We had the good fortune of connecting with Lana Stewart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lana, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I feel like happiness is the most important factor in my success at this point of my business journey. I have picked two complimentary services (with subcategories) that I provide.
Both sets of services are something I feel need to come from a place of joy to be successful.
One service is movement classes & experiences. Specifically, yoga, pole dance, aerial yoga, spin, and pilates.
My extensive dance training and career started when I was three years old in 1979. I have studied, taught, and performed my entire life and been around hundreds if not thousands of colleagues and instructors. The best are those who can turn their joy into movement and communicate it in a way each individual watching or learning can get something from it. People come into movement classes for many reasons. They stay and become consistent if they learn that movement is joyful and they feel successful. I especially love watching people who thought they couldn’t pole dance or do yoga become successful at it.
My other service is healthy aging/anti aging skin treatments and cosmetic treatments.
As a dancer and fitness professional I learned a lot about the mechanics of movement. After taking a few years of trainings I have been able to incorporate this into my services.
When someone comes to me for skin tightening I watch their facial and physical expressions and movements. It helps me to see what expressions people use most and I use my knowledge of anatomy to stimulate collagen where people need it most.
I approach all my cosmetic and skin tightening services from a place of happiness for my clients. Taking care of yourself isn’t a chore of vanity, it is an important part of feeling well. Seeing the results my clients achieve makes me extremely happy.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a 4th generation Arizona native, I grew up in Buckeye and Litchfield Park.
Part of what drives me is seeing the legacy my parents and grandparents and great grandparents, aunts and uncles, made in the community just by working hard and caring about peoples lives in their daily interactions. I became interested in cosmetic skin tightening first when I owned a tanning salon in Las Vegas. I kind of stumbled into the business and realized I have a group of people that want their skin and bodies to look beautiful but they were damaging it in the process. So I began offering spray tans, red light therapy, and body sculpting as other ways to look and feel good.
Then I had a baby at 42 and got my first fillers done. They were painful and expensive and didn’t last long. If only I could age in reverse?
I found a fibroblast plasma pen practitioner and got amazing results, years taken off my face and results that last 3 to 5 years. From there I got trained in fibroblast plasma pen, Microneedle, jet plasma, radio frequency, body sculpting, needle free fillers and fat dissolve as well as semi permanent makeup.
My career in teaching movement was a parallel to my career performing.
I taught yoga and fitness to stay in shape for performing.
In 2010 I got offered a job teaching pole dance to tourists in Las Vegas and it changed my life. Watching women embrace something they thought they couldn’t do still brings me to tears almost weekly.
I have a very different teaching model that I have trained my apprentice instructors in.
Most studios start people in a level one class and the learning is done by repetition and they proceed in very structured stages.
Our method is unique because we have all levels in classes together. I have found this is a far superior way to learn because it inspires new students and makes advanced students insanely technically skilled.
It is also superior because repeating pole movements over & over again for weeks and months at a time will lead to overuse injury, end of story. My classes incorporate classical dance stretching and conditioning then we introduce a pole combination with modifications for beginners, challenge moves for advanced students.
We do each movement just a few times then move on. I combine intense movements with easier transitions.
I have taught thousands of classes at this point and I do it this way because repeating the same difficult move more than a few times will lead to fatigue which leads to improper form, which leads to injury.
So class is expertly layered and we revisit difficult moves with easier transition moves in between. This makes students learn much faster and get advanced and strong much sooner.

I come from 4 generations of Arizona entrepreneurs and people who cared passionately about the state. My great uncle was the first motor officer killed in the line of duty in Phoenix, his father my great grandfathers image is used on the Phoenix police museum motorcycle division shirts. My grandmother was an astute accountant and my great grandmother worked for many judges and one governor and her brothers were all bailiffs. My father took us with him when he did search and rescue in the Buckeye area and he was a park ranger and reserve deputy. My mother was part of the first special ed teachers in public school. My oldest son is in the fire science program at VACTE.
I chose to live in the Verde Valley because I feel it’s going through a pioneer period of it’s own and want to make a positive impact on my community.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First Jerome! Not just for the eclectic history but to let guests get a lay of the land. The San Francisco Peaks, Sedona, The Verde River, the mountains. Then the best BBQ before we head down the hill. Then of course brunch in Old Town Cottonwood, the Cottonwood and both Camp Verde cemeteries with noted local legendary stories. A trip down Main Street in Camp Verde & Moscatos or La Casita.
Then Oak Creek for some splash time and then take my creek tired friends to tlaquepaque to shop and eat.
A day exploring Strawberry, Blue Ridge near Payson, and lunch in the pines.
A day in Flagstaff both downtown and historic route 66.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Christine Dargon! She has provided the most amazing environment at Emerald Waves for me to just jump in and do what I love. My clients who I’ve watched surpass me in some areas of pole skills and other movement students who have made movement a part of their lives and blossomed with that commitment.
My cosmetic clients, all of whom have given priceless feedback, ideas, and support.
My wonderful family including my partner who asked me before we even met in person what my goals and dreams were and what I needed from him to help. And the beautiful children in my life who remind me that as I better the community I better their futures.

Website: www.azfitnessanddance.com

Instagram: AZFITNESSANDFIBROBLAST

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/azfitdanceaerial

Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/LanaStewart

Other: Pole Instagram POLEDANCEDESERTDAISY  https://www.facebook.com/LearnPoleDance Phone 928-851-6763

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.