IAM1120- Founder Help Others Get in Shape Through Aerial Dance

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Please Note: Our team is using the AI CEO Hacks: Exemplary AI and Otter.ai to support our podcast transcription. While we know it's improving there may be some inaccuracies, we are updating and improving them. Please contact us if you notice any issues, you can also test out Exemplary AI here.

00:30 – Intro 

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:57 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Candice Cantu of Arial Candy. Candice, it's great to have you on the show.

01:07 – Candace Cantu

Hi, it's great to be here.

01:09 – Gresham Harkless

Super excited to have you on. Before we jump into the interview, I wanted to read a little bit more about Candice so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Candice opened and founded Ariel Candy, a center for circus performance arts in 2019. After having danced herself for over a decade, Candice wanted to share her gifts and help others get in shape while having fun and learning a new skill. Ariel Candy aims to help people find a community, friendship, and fitness, all while accomplishing personal goals catered to aerial dance. And I love everything that Candice has been able to build. I think anytime you can say something you're passionate about and that you love to do and are able to build a community, help people get and reach their goals, and all of that wrapped in one big awesome business. I appreciate you for doing that. So Candice, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

01:55 – Candace Cantu

I am ready.

01:57 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. I know it's such a little bit, but I want to hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:07 – Candace Cantu

So I always wanted to own a fitness business. Originally I thought I was going to end up with a pole studio, But my friend had an aerial studio already and she had an opportunity in Mexico. So she was like, hey, do you want to take over my studio? And I just jumped at the opportunity. I was so ready to go. And it was I think it actually worked out better because I love Ariel and Poland itself is Ariel, but I'm more of a performance artist and I get to explore that a lot through Ariel's dance. So it's been amazing.

02:45 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Sounds like the rest is definitely history and to get the opportunity to kind of was it something that you had tried before when your friend had introduced you to it and then you said that this might be something I wanted to lean more into.

02:59 – Candace Cantu

So we actually were professional aerialists and show in Washington, D.C. Together. So I had been performing for a number of years as an aerial dancer before I took over the aerial studio.

03:11 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. And then so it ended up being a great fit. So it's great to hear how you've been able to do that for people who aren't as familiar with aerial. Could you, I guess, explain a little bit more about what it is and, and how you work with your clients there?

03:22 – Candace Cantu

Oh yeah, of course. So, most people, when they think of aerial, immediately first think of silks, so the tissue, the fabric that hangs from the ceiling that you see the circus performers that are performing on. There are various different apparatuses that you can use and then you can even just create some. So we have created a mini cube. So it's like a, it's a small cube. It's not super tiny, obviously, because I have to go inside of it. But yeah, you can just be really creative with your aerial apparatuses. So what we do is we have a fitness center and you'll come there and then we have internal classes for the silks, internal classes for the aerial hoop, and then we have an open gym for the more obscure apparatuses or for people that are trying to work on something, a routine, or a very specific trick or need specific feedback. So yeah.

04:21 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And it sounds like you kind of have everybody from beginner to more seasoned and experienced that they're able to kind of like, I guess take a run at everything and try everything out.

04:34 – Candace Cantu

Yeah, we do. So I personally teach at my studio all the time and I teach the intro classes. And then I also teach the open gyms and I get a lot of advanced students in my open gyms. And it's just everyone, cause I teach like today I'm gonna teach an intro class which is going to be people who have absolutely never tried this sport ever in their life. And it's so fun and it's so fulfilling to help people achieve a dream. It just feels so magical to try aerial silks and to be a part of just something that you maybe saw when you were a little kid or you've seen in movies. And then I have the more seasoned people that will be at my open gym and they are just they're just pushing like so hard for routines.

We're working on Aerial Star right now, which is like a video competition. So we're all working on our routines and stuff. And it's just amazing to see them because, at that point, they're such amazing athletes. And there's just so much that goes into it. And it's very fun. I love it, the intricacy of it and just helping people kind of accomplish their, like goals, oh, I really want to be able to do this drop or can you help me do this? And helping them like feel brave enough to do it or giving them the feedback and the, yeah, I guess just the feedback that they need in order to accomplish those goals.

