Meet Pole Coach Michelle Stanek-Elevating the Craft of Teaching

Pole on the Call Podcast — Season 4
Elevating the Craft of Teaching Pole with Coach Michelle Stanek

In this episode, Cris Rivers & Mændy Mac interview the multi-talented pole coach and entrepreneur Michelle Stanek to learn about her pole dance journey and to chat about the topic: Elevating the Craft of Teaching Pole.

BIO:
Michelle Stanek is an internationally-recognized pole dance performer and instructor known for her signature "sexy contemporary" style that blends sensual movement with the grace, extension and control of her classical dance background. An early competitive pole dancer, Michelle won 5 out of the 6 competitions she entered including the 2012 United States Pole Dance Champion title. Her industry-changing performances are notable for their movement innovation, artistry and fluidity.

A passionate and dedicated instructor, Michelle co-created elevatED: pole dance fitness and flexibility teacher trainings, to help instructors provide informed, thoughtful experiences to their students. Michelle traveled the world offering her signature workshops, judging competitions, and performing. She is an instructor at Body & Pole in New York City.

As a lifelong teacher and now wellness coach she has created Savage Pole & Wellness - a virtual community that offers resources for optimal health - mind, body, spirit, dance, and finances. She offers courses and masterclasses for pole teachers who want to elevate their craft and book out their classes.

Prior to her full-time pole dance career, Michelle earned a B.A. and M.A. in Art History, working at AIGA, the professional association for design, Pratt Institute and the Assisi Institute. She still produces international art fairs at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC.

When not immersed in dance, fitness, and art, she loves exploring the NYC art scene, dancing, bike-riding, adventuring with her adoring and adored husband, a good rooftop pool, and snuggling her son Rocco to the max.

LINKS:
Instagram @michellestanek
YouTube @michelle5444
LinkTree https://linktr.ee/Michellestan...


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everyone, Welcome back to Poll on the Call podcast.
My name is Bandy Meck.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I am Chris Rivers, and today we.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Are so excited to be here to talk about elevating
the art of teaching with the amazing Poll coach Michelle Stanik.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, yeah, h it's truly thank you for being here.
I've heard so much about you from Mandy and wait
till virtually learn more.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Thanks for having me, I really, I really appreciate it.
I love you, guys.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
I love you too. You were my well, one of
my favorite because I also loved Laura Michaels for my
teacher training and elevated back in twenty seventeen, and you've
been such an inspiration to me. So I'm super excited
to circle back and learn more about you.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Love it. I love it. And I was saying earlier,
like my work here is done. When I do a
teacher training and someone goes and like puts beautiful things
into the pole world like you're doing, like I feel
like I had a little part in that, and I'm
I'm good. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah. I guess we should start back to the beginning
of your Poll Dancer journey. When did that start and how.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, I really need to go into the archives
and find out when I took my first class. I
took it at crunch Gym sometime I think in twenty
two thousand and six. I think it's very blurry. Those
years like between, like two thousand and five and two
thousand and seven are a little blurry for me. But
I think I took my first class in two thousand

(01:40):
and six at crunch Gym, you know. And I had
danced my whole life, you know, did all the things.
And then one day my coworker Kelly shout out, Kelly McLaughlin.
We worked together at a design organization, like a real
muggle job, and she's like, do you want to take
this dance class with these poll dancing class at crunched
And I was like, Okay, I went, you know, I went,

(02:05):
and I was a slippery, hot mess literally, you know,
did not know a thing about shit, nothing, did not
know anything. But I had so much fun, you know
what I mean. Like it's one of those classes where
you can just like fail and fail and fail and
fall and slip, but love it. You know. It's like
there's nothing like it. So it's like, well, this was
enjoyable and painful. I'm coming back next week, you know,

(02:27):
and that was it. The rest is history. And I
really just like so many people, like you take your
first class and then you take the second one. Then
all of a sudden, you're going twice a week because
you're like, well this is so addictive, and the it's
like three times a week, and then it just takes
over and here we are, you know, almost twenty years later,
like nineteen years later, still kicking it.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I love it all because of Kelly and crunched him.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
And Kelly introduced me to my husband too, which is funny.
So she's a good friend. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Oh and g and when did you start making the
transition from being a student into teaching.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
I remember Crunch had an open audition, so the way
they brought in instructors was basically, you had to audition
to teach at Crunch. Whether you wanted to do cycling
classes or kickboxing or personal training or any of the
group fitness, you had to go through like an open audition,

(03:30):
which is fun, you know, growing up as a dancer, like,
I'm no stranger to auditioning, but I knew and they
knew that I wanted to teach pole because it was
so new back then, you know, and that there was
two three teachers that no one really had experienced doing
this form of dance at all, and we were just
kind of literally piecing it together from YouTube videos. So

(03:53):
they knew they needed to like expand the pole team.
But I went into the group fitness audition and I
did like, you know, six counts of eight aerobics choreography,
and I don't even think they had poles up, you
know what I mean, I don't even think or maybe
they did, maybe like part two. The audition was like
they had a room, they set up poles, and we
had to you know, do like a sample of like

(04:14):
how you would teach a dip turn or something like that.
So it was just an audition, and I think that
was probably two thousand and eight, I want to say,
you know, and I started teaching at Crunch and I
taught it like so many in the city. You know.
I was that person that just had my backpack on
all day. And I was like I got a nine
o'clock class at Union Square, and then I got a

(04:35):
noon class on the Upper East Side. Then I got
to go to the Upper West Side and I got
to go to Parkslope, Brooklyn, you know, and I was
just like teach, teaching, teaching, teaching here and there and everywhere.
So that's how I started. I started at Crunch Gym.
I started teaching pole dancing and other group fitness classes
as well, like aerobics and sexy Stretch. And I don't
even know, but that's it. That's how I started. And

(04:57):
then Body and Pole opened, you know, in two thousand nine.
I think they rented a space in the back of
a yoga studio on Elizabeth Street in the East Village.
That was it. Two poles, two poles, one little room.
And that's where Body and Poles started. And I started
teaching there in two thousand and nine. And I'm still
I don't teach it Crunch anymore. I think technically I'm

(05:18):
on the sub list, but still a body pol.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I see, I didn't even know Crunch is still a gym.
That's incredible. The Body and Posts started with two poles. Wow,
the back of you. I've been to Body in Post,
so I'm just like thinking about it.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
How much has changed, Like I don't know, ten thousand
square feet and three floors, you know, humble beginnings. You know,
we all started humble beginnings. And I remember unpacking the
poles and the mirrors and like helping opening up the
first space. It's wow. And then they broke down a

(05:59):
wall so it became gained four poles, and then the
yoga studio I think lost their lease or something, and
you know, onward and upward to uptown.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
That's incredible. I also didn't know the history of body
and pole because it seems like they've always been there.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well then you know, for like, you know, a long
time they've been up there. But yeah, that's the beginning.
Technically it started in Leanne's apartment, one pole in her
living room. You know, it's just it's wild. I love it.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's so cool. Oh do you want to talk to
us a bit about your competition experience?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Woo oh the competition world.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, so I man, I remember I did my first
competition in two thousand, oh my god, twenty ten polelesque.
I don't know if you remember that. They don't do
it anymore. But it was like kind of local. It
was in Brooklyn, in and it was sort of like
a pole slash burlesque competition, just one pole, no spinny

(07:08):
all static, one pole, and you did your routine and
I did a Leonard Cohen song I'm Your Man. And
I was like very into like gender roles back then
even then, like I was just very I just you know,
do did a deep dive into gender. And so I
did this piece to I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen,
who I also love. He's just that creepy voice, you know,

