cosmetology salon owner with a current Harrisburg City business license, 7 awards for excellence, and over 13 years of experience.

He is very passionate about the craft of hairdressing as well as every other focused area of interest in his life. He is currently a central Pennsylvania pole art and fitness instructor and fulfilled his dream of opening his very own Poledance and aerial arts studio, Metropolis Dance studio (@metropolis_hbg). He is also very passionate about food and where it comes from. He is an avid gardener if free time allows, as well as a mini activist, running the March Against Monsanto Harrisburg Chapter for 11 years.

It would be his pleasure to help with any and all of your beauty, health, business and fitness needs!

LINKS:
FB: Metropolis HBG
Insta: @metropolis_hbg and @metromikee
Tiktok @metromikee / Mikee Bentz
Youtube: Metromikee
Metropolishbg.com and metroenterprisesonline.com


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, everyone, welcome back to Pull on the Call podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
My name is Mandy mack.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Ya and I'm Chris Rivers yay, and.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Today we are super excited because we are here with the.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Amazing poll coach, poll competitor, Pole studio owner Metro Mikey.

Speaker 4 (00:22):
Hey, y'all, it's so good to be here. I didn't
ever expect to be on a poll dance podcast, so
like we're literally making my dreams come true. Thank you
for having me.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Right, we're super excited for you to share your story.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Well let me just jump right in then and tell
everyone a little bit about myself. So my name is Mikey.
I'm also known as Metro Mikey as my stage name.
That's my social media handles. I kind of have that
on lockdown because it took me a long time to
figure out who I was, so I just went ahead
and stuck it right in my name. I'm Mikey with

(01:02):
two ease. The two E stand for the environment and everyone.
Those are the two things that I care about most.
So I am a pole dance artist for I believe
twelve years. In August was my twelfth year of pole dance.
So I have been just trying to stay focused and
keep my skills and grow my skills. I have been

(01:26):
a business owner for eleven years now. My full time job,
because we all know Paul doesn't always pay all the bills,
my full time job is a salon owner. I opened
my first salon in June twenty thirteen, and I was
teaching at a dance studio that's no longer in business,
so I had to kind of make a hard choice

(01:47):
of focusing on my career until I could get to
the point in November twenty twenty one, after the craziness
of pandemic was starting to die down, that I could
finally open my own pole dance and real arts studio.
So pod answer for twelve years, salon owner for eleven years,
business owner for eleven years, but Poldian studio owner for

(02:09):
two years. We celebrate three years in November coming up,
so that's a little bit about me.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yay, congrats, I have so many things celebrating. Your pole
aversary just passed. Now your studio anniversary is coming up.
Congrats on all of that.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yes, right, isn't your birthday this month as well?

Speaker 4 (02:29):
My birthday is this month, so I will be older
than the dinosaurs.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
At thirty seven, we are in our prime. We are
in our prime.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Like that's so young.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
It really is. Like, honestly, I actually was talking to
a few clients and friends this week about how exciting
it is at this point, we can, you know, extend
the modern lifespan to one hundred, one hundred and ten,
one hundred. I was like, by the time I'm a
hundred and twenty, I'm going to keep doing pole dance.
I'm going to work my booty off. I can maybe

(03:04):
make it to one hundred and fifty. So this is
just like the baby years for Metro Mike.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
So now let's dive deeper into your story. What started
your pole journey twelve years ago?

Speaker 1 (03:22):
So?

Speaker 4 (03:22):
I have always been active in sports, like even in
school at nine, I started soccer. I did baseball for
seven years. I was in marching band, which is honestly
one of the hardest things that I've ever done, and
that kind of fostered me into a life of going

(03:43):
to the gym and bicycling and running is not my
favorite thing, but a couple people try to get me
to do a race. So like, I've kind of been
active my whole life, but my one girlfriend love her
to death was also getting into a fitness kick, and
she too a bachelorette party, you know, unbeknownst to me,

(04:04):
and was like, Mikey, you love working out. There's a
little playground in my apartment complex. Why don't you come
work out with me and then we can you know,
make a healthy dinner afterwards. So I was like, yeah,
that sounds great. There happened to be a fireman's poll
at this apartment complex playground, and looking back, I'm like, man,

(04:24):
I hope none of the neighbors were like watching out
the window judging us. But I was over here doing
pushups and sit ups and crunches and some calisthenics things.
And she was on the fireman's pole trying to practice
the thing she learned at this bachelorette party. And I
was like, hold up, this is looking freaking awesome. Can
I do this? And she's like, oh, yeah, I'm going

(04:45):
to teach you how to get into the forward spin
pretzel and I was like, okay, let's do that. So
it was like that was pretty easy. What else can
you show me? And she was like, oh, I'm going
to teach you how to invert and I was like, oh,
I can do that, but like, can I climb up
and do it? And she was like, you can aerial invert.
I was like I don't know what that means, but

(05:06):
let's try. And I did, and she's like, I'm going
to tell you about the hardest thing that we saw.
It's called a shoulder mount. And unbeknownst to her, I
could already do a shoulder mount. So she's like, this
is crazy. I need to show you to the studio owner.
So she set up a meeting. I went into the
studio at that time. The owner was like, hey, I

(05:29):
heard you can do an aerial invert. I was like,
I think I remember what that was. And I climbed
up the pole and I did an aerial invert. She's like,
I also heard you can shoulder mount. And I shoulder
mounted and she's like you are hired. And I was
like what, Like, excuse you? And she's like, yeah, you
can hire. I'm totally hiring you. You are going to

(05:51):
be so perfect at this. I'm going to give you
a two week intensive training course and then you can teach,
you know, classes on Tuesday and Thursday. And I was
like why, So fast forward to the two week training course,
which ended up being go to the studio, plug my
phone into the speaker, put on Katy Perry's Roar, which

(06:14):
is the first song I ever polled ance till she
got a phone call. She was like, Okay, just work
on things. I'll be right back, and she never came back,
and so like an hour and a half later, I
was like exhausted because I had never used my pole
muscles before, and so I just kind of left the
studio and I didn't even know where she was. And
then I started teaching like next week. So not the

(06:36):
greatest entry into podions. I've come a long way since then,
But that's my beginning story.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
That's so funny.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
I can't make it up.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
You know.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well, I'm not sure I would use any of those
bad advice for my training program that I'm trying to
do at our studio.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
Caveat that is also not the training program that I
use at my studio. So throughout my career over the
last twelve years, I have failed forward many times to
hopefully do things a little bit better and appreciate everybody
else who also does things a little bit better than that.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
But how amazing for her to have seen the potential
in you because obviously you were made to do that.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
I'm so thankful and honored and humbled that I got that,
and something I didn't mention as I'm from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
it's not known as a pole dance capital of the world.
So I was just humbly thankful to have gotten this
experience to then go on and create the studio that
I have the certifications you know that I require in

