“I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.”
That’s what I said after the first and second rounds of samples for what would become the Pole Bag Elite.
Back in 2022, I designed the Pole Bag Pro to basically be a traveling locker. And I loved it. Still do. But I don’t always want a huge bag.
So in 2024, I made the Mini. Better for day-to-day pole life.
But outside the studio? I kept reaching for a weekender. And once I noticed it, I couldn’t unsee it. Weekender bags were everywhere. In the studio too! Anyone who didn’t have a Pro or a Mini had some version of a weekender bag.
That was the signal.
A New Design
I didn’t want another square gym bag. I wanted something cuter. More intentional. Something you’d carry even if you weren’t going to pole.
Around that time, I had just found a new production team for Bee’s Knees Knee Pads. We improved the product and brought the cost down, and I wanted to do the same thing here.
So I scrapped everything and started over. A third round of samples. New direction. Weekender style. And this time, colors were non-negotiable.
When that sample showed up, I fell in love.
Shiny nylon, bold Bee’s Knees colors, printed interior, shoe compartment with vent holes, slip and zip pockets, a luggage strap that doubles as a pocket, a yoga mat strap, metal hardware.
This Pole Bag Elite was the one. This bag had to happen... which meant I had a new problem.
Launching it.
The Pole Bag Elite Presale
What a lot of people might not know is I don’t get to order “a few” and see what happens.
Production comes with minimums, which means committing to a full run upfront before there’s any real proof it’ll sell.
That first launch is always the hardest part. It’s where all the development, sampling, and production come together at once. After that, things get easier. But the first time? You’re making the call without a safety net.
And I had just launched the 3.0 knee pads. Stacking another launch on top of that didn’t exactly feel like the safe move.
But people had been waiting for a new pole bag. And honestly, so had I.
So the only way this worked was as a presale.
If enough people showed up early, the Pole Bag Elite would exist. If not… it wouldn’t.
I ran the numbers.
The number was 100.
The Founding 100
So I went all in.
Emails, social posts, behind the scenes, bringing the sample everywhere with me and letting people see it, touch it, ask questions. If you were anywhere near me, you were getting a demo.
But what I didn’t expect was how many people would lean in.
People started checking my Instagram stories just to see the count. How many had sold, how close we were, if it was actually going to happen. It stopped feeling like a launch and started feeling like something people were following in real time.
Orders would come in and I’d see the names, sometimes familiar, sometimes completely new, and I started shouting out every single one. One by one.
And then the messages started.
People telling me they just ordered. That they’d been watching. That they wanted the bag, or they respected the hustle, or they just wanted to be part of it. People saying they were rooting for me.
One person returned a bag she bought on Amazon just to preorder this one. She told me, “You’re the ‘B’ I’d rather support than Bezos.”
That kind of support just blew my mind.
It wasn’t just transactions. It felt like momentum. Like people were choosing to show up and push this thing forward.
And it built. Slowly, then all at once.
Every order mattered. Every name mattered. Every person who decided, “Yeah, I’m in!”
And three days before the deadline, we hit 100.
The Story
The Pole Bag Elite is in production now. It exists because 100 people decided it should.
That’s it. That’s the whole story.
But it's pretty powerful stuff.
I always describe myself as "the one-woman show behind the business" and while that's true, I can't say I do any of this alone.
If you were one of the Founding 100, you already know how powerful you are. Thank you.
And if you weren’t, this is what you’re stepping into now. Carry it proudly knowing the story because you're a part of it.