About Us

Karen McIntyre, Owner

Karen started dancing in 2007, when she walked into a pole studio and fell in love. Certified as a pole instructor in 2009, she began her teaching career at Inner Goddess Studios and quickly became their senior pole instructor. When IGS closed its doors in 2014, Karen’s desire to share her passion with the world led her to open Pink Ambition in January 2015; she hopes others will embrace the chance to fall in love with pole as well.

She began her competitive career at the Atlantic Pole Championships in 2016. Finding herself completely at home on stage, she brought home the gold medal in level 4 at APC in 2017 and the bronze medal in the semi-professional division at APC in 2018. She loves coaching interested students throughout the whole competition process; from shaping the idea to pumping them up backstage while waiting for their moment to shine!

Karen fully embraces her role of Pole Mama in her studio family built on love and support. When asked what her favorite aspect of being a pole instructor and studio owner is, a smile lights up her face as she replies “my babies”. Her goal is to help others discover their strength within through the challenges and accomplishments pole life brings.

When she’s not at the studio, she spends time with her amazingly supportive husband Jake and their house full of animals.

Maria #InstructorMaria

Maria started pole in 2012 to mix things up with her long-distance running and traditional strength training routines. Pole classes quickly turned into the workouts she most looked forward to each week. She found a sense of empowerment and self-confidence in the studio and has had the opportunity to gain an amazing new circle of friends. Maria enjoys defying gravity and self-imposed limits. She looks forward to encouraging her students to do the same! She is currently pursuing her Basi Pilates teacher certification and feels like Pilates and pole are a natural complement to each other. You will often see Maria in any class Pink Ambition has to offer; maintaining a strong base helps the crazy tricks feel that much stronger.

Julianna #InstructorJulianna

AKA Ballistic Porkchopper, like many, was terrified to try pole on her own. BUT she wanted to try it, so she threw a bachelorette party for a friend at the studio. It was love at first pole. She learned after the party that if she wanted to do something for herself she couldn’t wait around for others to join her. This was a pivotal moment in her life as the studio took her under its wings of glitter and strength! She began her pole journey shortly after that in November 2016. Use to a lifetime of team sports, she was lacking in the sense of community, growing as an athlete, and lack of motivation to workout on her own. Once she started pole she began to build strength and confidence in a way she never imagined she could. Learning new moves was an easy way to track progress which was way better than looking at the scale or counting reps. Julianna lives off that spark in a new student’s eyes when they first get the hang of it. She currently teaches level 1 and each of the rotating classes. Her style is “Ballistic” to say the least. Throughout high school she played soccer, lacrosse, and cheered. Most of her strength being in her legs, she was a bit worried she wouldn’t be strong enough for pole, but today she is a confident badass and her only regret is that she didn’t start pole sooner.

Anna #InstructorAnna

Anna began her pole fitness journey in 2012. She quickly assumed a teaching role at her first studio and loved the community, positivity, and healing properties of pole. Anna is also a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200) and has her doctorate in occupational therapy. Anna’s youth was filled with dance, costumes, and creativity. She dabbled in gymnastics, ballet, clog, riverdance, tap, jazz, theater, and sports. As an adult, Anna’s love for dance and creative expressive movement has remained a fundamental pillar of her livelihood and personality. She states, “pole fitness and the community within it helped me recover from an eating disorder as well as reconnect with my sensuality after sexual trauma- I want to spread that love and empowerment”. Anna enjoys “popping pole cherries” and takes great pride in bringing creative, dynamic, and adaptable choreography to her classes. She currently teaches Pole 1 and Twerkout at Pink Ambition. She describes herself as a “passionate, quirky, extra af, Southern badass with a big, soft heart”.