Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to ZEN OASIS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

ZEN, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Before I ever thought about creating The Total Reset Experience I wanted to be someone who got hired to travel and teach pole dancing. My pole coach was always traveling to teach and I wanted to do that as well. I asked her one day “How do I get hired to teach? What do I need to do/ who do I need to talk to.” Her response was “I’m not sure… I never actually had to ask.” What I found though was that the opportunities of that sort for women of color were very slim. There were plenty of pole camps happening, but I would only see a sprinkle of women who looked like me receiving these opportunities. I absolutely felt some type of way about that. It just didn’t sit well with me. I knew sooo many women who were amazing instructors and deserved the opportunity to travel and get paid for the work that they had put into refining their craft! At this time, pole dancing hadn’t blown up on the internet just yet (we were pre-covid) so the opportunities that were presented to women who look like me often weren’t paid, and that also just didn’t seem right

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My journey is a long and winding one but I’ll share the most relevant pieces.
I found pole dancing in 2016 when I was looking for a way to connect with my femininity. There was a part of me that I wanted to access but did not exactly know how. I was not initially interested in pole dancing classes, I was looking for regular dance classes but signed up for a twerk class at a studio here in Atlanta.

The twerk classes were fun but after taking three of them I felt that I had twerked all I could twerk. I really enjoyed the environment of the studio and it was the first time that I had been in a space where I did not feel judged. I remember thinking “Wow… women are actually this nice?”

I wanted to continue to come so I signed up for a membership and started taking pole lessons. I immediately fell in love with the sport, the studio, and the women there and within 7 months I enrolled myself into a competition. After winning first place I said “Oh… I guess I”m kind of good at this” and I became much more serious.

In 2018 I traveled to Florida with a few of my pole sisters to become certified as a pole dancing instructor. I did not necessarily feel passionate about the idea of teaching at the time but honestly I couldn’t afford to pay for a full membership and needed a way to get free studio time to practice.

Fortunately, there was a new studio opening in the Metro Atlanta area who agreed to take me on as an inexperienced instructor. It was there that I first met my pole coach, who is now also my spiritual coach. Meeting her changed the trajectory of my life and I’m in tears thinking about how she was an angel sent to help me see the light in my darkest moments.

I began pole work with my coach in 2018 but it wasn’t until 2020 when we shared a synchronistic moment of both of us mentioning Mike Tyson (very odd but I believe we both recognized that there was something there) that we began our spiritual work together. She supported me through quitting my job, supported me emotionally through making the transition to starting the retreats and teaching pole full time, and helped me heal from my relationship.

Through our work together I transformed as a person and with that I started to gain recognition in the community as someone who was a great athlete but also led with a positive message. So when it came time for me to begin hosting retreats that centered on meditation and wellness, I already had trust and recognition in the community in that area.

The Total Reset Experience is a retreat experience that centers on three pillars: movement, wellness, and connection. No other retreats/camps in the industry provide an experience of this variety and at this calibur. Most women enter pole dancing seeking ways to tap into their femininity/ sensuality, which often makes pole dancing a very emotionally driven sport. When you think about the stigma that comes with pole dancing, combined with women who already do not feel their most confident, creating a judgment free, emotionally supportive space where they just can BE FREE and away from society’s gaze was absolutely necessary. Our experiences provide avenues and safe supportive spaces for people to connect with one another, heal, and release the tensions that accompany a life lived in survival mode. Most of all, the product that we provide is freedom.

Our participants have the opportunity to participate in classes led by some of the best and most diverse instructors in the industry. We work with healing the human biofield by offering group guided meditations and targeted sound baths to realign and ground our students so that they feel more at ease. Everyone has the opportunity to work 1-on-1 with our healers to do deeper work and gain personal clarity. Almost just as important as the healing aspect, we make sure that we have plenty of fun with group excursions, game nights, and other lighthearted activities.

People attend wellness retreats all the time and then return home and resume life as it was. We give each of our participants the tools needed to move toward a life of ease, freedom and awareness and we make it very simple for them to continue their work post-retreat. Healing is simple (not easy, but simple), and we help our participants understand that you just have to want to be different and the rest will follow.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My entire journey feels like one of resilience but I’ll say the thing that I’ve had to power through the most is the urge to go back to a 9 to 5 job. There have been so many moments on this entrepreneurial journey where it seemed like it would just be easier to get a job again. The stability of a consistent paycheck is so attractive, but everything has an opportunity cost. I always asked myself “would you feel as creative if you had to go and work 40 hours a week again?”
I continue to remind myself that life is watching me and what I accept is what I will receive. I did not want the lifestyle that came with punching a clock. I had to keep coming back to the knowing that all of my needs were consistently provided for, and that my only job was to trust Source and move forward in what I felt called to do.

Any advice for managing a team?

The best advice I have for managing a team and maintaining high morale would be to first, understand your needs as a leader. Have a deep understanding of the things that you are willing and not willing to do, and be sure to bring people onto your team that supplement your weaknesses.
It is also very important to understand the communication style, and support needs of your team members. People like to be managed differently, and if you can treat management styles the same way we treat learning styles, team members feel seen, heard and supported.

Contact Info:

• Website: totalresetexperience.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetotalresetexperience/