From multiple martial arts schools to semi-retired: How Robbie built systems that run his IMC martial arts business empire without him.
- Why Robbie deliberately stopped being “the face” of his schools
- The 5-year instructor-to-owner career path system revealed
- How 80 students earning $2,000/month exposed the #1 business killer
- The conversation that unlocks team freedom: “Do you want this job?”
- Inside Robbie's Level Up Summit with Australia's top martial arts minds
- “Those who want something find a way, those who don't find an excuse”
- And more
*Bring 50 Enrollments Into Your Martial Arts School Every 90 Days Need help growing your martial arts school? Watch Training + Take The Assessment
TRANSCRIPTION
GEORGE: Hey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. I'm with a repeat guest today, Robbie Castellano. How are you, Robbie?
ROBBIE: How are you, George? Thank you for having me again. It's always a pleasure.
GEORGE: Cool, cool. I mean, I think if we keep this up, like I'll see you in the next seven years for the next round. Yeah, I was just going through the podcast. I was like, when did I talk to Robbie? I know I spoke to Robbie way back and I remember it being a great podcast because it was very direct, very practical. You just fired a lot of tips and we got a lot of good feedback from it afterwards. I was like, wow, April 29, 2019. Wow, that's a long time ago.
ROBBIE: Hope so, hope so.
GEORGE: Yeah, it's a funny story and we'll get into the martial arts stuff, but I just moved three years ago to the Sunshine Coast and was looking for schools and trying to enrol my daughter. And I'm at the school and I'm like, just the one dude standing there that I connect with and start talking to.
ROBBIE: It's a long time ago, a lot has happened since then.
GEORGE: And yeah, we start talking and talking and it comes up what I do. He said, yeah, my brother runs a bunch of martial arts schools in Sydney. And he said Robert, Robert Castellano. And I didn't click. I was like, oh, Robert. Robbie. Yeah.
ROBBIE: Robbie, yeah, in the martial arts world, always Robbie. Family's Robert, you know, very formal. But martial arts, always Robbie.
GEORGE: Yeah. But yeah, small world. Funny too. And we've caught up for a coffee a couple of times and I see he's doing a couple of cool things in real estate and yeah.
ROBBIE: Yeah, small world. Yeah, he's going well. He's going well.
GEORGE: So back to you, right? I mean, last time we spoke, business was already on fire for you, four locations, I believe, at the time. And I mean, you've been running the martial arts business for a long time. But let's, I guess, just zoom back. I know a lot of people obviously didn't listen to the first episode, and I'll link to that in this episode. You can actually just go to martialartsmedia.com/76, the number of the episode. But yeah, just for those who haven't met you, just give us a brief, who you are, background, all the good stuff.
ROBBIE: Yeah, so I'm part of the IMC organisation. We have seven schools across New South Wales. At the time I think we spoke, I was looking to open up my second school, which I did. And I ended up opening another one after that. So three schools all up. And I ended up selling one of them as well to my manager who was running it at the time. So she took over that with her husband. They're going really well. And since then I've opened up another school and that's firing at the moment. My main school, which is in Prestons, Liverpool, it's at about the 500 mark now. And since last time we spoke, seven years ago, I was a bit more hands-on in the business. Now I'm actually taking a step back. I mean, I'm only there two, three days a week and I've sort of taken a step back and let my managers run it. And I'm sort of just semi-retired, living life, spending time with my kids, travelling the world. So that's where I'm at now, George.
GEORGE: You travel a lot. I always see you on a lake or in a different country that's definitely not Australia.
ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, I love travelling. And like my wife's from overseas so we just try to do as much as we can. There's only one life, so you've got to do what you love.
What Sets a Multi-School Martial Arts Owner Apart
GEORGE: 100%. So what sets you apart then? Right, because I speak to martial arts school owners every day and there's, I mean, I guess, like in everything, there's the 1% that operate at a different level. But if I think of the average martial arts school owner, day to day, still living a great life, doing everything they want, I mean, there's no remorse there or anything, thriving with 250 students, living a great life. What do you do different? What sets you apart in a different way, in different thinking? When you look at it, you've got multiple schools. And 300 is a small benchmark for you guys. Multiple schools thriving at numbers that a lot of school owners can't fathom. What's the key difference there?