(07:57):
my studio for myself and for other junior instrument and
we started with zero medals on the wall and we're
up to seven medals and a trophy because I competed
in Level five Pro division for the first time. So
it's crazy how far we've come.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Hell yeah, I love it so much.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Congratulations, Thank you more. Yes, we are.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
Already gearing up for the next competition season.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
So you just wait, Oh my gosh, let's talk about
your competitions and what can you tell us which competitions
you've done, maybe some memorable moments.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
Yes. So when I opened my studio, I was blessed
to have a One of the first students who showed
up was a lady from Venezuela who had been doing
pole dance before and danced with some relatively well known people,
at least in the Latin America scene. One of her

(09:05):
instructors went on to teach in Spain at a well
known studio. I can't remember exactly what it is. Her
name is Karen. Shout out to Karen. But she was
interested in coming to my studio and she was interested
in competing. I was also interested in competing. I just
didn't think that that was going to become a part
of my studio story as early as it did. So

(09:29):
I opened my studio in November. She joined probably December ish.
We had a birthday party for her in January and
she's like, I'm serious, Mikey, let's do it. Unbeknownst to me,
we were training. We had worked on things for her,
things in a doubles routine that we performed just at
a small in house showcase. And then she came to

(09:50):
me and she's like, I signed up for PSO US
Nationals for Level three championship. And I was like, oh,
when is that. I have another business, so it's not
easy for me to take off as a coach, or
I missed the registration deadline. She's like, you should compete too.
I was like, too late for that already, and like,

(10:11):
hopefully I can get off work to come with you
as your coach. And I was able to shuffle things
around get off for the weekend. She performed her routine
at level three US Nationals for championship and won a
gold medal, and I was like, okay, I see this,

(10:34):
So now my studio is like an award winning, a
medal winning studio. I guess they have to pick up
the pace. So that was our first year in business.
In the first competition. The next year, I did my
first competition at DC PSO Atlantic twenty twenty three, and

(10:55):
I won my first bronze medal, So that was really cool.
I had to compete at level four, which I felt
confident in my handsprings and two points of contact moves
to do. I just never imagined that I would win
a medal at my first one. So did that. We
went to PSO Liberty. I competed at that, but I

(11:16):
was there to help show the other competitors from my
studio like what a coach should do, so I was
much more focused on them. So even though I competed,
I did not medal, and I was like my head
wasn't here in the competition. My head was here for
the students. So one of my students got a silver medal.
And so we had this thing in the studio where

(11:37):
it was like, we're going to do competitions. We're going
to aim for one medal at each competition, you know,
in whatever category, whoever. And now we have bumped that.
The last competitions we did for twenty twenty four season,
we have gotten at least two medals for competition. So
you know, our trajectory is positive. We're growing through all

(11:59):
the adversity and hopefully we're gonna up the ante for
twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Love it and you were also a judge as well.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
I did have my first time judging at PSO Liberty
twenty twenty four, which looking back was such a phenomenal experience.
I loved all the judges. Mandy, you were the best
judge wrangler I could have hoped for in my first,
you know, judging debut, I felt confident going through the
PSO application and registration and training that I knew with

(12:39):
my background of twelve years well eleven years at that
time of dance, and then how prepared I was through
the PSO application process and then having you. It was
just like everything that I had hoped for and then more.
But it was a little bit of a crazy weekend
because it was my first time judging. It was my

(13:01):
first time competing in level five, and I had students
there who were coaching, and I was trying to like
schmooz all the vendors there too, just so I can
get in and their good graces and increase my pole
dance network the way that I've been able to increase
like my business community network here where I live. So
looking back, I was like, I don't know how you

(13:24):
did all that, Mikey, but you really did do all
of that. So it was fun, and I'm looking forward
to judging at many, many more events.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
You're awesome, right, I'm always so impressed.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
How Like I'll be sitting next to you guys judging,
and then all of a sudden, I'll see you on
stage and I'm like, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Like did you warm up?

Speaker 4 (13:44):
Are you ready?

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Like how do you get all of your brain and
body everything to do all of the things.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Sometimes I feel like we perform better under the pressure,
Like if I had all day to sit around and
think about, like how nervous I was to compete at
level five for the time, I probably would not have
done as well as I did, So it was maybe
a small blessing to be as busy as I was.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Interesting, I feel like I'm the exact opposite.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
I definitely need to sit alone in the corner and
think about my whole life before I go on stage.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
Well, when I in my studio, I try to coach
my students and members to some of the things that
I know work well for a general consensus of people
that I've come into contact with. And like our number
one mantra is repetition, repetition, repetition. I want my students.
I want my competitors to be so confident when they

(14:42):
walk on stage as soon as they hear that music go.
They don't have to think, they don't have to get
lost in their nerves, they don't have to fear stage fright,
because I'm like, we're going to be afraid, but when
that music goes, our body is going to know what
to do so that our mind can just go along
for the ride. That'sy and I practiced what I preach,
so that's how I am when I step on stage two.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
I love that advice. We'll just see if it works
for me.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
It becomes what is in motion memory, like body memory.
It's just natural. Oftentimes we don't just repeat the choreo.
We focus on getting a hard trick, and it's not
always about getting the hard trick.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, yes, Well, do you have any other pole performance.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
Experience other than in house showcases? Like the studio that
I started, we had Ladies' Nights they were called and
so that was just like you know, an in house showcase.
We would come up with routines. We could do doubles.
There were a few like during Halloweens, so there were costume,
you know, themed dance routines. The studio ended up renting

(16:00):
at that time a space in an old restaurant that
had a bar, so we did like coyote ugly you
know kind of stuff, which was really fun and unique
and not something that I've been able to replicate in
my studio, but we do. We still even though there's
not coyote ugly dancing. We do have a Halloween party.
We have you know, a holiday party around the wintertime

(16:23):
every year, and then I try to do like a
memorial and labor Day. That way we can. The Memorial
Day is usually good because it's right at the start
of our East Coast competition season, So that's a great
way for our students to get used to performing for others.
What we've been repetition, repetition, repetition, all, you know, January, February, March, April,

(16:44):
and then we have competition season and then after we
you know, come home with our next heavy with metals.
Then we get to just you know, have a fun
performance at the end of summer, after National's Labor Day
and just you know, kind of have fun for the
routine instead of competing the routine, so and then it

(17:05):
starts all over again.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yes, I love that you offer the dancers an opportunity
to have fun as well as compete, because they are
two separate things, and sometimes we get wrapped up in
the competition we forget that it's also fun.

