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Meet Samantha Ketcherside of Triple S Workouts and Dance in Studio City and Woodland Hills

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Ketcherside.

Samantha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After earning my Bachelors of Science in Dance at The University of Oregon I relocated to LA, to chase my dance career. I always had intentions of opening a performing arts school later in life. Aside from dancing for Film and Music Videos, I have also performed live all over LA. As a performing artist in LA, you end up taking on many side jobs to make sure the bills are paid between gigs. Aside from Teaching dance, one of those side jobs happened to be assisting a personal trainer.

Health, nutrition and fitness have always been an interest to me. The reason I have a BS instead of BA, is that I spent my first three years of college as a pre-med student, I then realized I didn’t want to continue on that path and went back to Dance. Thankfully my university offered a science based degree program as well. Fast forward to my LA life. I found that I enjoyed assisting this personal trainer very much and had a knack for motivating folks to work harder on their health and fitness goals. I also found that as I aged as a dancer, I was training my body in only one way. It was in need of some cross-training to stay healthy and strong against the many injuries a dancer faces in their lifetime, some of my injuries a bit more than what most dancers endure.

Thus was born Triple S Workouts and Dance. I created a workout program for myself that is safe and healthy for the joints and allows for support muscles to be worked properly, which is really good for everyone, but also great for athletes and dancers to support their physical careers. As I began to teach my workout to the public, I found there were also many adult beginner dancers looking for a studio aimed at their needs. This is not what is available at most of the Pro-Dance studios in LA. So, I expanded Triple S workouts to include beginner dance classes for Adults. I love being able to offer folks the opportunity to get their health on track and do something enjoyable to get there.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has not been smooth, from the start it in fact had some giant potholes. As a free-spirited Artist, my original plan to get myself to LA was to quit my seven years working at Pentagon Federal Credit Union, cash out my tiny 401k and go with the wind. I purchased a small motor home for myself and my dog Odie, with intentions of either camp hosting at Malibu Creek State Park or simply camping until I found a temporary job and could rent a place. I only knew one person in the whole of LA. A friend I made in line at So You Think You Can Dance Auditions about five years previous. My friends in Oregon thought I was crazy but supported me.

After the first motor home purchase turned out to be unsafe to take all the way to LA, I sold it and purchased another one. The new motor home seemed perfect, friend’s of a friend had sold it to me. They had used it at burning man with no issues a year before. So I packed my new home, rented a trailer to tow my car and planned to leave the next morning. The next morning turned into another 30 days. I awoke after a massive rainstorm, opened the door to my trailer, and thought I must be in Hollywood as, like a scene from the movies, water flooded out the door at my feet. The entire trailer had been soaked through and was clearly leaking in many places. My Father and I spent the next 30 days, sealing leaks, removing rotted carpet, refinishing the interior and re-wiring damaged electrical.

Finally, I was ready to go, again. With barely $1000.00 left in my account and no time to waste, I said my goodbyes and got on the road. I was so happy to be plugging along in my renovated ice cream truck – RV that my mood didn’t even shift when I seemed to run out of gas earlier than expected. Nor did I question this, as I should have. I figured all was well, and I was simply burning more fuel, because the gas tank was a bit small and I was towing a car. I made it all of three hours down the road before my RV decided to completely die. At this point, I was certain this had to be a battery issue. I called Good sam, RV for AAA, and they came and towed me to the nearest pet-friendly hotel, a casino, middle of nowhere on the Oregon coast.

In the casino RV parking lot, I discover that the battery is not dead, it’s actually the Alternator, an $800 repair. So, I am now stranded at the pet-friendly Casino 3 hours down the road middle of nowhere, another rain storm is rolling in. My last $800.00 has to go to repairs on this rolling home of mine, or I have to think of a plan C and quick. It’s too late and too dark to do anything about it at this point, so I resign myself to staying out the night where I’m at. Somehow, midweek, in the middle of nowhere Oregon, in April, the pet-friendly hotel has all its pet-friendly rooms rented?! Looks like I am now staying out the stormy night, in my rolling, powerless home. I cried a lot that night. My best dog Odie was the perfect companion for all this troublesome timing. The next morning my father came to my rescue, towed my RV and my car behind it, back to our home with his truck.

