How to start a pole dance studio

How to start your own Pole Dance Studio! Or at least, how I did it.

4/1/2019

**Due to so many individuals contacting me to help consult them on opening their own studio,
I created a FREE online mini course for those interested in the
first 3 steps to kickstart starting your own studio! I also work with individuals 1:1

If you are currently interested in opening your own studio
or business in pole or sensual movement check it out.**

free 3 step kickstarter mini course here

In 2011 I was busy moving into our current East 5th Street studio space. I remember the excitement I had for being able to set up a space the way I wanted it to be, along with the anxious fear of if I could actually make it work and pay all the bills that multiplied within 30 days of moving in!

Do you want to open your own pole studio? You figure, you spend all your time taking classes, teaching or hanging out at a pole studio already, why not just make it yours and make all the money?!

Well, my first word of advice for anyone who asks about opening up a pole studio is this. Don't open up a pole studio if you only want to make a lot of money, because chances are you won't right off the bat.

It takes time and commitment to get a studio up and running to produce real full time income. However, if it is your dream and you are passionate about creating a space where others can learn the art of pole and sensual movement, then I want to share a little bit about my story so that it might inspire or give you some insight to my journey owning a successful pole studio.

I took my first pole dance class while I was traveling in Buenos Aires. I fell in love with my first spin and took as many classes as I could. They cost $6 USD each so I figured I needed to take advantage! I have never been a prude or shy girl, but like everyone else, I have my insecurities about my body.

Pole Dancing had such a huge impact on me when I first was exposed to it. It allowed me to work through a lot of body issues I had as well as give me a sense of sexual empowerment that was respectful of my body vs. disrespectful.

It's hard to explain how pole dancing changed my life but it did. It became a challenging physical outlet for me when I was stressed out, pissed or wanting to feel like a bad ass. My current love of dancing was enhanced by allowing me to float and spin in the air on the pole instead of having my feet attached to the ground all times.

It also supported my love of pushing my hips out in that salsa like swagger rather than the un natural hips forward and square ballet position that never felt good to me. *Meow!*

My first pole class I ever took!

When I first learned this leg hang!

It all started here at the Pole Studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2007! I only had 3 months to learn everything I could learn before leaving. Above are pictures of my first inversion and my classmates!

When my time in Buenos Aires was up I was excited to get back to Austin, TX and take some more classes. Little did I know, the classes I was use to didn't exist in Austin at all!

Arriving back home in December, my only Christmas gift request from my family was a $300 Platinum Stages pole for my apartment. Santa delivered and I started 2008 off in my new place with my living room area furnished with nothing by my pole. =)

Pics of my housewarming party (above) in the beginning of 2008 sharing my pole knowledge!
The picture on the right was my body at the beginning of my pole journey. As most pole dancers know, as your inner world changes through this art, so does your physical body.

Pole was the first form of exercise where I learned to love my body, no matter what changes it went through as I progressed in pole.

After trying to learn as much as I could via Youtube and my pole at home along with starting to get request from my friends to teach them some moves, it was time to invest in some help!

I went to Las Vegas to be certified in Pole Dancing levels 1-4 by Fawnia in 2009. At that time there weren't a lot of mentors, certifications, or places to go to get information on teaching and owning a studio. Fawnia was the leader and Vegas was the place to go!

This was the first huge investment and step towards my goal of having a pole studio! I learned so much in this one week and met others like me for the first time. I had been researching a lot about opening up your own business with my cities free and inexpensive classes along with researching other pole studios in the US and checking out what they were doing!

After getting back from Vegas with some curriculum and confidence, I started to use my friends as guinea pigs to teach them what I knew. The pictures above are from a photo shoot to try to get some pictures for my first web-site I was putting together at the end of 2009!

At this point, I was on a roll and knew I wanted to have legit classes at a studio, but wasn't ready for a lease of my own. A local dance studio was kind enough to allow me to rent studio time by the hour and teach pole so I set up a rental contract and put my first big order in for poles!

The stage poles were my second "big" investment!

This is a picture (above) of the 6 stand alone poles from Platinum Stages I purchased in 2010. Now you might be asking....how did you afford these 6 poles? Well, I was a hairstylist during all this time so I was still working a full-time job.

I took any extra time I had to research, teach, and work towards this venture. I saved up any extra money I had and invested in myself and the business. I did take out a small business loan (SBA loan) through the government once I knew that I was committed and I had students coming to my classes. The loan added a new monthly expense, but I was making it work!

