People's District

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“For most of my life, I just assumed that I would go to really good schools and then be a lawyer and then get married and then buy a house and then have a dog and then have kids. Life would play out in that very specific order. I was going to be that television lawyer who looked good in a suit and stood up and said, ‘Objection, your honor!’ The law led me to Washington and Georgetown University. As I graduated, I applied to law school, got in, and then slowly realized that I didn’t want to be a lawyer. When I started to really think about it, I didn’t want to be in some dimly lit office for 14 hours a day, wearing a suit, and putting my life and passions on the back burner for something that I wasn’t truly passionate about.

“I played sports my whole life and realized that fitness was a true passion of mine. After college, I wanted a free gym membership and got a trainer and group fitness instructor job at the Washington Sports Club on K Street. I had no experience, but I was athletic and had done some coaching. I did that as a side job while I worked as an administrative assistant for a technology firm out in Virginia. The two experiences exposed me to working with and helping women and also learning about business. Over the next few years, I started putting more of my time, effort, and money into fitness and working to open my own business in March 2006.

“As I was thinking about opening a business, pole dancing and strip tease as exercise was getting popular. I liked the concept because every woman, whether she admits it or not, has that element to her. A woman wants to feel sensual and sexy. Swinging from a pole, wearing six inch stiletto heels will do that to anyone. Plus, the way that I do it, you can feel sexy and get a great workout. I mean, really, who wants to do bicep curls when you could be swinging from a pole?

“Because this is such a specific teaching style, people always ask me if I am a stripper or if I ever worked as one. The truth is that I am not from the industry and I have never even been to a strip club. I actually think that is a good thing because when women see an everyday woman like me, do fabulous things on a pole, they feel like they can do it too. So, while being a stripper is not my claim to fame, I play one very well, and I teach thousands of women how to do the same.

“The women who come here are from every different demographic from women on the Hill to soccer Moms to grandmothers to college students. I have had 75-year-olds in class with their granddaughters. These are all women trying to look good, feel good, and be good. The fact that this is a all-women health facility adds an important element to that. Having men in here, whether gay or straight, adds a dynamic that may make things uncomfortable for some women. Of course, men are involved as they are constantly calling in to buy shoes, classes and poles for their wives and girlfriends.

“Who would have thought that this would all happen in Washington, D.C.? I feel very indebted to the women here because they made my dream come true. To me, life is the decision between what sustains you financially and what your passion is. The lucky thing in life is when you are able to merge the two. I feel lucky that I can do that now.”

The P Spot Fitness is located at 210 Rhode Island Ave, NW.