This took about seven hours, was very difficult and exhausting. I didn’t have anything left and I thought I would never make it to LA. My parents felt so badly, they bought the RV from me, lent me their travel trailer and drove me down to LA. I can’t thank them enough or what they did. So now I have about $2000.00 to my name, no job, temporary housing and a car payment due soon. I find a job brokering frozen fruit for a warehouse company, never thought I would do that, but it pays. I find a place to live, an artist house with 30 other roommates, 4 to a room, crazy situation but affordable and kind of fun. I decide to stop driving the car until I can afford to properly register it in CA. I start riding my bike to work and looking on the bright side, enjoy beating traffic every day.

Until one day, the traffic beat me. The one friend I had in LA had invited me to dance with her in a small live performance. It was happening later that week. I had rehearsed so much, I was exhausted but excited, hopeful that I might get more jobs in my chosen field if I did well with this one. I went to make a left turn, I am a total rule follower, so I chose to move away from the bike lane and into the left-hand turn lane. I could’ve gone the pedestrian route. I waited saw there was room to cross and pedaled out. Screech, smash! Next thing I know, I’m flying in the air, doing wax on wax off, with my hands and still pedaling, as my bike departed from me. The ground came quickly up from underneath with a hard smack on rear and my helmet.

All that was next was PAIN. That whole week was PAIN. After a bit of screaming, I calmed and shock set in. I wobbled over to the sidewalk with a police officer at my side, then waived my ambulance ride in order to continue home for my car and go to work. Why I thought I should go to work is beyond me? When I arrive there, still in shock and still wearing the clothes I had been hit in, the small office was quite shocked and concerned. Thankfully, halfway through the day, my senses came to me as the shock wore off. I realized I needed to go see a doctor, go home and rest. Later on that week, I was pretty badly injured but I painfully performed and decided to rest from dance until I was more healed. This meant I needed PT that I could not afford at the time.

The Warehouse I was working for was going bankrupt. I wasn’t in a stable living situation, yet, I had to get out of the large household I was in. So I decided to search for other jobs. I finally got two teaching jobs and a job assisting a personal trainer. I utilized my knowledge and his, to create my own PT plan. This saved my body and my performing career. Eventually, I developed that PT program for myself into the Triple S workout that I have been instructing for eight years now. If it weren’t for that large bump in the road this class would never have existed. There have been many other small bumps in the road.

Most of those bumps were not too terrible, especially by comparison to the first ones. Once, I began teaching Triple S, I knew this was something I was meant to do and I was prepared to fight for it. The space I started Triple S classes at, for free, because I danced for the performing group closed. I took my small class group and hopped from rental locations and schools for years. Sometimes, paying more than what was coming in just to keep the class going. It was a hard battle, but it was worth every second. I now have many more clients, some of which claim I have saved their bodies. Others who are just so happy to have a welcoming place to learn dance or work on getting healthy and fit.

Triple S Workouts and Dance – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Triple S Workouts and Dance offers adult dance and fitness classes, with a special emphasis on beginners. The fitness class program uses a whole-body approach for those who wish to utilize it to the fullest, some just enjoy once or two classes a week. With the full program we get you fit through not only workout classes, but also body care classes and nutrition assistance. What I love about my business is that I get to help people reach goals they’ve struggled with, sometimes for years. Most come to me looking to do something active and aren’t getting what they want out of a gym. Others come to me with a lifelong dream of dancing. Helping people reach there goals and dreams is more rewarding than anyone can truly explain.

One of my clients survived breast cancer after which, at age 72, decided to take her first ballet classes ever, something she dreamed of doing but never felt she could. Ballet has given her a healthier body, she has better balance and her memory is sharper, she claims my classes have stopped her daily foot pains and regained motor function in muscles that were fried by radiation treatments. This is just one of many stories that I get to be a part of, and that’s special. I’m beyond proud to be getting clients healthy and happy in their daily lives.

I keep classes limited in size, which allows me to offer more one-on-one attention to my clients, and really get to know them as fellow humans. That attention and time is what sets me apart from other class locations. I love getting to know my clients and share their ups and downs. It’s an important aspect of health and fitness, and in general, for a well-lived life.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of my adult beginners has studied with me for years. I recently opened my own performing group, she is now a part of that group. She just performed her first paid show and did a fantastic job. It’s wonderful to have brought her into the performing world. She is now a paid dancer because of my classes. I smile thinking about this, I had the opportunity to give her that and watch her blossom from beginner to pro in such a short time.

Pricing:

  • Drop-in $18/class/person
  • 8 class package $130 Valid for one month
  • Unlimited classes $125/month on 1 year contract, or $175/month on 6 month contract, or $200/month  on month to month basis.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Red Belly Dance photo George Simian
Black and white photo Bryan Forrest

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