ROBBIE: Well, I think it all comes down to what exactly is it that you want. You know, I've got a lot of martial artists and other people as well ask me, oh, Robbie, how do I do this? I said, well, first of all, figure out what exactly it is that you want. If you're happy working four days a week and want to take three days off, then do it. If you're happy earning $1,000 a week and you want more free time, then do it. If you want to earn a million dollars a year and don't have any free time, then that's okay too. But first of all, figure out what you want. And that's what I did. My goal was to have a beautiful family and have a business that runs, and for me to be able to travel around the world and do all the crazy things that I do. And that was my goal, to build a team with a good, sufficient income for my lifestyle. And then I just applied it. And that's where I'm at. I've got everything that I want right now. I'm so happy in life.
Setting Big Goals and the Mindset Required to Grow a Martial Arts Business
GEORGE: That's amazing. So we started, obviously, with the big goal, like the big scary, what does Jim Collins call it? The Big Hairy Audacious Goal. BHAG is what he calls it. Big Hairy Audacious Goal. So big goal, bring it down to operations. I guess before we get down to operations, what allows you to dream big? Because it's all good to say, set the big goal and go for the big outcome of what you need. But I feel a lot of people just get stuck there. Like, the belief that the business can't grow to that. Where do you change around that in the mindset?
ROBBIE: You know, it's funny, George, because I mean, we're going to speak about this, I've got an upcoming event and I've advertised this to so many different martial arts business owners that I know personally, some are friends. And I pretty much put it on a platter for these guys to reach their goals, to succeed in their business. And more than half aren't even coming to the event. And they will give you every excuse underneath the sun why. But then they wonder why their business isn't growing. So to go back to the mindset, number one is, you've got to commit. Once you've got your goal, you've got to go for it. I love the quote, those who want something will always find a way, those who don't want anything will always find an excuse. That's my favourite quote and I live by that. You've got to find a way.
Why Martial Arts School Owners Struggle with Pricing
GEORGE: So in martial arts, and I'm asking from your insight, because I deal with martial arts school owners every day, we talk about marketing, we talk about business. And the big obstacles that we always get to… I was going through a bunch of our recordings and coaching calls, and the number one thing that came up was pricing, interestingly enough. And a few years back, the focus was always marketing and helping martial arts school owners with marketing. Until one day we did really well at marketing, and I realised that I had a client that had 80 students and was still earning two grand a month. And I was like, whoa, hang on, what's going on here? And we unpacked that, it was like $7 a class. The cards were balancing at $7 a class and the whole positioning was wrong. And that day I decided, alright, before we run any ads, we're going to fix the pricing. And it's very interesting, we've developed a great system where we can upgrade pricing. It's a two-minute fix, but almost sometimes a two-hour conversation, because we've got to instil the beliefs and everything that goes with that. So you've spoken to a lot of school owners, you're running an epic event, you're handing it over on a platter. What do you think is the big thing that just holds people back, especially in the martial arts space, where they want the growth, but then they fight it like it's almost not possible?
ROBBIE: Yeah, I'm not sure. I was actually talking to my wife the other day about this. I mean, I was pretty lucky because my instructor, Paul Zadro, he had me do all that stuff before, while I was still young. And so I had a good mentor and any questions or any doubts that I had, he was always there to push me a little bit more. So I'm pretty lucky in that sense. But there's no reason why everyone else can't find a mentor of the same sort of calibre. I mean, there's plenty of great martial arts minds in this country and you just got to commit. I mean, even for yourself, you're doing a great, great service for the martial arts industry. There's a lot of guys that come to you as a mentor to help them and I know some of these guys and they're killing it. So I think they just got to commit and find a mentor to drive them a bit more, to push them to where they want to be. What do you think?