06:02 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that's huge. And I feel like, and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I almost feel like I've always felt like a lot of times when you do stuff, from a fitness standpoint, sometimes not even related to what you're trying to do. Sometimes it gives you that confidence to be able to do something you may not even think that you can do or to do something a little bit more creative that you can kind of use in every aspect of your business or even your life.

06:24 – Candace Cantu

Oh, that's super true. I have definitely found that true. Even just with myself too, it's definitely a confidence-building exercise, right? You're doing something you never thought that you could ever do before. And even I see it with the very beginning students, the ones that come to the intro classes, they are just so amazed by what they're capable of doing. And I'm like, yeah, of course, you're capable of anything that you would like to do. Anything you set your mind to. You know, it takes baby steps and you have to have realistic expectations, but at the same time, you can definitely create magic in your life.

06:59 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. That's why I love sport and fitness because I always feel like it's a parallel to life and business. And a lot of times when you break those barriers in sport and in fitness and everything you're doing, it translates into that confidence that you can use everywhere. So absolutely appreciate that. Would you consider that to be what I like to call your secret sauce? The thing you feel kind of sets you apart and makes it unique is you, is it that ability to be able to, for lack of a better term, maybe empower people and help them to kind of see new sites and things that they didn't think they could do?

07:27 – Candace Cantu

You know what, I was thinking about it and I do think that that's what it is. I'm a people person and I love people. I love interacting with people. I love to make people happy. So I'm also very empathetic so I'm able to see what people are struggling with and I understand their personal struggles and sometimes people are really hard on themselves and it's very very Heartbreaking with someone's like oh, I can't do this. I can't I just want to give up He's like, of course like this this is brand new like give yourself a break. I guess. Okay, it's okay to not be able to ride a bike the first time you sit on a bicycle. You have to, you know, you have to take your first step. You have to crawl before you can walk. So these are little mantras I like to tell my students. But yeah, and I think that empowering them is definitely something that I'm very good at. And that's just, I guess a gift that I have. I don't know.

08:31 – Gresham Harkless

That's awesome. And I think that just like, you know, any gifts and talents that we all have, the best thing is not to hoard them or to be able to share them out and empower other people and help other people is huge. But I love how you said that sometimes crawl before you walk because I read this, you know, story, you know, I think it was years ago about how a lot of times we are hard on ourselves and often like we have to kind of remind ourselves of like being a kid and learning how to walk. And sometimes when kids try to walk, they'll fall down all the time until they can get in and do it.

And you don't hear people around them saying, oh, you'll never be able to walk. This walking thing isn't cut out for you. They encourage them, they empower them. And then, you know, we're all walking around as it is now. So it's something we have to remind ourselves of whenever we're trying something new that we have to kind of tap into that encouragement and that empowerment that we sometimes forget when we get a little bit older.

09:22 – Candace Cantu

Yeah, most definitely. I completely agree with that.

09:25 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:42 – Candace Cantu

So I have mentors, and I have, I know it's very common, everyone's like, Oh, you need to get a mentor, you need to get a mentor, but you do you need to get a mentor. And this is like a person that can be of your choice, you just kind of think like, what do I want my life to look like? What do I want to accomplish? And I just kind of said this to a variety of different people in my life. And a few of them stepped up and said, oh, I can help you put that into a structured setting. And like, this is how you would go about doing this, and this is how you would do that. And, you know, they really helped me.

One of them was actually very, no, no, no, don't open your own business But you know still I took that into consideration and listened to all of the reasons why someone would be afraid for me or anyone to open their own business. And I chose to not listen to them because on the flip I had another mentor who was like, no, no, no, you can do this. And I think it really is just about believing in yourself and taking in a lot of different perspectives. But yeah, my mentors have been amazing. Amazing.