(07:29):
Oh I love that. And then it was like a
dance off. So the final four, I think had to
do a dance off battle and I won, you know,
and I think I think the move that got me
the winning was the knee hold. This was like my
move back then, like you know, you side climbing to
a knee hold and then you can shake your butt,
like if you release the tension your glutes, you like

(07:50):
shake your butt and people like the crowd went wild,
you know what I mean. That's all it took back then,
a jade split and a knee hold with boudhas Ak
and you. So that was my first competition and that
was just fun. But I think that kind of propelled
me down that pathway of this new competition thing. And

(08:11):
then I did East smeats West. They don't do that anymore.
There was pole Drama and I won that one too,
So I was like kind of on a roll, you
know what I mean. Like I'm like, I'm feeling it.
I'm feeling my style, I'm feeling my vibe, like my
style was starting to come together kind of creepy, sexy, contemporary,
like kind of hard, you know, and I was like,

(08:32):
I'm going to go with this. And then the big
one was us PDF twenty and eleven. That was the
Amateur So I won that one. That was great. And
then the next year I won the us PDF Pro
and I think that was twenty twelve, and that was
sort of the you know, the pinnacle for me, the point,

(08:53):
you know. And that competition piece too, like I still
get compliments on it, people still share it. I think
it was a really powerful piece, like all the universe
just aligned and everything came together with the choreography and
the music and my body and everything, and I just
I loved that competition piece. I loved I remember I
viscerally remember the details of being on that stage. I

(09:17):
really do, and that I can talk about that for
a very long time.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
That one, what, yes, yes, that was my favorite one ever.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Me too, you know, like I just I and now
the funny thing is little segue. After that, I really
I went on like tours like that's sort of what
took me into the next level of pole touring and
teaching and performing and stuff. Went on a tour and
I was in Florida and after my workshops, they were like,
could you do your competition piece? Could you do this?

(09:47):
And I was like sure. I got thirty two seconds
into it and I was like, got got the music?
Could you know what I mean? It was like it
was one time only one time only. I don't the energy,
the adrenaline, the training, Like I can never do that
piece again, not even like a month later. I was like, no, no,

(10:11):
we're done here, We're done here. Watch the video. It's
on YouTube. But yeah, that was that was my my
favorite one, one of my favorite times on stage. And
then I think that was the last solo competition I did,
and then I did Oh my god was it? Oh
my I don't remember. I think the last competition I

(10:33):
ever did was in twenty fifteen, and that were twenty sixteen,
and that was Miss Poll Dance America that A Lafia
produced in Nashville with Era so it was like a
group pole and hammock and silk performance and we won
that one too, And then I'm like, I mean, you know,
unofficially retired.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Do you ever about competing now? Love bit, thank you
for the honesty.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
No, not a chance, no way, no, I mean like hard,
no period. I mean it's like, of course, never say never,
but no, I don't want to compete. I don't. I
don't really, to be honest with you, this is like
full disclosure. I did not have a really good work
life balance when I was competing. I was very much

(11:24):
like this is it, you know, like I have this,
this is my focus. Singular. I had a singular focus
at the time for months. You know. It takes a
long time to do the training and get your your
body conditioned, and then the poll stuff and then the
choreography and the music and the costumes, and I just

(11:45):
I go deep down into that hole and I don't
resurface until it's over. And it takes it just takes
a lot out of mean I'm like, I'm not I'm
not willing to do that again. Performing, yes, you know
what I mean. Love performing, love being on the stage
if the time is right, and everything is right, But competition, like,
props to all the competitors out there right now still

(12:07):
doing it. I love it. It's freaking awesome. I love
supporting them, judging them. But you know, I don't think
I could do it. I don't think I could do
it again. Plus, I mean, what category would I do?
I mean, like old Master's level two maybe floor work.

(12:28):
I don't know. I'm not breaking my body. I'm not
breaking my body. It's already broken. We're in the rehab
stage of life. I'm in the rehab era.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Right, I'll be in that category too. I love it. Okay,
floor work for bad memes.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
That needs to be a category, you know, like whole
dancing for people that have no more cartilage in their joints.
What can you do? Wow us, wow us with your
floor work?

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Low flow for polars who have fear of heights from
what they've done.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
I would I think we might be onto something. This
could actually be quite interesting if we created these, like
very specific categories that are very relatable to people though. Yeah, yeah,
that's brainstorm. Let's brainstorm this later. Love that yeah, fun,
it would be peopleould be like, yes, I'm entering that category.

(13:27):
I'm entering the category of don't take off my sweatpants, yes,
heels and sweatpants, or oh my god, it'd be fun.
I love that look, yes, okay, it coming in twenty six.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
I love that there are other dancers who are going
through the same stuff. So definitely thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
Of course we're not alone. We are not alone. Yay.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
We've talked about loving performing. Still, do have you done
any performances lately want to share or upcoming?

Speaker 3 (14:04):
Not lately? So upcoming. I am going to Canada to
judge Pole Theater, Canada and that's in June. So I
think as a judge, you do like a guest performance,
and I have not figured out what I'm gonna do,
and I'm like just still in the exploration stage. So
that's coming up, and you know, it's so it's hard
when you're like, oh, what can I do? I could

(14:24):
do anything? Which do I want to do sexy?

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Do?

Speaker 3 (14:26):
I want to do heels? So I want to do contemporary.
I don't want to do like really really weird, you know,
like sometimes I just want to do weird, right, So
I don't know. I'm just like in that. I love
that phase too of just like full creation nothing is
off the table. But the last performance I did, like
live in front of real people, you know. I did

(14:48):
a few during COVID that were just online, which were
actually really fun. I think was at the Slipper Room
in the Lower East Side. I did like a little
poll show down there, maybe like two years ago. I
think I'm just like I'm an old lady mama now,
like I am in bed. That's the thing, Like, if
you want me to perform, is there an eleven o'clock

(15:09):
AM show, because that is like prime energy time for me.
I am awake, my body is ready, I am focused.
But no, it's always like ten o'clock at night, and
I'm like, usually I've been in bed for an hour.
Like That's that's the hard part, to be honest. Like
the time, the times of the performances. I'm like, oh,
pass pass, hard, hard pass for me. I'm in bed

(15:33):
by nine o'clock.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
I feel that too. So our competition will be in
the afternoon. Will serve coffee, Oh great, this is so great.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
We'll serve brunch. There'll be biscuits and coffee and tea,
and you'll be out of there by like two three o'clock.
You could have a whole evening, get in bed by
eight thirty. Oh my god, this is genius.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yes, I love it. I love this. I love We're
gonna have to pat in it and everything.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
I know. I'm really I'm really into this. I love
these things. Like who who knew this would be a
topic of conversation, But we're onto something.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yes, Jesus, Sorry, So what brought you into? I know
there's probably a lot but of savage poll and wellness,
and I'm pretty sure I sat that wrong, but please elaborate.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
You nailed it, savage poll and wellness. Yes, so the
word savage is straight up from the Megan the Stallion
song Savage Classy Bougie ratch. I was like, I have
never related to a song more in my life. So
I just I love the word too, you know, I
just I love the word savage. I love you know,
what it stands for and stuff. And then I created

(16:58):
a team. This is I don't really want to talk
about those because this is like in the past, but
I was working with Body and I created a team
of coaches and I called it Team Savage, and that's
just it kind of so I got Team Savage, like,
let's just call it that because I love the name
of the song and all the things, and then that
sort of went away, but I still liked, you know,
the brand of savage So that's how I started Savage

