In 2005 I
noticed that there was a pole dancing, dance competition due to take place in
Hammersmith, London. I bought tickets for myself and my sister to go to
watch the show. We were intrigued to see what they could do, especially
as a few months earlier I wondered how I could pole dance without having to
work in a lap dancing club. I researched on the internet and there was
nowhere to learn how to pole dance in Cardiff, or Wales!
The show
was brilliant; it inspired us to want to do it! Of course 10 years ago they
were performing fabulous tricks & skills but nothing on the level they are
doing today. The hardest move I remember was a lady climbed to the top of
the pole and slid down very fast head first. It shocked the ordinance
& us. Now performers are doing circus-style moves which you need to
be very strong & flexible to accomplish.
I arrived
back home beaming, with my brain working overtime. How can I do
this? How can I teach this? How can I set this up?
Over the
next few weeks I searched high and low on the newly Google website search
engine. I contacted pole dance companies in the UK that were already set
up. There were not many and they were all located in London or other
areas in England. Most did not reply to me apart from one so I asked the
question ‘does your pole school teach people how to teach so that I can teach
it in Cardiff’. One London Company finally replied and said I could teach
for their company in Cardiff but they were asking me to gain experience
first! I was back to square one so I looked into a different angle.
I searched for pole dancing poles for sale. Back then there was no such
thing as the famous company X-pole which sells our professional poles of
today. I found a metal company called Metalfast which sold one piece
poles and I ordered one. It arrived so I arranged for a friend to fix it
in my bedroom, by doing this he drilled a hole through my ceiling & put it
up best he could lol. I turned my room into a dance room. I mirrored the
walls and laminated the floor. I was ready to go but I still did not know
where to start on how to pole dance so I then researched on Google again, typed
in .COM, which scanned a wider search and it led me to a DVD from America that
teaches pole dancing, BINGO!
The DVD
arrived, I was well away. I started learning the simple moves at
first. I took pictures and showed my friends from Canton. Some were
very supportive. Then my sister became interested so we both used to
practice together and challenge each-other. Finally we got to an
intermediate level of pole dancing so I got back in touch with the London firm
and this time had my sister on tow. They booked a date for us to visit, train
and stay with them. It was a great weekend.
Buzzing
with ideas when we arrived back in Cardiff, we began to email and pop into
local venues to see if we could get this started up on behalf of the London
company. People did not take us seriously. They implied, ‘you want
to teach lap dancing’, etc, It was a little off putting and made us feel
small but I had a dream & a goal, and nothing or nobody was going to put me
down or stop us! However the knock backs were hard, even off some close
family and friends. I remember somebody saying, ‘it will never work’.
A few weeks
passed, then Inncognitos in central Cardiff, on Park Place were happy for us to
run the classes upstairs. Yay!! We got the ball rolling. The London
company sent us the poles after we got the measurements and soon the courses
and parties started flowing. We taught for 2 years in the small room at
Inncognito’s which only managed to fit two poles. Somewhere in the back
of my mind I kept reminding myself of my original goal and dream.
We
decided it was time to do this on our own and for ourselves. We contacted
the London Company and explained that we wanted to set up our own business but
were happy to continue teaching for them. They were ok with this for the
time being due to our honesty, plus they knew from the start this was always on
the cards.
Thinking
of the name for our company at my parents’ house didn’t take too long. We
thought of things relating to spinning, twisting, etc. including Twisted
Sisters. We originally called our company Welsh Mobile Pole but after a
few months we decided to alter the name. POLE TWISTERS was invented in
July 2007
6 weeks
after, I gave birth to my son! Starting a new business was challenging,
but with a newborn, even more. Looking back, I do not know how I did
it. I suppose I wanted to still be me and prove that even if you become a
mother your life doesn’t stop, it just changes.
Six
months passed and the London Company made us an ultimatum. Of course we
decided to keep our own business going. By this time Carla also decided
to give in her notice to her full time office job(with my prompting lol) to
concentrate and put her all into Pole Twisters. It was all systems go! We
located a larger pole dance studio and started running classes in Passion on
city road. This was going great., more poles, more space and more
people. Another year passed and we needed more time slots however Passion
could not offer us any more slots.
Getting a venue
We had
been hiring Inncognitos and Passion on City Road for some time and we needed
more hours. They could not accommodate. We started to look at estate
agents for commercial properties, viewing some online & went to visit
some. Most places the ceilings were not suitable. Also we needed
parking. I noticed an industrial unit for rent in Splott near the Magic
Roundabout which is well known & close to the city centre. We viewed
Unit 5 first. Wow! I was in love! I wanted it!!! But it was
too big and too expensive. Then the estate agent quickly showed us next
door, Unit 4. We both agreed it would be perfect. It had lots of
different separate rooms and one large one. Our heads started working
overtime. Over the next few weeks we decided we wanted it, applied and
got a loan, the recession was in full swing but we decided to take a chance and
obtain a £25,000 loan from the bank, WTF lol!! We needed a new ceiling
put in and x19 brand new poles (the upstairs studio, smaller room and large
room) as well as equipment, painting and more. We had to fork solicitor fees,
landlord fees, the first 3 months rent, which was an expensive chunk and paid a
few other things before getting in & having our very own set of keys.
