In this week’s episode, I interview the Fiyastarta herself, Torwa Joe of Veritcal Joe’s Fitness Atlanta. During our chat, we talk about Joe’s incredible career. From her past as a programmer in the gym industry to moving over to the pole industry, Joe has been through it all. She’s toured with Little Wayne appeared on the Real Housewives of Atlanta and started countless pole programs around Atlanta. And in this episode, we’ll talk about all that and more. Find out how Joe manages her staff creates new programming and books, huge gigs in this episode.
Fiyastarta (AKA Joe) is known for her fun style of pole and her signature ATL Bootyclap moves. She is a Liberian-rooted princess by way of Atlanta. She has toured the country performing a variety of dance styles on Lil’ Wayne Concert Tours, Ludacris, BET’s Hell Date, the Tavis Smiley Road to Health Tour, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, CBS News and The Braxton’s Family Values. Fiyastarta has been certified through AFAA, America’s largest fitness organization since 1998 and is also certified through PDIC the first pole fitness training school and is a certified Xpole Xpert.
She has also recently launched a new certification called, Twerk Technicians which is amazing and you need to check it out. The website alone deserves a prize!
Listen now to this episode featuring Torwa Joe of Veritcal Joe’s!
Key Moments:
- 10:30 “And I remember being, you know, like sore after that one, you know, session with myself. And I was like, damn. But I came up with something that I could teach them and listen, when I linked back up with those girls and I was like, “this is what I came up with.” And I taught it to them. They were like, we can’t do that. And it took me probably about four sessions with them to get them to do what I came up with was like my first ride.”
- 16:46 “So I feel like those are the things that kind of comprise my initial like pole training. And those were the resources that I had. But the key for me was because I had a fitness background and I had these extensive certifications on trainings, I was able to say, okay, well this is the trick. What steps do I need to take to train someone to learn how to do these tricks? And that’s what ended up being my, my edge.”
- 43:48 “Everybody has their own gift. I don’t, I don’t want a bunch of people that are like trying to be versions of me. I want people to show who they are and what they are.”
- 46:17 “Everybody came to the table with the understanding that you got this core stuff, but at some point, you gotta be your own person. You know what I mean? And who is that person? What are you bringing to the table? How can our brand support you and how can your brand support us?”
- 1:07:12 “I never had a business plan. I never had a marketing plan. I never had an actual plan for the studio and its growth. I didn’t have a five-year plan. I didn’t have a ten-year plan. I started fucking planning. You know what I’m saying? I started planning. Your move started to make sense.”
- 1:12:04 “My whole team helps me. My, my, like I have the best team. Like everyone is so helpful because once you figure out what your vision is, you’re able to explain it to other people and they can see it too.”
- 1:17:36 “You have to do your price points based on your overhead. You really can’t look around and be like, this is what everyone else is charging for. This is what I’m going to charge. Because people are underselling themselves on a daily basis.”
- 1:23:17 “We got core classes. But all of my trainers have their own thing and people book with them because they’re into that instructor. So you create the value and you’ll be good to go. But pricing structure is tricky, but look at your bills, look at your bills, and do your structure based on your bills, and then show your value.”
- 1:24:55 “We definitely have maximized what’s happening inside of the studio. Rentals are our thing, events, our thing. Video shoots are a thing. If you show that your space. Films. Well, people will say, ‘I want a video just like that.’ Like we’ve had, you know, posts that we’ve put up that people have looked at and said, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ Then they come in and shoot a whole music video based on a poster they saw.”
- 1:34:40 “My resume is dope, but my instructors’ resume is what makes our brand great. Because as much as I’m doing shit, I’m always pushing my instructors to do shit.”
- 1:41:30 “But then after a while I realized, Oh, okay. This is what Fiyastara brand is about. This is who she is, and she has her own elements that are separate from Vertical Joe’s element. Vertical Joe’s loves zebra, you know what I’m saying? But Firestarter loves bling like sparkly shit. You know what I’m saying? To really kind of like tap into it, but you can’t. You got to create separation between your, your work and your play.”
Joe’s Favorite Performance of her team – 2018, PoleCon, Black Girls Pole, Vertical Joe’s
Joe’s Favorite Performance of someone else – Ashley Fox 2015 Arnold
Ashley Fox 2019 Pole Con
To Connect with Torwa Joe of Veritcal Joe’s:
Website | Studio Facebook | Studio Instagram | Fiyastarta Facebook | Fiyastarta Instagram
Black Lives Matter Resources:
Black Lives Matter Website
Black Lives Matter Card
NEA EdJustice Resources
Color of Change
National Bail Fund Network
Great Big Story Resource List
Want to hear more? Check out Episode #16 with Dakota Fox and Episode #17 with Brittany Gillespie.