The Joys and Frustrations of Setting Up a Pole Dancing Studio
Setting up a new pole dancing studio brings much excitement, and also many frustrations along the way. My journey began back in early September 2013, when I met up with the ever enthusiastic Miss Fit and her partner John to eek out the earliest planning of our joint business venture. It was then that we hatched the plan to open up a third Miss Fit Dance Studio. I had already decided that I wanted to run a pole studio and had even found an ideal location close to where I live. Turning plans into reality is always harder than you ever imagine, with every conceivable part of the project taking far longer and being far more complicated and expensive than you ever expect. So it has been an exciting but rather frustrating adventure at times. However we are on our way, the journey to Miss Fit Sydney South has begun!
The biggest thing I’ve learnt so far is that you at least need to double the amount of time many businesses tell you that things will be done by! If it’s not solicitors telling you “just give me another day”, or real estate agents telling you that the air conditioner has been supposedly serviced recently only to find it’s “raining” in your studio, not to mention curtain quotes, structural engineers, and mirror installations. All while you have a 6 month old baby with an ear infection screaming at you all day while you are “functioning” on three hours sleep a night. (Thank god for caffeine!) My husband Dale has been trying to teach me the “three strikes – you’re out” rule of business, and how to be blunt yet polite to people you need to deal with to get things moving. Yes I need to toughen up.
While these dramas can sometimes cloud your path, it is the small things that remind you why you are doing what you are doing. Funny things like seeing your husband spending over an hour to put together a dance pole, all the while, you’ve assembled yours in ten minutes – and having a laugh about it….or having your eight month old son crawling around the studio floor “vacuuming” up all the little bits of rubbish you’ve left behind.… or even the meat heads in the adjoining gym wanting to “help you with that”, man-speak for “any pretty girls upstairs to perve on?” And the endless “winks and nods” from contractors when they hear that you are setting up a pole dancing studio – apparently that means that you must be single and a sex maniac. I even had one guy tell me that I should join all the dating sites – despite the fact that I’m happily married! My response to him was, frankly, blunt! But these things do make you laugh and become even more determined to rid the pole dance industry of the stigma that is attached to such this fantastic sport.
The most exciting part for me this week has been seeing the beautiful Miss Fit Dance Studio colours on the previously boring pale green walls and also seeing my beautiful mirrors go in. It was hard to envisage how the decorated studio would look originally, but now that there are beautiful purple and red walls, feathers and sparkly things in it, it is all starting to feel real and look amazing! My son has also enjoyed shopping with me for feather boas and sparkly hats, much to his dad’s disgust!
No longer just a pole fitness expert, I can also safely say I’ve also become quite the handyman lately, assembling furniture and making my own dressing room mirror. Dale did have to teach me the basics of power tool operation, but I got the hang of it eventually! And he got a laugh out of watching me try….. personally I’m blaming the instructions that came with the furniture. J
I cannot wait to see my window dressings installed and finally have the Miss Fit Dance Studio logo up in lights. The night that beautiful logo switches on in the light box will be a very proud moment for me.
My journey setting up Miss Fit Sydney South has not been the smoothest, but I would not change a thing! I have the most supportive people helping along this journey and it is thanks to them that I know this project will continue to surprise and excite me each and every day. Bring on 2014!!
Carlie Purkis aka Symphony