Speaker 4 (17:22):
So I'm very blessed to I guess I would call
them my two c's in my studio. So I'm Mikey
with two e's, and my studio has two c's, whatever
that may mean. But my two s's are competition and community.
So we're always trying to foster those two things. In

(17:42):
my area, I'm the only competition focused studio, so that
is like really good for us. And we're in competition.
We have competition prep you know, Saturday evenings when it's
leading up into competition season. But I really try to
focus on also bringing in the students, drop ins members
who aren't necessarily competition focused, because I know that that's

(18:03):
not for everyone. So we want to come. We want
a network, we want to have fun, We want to
meet all different levels, you know, level zero to level four,
level five, whatever, because not everyone gets to mingle if
there are at different skill levels too. So the showcases
are really good for building the community in our studio

(18:23):
and then helping us foster like what kind of tasks
do we want to take on for our community. Tuesday
September eighteenth, No, Tuesday September seventeenth, we are taking our
six o'clock and seven o'clock evening class and meeting up
with the neighborhood Facebook group and doing a community cleanup,

(18:46):
so we'll wear gloves and take bags and pick up
litter and stuff like that, because that is also a
part of the community that we're trying to foster in
my studio.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
I love that so much. That's amazing.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
We're blessed to be in that community. So we're going
to show our appreciation.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's a great way to give back, Like that's a
real tangible way.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yeah, it is noted.

Speaker 4 (19:15):
And then hopefully anyone who walks to our studio in
downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I won't be like, Hey, what a
trashy neighborhood, because you know it's hard to keep these
cities clean.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
So true, so true.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
Do you have plans on performing in more competitions in the.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
Future, So I am definitely. We love competing at SO.
I don't know if it was because it was my
first competition or just because I love the setup.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
Or.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Everyone was so great, including Toby when I first went
to my to my performance when I was getting reduced at.
But the Atlanta competition in DC is just like, I
will have to do that everywhere. It's easy for me
to get to number one. And I just love being
in the highatt Regency. I love the conference room where

(20:13):
it's set up. I love the stage. So I love
PSO and the way that they think of stage setup
and how they do the professional videos and photos. But
the stage at US Nationals at d C. It's all
the same setup with the little twinkly lights in the background,
and it just does it for me. So that is

(20:33):
my favorite. I love pso Liberty. It's actually in like
a theater in Philadelphia, so it's really cool for spectators
who want to watch because we're not necessarily sitting one
behind another. But there's something about the DC competition. I'll
just do that forever for the rest of my life.
I'm thinking about adding maybe Chicago or trying goal to

(21:00):
this upcoming competition season just so i can go. And
and one of my students mentioned like, oh, well maybe
we go to Boston as well, so uh and and
I am motivated right now. I know that I'm level
five and I can do it, and I'm working really,
really hard. And I'll tell you a little bit about
my own competition cycle and preparation in a minute, But

(21:27):
my goal right now is to win first place at
level five. That way I can go to US Nationals.
And even though I'm a baby, I'm not getting any younger,
so my hunger for first place is alive and well
right now. So I'm going to see what I can
do to make that dream a reality.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
You can absolutely do it.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah it, and then I can just go and then
I can you know, I'll do competition, but I can
put that competition cap, you know, on the backboard and
just be coach. And one of my goals I would
love number one. In the year where the Olympics just
happened in Paris, I would love for pole dance to

(22:14):
be in the Olympics. I think that that would open
our community to a lot of growth and be really
good for studio owners because there's still so many people
out there who don't even know pole dance is a thing.
They don't know pole dance studios exist, they don't know
that the Lira is a thing. They don't know aerial silks,
and they don't know the kind of terror we put

(22:36):
our bodies through to be able to do this when
nobody's recognizing us. So I would love for us to
be in the Olympics. And I would love to train
one of the people in my community around my community,
I don't know, from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, to be an
Olympic pole dance artist, because I just that sounds so cool.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Oh my god, I love it.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
My dad is always telling me he's like, you know,
you're training Olympic athletes.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yes, Dad, I know.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, I just don't get the opportunity to go win
a medal.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
No, maybe in the future. I know their organizations were
definitely working hard on it, and hopefully soon we will see.
What I wanted to ask, because you were bringing up
the competitions that you always pay a partake in. How
do you create so much? Do you use the same

(23:31):
choreo or do you create a coreo for every competition,
because it just seems like so much work to be
always creating that much for a new competition.

Speaker 4 (23:38):
I learned my first competition season when I went to DC.
I performed that that year. It was in April. We
had prepared and we were great, and I won my
first runs medal. We had May June, and then July
was Liberty, and then US Nationals was August. We didn't

(24:00):
go to Nationals that year, but we did do Liberty.
In the time when we won a medal, we took
a week off and just had fun in the studio.
We weren't focused on, you know, our routine or winning
medals or anything like that. When I came back it,
you know, mid May to write a new routine for liberty.
I quickly realized that a month and a half two

(24:23):
months is not enough time to come up with a
new level four routine that fit what I wanted it
to be, that I thought was metalworthy. So now we
go one routine per year, and so we will perform
that routine and if we medal, that's great. If we
don't medal, we work on getting it metalworthy. If we

(24:45):
do metal we work on getting a higher medal. And
I mean if we medal, then it's like, all right,
we're going to go perform that at a different competition
and see if it's metal worthy against those competitors, because
each competition is its own unique and atmosphere as well.
So it's really exciting to not have the pressure of

(25:07):
making multiple routines. And it's been really cool to watch
my students have a routine and not get a medal,
work on it some more, and go. In this past
competition they won their first gold medal after not having
medaled at the previous competition, so it was like, we
have tangible evidence that this wasn't metalworthy. We worked really,

(25:31):
really hard and did the things that we had to do.
Repetition repetition, repetition, and then look, after all that hard work,
you can win a gold medal. So it's been really
cool to see that one routine per year really foster
growth and achievement in the studio.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
I love that, right.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
I never used to think about reusing a routine, but
there's so much value in it because also you've got
the feedback from the first one.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
You know what they're looking for.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
That's something I was going to mention, you know when
we got to my own competition prep because continuously my
judges feedbacks and wow, Mikey, you're so strong. I loved
your routine. It was well thought out. I know you
were doing championship, but it even had a story. The

(26:25):
clarity of concept was amazing. Stage presence eleven out of ten.
You know all these things, and they're like, but we
didn't see any flexibility tricks and I'll be very, very vulnerable,
but I tell everyone this anyway, I have not had
flexibility as a core component of my fitness for most

(26:49):
of my life. The things that I was doing, like,
you don't have to be very flexible to play baseball,
you don't have to be very flexible to do marching
band but I was. I did do cheerleading for like
a year and a half and not like when I
was young, I still had my flexibility. Now I'm not
that young and I have lost that over the years.
So in my competition season this year, I had Level

(27:14):
four bronze medal and DC against some amazing competitors who
all outclassed me in flexibility. So I have things up
my sleeve that were Level five. I just wasn't allowed
to perform them in Level four. So I'm like, all right,
let's go, you know, balls to the walls. Let's just

(27:39):
do it. We're not getting any younger, so let's do
level five. And I added I have been working so
hard on my split, my pancake, my forward fold, my
straddle split, my shoulder flexibility. I at the beginning of
this year I was not able to do a ballerina,
and I can do a ballerina now and it's not

(28:02):
like it just like my shoulders after all the years
of lifting weights, they don't go the same ways that
they used to. So Level five added my shoulder mount split,
which looked really good. I do have a micro bend
in each leg, but it's the splittiest that I've ever
been on the poll, so I was like, we're gonna

(28:22):
take it. One of the judges was like, great flexibility.
I saw your microbends work on it, and I was like,
I know, and I am. But the one judge I
showed my other competitors the judges notes, and the one
judge was like, wow, what a great showing of strength
and flexibility. And my students were like, strength and flexibility.

