The Fitness Hangout

Jo is the owner and manager of The Fitness Hangout and has been in the fitness industry for nearly 24 years. Coming from a dance background, she is also a fully qualified Exercise to Music teacher and Personal Trainer. Jo is one of the Xpert Master Trainers in the UK and travels internationally delivering the Xpert Pole and Aerial Instructor Trainings a works as their Internal Verifier. Xpert is something she is so passionate about, ensuring instructors know how to break moves down correctly and offer levels that will suit everyone in the class. "Its so important to follow correct progressions when learning, working on good technique and not rushing through moves just to get to the harder stuff, risking injury."  Jo is also a Pole, Aerial, Dance and fitness Photographer and travels the country doing photoshoots alongside shoot at The Fitness Hangout.

She works regularly with X-pole UK at exhibitions and events promoting Pole Fitness and Aerial. Jo believes that fitness should be fun as well as challenging, and that if you are enjoying yourself you are more likely to adhere to your regime. Jo has been Pole dancing  for the last 19 years, she is well renowned in the Pole industry and is a judge in the UK Amateur Pole Performer competition, UK Professional Pole Championships, and Kent Pole Championships.

Her aim when opening The Fitness Hangout was to provide a space where people can have fun and learn new skills in a non-competitive and safe environment. The instructors and students are like a big extended family and time spent in the studio is a time to forget any worries and just enjoy life.

Karla discovered pole fitness in 2008 and has been teaching at The Fitness Hangout since 2013. In 2018, she began teaching at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, where she has received the 'Best Coach' award for two consecutive years. 

Karla is driven by a genuine desire to empower her students to achieve their goals. She finds joy in witnessing their progress and growing confidence as they master new skills and tackle challenges. Creating a supportive and encouraging environment is a top priority for her, as she believes that everyone deserves to feel safe and inspired throughout their fitness journey!

Over the years, she has performed solo and with students at Pole Unity, Guilfest and many showcases. Karla competed in Miss Pole Dance UK Semi-Pro Instructors, where she earned the 'Best Entertainer' award. She also won the 'Best Choreography' title at The Kent Pole Championships. Additionally, she excelled in Doubles Pole, winning the doubles category at the Solent Pole and Aerial Competition.

Beyond the studio, Karla is a qualified Personal Trainer, flexibility coach, and sports massage therapist, all of which she integrates into her own business, KNEADS, with her small hairy PA, Tato the Daschund.

Jen first started pole dancing when she was in Australia travelling and fell in love with it instantly! When she returned home she continued classes with Jo Dandridge who later trained her to be an instructor after noticing her great technique and enthusiasm. Jen has been pole dancing for around 16 years and teaching for 14 years . She completed the Xpert Teacher Training in 2012 and is a registered instructor on the Pole Dance Community. Jen has a true passion for teaching and loves watching students fall in love with the sport! Jen competes in UK competitions at a professional level winning the Solent Pole and Aerial Competition 2015 & 2018. 

Jen loves to help others on their competition journeys too, together creating amazing pieces ready for the stage! 

Jen has a passion for flexibility after starting to seriously train her flexibility as an adult. She was never bendy as a child so loves to prove to people that it’s never too late to start working on it! She teaches Stretch and Strength at the studio.

Carol has been involved in Aerial Hammock since 2010 and a Teacher since 2018.  Carols background is a traditional yoga (200hr YTT) teacher in:

*Hatha (hot flow)  

*Yin Yoga (deep stretch) *Pranayama (breath work) 

*Yoga Nidra (meditation).   

Carol believes Aerial Yoga allows us to open up to joy and trust in our life, as well as accessing a level of upper body strengthening that mat yoga often fails to deliver. 

Carol infuses her aerial silk classes with an energetic, fun mixture of yoga flow, strength & conditioning, balance work sprinkled with free inversions, where the silk allows us to safely enjoy a complete spinal release.  

There is only practice in Yoga and Carol offers specific modifications and progressions to all those with her on their Yoga Journey.  

When not working on Yoga, Carol is childfree, a student of Transpersonal Psychology and an experienced Tarot Reader.    After her daily meditation practice she can be found out in nature enjoying the fresh air and UK weather whilst walking her 2 Viszla boys.

After many years of ‘yang’ sports such as rugby, triathlon, adventure racing and mountain biking, plus a job in the fast paced world of international marketing & advertising, Ali totally understands and appreciates the benefits of yoga from a physical, mental, spiritual, and life-changing perspective. After retiring from corporate life 20 years ago, she built her house, then initially trained as a group exercise instructor and had her own personal yoga practice, during which she experienced many of the healing qualities of yoga.  Ali qualified as a Yoga Teacher in 2009 with a focus on Fitness Yoga, Sivananda, and the Integral lineages, then subsequently became one of the first UK Antigravity Aerial Yoga® instructors. Also qualified in Unity Partner Yoga, Yoga Nidra, plus Sports Massage, Thai Massage Therapy, and Reiki, she teaches a broad spectrum of yoga from deeply relaxing restorative/yin, through to Aerial and Vinyasa Flow. Inspired by many different teaching styles, Ali loves organic flowing classes and often incorporates yoga nidra, readings from the yogic texts, and Tai massage into her workshops and the odd challenging arm balance into her aerial and regular classes. Ali lives in a wood with 5 adopted rescue dogs, competes in dog agility, and is trying to re-learn the piano!  Alongside her teaching, she is a marketing/design consultant, a canine massage therapist, and hosts charity walks for the Schnauzerfest animal charity. She says "getting older is challenging on the body, but yoga helps me not creak so much and brings a welcome mental calmness!”

