Local News: Cirque.Tumble.Cheer

Capitola Mall is Flying High with Cirque.Tumble.Cheer

BY JEANETTE PRATHER

Once upon a time in the former Wrigley bubble gum factory on the Westside, four women came together over their love of aerial and movement arts. They assembled a collective of aerialists and dancers who would each contribute to a stipend that they would pay their landlord as he developed what is now the University Business Park. This collective offered classes and training time, then came to be known as the Santa Cruz Aerial Playground.

“They scrimped, scavenged and labored almost endlessly to install rigging points, padded floor coverings, a wooden sprung dance floor, lighting, seating, crash mats,” said former studio founder, Lisa Christensen, who worked with Paige Wyatt, Kara Snider and Sydney Lovell. The studio morphed into a small business with a mission to offer a safe, fun place to explore movement of all kinds. There was space and time for aerial and land classes, rehearsals and parties. They drew aerialists from all over the world, including Spain, Italy, Israel and Russia.

To make their rent, when the building started to fill, they turned it into a professional studio.

“Our story is one of the typical overinvolved parents,” said Angie Lackey, current owner of the studio, now known as Cirque.Tumble.Cheer. in the Capitola Mall. “We found Aerial Arts Santa Cruz by chance; my youngest daughter’s friend suggested that we go check out a space that has ribbons hanging from the ceiling. When my daughter took a class with Jeanette, the studio owner at the time, she fell in love and decided to be an aerialist.”

Aerial Arts Santa Cruz reigned from early 2013 through the end of 2016, and during this time the studio held dozens of weekly classes, a handful of professional theatrical productions, one pole competition, one national aerial competition wrap party, and hosted dozens of “famous” aerial and pole instructors from around the world. It was a thriving community with dedicated artists developing and fostering lifelong friendships. Then suddenly, one warm day near the end of October, an unexpected conversation changed everything.

“When Jeanette was pregnant with her second son, we went out to lunch at Erik’s Deli in Capitola. She was asking me to join the newly assembled board of directors at the studio, but I said that I would love to consider purchasing the studio instead,” said Lackey. “After several Starbucks meetings at the Portola Starbucks, where we knew we wouldn’t be discovered, we worked out a contract and finally made the decision to do the studio transaction on Dec. 17, which also happened to be the day that her son was born. The final checks were signed in a Dominican hospital room, actually. “My husband and I looked at each other and went, ‘uh-oh’ after the contract and checks were signed,” laughed Lackey. “This was supposed to be a hobby business in the beginning. We were both planning on keeping our careers; Nate as a firefighter and me as a bookkeeper for the insurance company I worked for at the time. We were planning on running it in our off-hours when our instructors were teaching. When that didn’t really work well, our oldest daughter stepped in and really helped.”

The studio underwent new branding and moved to Scotts Valley, then being called Santa Cruz Circus Arts. “I quit my full-time job and went part-time,” said Lackey. “The move to Scotts Valley came about early 2018 because we wanted higher ceilings.

“Our Scotts Valley location was a short-term lease and they had someone who wanted to lease long-term. Shortly after that we moved to Post Street, which we thought would be our forever home, Covid hit. We put everything into two containers in our backyard, cried a lot, and took a hiatus, not knowing if we’d be able to re-open or not.”

But, post Covid, the staff got back together and found a space in the Capitola Mall, with plenty of high ceilings, in the space that used to house Outdoor World.

“Cirque.Tumble.Cheer is a place to explore your potential,” said instructor Ruby Straehley. “While there are many opportunities for kids, at 56, I know how inclusive this studio is.”

They moved from just aerial work to tumble and cheer to widen their classes. Cirque.Tumble.Cheer expanded this month and moved two doors down on May 1, adding acrobatic pole, sports massage, dance, and pop-up events.

“Our tagline initially was ‘circus is family,’ which is still true,” said Lackey. “No matter your athletic ability, size, gender, age, race, sexual orientation, identity or whatever, you’ll have a home here with us.”

Do REALTORS Even Matter?

