Isa Isaacs was an Computer Science executive who has had one of the most dramatic career changes I've ever heard. Isa is a Poi dancer, aka Fire dancer, philosopher and entrepreneur of Temple of Poi.
Pictures and videos on Diva Maverick Mavens courtesy of Isa Isaacs.
What kind of upbringing did you have that contributed to the career path you are currently pursuing?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
My mother was in education. Her career culminated as the superintendent of a school district in NYC. My father was an engineer who worked for Grumman. When I was a child, I can recall being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had said I wanted to be a Teacher, to which my mother said, "No you don't." I then decided I wanted to be an engineer, like my dad, to which he said, "No you don't." Computer science was a good alternative to both of those, relying on my math and analytical skills. I later discovered that I had a unique ability to convey technical concepts to people (teaching technique) which started my integration of both those professions.
Why did you study Systems Engineering and was it a passion?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
I actually studied computer science in school because I had initially intended to get a degree in communication and history with a double minor in music and journalism. After my first semester in school, it became clear to me quickly that there was a subjective element to writing papers and I felt somewhat dis-empowered by the experience of pursuing a major that relied on that so I switched to computers. I fell in love with computers when I was in HS taking an AP bio class. I used a Mac 512 at the time. It was amazing. In college, I wanted to type my papers so I got involved with the computing department. Back then there was no windows based computing, so everything I did was on terminals. because of my abstract thinking skills, I just found I was good at it and then I ended up dating quite a few people in the computer science department. From there, I fell more and more in love with computers and just saw that they were the wave of the future. at first, it simply seemed like a practical choice. Through time, I discovered I had a natural ability and was good at it, so I got more and more interested in my work and things evolved from there. I wouldn't say it was a passion at first; however, I would say it became one. Music -- piano, specifically was my first passion really.
How did you find dance, movement and performance art? How would you compare your passion for art, dance and music with engineering?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
I found dancing when I was invited by some co-workers at a computer company I was working for in 1998 to go to a party they were throwing in a park. It was electronic music (which was my concentration within my music minor in school) and I had an amazing time. It was a subculture I'd never seen before. Thus began my adventures into the off beat world I now live in. I don't really see my passion for art, dance and music as separate for engineering. I see a natural structure in everything -- it's part of my innate ability to explain complex things to people, by being able to reverse engineer things. My work today is very much about creating the structures for learning by reverse engineering the complex patterns one performs and teaching them in steps to people. I attempt to integrate my life as much as possible -- to harness all my skills and talents, stay alignment with my values and honor all my boundaries while being a walking example of the ideals I want to see more of in this world.
What advice could you give someone who like to try something new such as movement? What would you tell them about the flow experience?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
That is very context specific. If they have never done movement before, I'd need to assess their current level fitness and their relationship with their body. Assuming they are reasonably fit (no major injuries, chronic pain or anything like that)... Flow is an opportunity to connect with parts of yourself you may not be aware of -- on a body level, as well as in your mind and spirit. Through flow practice we help artists learn where they are not flowing and through various practices, help them unblock themselves. We all have flow in our lives -- some things just feel "right." I think of that as where we're flowing. Those places where we feel a bit "off" or "stuck," that is energy that is not flowing through us, around us or within us. Our work helps people by having them move in ways they likely have never moved before. As they begin to explore new patterns of movement, new "energy" flows through their body. Some people relate to this on a mystical level... some don't. On a physical level, you could say you're pumping blood through your body in muscles that may not normally be used. My own experience is that it is a metaphysical experience as well and through learning new patterns of movement (thinking, being, experiencing as well), we create new paths in our body, mind, spirit and soul through which life can express itself. YMMV.
You've spoken of losing weight? How has dance supported your body in staying flexible and strong?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
I was a klutz. If you met me when I was a teen you would NEVER have thought I would be who I am today. I had no confidence in my ability to move and I bumped into things all the time. I literally tripped over my feet. What I think was actually going on was I was mentally stuck and in a construct of thinking (akin to the matrix) that had me limit my own potential. I didn't think I had capabilities that I realized, through ongoing practice, I actually did have. Finding dance and flow allowed me an opportunity to explore my body, mind, spirit and beliefs in a free form environment without structure. I don't necessarily do well with "some" plan someone else designed that doesn't allow for my own freedom.The free form and organic nature of dance allowed me to let go and be free. Through this freedom I found joy.
