Today we’d like to introduce you to Keosha Reddics.
Hi Keosha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, I’m a small town girl from Mississippi who grew up with aspirations of being a doctor or occupational therapist. In 2012, I moved to a city of go-getters with a hustle mentality so life kicked into overdrive.
My pole dance fitness journey started in August 2013. I had been in Atlanta for a little more than a year when I realized I didn’t like the person looking back at me. I didn’t recognize myself. My heart was still broken from being dumped and being told that I was fat and ugly. I truly believed that nobody wanted me. I was an emotional mess. That’s when pole dance found me. Yes, it found me! I was at a very low point and I wanted to have something that was just for me. I was so tired of being everything to everyone and still feeling empty. I was in desperate need of an escape. I was smiling on the outside but dying on the inside. I remember seeing a $7 pole dance class on Groupon and I thought it looked like the perfect thing to try. After speaking with the owner, Black Widow, I knew something good was going to happen, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would lead to a career in dance. I spent one year taking what we call pole levels and performing at showcases.
I started to become more comfortable with “Concrete Rose” (my alter ego/dancer name). After my third performance, ladies started to ask my Pole Mama if I was going to start instructing. According to them, my body inspired them. I wasn’t super small like a lot of pole dancers, but I could hang with the best of them! I decided to give instructing a shot. I had to go through several intensive parts of training to become a Certified Pole Dance Instructor. Once I passed, I was allowed to create and teach classes. Believe it or not, I preferred floor work more than pole, in the beginning. My floor classes turned into twerk classes and then, eventually, pole classes. After teaching at my home studio for a year, unfortunately, the business closed. I knew I didn’t want to stop dancing, but I had no idea where I would go. I reached out to one of my pole idols and I asked her how I can be like her. I saw her on a team that I admired. I just knew that if I could get on that team that I would make it. She immediately said no! I was floored. She said that she saw something special in me and that I needed to go to a new studio, build my following and my brand. Brand, you say? I just wanted to teach and dance. I didn’t want a brand. I was so confused about our conversation. She explained that I would basically be “lost in the sauce” and I had a gift that needed to be shared independently.
I was blessed to find a studio that was looking for an instructor. I spent a little over five years instructing more than 200 students, creating instructors, building brands, but I was suffering. The joy my pole babies gave me was the only thing keeping me going. The passion for dance itself was gone. “Concrete Rose” got lost in building others. In January 2020, I made a promise to myself that I would take a three-month break at the end of the year. I had no idea Covid would happen, but I knew I needed a break from teaching, managing, and pouring into people. I needed myself more than anyone else did. During those three months, I had planned to teach a little bit on my own just to see if I could do the business thing. Please believe when I tell you I DID NOT want to do it, but it was necessary. I had been told for years by many people that I needed to have my own studio. My response was that I just wanted to teach and dance. I did not want to do paperwork, come up with captions for posts, read about LLC’s nor ABC’s! But, I manifested my team and my dream because here we are almost six months later and “Rose From Concrete” is here and thriving. I now teach from three locations. I do mobile sessions and virtual lessons. I am able to teach men, women, and couples. Sensual dance fitness is certainly my calling.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth road? Ha! Point me in the direction of a business owner who has had a smooth road, and I’d pay to hear how! I feel that I have had three major obstacles: self-doubt, lack of finances, and physical injuries. I have been my own biggest obstacle. I questioned my abilities as an instructor for years. I would say things like. I don’t have nearly as many followers as this person. I must not be great because I’m still struggling. Clearly, this isn’t the right lane for me because people still cringe when I say pole dance. I talked myself out of many dance opportunities because I allowed outside influences to cloud my mind.
For the passion of pole dance, I truly lived the life of a starving artist. I slept on floors, crashed with friends, slept in hotels, didn’t eat some days, all for the passion of teaching pole dance. Don’t get me wrong, I always had a job, but those jobs never worked out. I now know that’s because I was trying to put myself in a corporate box when I was created for something totally different. My determination to be the best instructor for my students turned into me being the worst Ke for me. I was teaching seven days a week, not resting, not getting bodywork, not eating enough and so much more. My body crashed. I found out that I had a sprained shoulder, two pulled muscles, a bruised rotator cuff and spinal compression. These injuries forced me to not touch a pole for quite some time. But it made me even more motivated once I healed.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a sensual dance instructor. I teach pole, twerk, floor, chair dance, lapdance and partner sensuality. I specialize in helping individuals find their sexy. I am known as the Queen of Seduction. When you want to feel confident, sensual, tantalizing, and sexy, I’m the lady to come see. I teach women and men how to fall in love with themselves IN THE NOW. There’s no need to wait to love you. There’s no need to wait until you’re a size 6 to feel beautiful. So what if you don’t have a six-pack? You are one dope human. I think my methods, phrases and traditions set me apart. I am such a Mississippian to my soul so some of those country phrases come in handy for pole. It is a requirement in all of my classes and workshops that each student gives themselves one physical and one non-physical compliment in the mirror. You MUST love yourself before you leave. I don’t have to hear it, but self-love is a requirement in my presence. Even if the student doesn’t believe a word theirs saying, we’re gonna keep speaking positive words. I help my students understand their pole journey on a personal basis and focus on their strengths while helping them navigate through their weaknesses in a time frame that is specific to them. Pole can be confusing and intimidating, so, I alleviate their stress and motivate them to push through the difficulties.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
The physical and emotional stability of myself and my students. Pole dance fitness requires focus, consistency and rest. When I am not ok, I cannot pour into my students. When they are not ok, they can’t be the moms and wives that they need to be. It is my job to provide a safe space, an escape from the stresses of life, as well as help transform bodies and minds. Self love and self care are extremely important. I help people focus on their personal goals and acceptance of themselves which is the ultimate gift to give to yourself.
Pricing:
- $180 for 4 Week Dance Series (1 90 minute session per week)
- $30 for 1:1 60 minute dance session
- $75 for 90 minute Partner Sensuality Session
- $160 for dance parties of 6
Contact Info:
- Email: concreteroseseduction@gmail.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Rosefromconcrete
- Instagram: @rosefrom_concrete / @concrete_rose_seduction
Image Credits
Design By Ms Jai Inc, Photographer TD Visuals, Photographer Meredith Bennett and Blake Lewis, Featured couple
