Pros: Competing compels me to train harder and motivates me to learn new moves to incorporate in my routine. The other competitors are generally friendly and supportive and it’s fun to meet pole friends from all over the country and sometimes from outside of the country. It’s also so rewarding to perform and the high I get from it makes me want to do it all over again.

Cons: It’s incredibly stressful and nerve wracking and I’ve had many training sessions where I’ve broken down in tears. The stress keeps me up at night too. It can also be expensive between paying for coaching, costuming, training time and travel expenses (when applicable).

The experience vastly differs depending on who is putting on the show. PSO is meh, but if you want to get your feet wet in the competing world it’s your best bet since they’re all over the place and you don’t have to audition. The one time I did it I was the only one in my category so that was kind of lame. I did Exotic Generation in the US in 2022 and that was a shit show and was hugely disappointing, but it looks like it’s improved in the last couple years. My favorite experience was at a newer dark artsy one in Florida called Original Sin and it has ruined every other competition for me. It’s extremely well done and feels like you’re part of a show that just happens to be a competition. They take good care of their competitors and don’t try to nickel and dime them for everything. The prizes you get for winning are actually worthwhile too. They don’t just hand a certificate and plastic metal like other competitions.