(28:45):
Holy cow, You've never had a judges comment that was
like that. So they noticed immediately the work that me
their coach like, I still have lots of work to
do on myself, and they called me out and they
were so proud of me, and I'm also proud to myself.
So work on your flexibility. If you don't have it,
you can get better. And if you have it, don't

(29:07):
lose it.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
You do you want to share some of the tips
and maybe training schedule you had to get your goals?

Speaker 4 (29:22):
Yeah, So I am fortunate enough to have created my own,
like my own career, if you will. I think I
know other pole dancing hairdressers, and I think I know
other hairdressing pole dancers. I don't know if I'm familiar
with any salon owner, studio owners or studio owner salon owners.

(29:45):
So long way to say, I have the control over
my schedule to be able to create my own training,
so it's a lot. Monday is my only day off,
which is like I can do fun things like record podcasts.
Tuesday and Wednesday are my gym like weightlifting and mobility training,

(30:09):
followed by three hours of teaching courses at the dance studio.
Thursday is gym in the morning, all day at the salon.
Friday same thing, gym in the morning, all day at
the salon. Saturday is morning classes at the studio, late
morning and afternoon and early evening at the salon, and
then Sunday is a bigger chunk in the morning at

(30:31):
my dance studio and then smaller chunk at the salon,
and then I am off on Monday to rest and
recover and I start it all over again. So this
has been going on like November will be three years
that I'm entering this schedule. So I am so blessed
to be able to train more than I'm assuming most
people with like a nine to five or a business

(30:53):
in a different industry would be able to. So I
don't know that I necessarily recommend every one training at
that schedule, but that's how I have to do it
to maintain both businesses and to competitors. I don't want
to say physique, but like the competitor's mindset.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
No, that was actually really helpful to me because I
am a forward vendor slash splitter and cannot do a
backbend to save my life, and I really want one.
So now I know a little bit of an idea
that it's set up my schedule. But man, you go

(31:33):
to the gym and then you teach three classes.

Speaker 4 (31:36):
I do Siri sometimes, I mean, she tells me I'm
doing good, but she yells at me. She's like, your
goal is eight hundred and eighty move calories and you
are at one thousand, seven hundred and forty calories burned today.
And I'm like, you're welcome. And now I have to
go home and eat a like shit ton of food.

(32:01):
So it's a lot, but it keeps me, you know
what's to say. It keeps me out of trouble. And
I really feel like I'm building something that wasn't here
where I am before, and I'm I'm attracted so much.
The idea of legacy, like I want to train an Olympian,
but even more than that, like I want somebody to

(32:23):
write my Wikipedia page. That way, I can just live
on into the digital infinity.

Speaker 3 (32:31):
I know immortality is to go.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
Like deadpoole, but like I am Marvel Jesus too.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
Oh, I love that.

Speaker 5 (32:44):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
Are you able to take breaks? How do you manage
self care with such a busy schedule?

Speaker 4 (32:51):
I I do. I do self care like I mean honestly,
having freedom and flexibility in my schedule and the amazing
people I'm surrounded by. I'm very extroverted, even though I'm
a little bit more guarded now just because I have
so many plates in the air that I may not
seem as extroverted as I am. But being around people

(33:12):
recharges my battery. I get a massage once or twice
a month. I am a huge component of like the
wheel of life, if you will, so, I focus on
mental health, physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, financial health,
career health, social health, and then like my relationship. I've

(33:34):
been married. Actually September twelfth, coming up in a couple
of days is my nine year wedding anniversary. My husband
and I got married nine years ago. It wasn't legal
ten years ago. Everyone's like, you guys have been together
for so long, why is it only nine years that
you've been married, And I'm like, well, it wasn't legal
ten years ago. So I can't strangle the government, even

(33:57):
though i'd like to sometimes. But we've been together. It'll
be fifteen years also this month. So I try to
work on all of those areas to better myself care.
I learned a long time ago that there's not really
and I'm a libra, so I love balance and I love,

(34:22):
you know, weighing everything out until you know it's perfectly
in alignment. I learned a long time ago that that's
not necessarily constructive because if I focus on my professional life,
my professional life gets better. If I focus on my
personal life, my personal life gets better. But if I'm
focusing on one or the other, the other one's going

(34:43):
to suffer. So sometimes and bless my husband, I have
been like, we have to create a life for ourselves,
and we have to be able to sustain that when
we're tired of working. So I'm like, our life life
now is beautiful. We have like a great house. I

(35:05):
try to remember now to tell everyone that, like the
lights you see if you're watching this on video or
you know on our teleconferences is powered by sustainable energy
because I have solar panels on the roof. We've been
able to build like a really cool life that matches
our mission. But I was like, our our personal life
will just have to suffer while we're building this, while

(35:27):
we're focusing on that professional aspect, and then later on
we can look back and be like, wow, I'm so
thankful that I did all of this number one when
I had the opportunity, but number two, when my body
was still able to do this. Like I couldn't imagine
starting a pole dance studio at fifty five. Everyone would
look at me and be like, Oh, that's great, but like,

(35:48):
what can you teach me? I'm like a lot, but
I can't show you anything. So we understand that now,
you know, and I don't want to like thing is
bad in my life, but I'm just we're both aware
that we're focusing on the personal or the professional aspect
of growing our life instead of the personal that we

(36:09):
later on we can spend a lot of time enjoying
our personal life together.

Speaker 3 (36:16):
I love that. It's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that,
because I know fifteen years, nine years and gay years
is a very long time.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
I ain't that, honey, so truly for sharing that, and
I appreciate you sharing how you're also working with balancing
all of it, the financials of personal business, the career,
the spirituality.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Because it's not easy.

Speaker 4 (36:46):
You can say that again, but it's worth it. Every
day I feel very fulfilled. So I believe you know
truly that it's worth it.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yes, it is, you dance. I'm curious to know this.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
So in the future I definitely have some ideas. But Mandy,
was there something tied to that idea?

Speaker 1 (37:13):
I was wondering if we ever mentioned what your studio
was called?