(17:21):
Poll and wellness, I just kept it going and just
put it into a more specific genre of pole dancing
and teacher training and things like that. So Savage Poll
Noness was born out of my work with Body and
my team and Megan thee Stallion. That's the story, and we.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
Will have all those links and the and the comments
and the notes. Do you mind giving us a couple
of resources that it offers for pole dancers so they
know what they're looking into.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
Yeah, so my I think my my calling that was
like the weird word choice. But I really I love
teaching pole dancing. I love it, I love it, I
love it, I love it, I love everything about it.
But I really really love education. And I think I've
always in some way been a teacher, been an educator,

(18:15):
been a sharer of knowledge and empowerment my whole life,
whether I was teaching dance or art history, you know.
I you know, taught art history as a professor for
many years back back in the day, and started teaching
dance and movement and pole dancing. So I love teaching,

(18:36):
and I take teaching very seriously, not like you have
to be like very serious all the time and it's
you know, like that. But I just think the role
of teacher is so profound in the world, and it's underestimated,
and there are a lack of resources for teachers to
be better, you know. And I just am very passionate

(19:01):
about the role of teacher and providing resources for pole
teachers to build their confidence in the classroom and have
a giant library of tools that they can use in
their class to bring their class above and beyond.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
I have.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
It's a free teacher training course called Beyond Basic. And
I literally mean like beyond Basic. Don't just show up
to your class, flip on the lights, turn on your music,
and teach moods and be like great class. Everybody, Like, yes,
you want to teach great classes, excellent classes, but in
that little pocket of time that you have, and time

(19:41):
is our most valuable resource. We never get back. You
cannot recreate more time, so don't waste it. If you
have a ninety minute class, it's sixty minute class whatever, Like,
oh man, that sixty minutes can be so awesome, like,
so beyond basic. Yes, teach moves, yes, like have your

(20:02):
students leave learning a new skill, But what else can
you do to make it memorable, to make it cathartic,
to make it hilarious, to make it anything like just
above and beyond what you normally get in a regular
workout class. Because this isn't dance, this isn't ballet, this
isn't cycling, this isn't grootfit. This this is pole and

(20:25):
in pole. When you have a class, you have carte blanche,
you have artistic freedom and liberties to do whatever you want.
And you can. But a lot of teachers don't, you know,
maybe it's lack of experience or lack of confidence. I'm
finding a lot that they just kind of like go
through the motions and do do the basics and check

(20:46):
the boxes, or teach the way you were taught. And
so why I'm trying to create resources to help create
confidence and allow instructors to to kind of just put
push the edges and go above and beyond and offer more,
offer more, and like no one wants to be basic,

(21:06):
you know, And so that's kind of my focus right now,
is creating a lot of resources for teachers, and that's
creative movement exercises, ice breakers, bonding exercises. You know, there
was a full moon last night. I love doing full
moon ceremonies with my class. Doesn't take long, two minutes,
two to three minutes, but it's like, oh, a little

(21:28):
extra something. I paid thirty five dollars for this class,
and I thought I was just gonna learn poll but
I actually learned that it's a new moon and I
have a new ritual I can bring into my life,
you know what I mean, Like little things like that
that really make a difference in people's lives. And I'm
very passionate about that. You know, teachers make differences in lives,

(21:51):
and pole dancing is no different, you know, and even
though it's silly and fun, and you know, some people
don't take it seriously. It's another topic for another day,
it's still a really profound role to have as a
as a pole teacher. So that's that's my goal. That's
my focus in life.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
I love that. Thank you for sharing that, especially the
full moon ceremony because it's so funny. I was just
thinking about some type of workshop with the I love it.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
My Crystal is charging on my windowsill right now, is
to soak up the The full moon was yesterday, I think,
like last.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Night with yeah, which leads us into the topic of
elevating our class. And it seems like you have so
many resources on this and have a lot of experience
with it.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean when I one of the first
things I talk about when I do these, you know,
teacher trainings, which and it's it's not really a teacher training,
which is another thing I like about what I'm doing.
Like teacher trainings are great.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
You know.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
I co created and launched Expert back in the day,
same thing with Elevated, you know, and Mandy you had
done Elevated. And I think teacher trainings are are great,
but it's not the end, right, Like you have to
keep keep going, keep learning, be a voracious consumer of
knowledge and education and experience to keep improving your craft

(23:19):
of teaching. So I don't they're not teacher training because
it's not like one, two, three days and then you
pass and get a certification. Then you're done. You know.
I like to create these little like bits and bobs
of things that you can just continue education, continually educate yourself,
you know, and do you like a one hour course
or another, a master class or whatever. So I'm creating

(23:39):
these like little master classes, think tanks, things like that
for teachers. But one of the first things I ask
when I do these is like, who who are your
favorite teachers? Like in your life? Just think about it,
you know, and like, who's the first person to pops
into your head? Miss Morello sixth grade history? Why I

(23:59):
don't and even no think about it? Like why was
she better than all the other teachers that you don't remember?
In sixth grade? You had like six or seven teachers,
Why didn't they stand out in your head? You know,
like my dance teacher Alexi Ramoff, Oh my god, completely
changed the course of my life. You know, same thing
with my art history professor. Freshmen, you're in college, you're like,

(24:21):
who are the teachers in your life that had a
profound impact on you who you are today? Think about them,
think about why? Then be that person you know, and
then we go through a series of exercises to help
you create that confidence and be that teacher that people

(24:42):
remember a year from now, twenty years from now, you know,
like sitting around Christmas dinner and be like, I remember
I had this whole teacher back in twenty twenty four
and she really changed my life be that person, you know.
And it's and it's going above beyond. Like every Pole
teacher teaches moves, that's what we do. You can't teach

(25:05):
a Pole class without teaching Pole moves. But what about
you is different? Makes you stand out? What did you
bring to your class? So we go through a lot
of series of creative exercises together and like brainstorming and
bouncing ideas off of each other. And what you can
bring into your classes, Like what's your experience in work,

(25:28):
in life, what do you do outside of Pole? How
can you bring that knowledge into the Pole classroom in
a meaningful not like a kitchy, stupid way, you know
what I mean, but like in a meaningful way that
you can bring in your experience into your Pole classroom
to make you iconic, you know. And your classes the
ones that people want to book into because they are

(25:49):
booked up and they have to book six months in advance,
because your classroom experience is above and beyond everyone else's
because fill in the blank, you know. So those are
those are the resources that I'm putting out there and
I've got a free course, which is was pretty great.
I don't even know why I made it free, but
like it should cost money, but it's free and it

(26:13):
kind of just like gets those gears turning in your brain.
And then what I'm really excited about is I'm doing
a series of four master classes in a think tank
in gosh I probably January or February, where we have
like topics of discussion and it's going to be like
dance psychology, dance teacher psychology, and like the archetype of teacher,

(26:38):
which I went down like a real awesome rabbit hole
of archetypes when I used to work with Youngian psychoanalysts
in Italy every summer for a couple of years. That
is a long story, but I got really into the
work of Carl Jung and archetypes. So I just I
sat in in all the sessions. I listened to everything,

(26:59):
and I read these books and I went to like
online lectures and all this stuff, and it's fascinating and like,
how can I bring that into a poll? Very applicable,
like very applicable. So, oh my god, what was I
even talking about. I lost my train and have thought
young in archetypes of poll. What was the even the questions.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
About sure of the workshops you're creating in January, the
thing tanks.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
Yes, So we're going to start there. Thank you, thank
you for bringing that back on track. We're going to
start there, and then you'll have like homework kind of
like what sort of a little bit what we talked,
like to think about your the teachers you had in
your life that were excellent and why and what makes
you excellent and and then we'll come back together and
talk about it. And then we'll do the next topic,
which is probably going to be something like icebreakers and