What advice can you give to others on pursuing their dreams or an unconventional hobby?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
The joy was so inspiring I just kept going back and dancing more... practicing, if you will. As I tell my clients, "The practice is to return to the practice." Until I found dance and flow, I never actually had a practice, other than piano. piano, though, is such a rigorous, well defined art form there was little room for me to expand into the unknown which is what "I" needed for my growth. Different people have different needs. I think the most important thing is to find a practice (or series of practices) that work for each individual and then "return to the practice." Faith. First and foremost, one must believe one can accomplish what one is setting out to do. I realized through time it wasn't about getting it right the first time, it was about, again, "returning to the practice." Perhaps that really is the whole secret to life -- I believe it is -- to just "return to the practice" -- of living, breathing, being, growing, changing, allowing...If one is pursuing one's dream, they must remain in the practice of that pursuit. same thing with an unconventional hobby. Compassion is also a good piece to offer oneself-- it helps when things don't go the way you wanted and a good support network. Eliminate the people from your space who can't see your vision and don't support you. It's dead weight and will literally weight you down. Of course, patience. Rome wasn't built in a day... most dreams are not either. Except winning the lottery, perhaps... lol. Getting clear on what your dream is. They call it "well formed outcomes" in NLP. What will you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell when you have achieved your dream? And then the other piece is what I call "the mountain metaphor": Remember that no matter where you are on the journey -- on the mountain if you will -- you always have a choice. You can focus on where you want to go, where you have been, and where you are. Holding all of those equally allows you to have perspective. Keep a record of your thoughts. It's so useful even if in the moment it may not seem useful. It could be pictures, video, audio recording, blogging and even old fashion journal or collages. All of these have helped me see my world. Actively pursue your growth. No matter what you know, remember that continued growth provides continued inspiration and my own preference as a life philosophy is the Flowology Mindset™,which is the cornerstone of the school.
It has 3 basic principles:
1. Leave your judgment behind. Learning to differentiate between assessment (what worked and what didn't work) versus what is "good" and "bad" is such an enormously useful thing. When I got that, my whole world opened.
2. Choose your language consciously and make it empowering. There is ever reason in the world to be positive in your thoughts. Negative thoughts are cancers of the mind.
3. Compare yourself to yourself through time.
Everyone is unique so everyone's journey is unique. I also recommend getting a copy of Kosmic Consciousness by Ken Wilber and listening to that. I also recommend the 4 agreements and the 6 pillars of self-esteem and a coach not a therapist, a coach. Someone you're accountable to. This could be professional (which often works best because money makes things happen when we have to spend it) or even a circle. I circled with all entrepreneur women and it really helped us all.
Building a business around fire dancing would raise the brows of most people. How did you get the support you needed to start this business? How do you handle criticism?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
First, I had a lot of "haters" -- so many disbelievers. I think in their hearts that just didn't think they could do it so what they were expressing when they said, "You can never do that" or "Whose going to pay for poi lessons", "I can't do that" and "I wouldn't pay for poi lessons." I couldn't hear that at the time though. It was really really hard. I pretty much gave up a whole community of friends for YEARS until they started to get what I was doing and in the international community -- good god -- what a mess. I have had 4 different threads written on the largest international forum about me. I guess that infamy is sort of a good thing... the old "no publicity is bad press" thing and it is a rough day to wake up and have hundreds of comments all about you strewn about the internet when people have decided who you are and what you're about. I can say now, 7 years into it, if i'm not ticking people off, raising eyebrows or making people take notice, then I'm not really doing anything innovative, fresh and new.
When you're a trail blazer, people will always be at your heels. Some of them will want to attack you -- it's the way of the human ego but the really beautiful thing is that some of them -- even if they are a select few -- will just adore you and you'll have a unique opportunity to change their lives for the better. The cult of personality on the negative side can be just as challenging... How do you stay real with people when you're creating such a splash in the water? What I did was find the few trusted people who saw me, got me, and were willing to stand by me and then I just kept the faith. As for the criticism, I spent many hours crying, venting, writing emails and trying to understand why people couldn't understand where I was coming from and then I just pursued personal development work so I could understand them better and gain more compassion and then I did a 10 day silent meditation retreat using Vipassana which was invaluable. I studied NLP, Integral thinking and Spiral Dynamics which helped me to understand how to enter people's worlds better and I cried a lot. It is very sad to be judged by people you've never met. I can laugh at it all NOW because what can people really say? I've been doing this 7 years and I've been successful. What exactly can you criticize? I feel like I could fold the company today and I would have won at the game I was playing. I made a difference, changed people's lives and have done something NO ONE really believed I could but when I was getting all the criticism... gee. It was not so easy to stay positive. It required that very first thing I said before: faith. I had to have faith in myself, in my vision, in my work and in the undeniable difference. I was making in my client's lives. I started collecting the positive feedback from the clients and as the testimonials on my web site and Yelp grew, so did my ability to let the negative feedback wash away. I also realized I needed to dis-identify with what people were saying about me, so I did some massive development work around my ego. I shaved my head (fully bald) for a period of 6 months simply because I knew it would be hard to do and I wanted to dis-identify with my hair as the defining aspect of my femininity. My commitment to my own evolution was my saving grace in all of this. When all else failed, I just focused on growing and learning, in hopes that it would help me find the answers. I am certain it has. Just a few weeks ago, I got into a conflict with someone in the community who insists that i'm not contributing to the fire community because I make money off it. I simply refuse to take on that attitude and I am comfortable enough in who I am, what I value and what I'm up to in the world to look at him now and smile compassionately with love and say, "There you're at." and let it go. This is not something I could do 3 years ago. Again, I just returned to the practice of growing, expanding, opening, learning and flowing into a greater understanding of truth.
