Sunday, September 18, 2016

And the Dahlia Blooms

Dahlia is owned and operated by Holly Merlot, a St. Louis/St. Charles, Mo native, mom, pole dancer, performer, wife, sister, daughter, yada yada, pole blogger? I suppose I am now.

What started as a hobby, this pole dancing gig, is now turning into, what seems like anyway, a career. I started pole dance classes about 3 years ago. It was September, maybe March, I don't remember, everything was a haze back then. It was shortly after having my first child back in July of 2012, I wasn't sleeping, I was a walking milk machine with an infant attached to my tit. I was overweight. Ugly. Slipping into insanity? Definitely. I needed something, so I found something to do and that something was pole. I took a teaser at the end of a chair dance class and it was love at first spin. Sounds ultra cheesy but it's ultra true.

From first spin to first class, I fell deeper in love and started to look at myself differently than I ever had before. I did the typical college thing, get a degree, get a shitty job gain way too much weight from drinking and eating Jack in the Box at 2am or was it 6am? Doesn't matter. I lost that weight after meeting my husband. I lost all of that college weight and then some. I was skinny but I was weak. I started taking pole classes and that weakness began to turn into strength.

I continued my pole journey, got hired at a studio and began teaching pole fitness to other ladies, who like me, had low self-esteem, not much muscle and needed something to do. As time went on, not only did I get better at teaching and pole dancing but I also discovered my self-esteem hidden deep inside me. I became this woman that looked at herself with confidence, integrity and damn I have some nice arms and legs! I also helped women grow into their own skin and develop that same confidence that I had.

Going into my third year of  pole dancing and teaching pole came a HUGE change. I walked out of the doors of the studio I had been working at and teaching at the previous 2.5 years. I developed that confidence and integrity while working at this studio and it was this confidence and integrity that allowed me to leave. And I did not leave on good terms. What was a very dramatic end to a huge part of my life became the beginning to the next stage of my life, thusly, Dahlia was born.

Dahlia flowers symbolize what I went through upon leaving the studio I had spent so much time at during my early pole days. Dahlias represent strength during times of adversity, standing out from the crowd and taking the path(s) toward life changes. I drew upon that inner strength during a time where I needed to stand up for what was right and make a change to help others regardless of what it cost me. And I did. And here I sit, typing up a blog post about my itty bitty baby of a company. Hoping somebody is reading it. But you are reading it.

Flowers bloom. Moons rise. Suns set. And the poles keep on spinning. I'm still spinning.


1 comment:

  1. I hope your company is still doing well in the midst of 2020. I love what your studio stands for and I think it's exactly what I need in my life. Thank you for sharing your story. I feel like it's lit a spark in my chest and I can't wait to take a class! 😁

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