Now, thank god I got stage poles, because that meant that they were portable and could go anywhere!

I decided to move out of the first studio I was renting from and move into a friends new dance studio location in January 2011 so I could expand my class offerings and have a more permanent home.

The power of collaborating with another small business women like myself was a win-win for both of us. She was teaching hip-hop and stiletto classes which was complimentary to my pole classes.

As my business started growing, specifically with bachelorette parties, I had to expand my education as well!

I kept hearing about other studios teaching "lap dance" parties, but didn't know how or what to teach in them. Back to researching..... which lead me to StripXpertease. I took it as a sign too that they just happened to be doing a teacher training in the following weeks, so I booked my ticket and was on my way to NYC!

Here I am in 2011 with the group I learned with to teach lap dance and exotic movement! What a blast and great group of gals!

Teaching as much as I could in my friends studio, I started seeking and checking out spaces that I could rent and have VAMPS be its own brick and mortar studio. Finally after a year of looking and going through the ups and downs of finding my own space, in December 2011, I signed my very first lease to my own studio space in the East Austin neighborhood, which at that time was an up and coming area.

The space inside is under 700 square feet, but that is all I ever needed. I took the space challenge and figured out how to make it work. Look at the pretty red lights and disco ball effect inside the studio! =)

At this point I was  able to go full time with the studio and quit my daytime job and finally be a full time studio owner. The first two years flew by and I was making just enough money to break even after paying myself a conservative income. I also moved in with a friend to save money on rent and was teaching a lot of classes, competing and doing all of the business admin keeping me a very busy person!

It's now 2019......and A LOT has happened since I moved into our space. Every year had been different and had its challenges. I am finally at a point where the studio pretty much runs itself and I have the freedom to work on other projects and start other businesses without having to worry about having where a "paycheck" is going to come from.

With that said, I have become passionate about other women having the opportunity to start their own businesses so they can make money and be their own boss which has lead me into coaching, training, and teaching others how to start their own businesses.

If you need help opening up your own small studio and want to work with me, sign up for my Smart Start Studio Owners newsletter email list to be the first to know about when registration opens for my full SSSO Course, tips for new studio owners, and more.

If you are really serious and ready to go right now, take my FREE 3 STEP KICK STARTER MINI COURSE I created for those wanting to know where to start and get the first most important steps done!

Let me know you questions and comments below and until next time...... xoxo

Love and light.... Ember

12 Comments

Tamica

5/16/2017 07:31:24 am

I am in the research phase you mentioned you went through in your blog. I started pole dancing 2 years ago and i got Certified last summer. I really want to open a studio. I'm already a full time personal trainer but I don't have a space of my own I travel to my clients. I'm caught at a crossroads because I really love pole and want to incorporate that into my career but training is making all the money. From the research I've done the expenses to open a pole studio is much cheaper than a fitness boutique in general, because of equipment expenses. Do you have any advice?

Ember Ashe

5/18/2017 12:06:03 pm

Hey Tamica! Thanks for commenting. There is so much that goes into opening any studio, but yes, some of the equipment expenses might be cheaper for a pole studio than a fitness boutique, however other expenses like insurance, software, rent could be more pricey for the pole studio. You have to run all the numbers and see what makes more sense financially.

Research the numbers by making a full layout of monthly expenses, start up expenses, and add a big cushion for random expenses to come up and start small. And I mean the monthly budget for EVERYTHING having your own space! Rent, insurance, software fees, internet, phone, taxes, office supplies, bathroom and cleaning supplies, any admin/teacher help, music license fees (usually $600 a year), loan payments, merchant fees, marketing expenses, your pay, etc. Then figure out how many classes you plan to teach, how much you plan to charge each student, and run the numbers for classes being half full. (4 of 8 students taking classes and paying). If you can't break even with half capacity, I would be concerned. I always had a low (worst case) run of the numbers, and best case (max potential) run of the numbers. Reality usually comes in around the middle.

If you are already training, there is no reason you can't have a portable pole to travel with to start teaching clients to gauge interest without a huge investment, or get a small space with workout equipment if that is working for you and have some poles (2-3) to see how well the classes do while your training! Our studio has done really well with 5 poles total, which means smaller classes, but a more intimate and one on one experience which some individuals prefer. Also bachelorette parties support a large part of our business, where other studios rely more on their weekly classes.

If you can rent out of another studio to start pole classes, do it! This is the smartest way to start marketing yourself, getting clientele built up and gives you time to look for the perfect spot to move into for yourself if you choose to do so.