Speaker 4 (37:17):
Oh, you know, I don't think we did. My studio
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is called Metropolis Dance Studio. Legally on
social media, it is Metropolis HBG on Facebook because they
allow spaces for pages. On Instagram, it is Metropolis Underscore

(37:39):
HBG because Metropolis Dance Studio was already taken and I
wasn't putting like three periods in an exclamation mark. So
hPG is like the call sign for Harrisburg. So Metropolis
Underscore hPG. And then on TikTok, I showcase things only
from the studio, and that's at Metromike or Mikey. Bentz's

(37:59):
my last name, So searching either of those will take
you to my page and a little cavea into how
I got Metropolis. My logo is super cute. It's the
like it's almost like the Superman shape, and on the
inside it has an M instead of an S. And
then there's a silhouette of me doing like a split

(38:21):
grip pole dance, just standing by the pole, and it
kind of all tied together. So my my name, my
social media name is Metro Mikey. My salon is called
Metro Mikey's. So I was trying to think of a
ten letter word that had Metro in it, and it
just happened to be Metro pollless, so Metropolis. And it

(38:48):
was the Superman logo because that was Superman's hometown, like
he lived in Metropolis and Batman was in Gotham City.
And and I call all my students my superheroes because
we spend all day just flying through the air like
a superhero. So it kind of all tied in. I
feel like I'm leaving these little illuminati nuggets for when

(39:12):
somebody writes my Wikipedia page, they were like this Mikey guy.
He was so thoughtful and crazy.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
I love very clever.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
All of that is housed under my parent company, Metro Enterprises.
You can go to Metro Enterprises Online dot com because
Metro Enterprise and Metro Enterprises was already taken, so Metro
Enterprises Online dot com and there's links to all my businesses.
And I have an art gallery in my salon that
I showcase local artists like once a month or once

(39:49):
a quarter, depending on how long they want to be shown.
I've sold a lot of good art through my salon
and I love curating that space because I know what
it's like to be a starving artist, as a whole
dance artist, as a hairdresser. So it's another way I
try to get back to my community. So that's all
the places you can find me in Metropolis Dance Studio

(40:10):
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Yes, all those links and the comments and the descriptions. Yeah,
if you're listening and watching, did you were you able
to send us those I was checking out the email.
Have you sent us all of the information yet?

Speaker 1 (40:25):
I don't think so.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
I have I was. I was reading back through this stuff,
and I'm like, okay, well I have homework to do.
My whole pitch deck over.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
I love it. We're going to have all of that
in the captions and descriptions. So for everyone, make sure
y'all click those links.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Yes, wait, do you so the studio that you're in?
Do you just have a regular sound studio in your house?

Speaker 2 (40:56):
This fort.

Speaker 4 (40:58):
I always call this my broadcast studio. I used to
call it my YouTube studio, but then my YouTube turned
into only videos of our competitions, so I was like, well,
it's not really my YouTube studio anymore. So now it's
just my broadcast studio. But I recorded two episodes of
a podcast this morning because I love being a guest.
I don't have time to create my own podcast. But like,

(41:21):
my dream is to be uh and I don't know
if anyone's gonna recognize this reference at all, but my
dream is to be Robin, who was Howard Stearn's like
right hand woman, Like not have all the pressure of
being the Like I own two businesses, I'm a community,
Like I don't need to be the star of a podcast,

(41:41):
but I would love to just like sit in the
side and be like, huh interesting, let me add or
interject here, or you know, just kind of sit smugly
in the corner and talk whatever I needed. So I
have my broadcast studio for that, for the recurring guest roles.

(42:03):
One day I might have a podcast, but I need
to finish training all the other employees that I have
right now. And I am also a proud founding member
of the Green Beauty Community, which is a five oh
one CE nonprofit organization trying to bring together the beauty
industry make up artists, hair artists, you know, photographers, fashion people, estheticians,

(42:27):
tattoo artists, like all the people in the beauty space
to further our education for protecting the environment, uh and
also helping foster sustainability in terms of like keeping our
businesses open. It's still a crazy world after the pandemic,
so we need to continually be strategizing how we're going

(42:51):
to do better well, how we're going to deal with
the now whatever that may be, and how we're going
to continue to be better in the future while maintaining
our love and respect for or the planet. So I
need my studio to do all of that.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
I love it, right I don't know if the people
listening can't see, but it is a pretty high tech.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Look at the studio back then.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Oh I was observing. I love the Pokemon on the back.
I love the microphone. I need a microphone like that. No,
you are just so inspiring living the dream. I would
love to be able to give back to the community
likes as I grow as well, and I love to
see that other people are doing out there and it
can be done. So thank you so much.

Speaker 4 (43:39):
I feel like it's just like always been a part
of me, and some of that may have started as
like childhood trauma, where you know, I just felt like
I had to give more than I ever took. Now
I'm just I'm lucky that I have been able to
learn what I've learned, and I never I love giving back,
but I never do it, and I think this is important.

(44:02):
I never do it to the point where it's building
negative emotions or resentment in me. So I'm very clear
about what my boundaries are and I give as much
as I can as long as it doesn't cross those boundaries.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
Right, because the intention behind it is more powerful.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah, that is exactly right.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
Well, thank you for bringing all of the giving back
ideas because it's sometimes really hard for like I in
our studio always try to give back, but sometimes like
donating is not always the best way, and like these
are real tangible ways. You've given some really good examples
that we can all do in our communities.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
I'm happy to inspire. And I would just say, if
we're looking for ways to give back, I think one
of the easiest and yet maybe most anxiety and do
thing is just posting on our social medias. So there's
nothing stopping anyone when they wake up and take their
phone off the charger from being like, good morning, here's
my favorite poteon script. I'm going to share it with

(45:12):
all of you. Good morning. Here's my trick. I'm going
to be working. Good morning. Here's my training schedule. You
want a deep insight into my life, like I'll share
my training schedule with you. Good morning. You know, Instagram
story followers, I am having trouble with flexibility, help, you know,
because asking for help can be a great way for

(45:33):
other people, you know, to give back. It's answering your
prayers through them, you know, So it gives them a
chance to be needed, heard, felt scene stuff like that.
So going on cleaning up the community, doing education, like
all of that is fun, but like just posting on
social media can make the world a better place toal.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
I'm glad you said that.

Speaker 5 (46:01):
I was.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
I had the same mind frame. I just wasn't sure
and you verified it, Like just spare, give a PC
yourself to show.

Speaker 4 (46:12):
Yeah, I've met so many amazing people and I get
on them all the time because they don't post anything.
And I'm like, look, we all know it's a highlight reel.
Post your highlights. Come on. I want to see people,
will you know, call me or they'll be in an appointment,
and I'm you know, sometimes I love doing hair, but

(46:34):
I put my whole heart and soul into it. Or
you know, even teaching at the dance studio, I'm like,
all right, I'm outside down. I'm trying to show you
how to go from an outside leg hang, you know,
to a holly drop, and like, here, look at pictures
of what my dog did on Tuesday. I'm like, no,
post that on social media. I'll look at your stories

(46:54):
later and I can see it on my own time.
Like I'm doing something right now. So just posting it
allows the It's almost like a chivalrous like it's it's polite.
Now just post it and I'll get to it when
I get to it.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
I love it.