(27:45):
bonding and why it's not bullshit, why it's it's real
and it's not it doesn't need to take up a
lot of your class time. It's not going to eat
into class time. But like if you just carve out
two to five minutes and do a little like bonding
exercise psychologically, what does that do for you and your students,
the relationship between the students and each other and you

(28:07):
and the students, And it's a really beautiful thing. And
then you'll have homework and we'll come back and talk
about it, and then we kind of keep going like
that for a few different topics, and my favorite topic
is probably creative movement and why that is very important
in terms of neurological brain function in human beings. And

(28:28):
again that's that's what takes you above and beyond when
you start to understand how these little things that you're
doing in your POLE class that probably only take you know,
two to three minutes are affecting someone's entire life and
cognitive function and carving new neurological pathways that help them

(28:49):
not just learning POLE and becoming more fluid and defining
their own style and the confidence they have as polled answers,
but the confidence they have as a human, you know,
and having the to get out of a toxic relationship
because they've built something up in your class that wasn't
there before, you know, or ask for a raise, you know,

(29:10):
because they know that they can handle it. You know,
they know that they can ask for it, and they
have that strength and that power and that confidence and
all these things that you can start They might not
know it, but you do, you know what I mean,
And how you can start to develop their their brain
function through movement, creative movement and dance, And that's my favorite.
I will die on that mountain of creative movement exercises

(29:33):
and how they should be incorporated in like every single
pole class, even pole sport class, you know what I mean,
Like it needs it's got to be a human, human thing.
And then we'll homework and we'll come back together. So
it's masterclasses information and knowledge sharing, but also a lot
of like community, you know, and I think that's really important,

(29:55):
bouncing ideas off of each other. I can't have all
the answers, you know. That another part of the archetype
of teacher. The teacher isn't the sage or the mother
or the father or the all knowing one. Those are
different archetypes. Teacher is co learner always. That's the archetype
of teacher. It's like you're you have information to share,
but you're always open and learning and absorbing and you know,

(30:19):
and and and getting better. So you're the archetype of
teacher is balanced by two different archetypes like the sage
and the novice. They're together as the teacher. So I
think creating a community where you know you you can
share your idea, you know, and bounce it off of
each other and practice exercises that you're creating and get

(30:40):
feedback not just from me, but from a group of people.
And like we'll have a little chat pod so we
can always stay you know, connected and ask questions and
we'll have weekly zooms for probably like four to six weeks,
depending on the time of the year. And I think
it's going to be just really powerful to help poll

(31:01):
instructors be like, Okay, I can take it up a notch,
you know, like I have the support, I have the resources,
I have the community that I can I can just
start going up a notch.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
You know.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
I'm like not completely overhauling their class, but like maybe
adding one little thing. And I mean like, oh, I
did it. I did something different, you know. I added
a little something different in my class this week. Maybe
next month, I'll do another another little thing, and then
like over time, you know, in a few years, it's
like you become that iconic, memorable, confident, life changing instructor.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
That is a lot that you're planning on coming up.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
I know I'm so ready for I mean I truthfully
like it's my I've been doing this my whole life,
you know what I mean, Like everything has brought me
to this place. And it's just now it's just editing, right,
Like there's so much in here that it's like, okay,
now we have to focus it and start editing and
you know, getting it, getting it together. But I feel

(32:18):
like this is this is what my whole life training
has been leading to. Truly. That sounds like so life
woo woo, but I really feel like everything has led
me to this moment. And before I forget, I just
got back from Mexico on Friday. It's Monday right now,
and the way the universe works is amazing, you know,

(32:38):
like everything just started falling into like this weird place.
And I'd always wanted to host a retreat for years.
It's always been in my brain. And then my friend Rochelle,
who's an event planner extraordinaire, was like, have you ever
been to Tuloom? I was going to do a retreat there,
but it kind of fell through for this other person.
Are you interested? I was like, I am interested, actually,

(33:01):
So we went to Tulum to do research, which was awesome.
I had never been to Tulum before and it was
It's a magical place and we found this really amazing
jungly healing. I don't even know it's just it really

(33:21):
feels like a true retreat. It's called Holistica and they
do temiscal ceremonies and sonic psychedelic ceremonies and whim Hoff
ceremonies and yoga and pottery and all these like creative things,
but it's like it's a true retreat, a true retreat
space for healing, for movement. They have hammocks set up there.
They have like an aerial studio, and then there's a

(33:44):
pole studio ten minutes down the street, fifteen minutes walking maybe,
and we found it by chance. We were looking for
another pole studio which we never found and my friend
was like, is that a studio? Do you see that sign?
It was like back in an alley and I was like, yeah,
that looks like a We went back and we checked
out and this is beautiful, like open air pole, an

(34:05):
aerial studio intulom and I was like there was no
one there either, and we just like walked right in
and we're like this is kind of awesome, like where
did this come from? And then we met this girl
outside she's like are you are you taking class? And
we were like oh no, sorry, like we were just
trespassing kind of and she was like, oh no, it's okay.
She's like, I'm a student here, and then we started

(34:26):
chatting and then she invited us to a stargazing ceremony
later that night. Like and then I posted about the
studio in my Instagram stories and one of my friends
was like, oh, that's my friend's studio, and so she
connected us and she's like, oh, I've been wanting to
host people here to do like pole movement retreats. And
I was like, this is just everything, you know what

(34:48):
I mean. It is like falling into place. So that
is also coming up. Obviously, it's going to be like
a year away. People need to save money and like
bookmark that time. But I do want to do a
movement healing whole retreat. It's not gonna be one of
those Pole retreats where it's like you have five six
hours of polling all day every day. It's really gonna

(35:09):
be more more than that, you know, like a true
retreat like healing mind, body, and spirit. Plus you'll learn
someone like sick pole moves too. But it's gonna be cool.
It's gonna I'm really excited, really excited. I had never
done like a tennis scal ceremony before. I had no
idea what it was. I don't know if you guys
have done it, but it's intense.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
I have not, but it sounds like a fun experience.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
It is. It's cool. You should come to the retreat.
You go into like it's like a sweat lodge. It's
this ancient, you know, Meso American tradition where you get
into a sweat lodge. It's pitch black, you can't see anything,
and they just put these volcanic stones like a sauna,
but times a thousand, which is intense, and you're in

(35:59):
there for about ninety in it, and there's uh they
do like Ford. It's like north south east west and
they have like ritual like you do chanting and when
that drum beat starts and you kind of get into
it and like you're sweating, you're purging so many things
and you go deep inside like you literally can't see anything.
It's it's a like.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
Cool.

Speaker 3 (36:20):
I was. I was like I might pass out in here,
and you know, this might be the end for me,
but it's cool. It's like the only way out is through,
you know, And it's one of those things like if
you can get through this, then you can get through anything.
And again it's like a metaphor, like just like pull dancing.
If you can get through this pain of Superman, you
can get through the pain of almost anything in life.

