We recently connected with Fawnia Mondey and have shared our conversation below.

Fawnia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. undefined

While the rest of the world was going about their business, I was celebrating my 19th birthday. My friends and I went to the strip club (we were in Canada, and the legal drinking age is 19), and watched gorgeous strippers for a couple hours.
I was really motivated to give exotic dancing a try, and asked the waitress where the stripping school was. She laughed, and said “There is no school silly. You just get up there and do it!” I couldn’t believe it. These women were beautiful, talented and knew how to walk in their heels, pole dance and tease every audience member. I wanted to be them.
Once I got the job, and learned one pole move, I started teaching. In 1994, I became the worlds first pole dancing instructor. In 1998, I produced the first instructional videos on how to pole dance.

Fawnia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I started teaching other exotic dancers the only pole move I knew, my goal was to provide other dancers with a skillset they can bring to work with them. I remember my first time on stage and I had zero clue on how to pole dance. I was scared, nervious, embarrassed, and knew there was a market for pole dance teachers. With my one move, and short 20 min lesson before the strip club opened each morning, I started making a difference in these ladies lives.

I have never taken dance lessons before, however in school I did study theater. I was obesessive about Madonna and studied music videos and knew all her songs. So with my limited dance experience and overwhelming passion for fulfilling a void, there was no stopping me. I felt as though I had stumbled across the most incredible job in the world. Being a exotic dancer in the 90’s was a magical time, as we were getting paid by the club to perform four to six 18 minute shows a day. We performed six days a week, and travelled to a new club on Sundays. Our agent would take 12.5% for securing our bookings and keeping us young ladies busy. While learning as a went, and sharing what I knew with others, I had lost 40 pounds in the first three months.

Today I live in Las Vegas and my pole dance business has grown into a small enterprise employing 40 instructors from a variety of dance and fitness disciplines. My business is called Pole Fitness Studio, and we teach pole dancing for all levels, belly dance, latin dance, hip hop, burlesque, yoga, self-defense, aerial silks, hammock, lyra, pole, and full body fitness classes with TRX, dumbbells, etc, and we are coed. My studio has become the number one destination for locals and tourists to celebrate their birthday, bachelorette, and we have have a blast with bachelor parties too.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

In 1998 my boyfriend Geoff shared with me a great idea to reach more costumers. I was already teaching a new group of ladies who visited the club every week, but his idea took my ‘exotic dance lessons’ business to another level.
“You could make an instructional video, and sell it online. I can build a website for you, with an address for people to send their check or money order, and you ship out their video.” Geoff lent me $1000. to produce the video, and I filmed it a few months later. From 98-05 I produced seven instructional videos, and made up to $5K a month for many years.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

At Pole Fitness Studio we have in person classes, plus an online platform where people can watch our on-demand videos and participate in our livestream classes. We understand that not everyone has time to drive to a studio for their daily workout. This is where PoleFitnessOnline.com comes in. Annother fun fact is there you don’t need a pole to participate in many of our classes. We have classes in burlesque, yoga, full body fitness, slink & stretch, vertical barre and even foot massage to help with your toe point.

In addition to our memberships and parties, we also offer certifications for people who want to open up their own studio or become a knowledgeable instructor. Branching off we also rent out poles, with LasVegasPoleRentals.com and offer burlesque entertainment with BurlesqueToGo.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.polefitnessstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polefitnessstudio/#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoleFitnessStudioLV
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pole-fitness-studio/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@polefitnessstudio
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pole-fitness-studio-las-vegas
• Other: ONLINE CLASSES
  https://www.polefitnessonline.com/

Image Credits

Fawnia Mondey, Caroline Godwin, Brenda Quaife,