PoleCon Exhibitor Spotlight: Heaux Apparel

September 1, 2023
Colleen
Interview

All exhibitors spotlighted have previously vended at a PoleCon event.

Thank you for being a vendor at PoleCon! Can you tell us a little more about your brand?

The goal of Heaux Apparel is to help women of all shapes and sizes who have fallen in love with pole and aerial fitness. We want to be your one-stop shop for everything you need reach your goals. We offer a variety of products: clothing, grip aids, reference books, shoe accessories, knee pads and so much more. We also import many of the products that you see on social media so you can buy them domestically and save on shipping. Another source of pride is that we love working with the small businesses and cottage industries that have sprung up in our market. So many pole dancers out there are designing their own clothing, grip aids. You name it and some talented person is selling it and we love supporting them and selling their products too. At the end of the day we want to be the resource that all you wonderful instructors can use to make sure your students find what they need, can have a conversation with a human to make sure that they are buying the right product, and find the Heaux Tribe community as another source of support for their dance journey. You can find us at www.heauxxxapparel.com or on Instagram @Heaux_Apparel

Is there something that defines your brand that unique to you?

We don’t sell perfection, and it works. In the pole world, social media is full of absolutely gorgeous men and women who are doing amazing things on the pole. Following them certainly helps us set goals, but sometimes those goals can feel hard to reach. From the beginning with Heaux Apparel, you can see in our logo, that we support all bodies and all humans in their journey. It may not seem like much that we have a full figured gal represented in our logo, but you would be surprised at the number of our customers who find our logo validating. That is what we want, we want our customers to know that we love them and support them no matter their size, shape or level of greatness. Also, through a funny set of circumstances, the face of Heaux Apparel on social media is me, the owner Susan Bartley. I am not an advanced poler, nor do I have a super fit body and I am also older than most of my customers. The videos I post aren’t shiny and perfect, they reflect my journey. I suppose I should have had some super sexy model be my face to the public, but honestly that was just overwhelmingly hard to do, so social media gets me. In the end, I think that is what has built our customer base. My imperfection on the pole is something many people can relate to. Early on I would have told you this was the greatest weakness of Heaux Apparel, and now I believe it is 100% our greatest strength.

How do you want people to feel after interacting with your brand?

I want people to know that when they meet me face to face, through social media or by placing an order, that they are getting another cheerleader in their corner. I want to make friends and support you whether that is selling you your next cute pole outfit, finding you the right protection for your beautiful new heels, re-posting an amazing video or just dropping a heart in your comments. Once you become part of the #HeauXXXTribe you are in it for life.

Anything else you want to share with PoleCon attendees?

Heaux Apparel would not be where it is today without all of you who attend PoleCon. We had a booth at our first PoleCon 3 years ago. At the time we had been in business for about 4 months. Absolutely no one knew who we were but everyone was so kind and excited about the products we had on display. This past PoleCon was off the chain. Ya’ll showed out and supported us like crazy. I loved it. Not only did you shop, but you came by to meet us face to face, and to tell us your story. Thank you for believing in my vision for Heaux Apparel being willing to jump aboard the Heaux Tribe crazy train. Together we are building something beautiful.

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Colleen

Colleen Jolly is an entrepreneur and a pole dance enthusiast. She has been poling for 12 years, is the CEO of PoleCon and the Executive Director of the IPIA. She teaches pole, lyra, floorwork, and mobility online and in-person in the DC metro area. She has been active in leadership roles in several international businesses over the past two decades and is also an award-winning pole dancer, artist, writer, and speaker. She is certified in several movement modalities and wrote the book "Mobility for Pole" to help pole dancers move better.

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