(36:44):
So I'm excited. I'm really excited for the retoun.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
The universe is just throwing it at you.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
No, but but I do. I really feel I work
with the universe, you know, like I have my own
rituals that I do to get on get on the
same frequency and start and it works, you know what
I mean. And like that is that. We could talk
about that another hour, another day, you know, but it
really does work once you start to tap into the

(37:11):
energies of the universe, like magical things like this start happening.
Could it be coincidence, Sure, we don't know, but it's
all happening. So I'm just working.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
A coincidence until you notice it.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
Yeah, we have you have. You have to have like
that antenna, you know, like turn it on. A lot
of people don't have their inntennas on, so they never
see it. They're not open to it, you know. But
like once you're like boom, boom boom, Yes, I have
to notice it.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Oh, my gosh, well, thank you for making these amazing
resources available for teachers. I know, like after like the
teacher training that I did was amazing, but it was like, no,
you're a teacher, and I definitely didn't feel ready. So
I definitely appreciate like also like ongoing support to not
just like here's another thing, and listening to other communities

(38:08):
is important because not everything will work for everyone.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Thank you, It's my pleasure. We got to keep learning,
abl always be learning.

Speaker 1 (38:20):
You know, I love it. And this is all available
on your website.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
Yeah, Savage Pollinwillness dot com is my website and everything
is available there, and I'm very highly accessible on Instagram, Facebook, email,
you know, it's all. It's all there. So yeah, so.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
We're going to have all those links on the comments
and notes, y'all make sure you check those out. So
I know. When you were mentioning the think tank that
you are planning, you brought up some good things, good
ways to elevate classes such as icebreakers and community building techniques.
What are some other ways that we can elevate classes

(39:03):
if if we have been let me say, I was
gonna say for a new teacher and then maybe for
someone who has been doing it for years and is
looking to, you know, change it up.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
I mean, I think so I teach a lot of
intro classes as well. You know, even though I've been
teaching pole for fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years, you know, like
I still teach a lot of beginners and intros. And
I know that's where a lot of people start, you know,
they start, they get hired at a student it's like, okay,
you have a class that's intro or whatever. So and
I think intro is the best because it's it's they're

(39:40):
gonna love it or they're not. And it's not for everybody, right,
like the puling thing is in February. Not everybody's gonna stay,
but those that do are like so badass and exciting.
I love I love teaching intro, and that's where a
lot of new teachers start because that's what they can
kind of be like trusted with in a way. So
I think, as a like a new beat a new instructor,

(40:02):
confidence is hard. And I have found that the one
thing that new instructors, even seasoned instructors, but new instructors
really panic about is their warm up. They really stress
about warm up and I get it. I'm there with you,
you know what I mean. It's all eyes on you.

(40:23):
You know what I mean. You're at the front of
the room. Everyone's watching you. They're nervous, you know what
I mean. They don't want to mess up. It's like
a new environment for the students too, like maybe they've
never taken a dance class ever, and they it's a thing,
Like warm up is a thing. So when I'm working
with new instructors, I'm always like, you practice your warm

(40:43):
up just like anything else, just like you're gonna practice
a poultric to just get it and get it and
get it. Practice your warmth. And that's why I am here,
you know. So I will have people send me their
videos of their warm up that's like fifteen or twenty
minutes or whatever it is, and I'll give them feedback
and it's so helpful. They love it so much because
they're like, thank you. And when they feel confident in

(41:05):
warm up because it's the first thing you do, they're
like it's like almost like smooth sailing, you know, because
it's like once you get into the poll work, it's
like that's where your confidence is, like you know how
to do it. They don't, you know, so it's like
they're confident in that. But like getting your warm up
to a place where like you're enjoying it, you don't
feel like it's annoying, exhausting, repetitive, you know what I mean,

(41:29):
or like stressful, you know, like when you you get
to the poem, like you you like your warm up.
It feels good, you're happy, your students are happy, and
like little skills like break down the fourth wall in
warm up. You don't have to be on all the time.
And I see this all the time, especially in new instructors.

(41:52):
It's like they flip a switch on and it never stops.
It's like da da da da da. And it's almost
like they disassociate, you know, because they just want to
get through the warm up, you know, and they haven't
mapped up. They have their songs and the moves to
the songs and the bpms and no da da da
da da da. But it's like they disassociate and they're
not there, you know. It's like take a breath, break

(42:12):
down the fourth wall between you and your students. It's
okay to talk to them during warm up. Little things
like do you feel this, do you guys, feel this
in your obliques right now, and they'll be like, holy shit, yes.
Little moments like that like that break the ice help
everyone in the room like feel comfortable, you know. Or

(42:36):
if you're like do you feel this in your bleaks
and they're like no, then it's time to reevaluate, Like
are you not describing it right? Is it not a
good move? You know what I mean? It's just not effective.
But like talking to your students, I think is a
difficult skill, you know, something that you don't even think
about really when you're when you're teaching or doing a

(42:59):
teacher training, breaking down that fourth wall and like talking
to your students and having those moments of we're all
in this together. You're human, I'm human. We're here. Let's talk,
you know. And that doesn't mean chit chat and you know,
gossip and talk about the Bachelor, you know what I mean.
Like you can't take it too far where you lose
the like efficacy of the warm up. You know, there's

(43:21):
a balance, and it's hard to find that balance. But
I think that is really the key for all instructors,
especially new ones, to get into that place of like
I am the teacher, I have the moves. I have
the lesson plan, I have the confidence, but I don't
have to be on you know, and just it just
like brings your nervous system down a little bit and

(43:43):
makes the entire experience a lot more enjoyab. So I
think warm up, getting comfortable with warm up, breaking down
that fourth wall and like humanizing that experience without taking
it a little too far into casual land is really important.
But again for seasoned instructors too, you know, and a
lot of season instructors are tired. They're tired. We are tired.

(44:07):
We've been doing this for years and maybe we teach
three classes a day back to back or you know
what I mean, Like we're doing it after work. You know,
like we're tired. So finding those moments in warm up
where you can stop doing it that doesn't happen in
the beginning, that doesn't happen for a new instructor, didn't

(44:27):
happen for me for a very long time, But where
you can get to a place where you can like
talk through a warm up, demonstrate a little bit, but
like not have to do the whole thing, where you
can get up, walk around, adjust, People give them some
like little enhancements to their body, Like when you're in
a yoga class and someone like presses your shoulders and

(44:48):
you're like, oh, that felt good, Like how can you
do that? In your warm as a seasoned instructor is
pretty awesome too, you know what I mean, Like getting
just moving around and getting off your spot and not
getting exhausted. You know, burnout is real. So if you
can find little tools to use that just help you

(45:11):
not burn out and not get exhausted, because when you
get exhaust you get resentful, and then that energy starts
to read Like have you ever taken a class where
you're like, this teacher is in a bad mood today.
She in a bad mood. She she's annoyed a everybody.
She has no patience. We've all done it. We're human, Like,
we've all taught classes in that headspace, and we've all

(45:33):
taken classes when these and you're like, you don't want that,
you don't want that. So if you can like build
in little things, especially in the beginning of class during
warm up, adding little things in that just take the
pressure off of you, Oh my god, like sustainable, sustainable careers,
you know, and less resentment, less burnout. So I think

(45:55):
those are those are just little tips like finding ways
to like take the pressure off you. Another little thing
I like to do is like bonding exercises in the
beginning and like it's it's simple, but like after warm up,
it's like, Okay, who knows each other in this room
right now? You know, like who came as friends today
or who knows each other? And maybe it'll be like

(46:16):
did these two know each other here these three came together,
or like no one knows anybody or whatever, So it's like, okay,
break up, like meet one person that you don't know yet,
like pair up with somebody and for the next one
minute maybe two, introduce yourself, you know what I mean,
Like who are you? What's your name? And like why

(46:36):
poll dancing? Like what is inspired your take pole dancing?
And that's nice because it takes it gives you a
second to be like drink your water not not the
whole room is staring at you drinking your water, waiting
to see what you're gonna do next. You know, it's
like give me a second, y'all, give me a second
to like drink my water, blow my nose. I don't know,