GEORGE: Yeah, I think about this a lot, to be honest. And yeah, well, my opinion…
ROBBIE: Yeah? I want to know your opinion, George.
GEORGE: I think a lot of it comes from, like you were saying, you've got a great mentor in Paul Zadro. If you can plug Paul Zadro to get on the podcast, I would love to have him, by the way. I think I've prodded him a few times. But okay, so this is the public prod. Yeah, so I think you hit the nail on the head there, you had a mentor that had already achieved that, and so already had that vision, saw the obstacles, had walked the path and had those answers. Where maybe people end up on a different path, they had a master or their mentor being their martial arts master that always struggled, ran the school for their particular beliefs and reasons. Money was never the goal, the business was never the goal. And with that came a model of beliefs that got passed on. And now somebody comes up through the system and they almost feel like they are going against the whole ethos of the system they went through. So it's almost like the belief of McDojo and not being successful, it gets passed down the line. And the minute you're more successful than your master, it's a little frowned upon, right?
ROBBIE: Yeah, I think you'd love it. I think he's waiting for your call, actually.
ROBBIE: But as the master, wouldn't you want your student to be more successful than you? I would.
GEORGE: Do you think I'm wrong in that assessment? Do you think I got that assessment wrong?
ROBBIE: No, no, no. I'm just saying, as a mindset, as an instructor, I always want my students to do better than me. You know, that means I've done my job correctly. I think it just comes down to the way of thinking.
How to Operationally Remove Yourself from Your Martial Arts School
GEORGE: So let's talk about that from your standpoint. Operationally, right, how do you go about that differently? Because if your thinking is on a different scale and you think, well, the end in mind is I'm going to work two to three days a week, I'm going to travel, so the martial arts business is not going to be centred around Robbie, it's going to be centred around the brand, the organisation. How do you think operationally different to make that dream a reality?
ROBBIE: Yeah, so I made the decision a couple of years ago, which way did I want to go here? Did I still want to be the face of my school where I walked down the street in Liverpool and everyone knew who I was, you know, the big face? But I made a decision that I want to step back a bit. I didn't want to be the centre guy anymore. So I built a team to be the face of the school rather than just the one person. And before I made my manager full time, I sat him down and I said, look, this is the job. This is the way I want to live my life. I'm only going to be here a couple of days a week. You're going to have a bit more pull in the business. And in the end I said, do you want that job? Because I don't want to hear complaints later on that I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that. This is the job role. This is the way I want to live. This is it. And he said, yeah, for sure. And he's doing a fantastic job. And we're actually looking at another location for him to open up, because there's got to be a goal in sight for them too, right? They're not just going to work their butt off forever for you. You've got to give them something back. So we're in the process now of looking at another location.
GEORGE: Very cool. So that comes back down to your clarity, right? The clarity of where you're going is also the boundaries and the conditions of how this is going to work. So there's no animosity later of, Robbie's at the beach again and I'm on the mats. That was clear from day one, right? So what does that career path then look like for an instructor? They know they're working for the organisation, but you're opening another location, is that an ownership pathway? Or is it more like a revenue goal that goes with it for them?
Creating a Career Pathway for Martial Arts Instructors
ROBBIE: Yeah, so I think I mentioned it last time I spoke on the podcast and since then, we've actually gone through the whole process. So basically, a manager will work for me for a number of years. Once they're ready and they feel confident to open up their own location, I'll open the location for them. They'll work in that new location, roughly about five years, and then after those years, they can buy the business off me. So they've got the startup money from myself, I've taken the risk. So I win a little bit, I get a little bit of money and we expand our franchise. And then they also get a career, a life, a job, or whatever path they want to take as well. And so it's a win-win situation.
GEORGE: Okay, and so you mentioned you just sold one, sold that through that process?