BY SEB FREY

In a real estate market as hot as this, where homes appear to “sell themselves,” it’s a fair question: do REALTORS even matter? I’m going to give you an answer that may surprise you…considering that I myself am a REALTOR, and have been for 19 years. In fact, I was even President of the Santa Cruz County Association of REALTORS in 2019 so I consider myself something of an authority on the subject.

I won’t bury the lede here. I’m going to come right out and say it: no, REALTORS do not matter…if you don’t believe they matter. When it comes to answering this question, what you believe matters, because a lot of people believe that when it comes to selling a home, it’s the real estate market that determines how much you’ll be able to sell it for.

This is a very commonly held belief. There’s a real estate market, and so there’s a market price for your home. The market is going to pay what the market is going to pay, in which case, why would a hiring a REALTOR even matter?

Yet something like 91% of homes in California are sold with the assistance of a REALTOR. The other 9%? This is mostly eaten up by new construction sold directly by home builders, and family members selling their property to other family, friends, or neighbors. Locally, very few homes are sold without a REALTOR to a buyer who had no preexisting connection to a seller.

So why do so may choose to hire a REALTOR? I’m going to posit that the reason for the dominant use of REALTORS is because owners see some value in using one. But given the high dollar cost of the average commission, people have to ask: are REALTORS really worth that much?

Another good question! I’d guess it wouldn’t surprise you to read that some house painters are better than other house painters. Or that some doctors or lawyers are better than others in their respective fields. It’s not too much of a stretch then to suppose that in fact, some REALTORS provide better service, or provide better value, than other REALTORS.

So it’s interesting that most REALTORS charge almost exactly the same fee. And it’s important to note that there is no standard commission, and that commissions are always negotiable. But I’ve researched MLS data, and I’ve verified that there appears to be one particular commission rate that the overwhelming majority of Santa Cruz REALTORS charge.

Now why, if there’s surely a wide difference in REALTORS in their level of skill and service, are the fees so similar? I believe the answer to this is that few people actually try to negotiate the commission. They just accept it as a the “standard” and pay it, because most everyone else pays it too.

So why not talk to a REALTOR about lowering the fee? I’m suggesting here that it’s a good idea you do so. Try to see if your REALTOR will accept a lower fee than whatever you think most REALTORS charge, or what they tell you their fee is. And then, if the REALTOR does in fact accept a lower fee … you probably shouldn’t use that agent.

Say WHAT? That’s right. Here’s the thing: if a REALTOR can’t successfully negotiate their own commission, if they do not believe in the value they bring to the transaction, why would you want that person to represent you in the largest financial transaction of your life? How could you trust that person to negotiate for your money, when they can’t do a good job negotiating their own?

It could be you think that isn’t important, because after all, the market pretty much sets the price. What’s missing here is the understanding is that the market price is really a negotiated market price. And your REALTOR’s ability to negotiate the price (and terms) of the sale of your property to net you the most money possible is one way (of many!) where REALTORS can really prove their worth - or demonstrate their lack thereof.

Even in a super-hot market like this one - where houses “sell themselves” and home owners often receive several offers in a short time, a REALTOR’s ability to negotiate the best price for you can literally mean tens of thousands of dollars - or more! - extra on the sale of your home.

If a REALTOR has a demonstrated inability to be a strong negotiator, as evidenced by their weakness in standing firmly on their commission and exhibiting confidence in the value of the service they provide, it’s a good bet that they will be be unable to extract the very highest price possible from the plethora of buyers you will no doubt find for your home.

Turns out, REALTORS do matter, if you understand how and why.

Valerie Mishkin Realtor®

831.238.0504 | 831.426.4100 Cal Dre# 02092111 VMishkin@BaileyProperties.com ValerieMishkin.MyHomeHQ.biz

 Seb Frey was the 2019 President of the Santa Cruz County Association of REALTORS. He’s been selling homes locally since 2003 and is the author of Get It Sold! (available at TheSoldBook. com) and stars on his own YouTube channel at YouTube.com/SebFreyTV