(46:56):
like you know, Like so it gives the energy to
the room, and it's nice. It's so nice because then
they found a new friend. The energy shifts from being
like nervous and like I don't know, is that who's that?
Is she really good? Is she gonna make me feel
like uncomfortable? Like oh she looks like a bitch over there?
It's like, oh no, we're all you know what I mean. Like,
it's not It helps the energy of everyone. For you,

(47:18):
it gives you a second to like take a beat, breathe,
get your energy back so you can teach the rest
of the class. But it also gives your students a
time to like bond with each other and make a
new friend and you know, just feel a little bit
more comfortable. So like little little things like that I
think are massively helpful.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
Yes, right, thanks for reminding me of the anxiety of
everyone looking at me while I'm trying to drink my
water and not spill it on myself.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
Right, it's wild. You're like just drinking drinking my water
over here, but they're just like clocking you, like clocking
every move that you're doing. So it's nice to just say, like, yes.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
I also appreciate the reminders for like seasoned instructors to
be real and authentic. I used to be so worried
about like incorporating balancing stuff in my warm ups, even
though I know it's very important, but I suck at balancing.
And then when I just decided to suck at balancing
in front of everyone.

Speaker 3 (48:29):
Exactly exactly like that, that that is like the mark
of an excellent instructor, though, you know, like you're humanizing
the experience and like you're not a robot, You're a
human and like some days you're balance is awesome and
some days it's And that is everyone, everyone, even Misty Copeland,

(48:53):
you know what I mean. She probably sucks at pure
wet some days maybe maybe not maybe she, but like
you know what I mean, Like it's it's totally normal
and you have to embrace it, and it makes everybody
be like, okay, we're all okay, yeah right, we're not perfect.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
I appreciate you mentioning too. I mean, you mentioned a lot,
but the first one was practicing your warm up, like
if you practice the tricks, because I'm a strong believer
in that, and it definitely does help make the warm
up kind of flow. And then the second thing, because
I've been stuck in my head lately. Is I'm at
the point where I'm starting to not completely do the
warm up. I demo what needs to be done, and

(49:33):
then I start walking around to make sure they're doing it.
And at first I was like, Chris, maybe you should
be doing it with them, But then I'm like, no,
why as long as you're walking around doing it right
and you down away. So it's nice to get that
how do you say that reassurance?

Speaker 3 (49:52):
That's so great. I just took a yoga class when
I was at Tuloom. I'm like, he did not do
one move, not one, not one warrior pose, not one
downward dog. He did nothing. He just walked around and
talked the whole time, and we all just figured it out,
you know what I mean, And like we're here for yoga,
so we're gonna do it, you know, Like I don't,

(50:14):
you don't need to do it. You know. It's like
what you said, like do it a little bit and
then let them do it. They paid, you know what
I mean, Like they paid their money, so they're gonna
do it or they're not gonna do it, and like
you can't, you know, like there's gonna be people in
the back of the room not doing shit, and what
are you gonna do? They volunteered to be here and

(50:37):
they paid their own money, and you do what you
can and move on. That's a big one too, you
know what I mean, Like not taking it personally. When
someone is just like half assing it right, You're like,
why what are you doing back there? And then you
get angry about it, but then it's like, just let
it go, let it go, and then you probably I

(50:59):
this happens to me often. I'm like, are you okay?
And they'll be like, I'm really hungover. I'll be like,
good information to know. You know, I'm not going to
push you, you know, but it's like I didn't know
that before. Or they'll be like, I'm on a tradication.
This is my sixth class of the day. I'll be like,
please rest, you know, like take notes, you know, but
it's yeah, people done. Not taking it personally is is

(51:22):
also an important skill of a teacher, right right, yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
It's not our job to make everyone happy. It's only
to teach pole dancing.

Speaker 3 (51:32):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Right. Some people come in with like stuff that might
have happened right before class, and they're not fully with it,
but they just need to move. So just allowing them
that space is super important and noting it personally.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Yeah, and then that's also another reason to like always
be learning and like when you're a teacher, you're still
a student, like you have that Like I go to classes.
Sometimes I'm in a great mood. I can't wait, and
other times I'm like, oh man, I paid for this class,
I have to go, and I'm just not in the mood.
I'm not in the mood and it is not personal
to you, it's it's me. But like, yes, if you

(52:14):
just hold that space for me and allow me to
do what I need to do, and we thank you,
you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Just yes, right back to the warm ups too. We're
doing a teacher training program in our studio and that's
the main thing that our teacher trainees were. They were like,
this warm up is hard because you're ready, all eyes

(52:43):
on them for you know, at least you know to
ten minutes. So it's just I like how you said
practicing for video too, because that's what we've been doing
and it has been really helpful. So yes, thank you
for that.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
Yeah, that's great.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
Yeah, I wondered two. Do you have like a way
you formulate warm ups? Do you want to share some tips?
I like how you do a warm up, because I would.
You had a really fun like across the floor which
I just remembered, and I was like, oh, we should
take our students across the floor more often. But it

(53:20):
was like across the floor and you played like different
songs and we had to like do an exercise according
to like the feeling of the song, and it was
really great.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
Oh, I love that. I've not done that one in
a long time, actually, but I remember, I remember, I
think I have video of this.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
I don't think there was a video.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
Yes, that's so funny. I have not even thought about
that in a long time. That I love those things,
those types of exercise I usually do after the warm up,
after like the proper warm up. Then I'll be like, Okay,
now we're going to do this like across the floor,
move like an animal, or like move to the song.
Or there was one time. This is not the question

(53:59):
that you at all, but I made this amazing relay
across the floor and we set up phones and like
some phones were like on the floor, and some phones
we put up on like yoga blocks, and it was like, okay,
you have to like dive under. It's like pretend someone
is filming themselves and you cannot walk in front of
their camera. So it's like you had to like jump
over the one that was on the floor, and then

(54:20):
you had to like slide into a body wave under
the one that was like elevated. I don't know all
that's I love that kind of stuff, you know, and
it's like it's so silly, but it's like helpful, Like
these are also skills. If you see that camera, you know,
it's almost recording, you cannot stand in front of it.
Gotta go over it, you gotta go under it. But
for warm up, generally, my warm ups tend to be

(54:43):
about I will I say, fifteen to twenty minutes, you know.
Usually now they're not longer than twenty minutes. They used
to be thirty minutes because our classes used to be
ninety minutes. So my class, I know, right, I know
more were more like twenty five to thirty minutes. Now
they're shorter now, you know, cut time out. But I
always recommend, especially for intro level ones, start standing, you know,

(55:10):
so just high visibility. Everyone can see you you know,
sometimes in the studios, the mirrors don't even go to
the floors, you know, so if you start on the floor,
they can't see what you're doing. And like people are
like trying you're doing crunch it, you know what I mean,
They don't, it's like whatever. So like starting standing I
think is a good general way to start once you

(55:34):
get to upper levels, you know what I mean. Like
I like to start in like a child's post. They're
just literally laying on the ground, you know what I mean.
But that's when people have a little bit more of
like a better awareness of what they're doing here, you know,
and they can kind of go with the flow a
little bit more. But I think starting standing is really good.
And synchronized movement is you know, scientifically proven to like

(55:58):
increase in endorphins even more and like interconnectivity in the room.
So if even it's like you have a really fun
song that makes you happy, like a song that you
love and you're standing and you're just like rocking the
hips on the beat or something that's like a win
win win, you know what I mean. It's like you're standing,
everyone can see you, everyone's moving together in synchrony, So

(56:22):
it's like happy, the happy chemicals are coming and you're
warming up, you know what I mean, Like you're elevating
body heat and the heart rate in a non impact
way like let's let's I'm not I do like jumping
jacks and like Jim Cardio, I do. But do we

(56:42):
have to do that in pole class?