How do you market for your dance classes? What has been your biggest obstacles?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
My biggest obstacle has been the lack of awareness of what it is. People seem to think it is fire walking if they have any idea about it at all (unless they've been indoctrinated). If there are half a million fire dancers world wide, I'd be surprised. What is that, 1/100th of a percent of the world population? That's NOT many people at all, really. I mean the Yoga market in the US alone is 16,000,000. I wish we had that many fire dancers in the US. and then within the category of fire dancing, there's lots of different tools, so Poi is an even smaller number. Still, it is growing -- I think flow arts are now where yoga was in the late 70's/early 80's. I think it's just a matter of time before it hits the tipping point. In terms of marketing, it was all "word of mouth" in the beginning. then Craigslist then I got a web site. Now it is mostly internet and referrals, with about 15% coming from direct marketing opportunities -- performances, articles, contact with me. Internet including: web site, yelp, blog and lots of work on SEO. I also offer referral credits. If a client refers another client for a series class, the person that recommended the new student gets a $15 credit on a class that means half a class off.
Classes are $30 a session for 80 minutes.
Tell me about the Temple of Poi classes and performances? And any other advice you would like to offer women?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
Temple of Poi offers over 40 different types of Poi classes for artists from beginners through professionals. In addition, we have computer based learning available for anyone in the world and some free lessons posted on the temple of Poi blog. Our work is about helping artists (our primary demographic is non full time professionals, of which there are few in the world anyway) develop a greater sense of self expression through the art form. We also offer hoop, fan and staff classes, though on a far more limited basis. As for advice for women, stop reading the ads and articles that bring you down, surround yourself by what inspires you, get rid of your TV, live life fully and passionately and if you're having body image issues, get help. Learn to love your body as it is for what it is in THIS moment. It will be carrying your spirit this whole life, so being at odds with it is not useful. I have this theory that our mental health dictates our physical health (there are studies out there that speak to this). I have not had health insurance since I left my corporate job.
I choose that because I believe insurance is a way of getting out of being responsible for my body. I am the master (or mistress if you prefer) of my body. I choose preventative care rather than reactive care. I haven't taken a prescription in a decade. I listen to my body. When I'm stressed, sad or simply not feeling good, I deal with it. I don't repress it. I allow the sensations to arise and I am present. I think stifling them is really what causes illness... --- dis - ease. When we are uncomfortable there is a dis-ease within us which I think is what causes the illnesses we carry around. Balancing it all... that's the trick with proper nourishment -- food, rest, love, support, nurturing, oxygen, celebration -- all of that is just as important as our job. Getting it all together is ideal.
Anything else you would like to address and include the contact info you would like included in the article?
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
I touch on this ... Integrating one's life. I see this a lot in the world where people have a job that they go to and it is one aspect of their life and then they have the rest of their life which they are passionate about. They spend more time at their job than they do in the rest of their life. How exactly can that generate comfort, job and the best, fullest, richest, most thriving life possible? I don't think it can so I am an advocate of integrating work and play, business and pleasure, life and our job. I think in terms of my purpose and passion, not my work and play because when I am passionately living my purpose, I am playing in my work. I advocate that everyone finds that for themselves. There's a good podcast out there put out by Personal Life Media called "Money, Mission and Meaning" that might help. In an effort to help empower more women, I'd like to extend a discount offer for access to the computer- based training program and a set of Poi to anyone reading this article. Regular price would be $120. For your readers, I'd like to offer it for $40 plus S&H to their location.
Isa Isaacs "Glitter Girl"
Web site: http://templeofpoi.com. Computer based training: http://gotfiredancing.com. My name: Isa "GlitterGirl" Isaacs. The offer would be at: http://templeofpoi.com/divamaverickmavens.php
Angelia Miller is the founder of Diva Maverick Mavens www.divamaverickmavens.com a new bread of feisty, non-conformist adventure loving adrenaline-high entrepreneur. The tagline is: Empowering Women by Interviewing Empowered Women...Inspiring "You" to Take ACTION! Casting exceptional dynamic talent for fresh content is the mission of Diva Maverick Mavens. The interview is in the original transcript form with minimal editing to preserve the integrity of the content.
