Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Lloyd
Hi Denise, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started dancing at the age of 3, in a competitive dance studio for 13 years. After high school a friend invited me to an aerial yoga class. It was enjoyable but I wanted something a bit more challenging. I started taking aerial silks class and fell in love with it. I started taking classes 4-5 days a week and after about 2 years of training I became a coach for that studio. I then wanted to take aerial to a professional level and was hired with an entertainment company called Anti-Gravity. There I performed at multiple events such as corporate events, private parties, etc. providing entertainment in multiple apparatuses such as aerial silks, lyra, aerial hammock, and more. I also was hired through them for my first professional aerial silks job with them at Univeral Studios. I performed in the SuperStar Parade as an aerialist. This was a dream of mine to perform everyday as a “job”. My dream job, and one of the main reasons I started aerial, was to work on the Blue Horizons dolphin show at Seaworld on cloudswing. I worked very hard to achieve this goal, and I was hired as a part time performer. I was able to perform at Seaworld and Universal for about 6 months then found out I was pregnant with my first son. I had to stop performing at Seaworld, but I was able to continue performing at Universal until I was 20 weeks pregnant and our show had come to an end so it was a perfect ending from performing daily to becoming a mom. I still coached classes and performed at events. I had my 2nd son 2 years later, and decided I needed to concentrate more on my family. I would still coach classes but I no longer performed. I had move to the Apopka area, and wanted to get my aerial yoga certification. I started working at a yoga studio in downtown Mt Dora teaching arial yoga and kids silk classes. I ended up needing a bigger space because my kids silk classes were growing. I rented space out of a jujitsu gym for a year and a half building up clientele, and we had silk and lyra classes 4 days a week. I never thought I would one day have my own business running my own aerial studio. There is nothing like our classes in this area. We found a great opportunity to move into our own facility right down the road and in January 2020 Soar Athletics was established. I had myself and 3 other coaches at the time, running classes 5 days a week. We continue to grow each year, with multiple apparatuses such as silks, lyra, trapeze, hammock, toddler classes, speciality apparatus classes, fitness classes, adult only classes, as well we offer tumbling classes once a week. We also have our very own performance team of 12 girls that go out and perform at local events. we now have 6 coaches all female who are proud to be a full female business. We also have student showcases, recitals, twice a year where we sell tickets to family, friends, and the public to come and watch students perform what they have learned. Students really look the showcases. It has built so much confidence in our students. We love watching them come out of their shell and really be passionate for something they love doing. All while staying in shape. Our classes have helped many students overcome anxiety, become confident, and just grow as a person. As coaches it is one of our favorite things to watch them grow. We have had some students from the beginning and have been with us for 7 years now. We are a very family friendly studio and welcome anyone to come join us. I am now a single mom with 3 beautiful children, and I’m living the dream of having such an amazing studio family filled with nothing but love and support.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When we first opened our own facility in January of 2020, 3 months later COVID hit and everything had to shut down. I thought we were done for, since we were so brand new. However, we made it work by offering online fitness classes and challenges for our students to stay involved. When restrictions slowly lifted we offered private lessons for students. We would teach our students from opposite sides of the room and cleaned the silks between each lesson. We are a very clean studio and we took it seriously to keep everyone healthy while we ran our private lessons. Due to this, we made it through COVID and came back strong once everything was reopened.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the owner of Soar Athletics as well as a coach. My speciality is aerial silks, but I am able to teach any of our regular classes such as Lyra, Hammock, Trapeze, and aerial yoga. I am most proud of being able to have a happy life with my 3 kids and have a successful business running an aerial studio. We are really building a name for ourselves since we are the only aerial studio in this area. Other aerial studios are at least 45 mins-1 hour away so it makes it very convenient for families to try something new so close to where they live. I am also very proud of our performance team. These girls are held to a hirer standard as they are the elite students. Some are wanting to grow more as performers, some are wanting to become coaches. No matter what they want to do in life we help push them to their goals. They perform local events and represent Soar Athletics very professionally which makes us coaches very proud of them.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was an only child. I grew up dancing competitively so I was in dance classes multiple times a week, and my summers were consumed by dance during competition season. I was apart of the dance team in high school, performing at football games every season.
Pricing:
- New Student Trial (Buy one get one) $28
- Drop-In $28 per class
- 4 class package $88 (once per week)
- 8 class package $160 (twice per week)
- 12 class package $216 (3 times per week)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soarathleticsfl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soarathleticsfl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soarathleticsfl
Image Credits
Credits of photos is Soar Athletics
