The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: My Adventures in Business Part 2

For many years, I made the annual trip to attend the Martial Arts Business Summit. This photo was during my first visit in 2015, when I met MMA legend Frank Shamrock after a brilliant key note speech.

The event brought together the best minds in the martial arts & Fitness industry to share their expertise, provide valuable insights, and offer advice on how to succeed in this competitive field.

Attending these events has been a critical part of my professional development, and has helped me shape my vision for the future of Cheltenham Martial Arts & Fitness Kickboxing & Fitness Kickboxing Cheltenham

I remember the first time I attended the Martial Arts Business Summit. I was blown away by the level of knowledge and expertise that was on display. I learned so much from the presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities that were available and made new great friends whilst catching up on the friends I had made at the ILKB summit in 2012. The summit provided me with a wealth of information on topics such as marketing, business strategy, and leadership, and I left feeling energised and inspired to take Cheltenham Martial Arts to the next level.

But attending the Martial Arts Business Summit wasn't always easy. There were sacrifices that had to be made in order to go. I had to take time away from my business, and from my family, to travel to the event. I had to invest money in transportation, lodging, and registration fees. And I had to make sure that my business was able to run smoothly while I was away.

On return I had to then set a strategy in place in order to implement everything I had learned. It’s important to play the long game. It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement and try to do it all in one go….. Which I of course have tried to do in the past and ended up burned out.

Despite these challenges, I knew that attending the summit was the right thing to do. I knew that the knowledge and connections I would gain from attending would be invaluable to my vision and where we would be going in the future. And I was right. Over the years, I have applied the lessons I learned at the summit to Cheltenham Martial Arts, and have seen tremendous growth and success as a result.

But attending the summit was just the beginning of my professional development journey. I later joined a martial arts and fitness mastermind program, which provided even more opportunities for learning and growth. This program was designed to bring together like-minded individuals who were committed to taking their businesses to the next level. We shared ideas, provided feedback, and held each other accountable for our goals.

The mastermind program was an incredibly valuable experience, and it helped me to further shape my vision for the future of Cheltenham Martial Arts. . I was able to identify areas of improvement, set ambitious goals, and develop a roadmap for achieving them. And, perhaps most importantly, I was able to connect with a community of supportive and knowledgeable individuals who were invested in my success.

I am still part of a Mastermind group today, which is guiding me through to the next exciting leg in our journey and has been crucial coming out of the pandemic, straight into a recession.

In conclusion, attending the Martial Arts Business Summit and joining a mastermind program were critical steps in my professional development. While there were sacrifices that had to be made in order to attend these events, the knowledge and connections I gained made it all worth it. And, as a result, Cheltenham Martial Arts has grown and thrived. I highly recommend that anyone in the martial arts industry take advantage of these opportunities for learning and growth.

Never forget the work that you put in, the time you invested, the many many sacrifices you had to make, who helped you along the way. No one can take that away from you.

Taking an idea is the easy part, expanding it, feeding it with work, inspiration and growing it is the hard part.

Dedicated to two great instructors Stephen Thompson & Everton Smith who saw something in me that I didn’t, gave me the most amazing opportunity to teach, invested their time, money and energy into me and my growth.

Still a relevant source of support and inspiration that is highly appreciated and valued.

What one event did you attend that changed the way you think and had a powerful impact on your growth and development?