Speaker 4 (47:19):
Boundaries, yes, and making the world a better place for
other people who will get to it before I do.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
Too. Fuddy, Do have any other Cold Day's philosophies along
that you want to share? It that we're talking about philosophy.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
Yes, Our mantra for trainees repetition, repetition, repetition, just a
mantra for life in and outside of the studio, is
going to be a goal without a deadline. It's just
a dream. So we can dream about things all day.

(47:55):
One day, I want to be able to do a
rainbow marchenko. If I don't put but small, tiny achievable
goals to get there, I'm just gonna dream about it
until I'm no longer here on this earth or no
longer capable of doing it anyway, So our goal without
a deadline is a dream. It's just a dream. And

(48:18):
I know that we have a couple more mantras. I
don't know if any No, I'll share one more. And
this goes back to social media. Too. Done is better
than perfect. So if I'm trying to train something just
the act of doing it is going to be more

(48:39):
helpful then waiting until I have it perfect, which newsflash,
if you're not practicing it, it's never going to be perfect.
So done is better than perfect. If you're posting on
social media, people just want to see your dog. It
doesn't have to be your dog doing five, you know,
backflips in a row. We just want to see your dog.
Maybe one day they'll get there. Maybe not. So done,
just share it with the world, Just share it with

(48:59):
your community, Just share it with your spouse, your neighbor.
Done is better than perfect.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
I love it. Thank you for sharing those philosophies.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Yes, go ahead me.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Oh no, I was going to pop back to the
question that you brought up was where do you see
yourself in five years?

Speaker 4 (49:23):
So in five years I touched on a few of
these things I would love to well in five years.
Let me go backwards because another thing that I love
for you know philosophy is if you set a goal,
it's great, we want a deadline on it, but ten exit.

(49:45):
So if you want to make a thousand dollars teaching
pole dance, we're going to ten exit. You know, one
thousand dollars a year, a month or whatever we're going to.
So now it's ten thousand dollars, and if we don't
hit ten thousand dollars, but we hit three thousand dollars,
we've already done better than one thousand dollars. So if

(50:08):
we set a goal ten exit and then see where
you get to. So in five years, I want to
either have a second location or move completely from the
location that I'm out now, which is amazing. I love
my location. I love it's a building from nineteen thirty's

(50:29):
Art Deco era, which is exactly what Superman's comic book
was drawn in, so there's another theme that ties in.
It's a relatively small studio, has one main room. I
have enough room for like four apparatuses. So we have
competition polls set up approximately eight feet apart. I think

(50:52):
they might be a little bit more than that, and
they're twelve feet high. So my competition my studio is
competition regulation and I set it up like that on purpose.
The room is a square the competition. Our poles are
diagonal from each other, so on the opposite diagonal, from

(51:13):
the other corner to the other corner, we have two
spaces for like a hanging apparatus like silks, Lira, flying pole,
something like that. So it's great to start out, and
it was what I could afford and what I could
devote time to initially already having a full time business

(51:35):
to run. So it's like this is perfect. Twelve foot ceilings,
twelve foot poles, set it up like competition. We have grown,
thankfully to the point where we're adding new instructors because
we can fill the space, but we haven't filled the day.
So we're we're taking the same space that we have

(51:55):
and we're going to work really hard to continue growing
and we're going to add more classes that way, even
if people can't come to the full classes now, there's
still other classes where we can utilize that same building.
And then we're just going to grow the heck out
of ourselves, maybe add more instructors, maybe add different like
I would love to, And the only reason I don't

(52:18):
now is because I just haven't made it a priority
to put a little call out on our social media's
for our area. I would love to have people like
I have the pole away system from Expole, so I
can lift the polls and take the hanging out of
paratuses down and somebody can come teach ballet or tap
or jazz or calisthenics or mobility or flexibility or yoga.

(52:39):
So like, we're going to grow the studio to that.
So my five year goal is to have grown the
studio so much that we don't fit there anymore, and
we either have to you know, split and let studio
manager stay in that location, or all stay in that
location and the studio manager can take you know, half
of the students and be in a second look, or

(53:00):
we just need to move to a bigger location.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
You had this all plant that. I love this. This
is exciting. I can't to see what happens.

Speaker 4 (53:12):
If anyone's So I luckily was able to be profitable
my first year in business, which it wasn't a lot
of profit, but we didn't go backwards, so that was good.
I was like, how long can I funnel money from
one business into the other? Luckily, you know it was

(53:36):
we were at a break even and had a little
bit of profit. So from there, like the business is
kind of self sustainable now. But there are a lot
more things than just like knowing how to do an
aisha or being able to run a social media page
to make a business profitable. Let alone make a business

(53:58):
profitable in its first year. I'm going to take the
opportunity and do a little plug. I am a panelist
at Virtual poll Con. I believe it's October twenty six,
is the Saturday, and I'm going to be one of
the panelists leading the pole business segment. So I'm super
excited to share all of that. So if you haven't

(54:19):
gotten your ticket, get your ticket and I'll see you
there so I can share many many more tips, tricks
and clubhouse nuggets. I think was what we were doing
during the pandemic.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Thank you so much for sharing that information because so
many of us are just dancers turned business owners.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
And if I wouldn't have been a starving artist, you know,
hairdresser trying to do stuff in my kitchen and turn
that crazy dream into a functioning business that's also been
profitable and has been able to you know, help the
community but also give me, like a really nice life,
I wouldn't have been able to bring that knowledge into

(55:03):
the pol dance arena. In a place, and I will
tell you central Pennsylvania where Harrisburg is. It's between Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh. Those are known to be open minded accepting places.
That's not always the case where I am. So I
if I didn't have a sound business plan, I would
not have succeeded where I was.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
Amazing plans everything. Oftentimes we just rush into it. Oh,
we haven't asked.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
I was thinking that too.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
We didn't ask at all. What is your favorite? Poultrig so.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
I I'm really in love with twisted Handspring. It was
one of the first things that I felt like separated
me from from the other, Like I don't want to
say separated me, but it gave people that wow factor
because like I could go I could travel to Pittsburgh,

(56:11):
or I could go to DC and I could find
a tree, or I could find, you know, a street
sign and be like, next thing, you know, you're doing
a human flag. And everyone's like, I've been going to
the gym for ten years and I can't do that,
and I'm like, welcome to pou dance class. I'll teach you.
So that is my favorite. I love the variations like
twisted Ayesha. I love the you know, the twisted pencil.

(56:34):
And the thing that really gets everyone from this previous
routine is doing the variations and then doing the twisted
plank where I just hold myself straight out, not like
an iron next to the side, but with you know,
shoulders and chests facing the ceiling and just holding it
for as long as I can. So that's my favorite.

(56:58):
But I'm really in love with the allegra right now
because I've been working on my flexibility and I I
can do like each half of the move, like if
my top hand goes behind the leg, I can get
that down, and if my top hand goes in front
of the leg, I can reach my foot with the
bottom hand to the bottom foot. But I can't put

(57:21):
it all together yet. So well, you just watch. There's
gonna be one in my routine next year. So that's
my favorite to work on right now.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
Hell yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna scream so loud.