Gemma found her love for Aerial Hoop in her final year at the Italia Conti Arts Centre for Performing Arts. It was there that she performed her first Aerial number in their centenary year show. She Continued her training in London, until Jo at The Fitness Hangout started up her Aerial hoop classes and she carried on her training with Jo from then on. Gemma has been teaching at The Fitness Hangout since 2014, teaching kids and adults as well as taking workshops in choreography, specialist hoop skills, sling and doubles hoop. Gemma has competed in numerous pole and aerial competitions as a solo and doubles artist around the UK winning titles and most recently has become the 3 times reining champion at the UK Aerial performance Championships. Along side her teaching Gemma performs Aerial internationalally for events such as private parties, stage shows corporate events, weddings and clubs. As well as Aerial, Gemma specialises and performs in many genres of dance, contortion, dancing in a giant martini glass, and the aerial lollipop. Gemma has also worked with Spin City appearing in their solo and doubles Hoop bibles as well as providing video content for their instructor training courses. She enjoys training all aspects of dance and aerial widening her knowledge and skills to broaden her prospects in the industry which she loves to share with her students at the fitness hangout.

Sophia trained for many years in dance before discovering aerial for the first time during her final year of a Ba(Hons) Dance degree at Surrey university. Having always had a love for hanging upside down from trees and climbing apparatus, Sophia found began taking hoop classes at The Fitness Hangout and has never looked back! 

She has taken many classes in different aerial disciplines over the years, including hoop, silks, dance trapeze, rope, flying trapeze, straps, sling and aerial yoga. She is passionate about breaking down the technicalities of skills for her students, and believes there is a way for every ability and every body to achieve something. She also enjoys training flexibility and handstands, and especially loves teaching the science behind how these skills work for our bodies.

In 2018 she spent 1 month in Colombia on an intensive training course at a professional circus school which taught her many skills, as well as the importance of conditioning and strength training. She often takes part in workshops and intensive training classes to keep her skills fresh. She has taught classes at the Fitness Hangout for nearly 10 years, and brings this knowledge to all her classes, making sure there is something for everyone to work on, and keeping students strong and safe in the air.

Alongside teaching, Sophia has competed in various competitions, and has also performed professionally, including aerial hoop and silks at festivals, corporate events, parties, and with a touring circus. She has also worked with Spin City, featuring in the solo and doubles aerial hoop bibles as well as the online teacher training videos. She organises the student showcase at the studio every year, and loves to get students involved in working towards this.

Meg started her aerial journey in 2017 after graduating from the Arts University Bournemouth for Costume Interpretation. Having grown up dancing, aerial hoop provided a new challenge and after that first class she was hooked. Since starting Meg has taken classes in silks, pole, trapeze, conditioning, and stretch but hoop will always remain her first love!
She completed her Xpert instructor training in 2019 when she became a studio ambassador for The Fitness Hangout and then started teaching her own classes in 2024. She is also now a qualified Xpert Trapeze instructor. She loves teaching and helping students achieve their goals and witness them overcome their nemesis moves. 
Meg has competed across the country in aerial hoop winning her regionals and making it through to the final of UKAPC in both Amateur and Instructor categories (2019 and 2020 respectively) as well as winning the Solent Pole and Aerial competition in 2018. She loves competing as it gives her a chance to meet others in the aerial community and learn new tricks and transitions.

Naomi has a strong dance background, competing for 13 years from the age of 11 and gaining a diploma in performing arts. She also performs regularly as a dancer for various events and agencies. She has been a qualified dance teacher for 10 years teaching all ages from 3 upwards. She is also a championship judge for dance events across England. 

Naomi has been training pole on and off for 18 years and has been a certified instructor for over 8. She found The Fitness Hangout and fell completely back in love with all things Pole and Aerial. Since finding pole her relationship with her body has completely changed and loves seeing that transformation in others! She loves how inclusive Pole and aerial are and enjoys helping others find joy in exercise.

She is also a certified flexibility instructor and trained makeup artist!

Victoria took her first pole class in Autumn 2016 and was instantly hooked. She loves how whatever your age and experience, you will continue to amaze yourself with what you can achieve in pole. 
Victoria first performed in a studio showcase in January 2019. Following this positive experience and looking for more opportunities to perform, she began to enter competitions. Victoria has since competed 4 times at World Championship Pole Sports Competitions, among various other international competitions in the UK and Europe. Victoria also started teaching pole in 2019 and is qualified to teach up to advanced level.
Following her showcase performance on flying pole at the Fitness Hangout in November 2023, Victoria is excited to begin competing in this discipline in 2024. Practising and performing pole brings Victoria confidence, focus and a way of expressing herself. Since joining the Fitness Hangout, initially as a student in summer 2023, she has been overwhelmed by the warm welcome from everyone there and is delighted to join the fabulous team of teachers.

Aerial Yoga teacher