We had one month’s rent free so we could set up the place. Carla & I painted
every room. Even at times Carla’s young son & my baby were
there. We were juggling motherhood into all of this! We moved
furniture in, purchased the poles, had a ceiling made in our large dance
studio. Looking back now it was a whirlwind.
Up to date the
place looks better than ever! We have had so much custom and it continues to
grow. At least one of your friends has heard of Pole Twisters now if you
live in Cardiff.
I think we were
the only business to start and open a dance studio in an industrial estate at
that time. When I look now, I notice many other pole dance schools, gyms
and dance companies have followed suit… proud moment.
After a
year of running, we had to come up with new plans fast though as pole dancing
lessons, parties and courses started to open everywhere, plus we noticed it
wasn’t as popular as it first started. Also customers had more choice on
different places to go. We couldn’t up our prices too high as it was the
recession, even though we boast the best school with the most poles, detailed
course structures and certificates. We had other companies hiring our
dance studios but it wasn’t enough. We had to find £1000 each month to
pay our rent alone. Carla came up with the idea of other dance themed Hen
parties at our studios which got us though and helped keep Pole Twisters’ bills
at bay…. just.
Staff
We have
employed a lot of staff, from part time to adhoc or self-employed. We
have over 300 plus those are still working for us or have worked for us. We
have a lovely team of people helping to keep this business run tip top, so we
thank you with all our hearts for this!
Years
passed & we had to borrow money from our mother. We were behind on
rent and wondered why we were working so many hours without not getting paid ☹
There were so
many knock backs it was unbelievable. So many bills to pay, insurances,
licences… it was drowning. We pressed on and on. The thing that
kept us going was the praise we had from our customers, friends and
family. Then the last two years we started to see some progress… We
were slowly noticing that we were achieving the goals we had written down on
our check list.
Course
structures
When we set up
we sat up most nights till early hours of the morning writing up our very own
unique course structures. So unique that all over, pole schools did not
offer all x8 stages of different levels. They have been changed over the
years twice and hopefully they are now spot on and will remain like this as we
now have them perfect. Fingers crossed anyway lol
Events
& Competitions
In
between all this we hosted a brilliant event at Lava Lounge in central
Cardiff. The night was a huge success with many people coming to watch
the show. We had pole dancers, burlesque performers, an exotic dance show,
naked butlers, ice luges and more. We later held another three
shows. One being in the Millennium Music Hall, another in the Casino down
the bay and the last one in the Ladybird Lounge. The performances and our
event planning improved and were spot on with the whole event being a lot more
professional. It was a lot of hard work however. The more shows we
did, the less money we made, so have held the odd event at our studio
afterwards to keep hire costs down which made things easier by not having to
lug the heavy equipment around. We have run two pole dancing competitions
at our studio for our staff and instructors. We have the footage on YouTube and
pictures on our Facebook page or group.
Stag do’s
Time was
passing by and we needed to make some more money to stay afloat. We now
had car loans to pay off as well as our loan and other bills/debts. We
decided to think about offering entertainment for the males. We came up
with many cool unique ideas including mud wrestling, eat me or drink me (food
or drink platter on a girl), sexy waitresses, amongst other ideas. At
first it was slow to start but now we are covering all over the UK and have
over 200 plus beautiful, professional and well-spoken girls on our books.
Since we started this side of the business about 5 years ago, other companies
have copied and followed suit, not only doing the same, but charging less and
even stoop as low as having similar designed websites and wordings.
Nevertheless, we are still doing very well and get a lot of amazing feedback
and referrals. This has no doubt kept the pole dancing studio going!
Hens
across the UK
Then we
decided to offer hens parties all over the UK, not just at our studio in
Cardiff, providing our entertainment too. So now even if you are in
Scotland, London or over in Dublin, Twisted Hen & Stag Parties will get the
party started and make it one to remember.
Hard times
At times
it has been so hard. We get constant phone calls, emails and Facebook
messages, even on our personal accounts at unsociable times. Even on our days
off, there are no such thing!
Also when we
are ill, at a wedding or have lost a family member and needed to work on these
businesses in the day as rarely no-one could cover us, so it has pushed us and
our stress levels to our limits! Over time we have improved our
managerial roles, have learnt how to deal with things better, to try to not
take last minute bookings and be as best prepared as we can to avoid
complication.
We now have a
fantastic day PA who has helped us out tremendously. Wish we could have
afforded someone sooner!
We also have a
great team of lovelies. Pole Twisters Team rule!!!! ;-)
I really
hope you enjoyed the read and now have knowledge of our companies. We have lots
of exciting plans to move us bigger and better but for now we are happy and its
ticking on by.... 8 years on!!!
Written
by Lisa Marie Broughton
Director