Speaker 4 (57:34):
I'm like, Oh, I'm upside down in an allegra, and
that's mandy.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
I'd be like.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
The second part of that question.

Speaker 3 (57:50):
Is your po nemesis if any.

Speaker 4 (57:56):
Literally anything split the divas split, the shoulder mount split
the like I would love to have what is it
a Marian amber? Like all of those things are so
the rainbow marchenkoh j Ellegra, like all of those things

(58:18):
are so beauty. I think there's an elbow an elbow
hold split where it's you're just on your elbow hold
and you stick your leg up like it's a needle split,
and then nothing else is holding the pole and I'm like, dreamy,
that's so breathtaking. One day, I may never be able
to do that, but I'm going to dream and I'm

(58:38):
going to love it and it's going to be my
nemesis until i can.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Right, you trained enough to get your flexibility for some splits,
you can get all the splits.

Speaker 4 (58:53):
Yes, I turned thirty seven, so my goal is to
do all the splits by forty I think yes, but yeah,
because I said, like a goal without a deadline, it's
just a dream.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
So I'm hoping to get my needle scale by fifty,
which is now in seven years, and so I need
to work on that.

Speaker 4 (59:13):
I started working on my split two years ago in August.
I was like, all right, I'm going to make it
a point. I'm going to train it all the time.
I'm so close, like especially if I'm nice and warm
and it's a hot day, I am like two to
three inches and I just am working so hard to
close that gap.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
I can't wait for you. It's such a good feeling
when you feel them touch the floor.

Speaker 4 (59:44):
I can't wait. I am going to do it and
so let me. I respect so much. The person who
got me into Poldians, who like wasn't my friend, was
if Gainy Greshelov and I watched his video and that

(01:00:05):
so I was like, this crazy lady had me to
her studio. She hired me. What am I going to do?
And like I watched videos and I was like, okay,
this is like what he can do. I want to
be him when I grow up. And so today I
still like got fangirl on all of his instagrams, Like
I follow his Facebook. You know, no one's on Facebook

(01:00:27):
anymore except me following what he's doing. I'm the only one.
But he has inspired me and like if I can
be flexible, strong, mobile, have the great stamina like he can,
Like that's what I'm going to work towards.

Speaker 3 (01:00:49):
I'm gonna have to check him out. I feel like
I've heard greshel but I don't know. I know, I
don't follow him, and it's Gainy.

Speaker 4 (01:00:58):
Ev Gany like to use a westernized pronunciation e e
v G e y ev get me Ev, but I think,
like pronounced over there is you have, Ganny, I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (01:01:17):
With the flexibility, I love any like inspiration, like just
seeing another man doing I'm like, yes, I can do
it with the work if I put it in.

Speaker 4 (01:01:26):
And I remember watching Dmitri Polotov before he had a
pole dance camp in every beautiful sunny tropical location that exists.
I remember watching Alex Schukin, who was also like doing
some crazy things, uh, you know, concerning strength and flexibility.
Uh so these are some really cool sholders of giants

(01:01:50):
moments like I feel like I'm only who I am.
I am not at their level. I'm okay with that.
I'm doing what I'm doing, but like, I'm only who
I am because I was inspired by them during the
formative moments of my pole dance career.

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
I hope you get to meet them someday.

Speaker 4 (01:02:08):
If you haven't already, let me knock on wood so
you don't jinx me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:17):
I feel mine. I think who was mine? It was
the pole Wizard, but mostly Adam Lynn. I don't know
if you've heard of Adam Lynn.

Speaker 4 (01:02:26):
I gues We're friends on Instagram and Facebook. Me and
Adam Lynn and I know the pole Wizard. I was
in a private Facebook group with him before the pole
Wizard was even born. He took a hiatus from pole
for a little while and then came back. It was like,
all right, on the pole Wizard, and I'm so proud

(01:02:47):
of what he's been doing. Like I don't know if
he shares his real name anymore, but I know him
by his real name, his government name. So yes, these
are people who are I just I'm in love with
Dan Rosen, like who was not who Dan Rosen is now.
When I was starting like the the I'm just so

(01:03:11):
proud of everyone and and I wish I had been
able to go along on that journey, but I had
to focus on, like my main career so that I
can join you all now.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
Facts, right, there's.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
No timeline or time limit for the poll Dan's journey
and it goes like this, Yes, my hands are everywhere
for those who can't see.

Speaker 4 (01:03:33):
I was like, the people listening to the podcast are
going to be like, hmm.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
It goes like this space.

Speaker 4 (01:03:42):
Cricket, cricket, cricket, cricket.

Speaker 3 (01:03:49):
Right, we already know his bugle job, which I don't
really think is a muggle job, cause solon a salon.
That's that's like art street there. Ugle job is like
that corporate nine to five.

Speaker 4 (01:04:05):
I can't do it. I never could do it. I
went straight from like newspaper route to babysitting and dog
sitting and house kitting the neighborhood. Like eleven, I got
a paper route. I moved away from there. There was
no paper route where I lived. House sitting, babysitting, dog sitting.
Got a job at Taco bell as my first like
you know, muggle job, if you will. I was sixteen,

(01:04:28):
so I'd go to school. I'd get my homework done
in class. I was always a little bit of an overachiever.
And then I'd go to work and I'd work, you know,
five pm to ten pm. I'd go home, sleep, eat, repeat,
do it all over again. When my parents are military,
I was living in Germany at the time when this
was going on. I moved back to the US to

(01:04:49):
graduate from a school that had many more extra curriculars
than what the Department of Defense could offer in the
American schools. Abroad, food like fast food, fast casual concepts
into serving and that's when I realized that like the
little section of tables that I was assigned turned into

(01:05:11):
my own business. I could run it as efficient, as expedient,
as polite, as friendly as I wanted to, and like
I made all the money. I'm telling you, if there
was and I know that we're destigmatizing stripping and we
pay homage to that, and there's a whole, big, beautiful
world of pole dance, but like there is nowhere for

(01:05:33):
a gentleman to strip in my area, I would have
to like drive very far to get there. But if
there was, honey, just like I did in that little
section in the restaurant, I would make all the money.
Who So I've always kind of like been in that
business art, like the art of the art of the deal,

(01:05:55):
the art of charisma, like making people feel how I
think and how they deserve to be treated and how
they should feel.

Speaker 3 (01:06:06):
I love that maybe you can make the first male
strick club out there.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
I'm doing enough.

Speaker 3 (01:06:14):
That is so true. But I definitely understand that the
one male stripl that we have out here. I did
it for a year and it was it wasn't what
I'd hoped to be. Unfortunately, it was fun, don't get
me wrong, But a lot of the politics, like run
by people who have never been strippers, who just don't care.

Speaker 4 (01:06:38):
Well, it sounds like they need to enlist in some
metro Mike's business coaching.

