The Curve Ball

Shannon Smith worked in the music industry for 13 years before quitting to teach pole dancing at Sheila Kelley's S Factor.

You wouldn’t peg 35-year-old Shannon Smith for a pole-dancing instructor. In fact, the nutritionist and yoga teacher worked in the music industry for 13 years before quitting to teach at Sheila Kelley’s S Factor (sfactor.com) in 2005. Smith’s classes at the no-men-allowed Cow Hollow studio fill up quickly, owing perhaps to her combination of body-mind awareness, hard-rock energy and reclaim-your-body feminism. “This kind of dancing removes the taboo attached to feeling sensual and feminine, in addition to just being a lot of fun.” Other ways Smith has fun … 

“The Love of Ganesha is an amazing store on Haight filled with incense and treasures from Southeast Asia. I go there when I’m about to lose my mind, and I sit in its meditation room.” (1310 Haight St., 415-863-0999)

“I wanted to learn how to craft and tool leather, so I searched high and low. Finally I got a tip about the free leather-crafting classes at the Leather Factory in Union City.” (2825 Whipple Rd., Union City, 510-441-7480)

“No one does better bodywork than Erika Campbell. She literally reworks my entire body; it feels like I’ve been torn down and put back together again.”

“I buy dried herbs in bulk from The Scarlet Sage Herb Co. In the evening, I decide what herbal-tea infusion I’m going to make for the next day and let it steep overnight.” (1173 Valencia St., 415-821-0997)

“I’m in an herbal-studies program, and I stay on top of what’s in season at the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park. They have free daily tours; a docent walks you around and identifies all the blooming plants.”

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