Charley
Forum Replies Created
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The entertainment industry is famous for non-competes. When I was a radio personality I was required to sign them all the time. They were generally unreasonable which meant that arguing for a better severance was an option. Usually they 6-12 months and 60 miles, we would usually get a severance to of about half – so 3-6 months pay. Using that as a model I would argue it’s unfair to require a non-compete without a severance package.
An NDA makes so much more sense.
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@Chemmie – I have worked for a chain pole dance studio and I loved it. We were provided with everything we needed and she rarely asked us for our energy – which was so nice in many ways. I don’t remember there ever being a rule about going to other studios but we certainly signed non-disclosures which seemed fair since it was her material. I prefer to teach my own stuff but teaching her stuff was really fun and honestly it was sooo much easier in a lot of ways.
@Sparrow – I know it’s hard when you establish a long term relationship with someone and they/you decide to experiment outside of that. I will say one advantage to staying out of studios as a teacher is that I never worry about “copying” anyone because I can honestly say I have no idea what they do – I don’t look at their sites or even their youtubes unless a video features a friend. Being a part of studios is exactly why I feel so conflicted. In the beginning we just shared and it was fun, then it became all of this conflict of interest, which I didn’t believe in until it happened to me. I love how we preach community until we begin making money off pole. UGH. I am right there with you, sister.
@lilbit – if more people realized what you do we wouldn’t have the “cattiness” and “stealing.” I love it when any business tries to get an IC to sign a non-compete – hahahahaha! I’ve been an IC in MANY fields and I always liken being an IC to being a “rogue” lol! In the real world IC stuff I’ve done they’ve only made us sign non-disclosure specific to discussing the work/equipment or business secrets we may know. AND – I’m sorry you had IRS trouble. I would only do paid employees too.
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Hahahaha!!!!!!!! It’s so very true, chemmie!!!!!!
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You can jamilla/cradle mount into it too.
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I think it’s interesting as students most are given a safe place to learn and grow however once you become an instructor you often become “property” without a safe place to learn and grow.
This is a multi layered subject. I would say having personally put way too much out there only have it taken for granted and my finger prints dusted off that I definitely have a wall up when it comes to teaching other instructors. One one hand once creativity is put out there it’s no longer “yours” but public domain. If you video your special tricks or choreography and put it out there for the world to see, don’t expect credit for your inspiration. That said we are ALL inspired by what we see and often may replicate something we’ve long forgotten who did it or I inspired us.
Every class an instructor takes will feed their curriculum in one way or another which is what tears my opinions to shreds because on one hand why should I give bits and pieces for instructor group class pay? On the other hand it’s not like students don’t try to go teach their friends – which I am adamantly against ( I know that makes me sound like a “B” but unless you’re qualified to teach please don’t hurt your friends, take my material YOU paid for and give it away for FREE – and I’m not talking about polers sharing amongst themselves, I’m talking about students who think its cool to let non poler friends learn TRICKS – not simple walks and steps and encourage them to go to a class or here and learn safely.)
On the other side the tricks are really BIG now, I refuse to self teach some of these things which means I will need a spotter and a class setting. Just because I teach doesn’t mean I know it all, I never had the student experience and very much feel like I missed out. I want the community aspect, I want the encouragement that you don’t get learning on your own or teaching and I want to turn my brain off and just move. I cannot promise that I won’t take away something special and revise and teach it. I personally rarely struggle with ideas for classes but I can’t promise I won’t take a move and add it into something, that’s the awesome part of being a student is having a clear mind to create with what you learn. I also make very little so it’s not like I could pay for a private even though I truly value another instructors time and the downside of privates is that they are typically trick based which is good if you can learn a new trick and want to but what if you just want a work out or to dance?
I also know many amazing instructors who aren’t “advanced” and would love to take upper level classes for themselves. This poses another argument for instructors being able to take classes elsewhere. Where do we go to work on ourselves? Chances are an intermediate level dancer who teaches is not going to start teaching flag mounts or whatever after one class! Lets be real! If she’s a good instructor she knows better. So that makes me wonder should instructors only be able to take trick based classes? Then how do we exercise our movement and transitions? Plus it’s not really possible to know who’s a teacher and who isn’t unless you know then personally or through social media sites. Some people don’t know they should say they teach, honestly. They aren’t being deceptive but naive.
Issues arise because of our egos. I will honestly admit that mine needs petting, it’s fragile and I tend to come from the “Emily Post” era where I believe in giving credit and thanks for each simple thing you gain from another because creativity and energy is to be appreciated. But seriously how much framing credit do I need for teaching, spotting or helping with a common community move or sequence? Again, lets be real. If I’ve created and taught something to even a single person and they’ve paid for that, isn’t that credit enough?
It’s all so complicated. I will end by saying these are my rambling thoughts, they are not directed at anyone or any of the above situations. Just this topic is one that shreds my head to pieces because I haven’t found an answer yet. If I owned a studio I *feel* like I wouldn’t want my instructors looking elsewhere for lessons, I wouldn’t want them sharing what they learn from me outside of class and I can’t give anyone a good reason for that outside of I sometimes need to pee all over my self proclaims “genius” and I certainly make sure that I’m treating others as I would want to be treated and respect other studios, their restraints and rules.