10:52 – Gresham Harkless

I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something you experienced or something you might tell yourself if you were to happen to a time machine.

11:04 – Candace Cantu

So people are really hard on themselves. I'm also guilty of that. And my little golden nugget is mantras. I don't know if it's because I'm, I constantly also am educating myself. So there's all the obvious things like you wanna read, you wanna learn, you wanna get a mentor. These are all things that you wanna do. You wanna continue your education. I take anatomy and physiology classes at the local college just to be able to understand how to work better with people's bodies because it's a very intense sport, especially for new people who are coming in. I  want to make sure that they feel comfortable and they don't get pushed past their limits.

So aside from all of that, I also got a bunch of yoga certifications and then after I got them I noticed that I started to tell myself mantras in my head. So I'm very tired and I don't feel like doing this today. And then all of a sudden in my head, I'll say, well, a little bit of effort goes a long way. And I have another one that I say showing up is half the battle. So I just live by these little mantras and they are really actually very helpful. And they help me hold myself accountable. So self-accountability is huge when you're trying to be an entrepreneur because you don't have anyone there to tell you you have to be here on time you have to do this. You have to hold yourself accountable and I find those little mantras will help me hold myself accountable.

12:29 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely love that nugget and so I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Candace, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:42 – Candace Cantu

When I first started my business, I thought about this question. And when I first started my business, I thought, oh, I'm just a boss and that's it. But then after running my business for a couple of years now, I realized that actually being a CEO to me is being, you're building a community. So you're a part of this community that you have either created or you have joined or you have, you know, you've become a part of and therefore you're a role model. And that is one thing that I really think that people forget. You're a role model. So I had this student and she was looking at me and she was like, oh, you know, I can't do this, I can't do that. I was like, who are you comparing yourself to?

And she was like, you. And I was like, oh, I am a role model. Okay. So it kind of clicked at that moment that, you know, these students, they're coming to me, they're looking up to me, they are, I need to be an example in my community. I need to take care of myself so I can be a good example for them. And that is a responsibility that I did not think about when I started a business per se. You don't think like, oh, I'm a role model when you think you're a CEO. You just think I'm a boss.

13:57 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I absolutely love that. I appreciate you sharing that. And I think so many times, especially too, when you reach a certain level of mastery and get really great at what you do. And like we talked about, you continue to sharpen the saw. So many times we forget about everything we did to get to that place. And when we're teaching new people, sometimes we can forget that part. But I love how you talked about that role model piece and how that manifests itself in everything you do because it's obviously you being excellent at everything you do.

But also empowering people and celebrating them and cheerleading for them for lack of a better term so that they can continue to kind of move forward just like you probably had to do, you know, at the beginning of everything new that we start. So I love that role model piece because I think it's something that we forget about and it kind of puts everything in alignment with our actions, our words, and everything that we do related to that.

14:43 – Candace Cantu

Oh yeah, you hit the nail on the head. It was, yep, I have a few students that I noticed that were looking up to me and it made me feel like I had to be a better person for sure.

14:54 – Gresham Harkless

Gresham Harkless: Absolutely. It's that accountability we talked about a little bit before and the negative sometimes comes from other people as well too. So Candace, truly appreciate that. And I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you, find out about your classes and all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:15 – Candace Cantu

So I would say to all the listeners, if you are interested in doing some of the entrepreneurial, you should do it. You should definitely do it. You won't be scared of failing or falling. You're just going to get right back up. Try again. And if you want to reach us, you can reach us on our website, which is www.ArielCandyFit.com. Ariel is spelled A-E-R-I-A-L, not like the Disney princess. You can also reach us on Instagram at ariel.com.candy. and I look forward to hearing from anyone who's interested in coming and taking classes with us.

16:04 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much again, Candice. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But I love how you remind us of how important it is that even if we fall down to get back up or even if we struggle at doing something in the beginning, we can always keep going because I think it's something we can learn obviously in your classes, but definitely in life as a whole. So thank you so much for reminding us of that and embodying that as well. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:30 – Outro