When I sat down with Tasha, the first thing I learned is that she is exactly what she says she is, a regular girl next door with a little razzle dazzle tucked into her everyday life. By day, she is a senior associate for a healthcare EHR software company, working directly with large enterprise healthcare practices and Federally Qualified Health Centers. She is deep in the corporate world, handling serious business. But when she clocks out, she switches lanes and heads to Pink Poles Studio, where she pole dances and quietly defies every assumption you might make about her.
Tasha first stepped into pole dancing in 2022, but consistency was not always on her side. Between life, confidence struggles, and health challenges, her journey hit a plateau that left her feeling disconnected from her body. She opened up about living with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the thyroid. During flare ups, dancing can become incredibly difficult, with symptoms that limit how her body moves and what it can handle. Instead of pretending that struggle did not exist, Tasha chose to name it and own it.
That self awareness led her to make a powerful decision in January 2025. She restarted her pole journey from the ground up and committed to taking it seriously. She told me she wanted to relearn the basics and create a dance style that works for her body instead of forcing her body to fit into someone else’s expectations. There was no interest in shame or comparison, only a desire to perfect what her body allows and to move with intention and grace.
Now let us talk about bravery, because Tasha is shy, and she will be the first to tell you that. Yet some of her biggest wins came from facing that fear head on. Her gap and gown graduation performance and her first showcase were monumental moments. She shared that she had skipped out on most graduations in the past because performing in front of people terrified her. So when she finally stepped into a showcase, it was already a big deal. What made it even bigger is that her first showcase happened to be the Halloween showcase, which is the largest one her studio hosts. I mean, talk about jumping straight into the deep end.
What keeps her going is the love. The support she receives from her instructor Jane, the studio owner Ms. Tia, and her pole sisters is the fuel behind her consistency. Tasha also spoke about how pole has become her favorite form of fitness. She calls it a fun gym, one that builds strength, sculpts her body, and challenges her physically without draining the joy out of movement.
And if you think she is stopping there, think again. Tasha has her eye on the future and a vision that goes beyond herself. She wants to create and curate something specifically for pole dancers with autoimmune diseases and disabilities. Her goal is to make sure girls like her know that pole dancing is for them too. Not someday, not when their bodies change, but right now. She is already planting the seeds, and she made it very clear that 2026 is when that vision will start coming to life.
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