Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Heins and Katie Ann Petersen. Them and their team share their story with us below:
The Salt Mine was founded in November 2014 by chance and happenstance!
Salt Lake City had a very large Pole Dance Studio called Studio Soiree. So many of today’s pole dancers and instructors were first introduced to Pole at that studio. Unfortunately, it dissolved in 2012 and left many students and instructors trying to replicate the relationships, friendships, and closeness the studio provided. Several new studios opened up, but there was nothing quite like Soiree. Melinda (Mel) Heins was an instructor at Studio Soiree and taught pole dancing at a local Pilates studio with removable poles in the Mat Room.
She missed her fellow instructors and a lot of her former students. She watched a video from Miss Pole Dance Australia’s opening act and decided it was time to get some local Pole Instructors together to play, dance, and perform the sensual choreography. Out of this idea, SALT Dance was born. Instructors from four different pole studios in the Salt Lake and Davis County areas came together and created sensual dances and performed in Salt Lake, LA, and Chicago. They rehearsed at several different studios and just had so much fun together.
Then one of the members of SALT had a proposition. Somer Ahonen, a local photographer, and pole instructor was moving her photography studio to her home and wondered if any of us wanted to share rent on the space. As a pole instructor, she was well known for her gorgeous pole photography (still is!). Three other members of SALT jumped at the chance to have a place to hang out, create, move and play. Cara Heuser, Katie Petersen, and Melinda Heins rounded out the group. On November 1, 2014, the four women met at the space and signed an agreement and a list of rules – our number one rule, still to this day, is “Don’t Be an Asshole”.
The studio space was a garage space with an attached lobby, office, and anteroom. The walls were cinderblock. The floors in the studio space were just old concrete with cracks and stains from cars long gone. We had two actual poles, two-stage poles, and one pole we had made in a steel mill from scrap pipe. The garage door was as old as the building and in terrible shape – every storm came right into the studio space. But we didn’t care – we had a place to create! A place that was ours to do what we pleased! We decided to call our new space The Salt Mine – a place where our SALT dance group could create and perform – a place we could work!
Meanwhile, Mel had just stopped teaching at the Pilates studio and had some students ask if she was teaching anywhere. She told them she would teach them at The Salt Mine, but they had to excuse the floors, walls, garage door, and poles! Surprisingly, they didn’t mind and more and more students followed Mel to The Salt Mine but then… life happens. Two of the founding members – Cara Heuser and Somer Ahonan just could not continue to be involved as they lived far away, had other obligations, and didn’t want to teach. So Katie and Mel were left trying to pay the full amount of rent. Katie was close to having to leave as well as she had just bought and was remodeling a home. Was The Salt Mine out of luck? Well, Pole relationships run deep and a new partner came into the picture.
Sarah Allen was a pole instructor, certified Yoga teacher, and a friend from Studio Soiree. She wanted a place to dance and teach yoga and loved the vibe of the Salt Mine. She joined the ownership team and saved The Salt Mine! At this same time, The Salt Mine had a visit from Jeni Janover of Liquid Motion, and Kyra Johannessen of Body & Pole in NYC. These powerhouse Pole Stars were in town and presented several workshops at The Salt Mine and stayed with Mel. One night Kyra and Mel had way too much wine and Kyra looked Mel dead in the eyes and said the words that changed her life – ready? “Mel, I love you, but your studio is a piece of shit. You need to decide if you are a studio owner or not and get your shit together.” Mel had not wanted to be a studio owner, but Kyra’s words resonated, and a new idea a new life for The Salt Mine was born.
The Salt Mine got new floors in December of 2015 – sleek black epoxy with gold and glow-in-the-dark glitter. It was amazing! New Xpoles came soon after, and then a new garage door that was insulated from the weather. We also had a new business plan – one that Mel felt strongly about since her time at Studio Soiree. The instructors should make the money – not the business. The Salt Mine is run similar to a booth rent salon. Instructors pay a monthly rental and have access to the studio 24 hours. They create their own classes, plan their curriculum, rehearse classes, etc.
The students pay their instructors directly. Every instructor at the Salt Mine is certified in the apparatus they teach – and usually, they have more certifications in multiple apparatuses or dance or yoga or Pilates. The Salt Mine also rents the space on a monthly basis to people training for Pole competitions or who just want more time to practice. The Salt Mine has been so successful with this model that they have outgrown their current space!
Partner, Sarah Allen, had to step back from her own role as she was growing her own family, so Katie and Mel forged on ahead without her. This was in late 2019. At this time Katie and Mel also decided to do some construction on the current space to create a second room so more instructors could teach more classes. And then… drum roll… COVID-19 hit with a vengeance! The Salt Mine closed its doors for three months due to local restrictions and the ownership team not wanting to contribute to the high case count in the Salt Lake Valley.
