Today we’d like to introduce you to Tekla Kostek.
Tekla, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up training in ballet and was accepted in the National Ballet School in Canada on scholarship for high school. I graduated and worked with the Boston Ballet. I met my first husband and we moved to LA where I worked in film and TV and taught at Loyola Marymount University in the Dance Department. In LA I got super into the yoga scene and did my yoga teacher training at (what once was) Exhale Spa with the famous Bhakti yoga practitioner Saul David Raye. I traveled to India and met my Guru in 2009. In 2012 in India I had the opportunity to do the ancient Mallakhamb (yoga done on a pole). When I came back to the States I opened a pole studio at the same time that I had a position on faculty at University of Massachusetts in the dance department. With the pole studio I was able to blend my love of dance and yoga into the same practice and teach a wider range of student not just professional tracked dancers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? I feel like it’s all about how you look at what is given to you. For me I feel like when life throws you a challenge life also includes the solution. Of course not wanting to look at the challenge is a problem. But once you can face one situation it gives the courage to face another. And with challenges you, of course, have to want to find the solution.
My advice would be persistence. I think sometimes it feels easier to just give up, or we listen to a voice that says, “I guess this isn’t for me when faced with rejection.” Like a baby learning to walk we all fall down along the way. But we continue. It’s the not getting back up to try and try again that is the failure. I feel it’s our very nature to persist. In the same way that the universe is in constant expansion. We are here to grow and walk through life challenges. And share our story along the way.
Another tip, I love having support. Just knowing you are not alone makes the journey so much more fulfilling, joyful and easier.
Please tell us about Barre & Pole.
In the pole community I am knowing for my flowing dance skills, lines and flexibility. Coming from a professional career in classical dance gives me a wealth of skills in the training department.
Also because I am a big yogi, we incorporate a lot of breath work into our practice which is very unique to the dance world. And most of my training philosophy comes from the world of yoga.
I provide a space for people to move and love their bodies through dance and yes the bi-product may be a healthy toned muscle but the mental health component of loving yourself, feeling comfortable in your very own skin, and working out from a space of joy, not just carving out a new sculpted body is key to me. Especially coming from dance where that isn’t necessary the goal.
There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
When it comes to finding a mentor I always tell people to look for the best. What is the ultimate for you? Because then that becomes your aim. The best for me it a life of integrity, responsibility and enriching others. My role model is Paramahamsa Nithyananda. He is my guru. He has helped me be the best possible me. And continues to show me the best version of myself.
Networking will just happen naturally. You don’t need to try. As you expand into your business and as you carve your way you will need people. Don’t think you can do everything alone. As you take new risks and expand onto new and new project you will be expanding your network at the same time. This was the building is solid. You are creating a deep relationship through shared work and responsibility.
There is no overnight success. People who seem to have made it overnight have a long story of “effort in” in some capacity. My advice is just start and do a little every day.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6 Trumbull Rd
Northampton, MA 01060 - Website: www.barreandpole.com
- Phone: 310.908.4904
- Email: tekla.kostek@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tk_fly/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Barre-Pole-154455041375245/
Image Credit:
Siro Soliani
Kate Broderick
Alloy Images
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