"I Left My Job to Pursue a Pole Dancing Career and Instantly Became Passionate" - OK! Magazine

When it comes to finding the perfect career, it can be difficult to pin down your passion, and for Akila Cristiano she was left feeling uninspired after battling countless jobs in a bid to find the right fit. 'I worked as a receptionist to sales and social media, literally everything you can imagine I've done it, but nothing stuck. I was going from job to job, either quitting after a couple of months or getting fired because I just couldn't put my heart and soul into anything,' Akila exclusively told OK!

But everything changed when Akila, who hails from London, was introduced to pole dancing. 'I started around five and a half years ago and then opened my studio around three years ago. For me, pole was new, and it felt like a novelty when I first started, and my ADHD brain thought it was really exciting. I went to a class, and I just became addicted straight away - I thought, 'I need to do this forever'. Pole changed everything for me,' she said.

The new passion prompted the 32-year-old to pursue pole dancing as a career, and she launched the Akila Pole Studio in London. 'I was so excited about pole. It gave me multiple ways of feeling fulfilled that weren't just from exercise alone, and I wanted to share it with everyone else to help with their mental and physical health,' she explained.

However, when it comes to the stigma attached to pole dancing, Akila has faced negative backlash, particularly when meeting new people. 'I've had lots of looks and every single time I meet someone new and I tell them 'I own a pole studio and teach pole', they always ask, 'What do you mean?'

'I don't think a lot of people understand what pole dancing is and what it can do to your mental and physical health.' Akila candidly added, 'But you know, haters are going to hate. I shrug it off because I think people are ignorant, and I don't need to explain myself.

'If anything, it fuels me to create an even bigger, more successful business - I want to expand the studio beyond the UK and take it to a global level.'

Away from the public, Akila confessed that her dad struggled with her career choice, as she explained: 'Only now, he can see what the business has become, and he's obviously very proud, but he doesn't really want to know details.'

Opening up further about the stigma in society, Akila shared: 'I think it still has a huge stigma around pole dancing because, ultimately, it does come from strippers and sex workers. I think a lot of men, in particular, have an issue around that and people enjoying pole. It's not necessarily for the male gaze or for other people, it's very personal to do for yourself or with friends.'

While the stigma still surrounds the fitness activity, Akila emphasizes the importance of respecting the origins of pole dancing. 'It's important to know that yes, it's fitness, but to remember where it came from. I always want to respect its origins and remember where it came from.'

The fitness activity not only contributed to Akila's active lifestyle but also helped manage her ADHD. She shared: 'Movement has always been a big part of my life and because of my ADHD, sometimes sitting still can seem quite impossible at times. Finding a healthy, fun way of movement and incorporating it into my day-to-day life was a really nice way of managing that.

'Pole is incredibly empowering, and it demands full attention. It's the only time my ADHD mind is completely focused, I don't think about anything else, it's like a reset button for my brain and I don't get that from anything else - it’s a beautiful obsession.'

When it came to launching her business, Akila said her ADHD gave her a 'huge advantage' and said: 'If I didn’t have ADHD, I don't think I would be where I am today, I wouldn’t have opened my pole dancing studio - it was the driving force to my success and excitement about life.

'My ADHD gave me a huge advantage when launching my business, I was hyperfocused and energetic and I used my passion to build my studio.'