Because I would have to know a lot more about your situation to even give you useful direct advice, if you can find someone in the business who has had a successful pole studio open for more than 4 years, I would ask them if they offer consultation services. It usually is an hourly or package rate to help mentor, direct, set up and give advice to what they would do for your goals and current options available to you for starting your studio. Fawnia from Las Vegas, was who I went to when I was first starting my business. It was worth every penny to have someone to call up and ask about what I should do in certain situations and lay out a plan for me to follow. She saved me a lot of money and time in addition to being that helping had I needed when I was just starting out.

Otherwise it is a lot of following your intuition, growing and learning from your mistakes, and genuinely loving what you do!

Hope some of this makes sense and can help a little! It is a hard job running your own business and it is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure. But listen to yourself and trust your gut while having fun on the way!

xoxo - Ember

Jessica

12/14/2017 01:58:50 pm

Hi, how would I get certified in pole dancing other than Vegas I live in Louisiana

Nisha

9/5/2017 10:06:45 pm

Opening a studio has been and is a dream of mine. I took a class several years ago for the first time and loved it. I need more classes and there is only 1 place here that has a class that is very expensive. I am trying to create a plan to get started. This blog was very informative and very helpful.

12/14/2017 05:10:49 pm

Jessica,

If you can contact a pole studio in your area and ask them where they suggest getting certified, they may know of trainings locally or that will be coming near your city.

Google search "pole dance teacher training (or certification)" and the main certifications will pop up. Some of the more well known certification courses are:
Xpert
https://www.xpertpolefitness.com/

elevaTED
http://elevateducation.com/what-we-do/

Pole Moves
https://polemoves.com/home

The industry is always changing and growing, so I always reach out to blogs and other pole studios as resources.

Hope this helps and good luck on your journey! Cheers.

Jennifer

2/4/2018 02:59:49 am

I’m looking to saving and opening up a pole studio... do I need to be certified or can I just hire people who are certified pole instructors...! I just want to run it basically . I wouldn’t mind learning and getting certified though.

Ember

2/8/2018 01:38:33 pm

Hey Jennifer,
There are no required certifications to open up a pole studio (in Texas and most states to my knowledge), however, yes you will want to hire instructors with some form of pole dance instruction training since you will want to make sure students are safe when learning how to use the apparatus.
I use to teach, but when not teaching just manage the studio and hire certified instructors. I will say though, just because someone has a certification might not mean they are a great instructor so it is only part of what I'm looking for when hiring. If someone has a history in dance, gymnastics, or other fitness experience and pole dance, I take that into account when hiring since most pole certifications only require a weekend course.

Hope this helps and continue to do research online! The industry is changing every year and there are topics on insurance, certifications, competitions, and business practices that I have to continually keep up with but for the most party it is similar to opening a dance studio that offers pole fitness.

Cheers!
Ember

Vanessa Villegas

7/21/2018 12:48:41 pm

Hi, I am single parent mother who has always wanted to open her own business. I also feel more women should open their own businesses. I have a Masters Degree and work full-time as well as taking care of my son full-time. People have discouraged me from opening up my own business because of me being a single mother but I would like to prove them different. I really like your encouragement and you seem very optimistic. I have funding I've been putting aside for starting my own business and would like to purse a Pole studio. I noticed you mentioned about mentoring. Would you still be interested in doing that?

7/21/2018 05:45:38 pm

Hi Vanessa,

I'm literally just now writing up an outline for a course I will be launching in September around starting a business and/or making money in this business. I would love to interview you and see what kind of assistance and knowledge you are needing as you look into mentoring. What I am creating might be perfect for you. And yes, I still do mentor, consult, and train people who are starting to open and/or teach pole and aerials.

Please email me at vampsdance@gmail.com and lets find a time to talk! =D

xoxo Ember

PS. I really need to update this blog post to what has happened since and in present time. haha

Chanel

8/24/2018 09:57:53 am

Hi😍 I'm SOOO interested in your training course next month!!! Please include me I'd be so grateful!!
Thanks so much!

Rori Chacon link

9/3/2018 06:59:14 pm

Interested 👯‍♀️

Zoey Zhang

9/20/2018 05:09:52 pm

Hi Ember! I am very interested in opening a pole studio. I have a degree in business from UCLA and a master in accounting. But I am just tired of looking for work and I really just want manage my own business and be independent. Please let me know when your training course is ready!

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How to start your own Pole Dance Studio! Or at least, how I did it.

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