Speaker 2 (56:44):
No we don't.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
But you know what I mean, like in a no
impact way that's like fun, maybe a little sassy. I
think it's a great way to start, you know what
I mean. Like, but also whatever makes you feel good,
you know, like if you really lead me to start
a class with a head roll, start your class with
a head roll, you know what I mean? If you

(57:07):
really love starting with jumping jacks, start your class with
jumping jacks, you know, like give given no impact option
and then maybe get into some like gooey joint movement.
You know, but do what makes you feel happy and
good like you're It's like you can't. You don't put
on other people's oxygen mask, you know, you put your

(57:27):
own first, you know, So like get yourself in a
good headspace and like good good feeling and do what
your body needs that is also going to help your
students like within reason, you know, like I could forward
bend easily, Like that's honestly one of the first things
I do when I get to the studio. But like,
I'm not going to ask my students who have been
sitting at a desk all day to like fold forward,

(57:50):
you know, So just like think about think about what
you like and start there. And I think synkering movement
standing to a fun song, it's just a great way
to start also, you know, and then ask for feedback.
Ask for feedback in your warm up, especially if like

(58:11):
you have friends in your class or students you've known
for probably be like how do you feel after warm up?
Just ask, you know, and like hopefully they're honest and
they'll be like, I feel great. I love your warmups.
You're the best warm ups, you know, Like I always
feel ready to dance after warms. My hips feel great
after warm ups. Or maybe they're like I think you
need to do a little bit more shoulder activation. That's

(58:32):
a great note, you know what I mean, Like what
can you take out? Were you doing too much sassy stuff?
You know what I mean? That wasn't really providing a
lot of value, Like can you take thirty seconds of
that out and do some more ies teas and y's
or something, you know what I mean, Like ask for
feedback from students or you, you know what I mean,

(58:53):
or me or somebody that you trust, and get feedback
on the warm because you might be missing something and
you don't know it. So yeah, those are just like
a couple a couple of little warm up tips that
I think are helpful.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Thank you for those. I'm going to share them with
our teacher trainees for sure, actually probably this whole episode
so that they can learn from my teacher.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
Awesome.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
I feel. Feedback is probably one of the hardest things
for instructors to ask for.

Speaker 3 (59:25):
It is, why, you know, I guess Gid's like fear,
fear of I don't know, like feeling you didn't do
something right or something like that. But that gets into
a whole like mindset shift thing, and like you choose,
you choose how you react to that feedback. You can
you know, choose to like cry and feel upset and

(59:46):
feel rejected and feel less than and crappy about yourself,
or you can choose to be like, okay, I can
be better. It sounds simple, I know, it's a lot
of work. I do a lot of mind set work
as well to get myself out of the gutter, out
of the rut, you know what I mean, and into
a better place. But you can choose, You choose how

(01:00:07):
you take that information and react to it. Sometimes it
feels like a punch in the gut, and like sometimes
you can't. You can't control the first reaction, but you
can control the second one, you know what I mean,
and how you take that information. But yeah, I agree.
You know it's hard to ask for feedback because like

(01:00:29):
you want to be perfect, you want to be Yeah,
I get that. I get that too, But I do
think it's really an important place to be as an
instructor is in that place of vulnerability and openness that
you can ask for feedback and you can accept it
and you can adjust as necessary.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
That's a huge, huge, I like you mentioned earlier, don't
take it personal, it's feedback, or.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
Ignore it all together because or not for.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Everyone, you're too funny, depending on what the feedback is.

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
Yeah, careful, like who you ask for feedback from someone
that is going to give you like honest but constructive,
you know feedback. We used to do secret, like secret
shoppers sometimes like plant someone in and they had like
an evaluation form that they would fill out and it

(01:01:29):
would just be a student and he didn't know that
they were like kind of like giving you feedback. They
stopped doing that a long time ago. That was interesting,
you know what I mean. So it's like you kind
of have to be like on you know, every because
you never know if you're gonna be I don't know,
Maybe that's weird now that I think about.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
It, right, Or as a studio owner, I'll be the
undercover boss and show up to everyone's classes off.

Speaker 3 (01:01:55):
But then you make people nervous, you know, I try
not to. You can't help it. You can do it,
I know, I know, but like they'll seem like, oh, yeah,
my boss is here today.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
Yeah. I wonder if there are rules on that. Like
I'm pretty sure like a boss can examine employees, but
can they go undercover and examine like contractors, teaching workshops
and stuff?

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
Good question, So many things to think about.

Speaker 2 (01:02:29):
That is a clever idea like a McDonald's what is
a secret shopper exactly too.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Oh, we should get back to talking about you as
a poll answer and ask the burning questions that everyone
always wants to know what's your favorite pol trick.

Speaker 3 (01:02:56):
Yeah, I think I'm going to go with Jade. The
Jade split, right, Like, I feel like that was like
my the big trick I learned back in like two
thousand and seven and I've been doing it ever since.
So it's so easy at this point. It's like my resting,
my resting pose that I can actually like breathe and

(01:03:19):
like recoup some energy. I'm just like hit that Jade
and people still love it, you know what I mean.
Like it's still it's not the most challenging move now,
but it's people still think it's a cool move and
it's kind of just like my resting place. And so
I love the Jade. I love the Jade split. That's

(01:03:40):
my answer.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
I'm also team Jade, except I don't rest in it
anymore because I've crunched my ribs too much. Lay off
the Jade.

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
That makes sense.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
Yeah, I'm hyper mobile, and they love the Jades so
much that they just stay in that position far long after. Yeah,
to the t, I know I have to do extra
breathing exercises. Wow, that's me.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
But I do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
You have an own nemesis, Michelle?

Speaker 3 (01:04:20):
You know this is it's like almost embarrassing, but I
don't understand the yogini. It's not even that hard, but
I have never been able to do it successfully and
I don't. My body just rejects it. It rejects the
move and I can't. I've tried so many times. I

(01:04:45):
have had Janine Butterfly try to teach me how to
do it, Like my body just rejects it. And it's
annoying to me, you know what I mean, it's my
nemesis something like I should be able to do this move,
but I can't, and my body just rejects it. It
won't do it, It won't do it. So I'm like,
I'm very annoyed with that move. People even still do
it anymore. I don't know the other moves, and I'm

(01:05:07):
just like, I don't think I could ever do these
like what people are doing now, I don't even know.
It's like the hard style. Maybe that's what they're calling it.
When like I understand the physics of like being in
your heels and like kneepads and like flipping around and
then like landing on your knees, and like I know
how you're not landing on your knees, the weight's going
back and but I'm like, god damn, like that impact

(01:05:30):
on the ankles and the knees and the hips. I'm like, holy,
how are you people doing this over and over and
over it? What knee pads are you wearing?

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
You know?

Speaker 3 (01:05:42):
Like it is? That style to me is like I
don't even want to try. I'm too you know what
I mean? Like maybe in a ball pit, if there
was like a pole and a ball poae pit, I'll
try it. But like, wow, wow to that and like
propst all y'all out there thrashing around and land Oh

(01:06:02):
my god.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
Mm right, if your niece can handle that, please enjoy it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:07):
Yes, please enjoy it while you can. I hope you
have a good orthopedic doctor that you can call in
a few years.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
I know, I don't think everybody would be doing exotic
card for a long time. I think that's one of
the ones that like a couple of years and then
something else exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:06:26):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
Unless I start doing it in a ballpit, that might
be really cool.

