What holds you back?

It’s the time of term that I, owner Paula, gets nervous. It’s a few days before the start of the new term and I’m wondering how many women will still register. It’s the time of term that I wonder what I’m doing to market the studio that isn’t working. Because, in my mind, now that I’ve been addicted to pole since 2007, I wonder why the studio isn’t inundated with women. Pole is one of the best things that ever came into my life; it has given me confidence, strength, a belief in myself, amazing friendships, and so much more….so what is holding women back?
The studio puts out ads on Facebook and I always see the same comments/questions/misconceptions and want to scream the response:
1. “I’m too fat.” No. You’re not. You’re the size you are and our amazing instructors will work with you to build strength from there. And who cares if you are overweight? Does that mean that you shouldn’t do activities? Does not being your ideal body weight mean you shouldn’t try something new or have fun? If that was the case, my life would be super boring because I’ve been over my ideal weight (or what I think it should be) since I left high school. Yes, I too consider myself “fat” for me right now (I am marshmallow-y for me at the moment, thanks shoulder surgery, 1.8 years of not stellar working out, and a deep love of food….) But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to still play at life!  And furthermore, we have women of ALL sizes and they are ALL amazing. The women that come to us strong and in shape I’m proud of and love seeing them grow; but the women who come to us that aren’t comfortable with their bodies, those are the women who’s blossoming means the most to me because I was/am that girl! Your weight is a number, your size is a shape, what matters is your attitude!
2. “I’d fall on my head.” No. If you did, I’d feel really bad and my liability insurance company would be really angry at me. We’ll start you at the beginning, building strength and proper engagement. Yes, the crazy upside down tricks are something to aspire to, but you can’t start as a master! So is the fact that you’re not amazing already stopping you from starting? How sad! Everything I’ve ever done in my life I start by being bad and then I put in time and got better. By not wanting to start at the beginning, you’ll never start anything.
3. “I’m not a stripper.” NEITHER AM I. This isn’t about that. Pole Exercise is about you. It’s about YOU building strength. It’s about YOU gaining confidence. It’s about YOU feeling good about yourself. Who cares how it’s used by someone else (though there are a lot of differences between the fitness and exotic sides of the industry….but that is a whole other post.) So because I don’t want to be professional football player, I shouldn’t throw the ball around with friends? Because I don’t want to have my own cooking TV show, I shouldn’t make a dinner party for my friends. Almost every activity you can do has someone doing the same activity with different intentions. It is how you use your skills that defines them.
So I’ll hold my breath the next three days and wonder what awesome new women will overcome their own insecurities, uncertainties and fear to play with us. We have awesome students because they all took the risk to try something new.