Finally, I very much want a community of sharing and togetherness and perhaps I’ve personally been Hurt too much or not stroked enough or felt looked down upon whether for real or imagination that as I go further into my journey I find myself closing my world off. I jokingly say I fire “clients” because I have no desire for drama or unappreciative students. I sometimes wish I could take classes and I will sometimes pop into a studio but only one that I trust, respect and call friend. Pole is pretty catty even when we are on our best behaviour “Emily Post” style. I’ve learned you can’t be nice enough to escape rumors and people talking smack about you. No matter how nice I’ve been I still hear rumblings about me, I still hear that people hate me and I’ve been beyond giving and nice, so anyway – ugh conflicts if interest. I see both sides…wish there was an easy answer.
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Poles are sold! Thanks everyone for being so quick! 🙂
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🙁 that makes me sad.
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I like any of the bad kitty bottoms. The fold overs fit really nice actually. I feel like they run a little big, I have small and think I should have gotten extra smalls. They do give you enough exposure with a modest look, the Brazil’s are awesome! Very sexy!
I also wealth Mika “Betty” short too and I love them.
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Just an update everybody! X-Pole is giving us a NEON SIGN to giveaway for the X-Pole Studio Challenge Relay Race! Bad Kitty is also sponsoring a DIY Fashion Competition! Workshops are posted up too!
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Well the lessons here are great because you get both static an spin and Veena starts with the strength training which makes the static learning much easier.
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Wow! I am kind of stunned. I just looked at your profile and you look gorgeous! Maybe they were jealous? The SV lessons offer both so maybe this is your studio for awhile! And we love you in booty shorts here!
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I think you should learn with Veena and perhaps do the studio if you can afford both. Here’s why, static is harder to learn in many ways and can be more strenuous on your body in the beginning as Veena pointed however Veena starts with strength training on static not spins, dancing around a static pole even with transitions is much different than spin pole. In my limited experience with those who learned spin first, they often have a difficult time translating to static and I think both are important skills to have. I feel beginners greatly benefit from working with both types of poles. Those who are strong like yourself typically do well with spin because you can lift and hold and conversely those who like myself when I started lack strength can glide around a static doing grounded spins. Grounded spins are more difficult on spin mode because of the nature of the speed of it. Spinning pole can be pretty hard if you aren’t super strong and even doing a step around is challenging. I think spin pole can be advantageous in learning static spins like front hook because you can engage your shoulders and learn to lift before going into the spin vs on static when you have to learn to walk, hook inside and lift all simultaneously. Both have their place in our journeys. I like to have students work with both because like I said doing a step around to pirouette with a spin pole requires more body control than on static, it really helps you learn control your simple landings but doing gorgeous lifted floating spins on static are harder and it’s difficult to purée gage your body on static. There so much advantage to learning static, you learn how to work with your body in a quicker fashion because its generally difficult to get a floaty spin on static if you are trying to engage your shoulda before you go into it, you have to learn to engage that second before and gaining momentum is so different. For me as a general rule, I like to do more advanced work on a static pole things like climbing are very challenging and as you move up the pole your battling slowing down and speeding up. I prefer to teach things like that on static first. Does this even make sense?
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I love ALL of these ideas keep them coming! I used to wear high heeled boots often without socks because I prefer anything with a heel to be kinda tight so my socks wouldn’t fit comfortably in the boot and anyway I knew Rob and I were meant to be when he asked to me to start washing my feet as soon as the boots came off…surprised he didn’t make me keep them outside!!!
I have such an odor problem and it’s embarrassing but I just started owning it. If someone stinks, it’s safe to say it’s me. It’s just that I sweat constantly! I like to warm too so that doesn’t help. I had to throw a leather coat once because my boss thought I wasn’t showering them I realized my leather was just soaked with that BO smell from wearing it all the time because I like to be warm – it smelled like bad chicken soup and baby powder. I was so annoyed because I am extremely HYGENIC – I’m just a stinky, cold, sweater – lol!
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I suffer from foot odor pretty badly. My uggs are the biggest culprit and while I am always in clean socks when I take them off in class then put them back on something makes them stink so bad!!! I can attest to baking soda and a mix of baby powder works really well. I’m just a stinky person in general to be honest. I have to apply deodorant several times a day. It’s pretty important to be self aware and carry the products you need. Sorry if that was TMI.
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My regular doctor actually asked for cards and info about it. She is telling people who want/need a more active lifestyle to pole. One of the student doctors wants to take classes too after I made her watch vids on my phone hahaha. I need SV business cards, I swear, because I tell everyone to come here because you can see all types of pole. I even heard a story about my dr doing a chair class and how hard the stripping aspect was! It’s not easy to strip and still look sexy. So it’s not like stripping in of itself is easy. I think people don’t understand how hard it is to she’d clothing and remain sexy and in movement, it’s tough!