During the closure no instructors had to pay rent – The Salt Mine covered expenses with money saved for re-construction and expansion. When we did open back up, we had lost four instructors – some did not want to have to wear a mask while in the space, some could not safely get back to teach in person as they or their loved ones were immunocompromised. We opened our doors back up in June 2020 with reduced class sizes, social distancing, and masks, our students came back in droves! We added four new instructors very quickly and have all our classes waitlisted most days. We survived a Global Pandemic!!!
Then Ann came along and had an offer we could not believe. Ann Crowther is a former Studio Soiree instructor who became certified in Anti Gravity Yoga after Soiree closed. She is also a traveling ER nurse and had been working on the front lines in California during Covid. She came into town, took a class with Mel, and wanted to chat after class – a proposition, she said. Turns out Ann needed somewhere to invest some money. She wanted to invest in the Salt Mine. Mel said, “No you don’t, you would never make your money back.” After laughing about that for a few moments, Ann suggested the following “How about I buy a building and The Salt Mine rent the space from me.”
So Mel immediately called Katie and the three set up a time to meet and discuss. This was in October 2020. A beautiful building on Main Street was purchased and currently The Salt Mine Ownership Team – which now includes Ann Crowther – is busy with construction, paint stripping, bathroom creation, and all the details that will make The Salt Mine’s new home a place where even more students and instructors can create, collaborate and thrive together. With two HUGE rooms, THREE BATHROOMS (all caps because we have struggled with just one for over 6 years), a washer and dryer, some sleek black with gold and glow in the dark glitter walls – the NEW Salt Mine will have the same vibe as our old space but will have more space and more equipment for more people to enjoy.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A lot of our improvements were paid out of pocket – however, our landlord was very generous to us (Ray Hedberg – we adore you!) Finding the right type of people to become an instructor or to have access to your space anytime is hard, we have been burned a couple of times. Katie says Mel is too easy (maybe true…) But you have to extend trust to get trust and that is what we do.
Covid-19 certainly changed our course and challenged us – especially since the studio was beginning to make money, but then we had to use the savings to pay our lease. However, running our business the way we do – our main customer is our instructors, so we did not have the pain of dealing with students who wanted their memberships stopped until they could come back to the studio.
We run VERY leanly, just enough to cover our expenses, and that can be difficult. In fact, we have been unable to get a loan to help with the cost of construction in our new space, and had to take out a personal loan – banks don’t like businesses that don’t make profits!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The Salt Mine is a Movement Arts Co-op. We specialize in Pole and Aerial fitness/dance, but also highlight local artists on our walls (we take a small commission – smaller than any other gallery) We put on shows, and with our new space, we plan on even bigger shows and parties. We definitely embrace the sensual side of the movement and provide a safe space for all individuals to explore what makes them feel sexy and sensual We don’t hide that in the least.
We love and have great relationships with the other Pole Studios in Utah. We all did a Pride Festival booth together and it was one of our most favorite events! Our instructors also work at other studios and we encourage our students to attend classes wherever they want! We like being a studio that EVERYONE is welcome and one in which all studios are represented – we all love Pole and Aerial, we should be able to love it together.
We still have our number one rule in place (Don’t Be an Asshole) and are planning on getting it in Neon for our new space.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
It reminded us of who our customer is – the instructor – not the students. And, that helped us figure out how we wanted to move forward and with what precautions – how are our instructors feeling? Are they nervous? Do they want students to mask up?
We found that we got a ton of new students signing up for classes at the Salt Mine BECAUSE we had such strict mask and sanitizing protocols in place. When the numbers in Salt Lake City came down and the mask mandate was lifted, we were excited… however, some of us have taken to wearing a mask again (even though we all are vaccinated) because we want to encourage our students to stay safe.
We still insist that everyone wear a mask if they are sharing equipment (we can have up to 10 people sharing our poles in a pole party – all must be masked), we even asked our instructors if they would like to have more students in class and have them share poles with masks, but overwhelmingly the instructors said no.
We believe a lot of people took stock of their lives and are seeing possibilities more than before. Working from home has given many the option to have more flexible schedules or to change careers. Mel even quit her job to dedicate herself to the Salt Mine full time! Katie is working toward that as well. Self-care is applauded and the Salt Mine definitely benefits from that.
Pricing:
- Private Parties $35 per person
- Private Lesson starts at $45
- Most classes are $15
- Space rental Old Space $25/hour
- No membership/pay your instructors directly
Contact Info:
- Website: thesaltmineslc.com
- Instagram: @saltmineslc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaltMineSLC/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/thesaltmineslc/?hl=en
Image Credits
Somer Ahonen