Speaker 3 (01:06:32):
That could be a category of our competition.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
Ball hard style.

Speaker 2 (01:06:41):
I don't think I've tried a yogini in years. I'm
going to have to give that a try.

Speaker 3 (01:06:45):
Can you please try it and then tell me.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
What the trick is because I forgot about that completely. Yogin.

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
I fell out of that one once and yeah, right
on my knee Hitsburg. So I have bad memories of it,
but I can teach it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:03):
I actually saw a really bad fall from a Eugini
one someone on stage, and I think maybe that also
is in my brain a little bit, like I haven't
processed that trauma, and yeah, it's wait, mandya. I feel
like I remember you talking about that before or something
like that. When you just said that. I I feel

(01:07:25):
like we've had this conversation before something like it's yeah,
that's rough, it was a while ago.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
I yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
And every time I teach it too, I'm like, please
put a match underneath you, because if something were to happen,
you're gonna land right on your knee. Yep, it's gonna
be flexed.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
I don't know. I think that trick trauma is real,
like whether you fall from something or you see a
bad fall from it, Like, I really think it does
something to our mind.

Speaker 3 (01:07:54):
Oh my god, funny story. I'll make this really short.
At crunch Gym, this was back in the two thousand
in I thought I was like total batty. I'd been
pulled in for really, like what a year and a half,
and I was like, oh, I'm such a batty. And
I climbed to the top of the pole and we
were the first exercise, like literally the first thing, like
monkey climbed to the top or whatever went to hook
a leg did not hook it on the pole and

(01:08:17):
I fell face first, face first, face planted from like
ten feet, busted my chin, blood went everywhere I had.
I hurt my back. I laid there on the floor.
The instructors were amazing. The EMTs came and they thought,
I think they thought it was a joke, you know
what I mean. They were like, are we being punked

(01:08:37):
right now? Like we're being called into a pull dance
in class with girls in there. But it was real.
I'm like laying there with like blood everywhere. They lifted
me up, they put me on the stretch, and they
took me to the ambulance in the hospital. I got stitches.
They didn't extraund my back whatever, all the things, and
I was traumatized after that, you know, And this was early.
I didn't even really have a career yet, but I
was like very scared. I became afraid. I became afraid

(01:08:59):
of falling off the pole. I became afraid of hyps
and I was like, this isn't gonna work. So I
found this guy. His name was par Andreson. He is
in Brooklyn, and he's like a theater psychiatrist, all these
things woo woo woo woo to the Max. And I
went there and I laid on the floor and I
told him about my trauma. And he sat there and

(01:09:19):
he just made these squiggles like sigils almost, but like
squiggly drawings, and then just like placed them on my
chakras as I was telling him about this, and then
we meditated, and then he laminated them for me and
sent me home with these little squiggle drawings so I
would like lay there and put them on my chakras
and do this meditation. He taught me to like get
myself over the trauma because I was like, I can't

(01:09:41):
move forward in my pole career if I'm afraid. I
can't be afraid. You have to have an element of
no fear in pole, right, Like you're not going to
get very far if you're afraid, so I had to
go through that like that trauma is real. The trauma
is real.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
Thank you for bringing that up. And that's a really
interesting and cool way that you got over it. I
also have like fear of heights, and I prefer low
flow because of that, just because I don't want to
get hurt. But I do want to get over that fear.

Speaker 3 (01:10:19):
It takes work. It takes a lot of work. Pair
I think he moved back to wherever he came from
in Europe. But if I know anybody that I can
connect you with, there's so many people doing like amazing
work like this out there in the world, you know
what I mean, like really amazing healers. But it really
does work, but it's you have to put the work
in to get to get over it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Only become more fearful as I get older too, so.

Speaker 2 (01:10:49):
I forget that I'd be trying to put you in
high things when you come to my class.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
I'm sorry, I know, like, give me the safety man immediately.

Speaker 3 (01:10:58):
That's awesome. Love it right.

Speaker 1 (01:11:02):
That's why I keep going to class too, because I
if I don't, I will become more and more scared.

Speaker 2 (01:11:08):
Yeah, yeah, this should be a whole separate episode Facing
the fear, right.

Speaker 3 (01:11:15):
Yeah, it could be. This could be a whole topic,
like a whole conference, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
Real because it is like if you look at children,
they have no fear because they nothing has happened to
them yet. But so many things have happened to us
as adults where we're like, nope. Sometimes it's irrational, yeah, totally.

Speaker 3 (01:11:34):
And I say that in my intro classes all of
the time. And it's about the mindset, you know. And
we fuck ourselves up as adults all of the time
because we're afraid. Yeah I'm dad, I'm going to embarrass myself.
I'm gonna hurt myself. I'm not gonna look good, you know.
And we just stop ourselves from doing any so many things.

(01:11:54):
And my kids they're like that, I'll do anything. Yeah right.

Speaker 1 (01:12:01):
There was one exercise that I used to do and
I'll start doing it again. It just reminded me of it.
I would climb as high as I could and just
like be up there and just say I am strong
and just remind myself that I am strong enough to
be up there.

Speaker 3 (01:12:15):
Yeah, yeah, to size that feard get up there. Yeah,
that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
Be here. Oh Christian mute.

Speaker 2 (01:12:27):
I was gonna say, then you start doing it in
an upside down ball and I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
Being upright and then upside down.

Speaker 3 (01:12:36):
Yeah, different, different face facing the floor.

Speaker 1 (01:12:41):
Oh yeah, Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
Yeah no, this is this is why I love pull dancers,
you know what I mean, Because it's like only the
badass survive. You know, you'll do some crazy ship that
you never thought you would do, and like you're afraid
of it, but you do it anyway, you do it.

Speaker 1 (01:12:56):
Yes, mm hmm right. It does bring us back to
like what you were saying before, it was life changing
and we're kind of like the curators of our community
to foster that in our students.

Speaker 3 (01:13:11):
Yes, exactly you're doing. We're doing amazing work. Yes, doing
amazing work out here in the world, making a difference one.
You know, death lay at a time.

Speaker 2 (01:13:25):
So are you Yes? Goodness, we talked about so much.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Yeah. I think that was all the questions that I
had to ask.

Speaker 2 (01:13:38):
Cool. Yes, is there anything else you would like to
share with us or the community and listeners and viewers
on YouTube about elevating their classes as instructors.

Speaker 3 (01:13:51):
I would love to just end with all dancing changes. Lives,
you know, and like we're all nodding because as it
changed ours in some way. So if you are in
the beautiful role of being a pole dance instructor, you know,
take it, take it seriously because you, like you just said, Manny,

(01:14:13):
you're curating change in people's lives and it is real.
It's a real thing, and it's it's really cool to
embrace your role as a teacher and it feels good
and it's yeah. I would just say, like, take it
seriously and do have fun, like have so much fun
with it, but like do the work and like continually

(01:14:35):
educate yourself in little bits and bobs and consuming of
knowledge in any inspiration comes from anywhere, you know, so
just be open to it and continue your education in
your training as a pole instructor, and continue, you know,
to make the world a better place.

Speaker 2 (01:14:56):
I love that. Thank you for sharing that. And you
never know when you see you'll see the students again.
You and Mandy are a perfect example. Yes, beautiful, it's fascinating.

Speaker 1 (01:15:10):
Yes, yay.

Speaker 3 (01:15:12):
I guess.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
On that note, we should thank everyone for listening to
or watching this episode of Pull and the Call podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:15:19):
My name is Mandy mag Christers, I'm not even wearing
any pants.

Speaker 2 (01:15:30):
I think she wins