We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caroline Perry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Caroline, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

2020 took a very unexpected turn for all of us and, like most businesses out there, I had to adapt. Zoom meetings and teleconference became the norm overnight. Instead of teaching clients out of a premium space in a group class environment, I started offering online classes through Zoom. While we all missed the space, ceiling height, and sense of community that studio classes offered, creating an environment where we can all come together for an hour to forget the stress and confusion of the pandemic was immensely therapeutic. What I found is that teaching online has allowed me to reach people from all corners of the globe and create a community out of common interests. If anything, having to stay farther apart from each other brought us that much closer together. Now, I still run my business solely online through classes, workshops, and even a membership site where pole dancers can take their skills to the next level from the comfort of their own home.

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 name is Caroline Perry, aka “Ginja Pole Ninja”. I’m a pole dance and flexibility instructor. I got into pole dancing back in 2014 on a whim. I was hooked after my first class and have since been traveling the world teaching, competing, and performing. My approach to teaching is quite outside the norm. I focus heavily on injury prevention, mobility, and prehab so that my students can have as long and as fabulous of a pole career as they desire. Injuries are far too common in this sport, and I blend my knowledge as a personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist to enhance and support my students’ pole journey. I am most proud of my membership site where intermediate pole dancers can take their skills to the advanced level without injury and without a hefty financial investment. In the portal they can access tutorials, prehab exercises, conditioning plans, and workouts to help them create a well-rounded skill set. I believe that pole should be accessible to everyone, no matter what your station is in life, and I do my best to bridge that gap.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My Instagram started as a personal diary of my pole journey. The videos were grainy with terrible sound and lighting. I stayed consistent, posting about 2-3 times per week videos of what I learned in pole class. My following grew pretty steadily over the next 8 years and I’m proud to say I have a very engaged audience of people who are quick to jump on any class I put out and show their support for me and my business. My advice to anyone who is just starting to build their social media presence is to be patient (overnight success is not real), stay consistent (whatever that looks like for you), and post what comes naturally and easily to you (aesthetics aren’t everything, in fact, less curated posts are favored in the algorithm).

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Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

As a service-based business, the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been offering incredibly good service. At times I struggled to lean into my genius and trust that I know enough to provide amazing value for my students, but if this journey has taught me one thing it’s that what comes naturally and easily to us doesn’t always come naturally and easily to others. It’s okay to trust that what you know is enough.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @xoginja