Buying the Studio I Love

Did you miss us?

When founder Maggie Wright had some major life changes that meant moving out of state, the Vixens were in shock. What would happen to our little safe home for wayward girls? Personally, I couldn't imagine a world without pole dancing. This art has changed my life in so many ways. It brought me back to expressing myself creatively. Pole gave me a confidence I had never seen before and helped me courageously explore those parts of myself that had hidden from the arts world for so long.

So, my husband found me sobbing and typing with vigor when he arrived home that evening and asked me what was wrong. "Vertical Vixens is closing; We have to save it." I had spent half the evening searching for grant money to convince him it was a good idea, but it turned out he was on board. We spoke our interest immediately and began the journey to get funding to buy the studio.

Maybe it was the universe interfering in placing me here at Vixens in the first place. I certainly didn't look or act like the kind of person who would own a pole fitness studio when I started classes in 2022. I often reflect that in those first two months, I'm not sure I said a single word during class- except perhaps to my sisters, who were already skilled dancers and STRONG. But my sisters had other things happening in their lives, and I NEEDED something different. I had watched some of my friends pole dance at this very studio for years and wondered what it would be like to be so powerful and beautiful all wrapped up in one. So I stayed. I was almost religious.

And I STRUGGLED. Like every first-timer, I think, I found that I did not feel strong those first few months. The only time I took a break from my weekly class was if it timed poorly with my cycle, because I knew if I tried that too many times when I felt so weak, I might give up. I discovered that I was slower to learn how to move my body than other students. I needed to watch and hear and gesture a what seemed like a hundred times before I felt good making a single attempt, and the evidence is in my early pole footage. My phone is full of HOURS of video of my concerned face, staring at the pole before making a half-hearted attempt and then looking confused that it didn't work.

But Maggie was an unendingly patient teacher, responding to my questions with interest and being honest with me when she wasn't sure about something I asked. And I grew.

In three years I was asked to teach to assist during Maggie's shoulder injury to help the studio keep going. THAT felt like such an accomplishment of its own. It is now bewildering to think that I could be taking on any part at all of what Maggie did for me.

But the studio is saved, and I am eager and ready to take on the next challenge of running it. We reopen tomorrow (03/30) and I can see that we have just as much fun and friendship ahead as we do behind. Thank you, everyone, for doing this with me.

Your New Studio Owner,

Kaity