I got the job! And Lyme's disease. Crap. Now what?

poledanceromance started this discussion · 6/23/2010

Ahhh, because good news never goes unfollowed, my life is interesting. I got the exotic dance teaching job, aaand just a few days later, I was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. If any of you with a fitness/personal training background are familiar with this illness, I would love any advice on how to encourage my strength and stamina to come back to me. I've spent most of the past few days in bed. I've gone out a few times and been totally pooped after each outing. I'm on anibiotics, but the dr I saw where I live is over 500 miles from where I was bitten and I think I might have been the first case of it he ever saw. My family members with whom I was staying have all had it, but they've all had time to wait it out. I'd like to speed the process along if at all possible. Second question....I'm teaching in a rather economically depressed area...(which, to be fair, is almost everywhere) but what should I be getting paid? I don't like to stick my nose in people's finances, but the owner asked me to quote her a $/lesson amount and I don't even know what the ballpark is. I was thinking maybe $10-$20 per hour of lesson I teach, plus more over a certain number of students per class as she suggested. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

11 replies

poledanceromance · 6/25/2010
I don't want to bump my own thread but I really need advice on this money issue from any teachers out there.
amcut · 6/25/2010
...Uhhh. I dunno. Talk to Charley? She knows everything. ..... ... and Lyme disease is a bitch if you don't completely get it out of your system, so just .. stay in bed. Please. I know a girl who has perma-lyme.. or whatever the hell they call it when you have it, even though you took care of it. And she's just as bad off as someone with Lupus. So yeah. Stay in bed.
kasanya · 6/25/2010
Congrats on the job! I'm not an instructor myself, so I can't give you direct feedback on your question. However, you could try researching online to see what various studios and high profile dancers are charging for private lessons. You could use that as a baseline. For example, Karol was just in town and was charging $100 / hour for private lessons. Alena Downs charges approximately $50 / hour for private lessons over Skype. They are both high calibre dancers, but Karol has a recent high-profile title and Alena doesn't. One of the local pole studios here charges $80 / hour for private lessons, but the instructor is essentially unknown and not even remotely on the same level as Alena or Karol. So, it is also somewhat subjective. A few questions to ask yourself: What do YOU feel is the value you're providing to the students? What is your time worth to you? Don't forget to account for any unpaid prep or travel time outside of the actual classes. Factor that in to your compensation. Another factor to consider is what does this studio charge for lessons and how many students do they average per class? You can't charge more than the market will bear. A dance studio is still a business, with all kinds of expenses and overhead, so there needs to be enough profit margin remaining for it to offer your classes at all. I hope these points help, and good luck! Now, I should really stop procrastinating and actually do my homework... =P
Charley · 6/25/2010
...Uhhh. I dunno. Talk to Charley? She knows everything. ..... ... and Lyme disease is a bitch if you don't completely get it out of your system, so just .. stay in bed. Please. I know a girl who has perma-lyme.. or whatever the hell they call it when you have it, even though you took care of it. And she's just as bad off as someone with Lupus. So yeah. Stay in bed. LOL! There's a lot I don't know like how to deal with Lime Disease. 🙄 😂 😳 😲 😀 As far as pay...Most places here pay $25/hour to teach ftness classes. My deal is I get 50% of booking...this is because I handle the youtube, the facebook, event planning, booking people like Karol to come visit us and a million other sales related things. If you are doing a lot of the sales/promotion end of things then I would ask for comission, if you just go and teach, nothing else is required $20-$25/ hr is fair.
Charley · 6/25/2010
I have heard of yoga studios doing $30/hour and extra $$$ per head after 10 students. I think this is to compensate instructors who work hard to promote and fill their classes.
poledanceromance · 6/25/2010
Thank you all so much. I really needed the insight. I think $20 is what I'm going to ask for with bonus for any student over ten, since she mentioned that herself at lunch. And amcut, yes I have been in bed all week! Well, doing laundry and sitting in bed. But I tried to pole once....only once....HOOOOOBOY was that a bad idea! I felt like pooballs the rest of the night! Bleh! I'm definitely on my butt for a little while here. Just really hoping it doesn't interfere with work :-/ And yes, charley definitely knows, well almost anything! Thanks all! EDIT: I do still wish I knew how to speed my recovery through diet and/or supplemets....maybe I should try to research whether Lyme disease causes any kind of nutrient deficiencies.
polefairy · 6/26/2010
I have no idea what Lyme disease even is but feel better soon 😉
Ava macKenzie · 6/26/2010
I cant help you with the lyme disease but as for the business. I would say you need to sit down and figure all your cost that would be associated with holding pole classes. What is your time worth? Is there any materials you need, or dance, skill routines you plan to do. Also you have to figure in gas, traveling expenses, will the dance studio charge you a fee...
Lyme Lyte · 9/22/2011
Hello, just ran across your blog on SV. I too was diagnosed with Lyme....Spring of last year. Come last fall I was really bad. Wondered what treatment you went through and how your feeling?
Lyme Lyte · 9/22/2011
Hello, just ran across your blog on SV. I too was diagnosed with Lyme....Spring of last year. Come last fall I was really bad. Wondered what treatment you went through and how your feeling?
Deesse Jesse · 9/23/2011
I'm not a Lyme expert but I can give you a few details. From what I know (feel free to correct me), Lyme disease is a bacterial infection (Borrelia bergdorferi) from a tick bite. What makes it bad is the tick saliva contains an immune system supressor that at least initially lets the bacteria get a foot hold. A lot of the long term damage comes from the immune system going on the fritz so Amcut is absolutely right in that it looks like Lupus longterm if you aren't treated fast enough (pathogen-induced autoimmune disease). From what I saw antibiotics are THE treatment so make sure you follow the perscribed course. The biggest problem is not folowing the full course, which means your body has selected for the meanest bacteria which will now be able to multiple. I know it sucks to hear, but take the antibiotics and rest up as much as possible seems like the best way to get better. Public Health Agency of Canada has recovery time with antibiotics between 2-4 weeks. Hope you get better soon and congrats on your job!!!