ABOUT THE OWNER

 

Michelle Heller graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Education and a goal of becoming an elementary school teacher. A golden opportunity arose the summer after graduation, and Michelle entered the corporate workforce. With her passion still in educating, she began tutoring after work. Michelle's drive and entrepreneurship have always been responsible for leading her in new directions. She quickly began adding to her career-focused life and became a Beauty Consultant as well as opened her own fashion eBay store. This was when she was first introduced to pole.

In 2011, at one of her social networking events, Michelle met a talented woman who would forever change her future. A dedicated pole enthusiast named Divine Em, spoke about the benefits of pole dance. Michelle was instantly intrigued, bought her first pole, and started attending classes.

Coming from a non-fitness background (i.e. she only exerted herself if she had to get to the mall on the last day of a sale before the store closed), Michelle was quite discouraged in her ability to grow as a pole athlete as many of her classmates had dance and gymnastics roots. She soon realized that everyone can pole! Michelle furthered her training by attending classes out of state whenever she traveled for business or pleasure in cities such as LA, Miami, and Las Vegas.

In 2013, Michelle performed in her first ever showcase and danced in a second one later that year. It was time for her to decide where to take this and if it was going to remain strictly a hobby. The next step was obvious, and with her education background, Michelle became a Certified Pole Dance Instructor through Discoveries Dance. Teaching was her passion, and pole dance was her new found love. It was only a matter of time before both connected. She taught pole dance and fitness at two studios before opening Flight Fitness Studio in Palatine in the summer of 2014.