Speaker 1 (01:06:44):
Yes, always marketing.

Speaker 3 (01:06:54):
Too funny. Then what are things coming soon? Is there
anything else you would like to share? Any advice or
tips or anything else you want to plug?

Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:07:08):
No, I think I've like covered everything I see. I
have to save a couple things for my follow up episode.
I'm trying to be your Robin. Come on now, Like,
I need y'all to have me back so I can
sit in the corner and be like, hmm, yes, I
can't give it all. You know all the way in
the first episode I love, But I will say that

(01:07:29):
I do love connecting with people. I have a caveat
with that, So find me on social media, hit me up.
The website I think has the email like if you
need to email me a question.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Oh.

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
Another way that I can answer any questions that people
might have is leaving a rating and review and we
can scour the episode and see what questions anyone has.
The more stars you leave, the quicker your question will
get answered. But no, I love connecting with everyone, and
something I just remember that I do want to share,

(01:08:05):
and I've told this to my students and community and
like hair clients and family members, the pole dance an
aerial arts community is the most supportive, open minded, accepting, transparent,
willing community I have ever found. Like there is no
even in competitions, we're like, Okay, we got to compete

(01:08:28):
against this person. We want to win a medal, we
want to do all the things, and we're going to
cheer for them the whole time that they're on stage two.
And I think that there's great things about competition, but
there's even better things about like collaboration and camaraderie and community,
you know, to use that word again. So if anyone

(01:08:51):
is listening to this, who's on the fence about joining
the pole dance and aerial arts or stripper community, just
do it. Because we are literally no one's in our corner,
so we're all in each other's corners. So I try
to tell everyone like, there's no there's no hairdresser community

(01:09:12):
that's like that. Sometimes, you know, we've been told that
we are a little caddy, uh, you know, And so
in all the things that I've experienced in the industries,
that the people around me are no one is like
the Poll Dance community, so definitely like become a part
of it. And if you're already a part of that community,

(01:09:33):
we need to keep that because what we have is
something special nowhere else has.

Speaker 5 (01:09:38):
It's say that.

Speaker 3 (01:09:42):
Thank you for sharing that, because just from doing this podcast,
the things I have learned and the collaboration and the
opportunities I've been afforded because of it. If you're one
hundred percent right, there is no other industry. If you
try to get into yoga, it's not going to be
like the personal fitness it's not going to be like that.
That was a beautiful clot Thank you for that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:05):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Even like the regular dance world where I was brought
up in, it's definitely not anything like the Pull dance world.
Like I grew so much more as an artist because
I was able to in the full dance.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
World and not so much in the other worlds.

Speaker 6 (01:10:24):
So thank you Pull Dancing, and thank you so much
Mikey for all of your inspirational words and like all
of the things that you left us with by just
telling us about your amazing journey.

Speaker 4 (01:10:39):
It's been a whirlwind. And if I can inspire or
help motivate somebody else just by sharing like what I've
been through, that's great.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
And then.

Speaker 4 (01:10:50):
If there's no like, if we don't keep if we
don't keep this going, there's not going to be anything
in the future. So we have to We just have
to keep it going.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
Yes, yes, m G. I am so glad I met you.
I did not know much about you, and it was
such a pleasure to get to know you. You are
so inspiring. You have accomplished a lot of things I've
wanted to and I'd love to see another gay man
doing it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:19):
Thank you so much, Thank you. It's been such an
honor to be here, and I am so appreciative of
the time. And I can't wait to have the episode
drop so I can share it with everyone too, and
then I'll be ready for episode two.

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
Yes, wait, and hopefully one day we'll get to dance
to get there.

Speaker 4 (01:11:42):
Yes, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Speaker 1 (01:11:48):
If you do come to PSO Northeast, please let us
know because we are all there.

Speaker 4 (01:11:55):
Northeast is Boston, Boston. Yeah, Well, nothing's promised yet, but
I will keep everyone updated. As you know, plans become
more clear.

Speaker 3 (01:12:12):
And this episode is scheduled for October third, right Thursday.
Oh just in time too, because then you have POCON
the week after.

Speaker 2 (01:12:25):
Oh, yes, that'll be good.

Speaker 4 (01:12:27):
Oh yeah, hey, couldn't have planned that better myself.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Right time to make sure everyone catches you at virtual Pocon.

Speaker 4 (01:12:37):
Yes, I'm so excited for I've never done anything like this,
so I'm very confident that I you know, I'm going
to bring a lot of value to the table. But
I'm just as nervous as I was to be on
this podcast to be a panelist.

Speaker 2 (01:12:55):
I feel like, although it will never go away, now
me grounded.

Speaker 4 (01:13:01):
It keeps me from making like stupid mistakes if you
will right yet, someone told.

Speaker 7 (01:13:07):
Me they were like, if you don't get nervous, then
there's something wrong. And I always think about that because
that makes me feel better.

Speaker 3 (01:13:15):
I know we're going on one hundred plus episode, it's freaking.

Speaker 4 (01:13:20):
Like, oh my gosh, well, congratulations on that. That's a
huge milestone.

Speaker 1 (01:13:29):
Well thank you, truly, thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:13:31):
I don't know if you're familiar with Gary Vee or
Gary Vaynerchuk. He's like a business guru, but he gets
asked occasionally. He has podcasts and YouTube shows. He gets
asked occasionally to be a guest on their podcast, and
they're like, if you make it to one hundred episodes,
I'll be episode one on one. So you might want

(01:13:52):
to d m him like, hey, we hit one hundred episodes.
We're this crazy pole dance podcast. Have you ever been
on one of those? He has like twelve million followers
on whatever platform and YadA, YadA YadA, So get some
exposure there.

Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Oh you know right, Gary vander Chuck.

Speaker 4 (01:14:14):
Gary v Gary v e to ease.

Speaker 2 (01:14:20):
First episode all the time.

Speaker 4 (01:14:23):
But it is it is a challenge to do one
hundred of anything. Trust me. I've asked my dance students
to do one hundred forward spins like who hurting kittens
and pulling teeth? So like a hundred podcast episodes. Like
I just have to commend you on that because that

(01:14:43):
is not easy and a lot of people have tried
for that goal and have given up. So kudos to you.

Speaker 3 (01:14:50):
Thank you. Really, I mean it's really because of your
We love to share. We love to share your stories,
and it's like you said, the cloud ration and network
is beautiful and we're so glad we can do this
to share such incredible stories like yourselves.

Speaker 4 (01:15:09):
I'm really bad at taking compliments to my therapist. Let's
just say thank you and keep it moving.

Speaker 3 (01:15:15):
Yeah, you made it over an hour two? Did it?
He did it?

Speaker 7 (01:15:25):
Thank Olliver listeners and watchers for hanging out for us
for this wonderful episode of podcast My name is Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
Thank you so much, Mikey. This is awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:15:50):
Thank you all for having me tell you we are pleasure.

Speaker 3 (01:15:54):
I'm excited to see what's in store for you.