ROBBIE: Yeah, so we had our location with Maggie. She was my manager for many years. So we opened up a location with her and then her and her husband ended up buying that location off us a few years ago. And they're running it well. They've got a life, they've got a family now. So it's a career path for her as well. And she's still part of the organisation. We still meet every Monday. Any help she needs, an instructor every now and then, we'll send one there. So it's always keeping it in the IMC family.
GEORGE: Very cool, shout out to Maggie. We are helping revive her Facebook ads at the moment.
ROBBIE: Yeah, I forgot about that.
GEORGE: Living the dream. Awesome. All right, cool. So that's the structure. So what's then on the radar for you? Are you looking at just opening location to location? What are the criteria you work from to keep growing and scaling the organisation?
ROBBIE: She is, she is. She's trying, she's trying. Yeah, well, like I said, I'm sort of semi-retired now. I've made enough money to live comfortably. So I'll only open a location if I've got another team ready. I mean, there are other avenues besides martial arts where you can start putting your money. So once you start making money, if you want to make more money, you've got to go to different avenues, for example, real estate or other ways. And I've actually got some really great speakers coming up to our live event next month that will speak more about that, who have done that. So it's going to be really good.
Why Surrounding Yourself with the Right Mindset is the Fastest Way to Grow
GEORGE: If you've got a little bit of money, 100%. So let's talk about that, right? Because we spoke a bit about mindset and, the quickest fix I know of to fix your mindset is just be in a room where the mindset is at a higher level. And so you put together an event. I want to talk a bit about that because you've been to one of our events, the Partners Intensive that we run on the Sunshine Coast. And I know you travel a bit, I know you go to a lot of events. And so even though, yep, you work two to three days in the business, you are putting yourself in a room with other martial artists, with other people from other areas of expertise, and you are learning and growing and elevating your mindset. So you're putting together a room where a different level of mindset will be prominent. And so I think for anybody that's had this weird feeling in the gut where they're scared of setting the big goals, this would be the perfect place to, if you really want to challenge yourself, just show up and take that one step to actually see who is living the life that you want to live and make that possible. So before we get into all that, what prompted you to run your own event?
ROBBIE: Yeah, so I mean, like you said, I travel around and I go to a lot of events. I still keep learning. Even though I'm kicking back, doesn't mean I stop learning, you still got to keep up with the times. And I went to your event and I absolutely loved your event, by the way. It was one of my favourite ones I went to. You had a lot of good speakers, a lot of good people there. The way it was structured, it was on the beach, Sunshine Coast, which was awesome. And then I went to a few other events. I went to the US to a great event and I just started thinking, because there's so many events around the world, but in Australia we didn't really have that many. I mean, one, maybe two a year. And it sort of just started getting a bit repetitive, the same speakers. So I wanted to create an event that didn't offend anyone, non-political, and just get some of the best martial arts business minds in Australia, because we've got so many, and they don't really speak at too many things. And I wanted to get them together, create an event for everybody, whether it's just a normal instructor at a normal school or someone that's very successful in their business and wants to go to the next level. So yeah, we've got that event coming up next month in Sydney, in Cronulla on the beach, just like yours.
Inside the Level Up Business Summit: AI, Automation and Martial Arts Business Growth
GEORGE: On the beach, it looks like a pretty spectacular location. I've never been to that part of Sydney, so I'm really excited. I'll also be talking about AI and a couple of things that we've been doing. I went on this little quest a couple of months ago and we looked through all our coaching recordings that we've done over the last 10 years and we put it through an AI system to filter the top questions and everything that's come through. And so it's been interesting to loop back and get a lot of insights from that. But that's not what I'll be talking about. We're really talking about what happens after you get the leads. That'll be a big topic, automation with AI. I know some people feel a bit weird about it. It can be framed in the wrong way if you think AI and machines are going to take over your conversations. But I think it's a really great way to add the extra touch points and help build relationships with people without you being present, which makes the human touch way more powerful on the back end and really lifts your conversions.
ROBBIE: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to hearing you speak, George. Even a couple of people, when I advertised that you'd be speaking at our event, they were really happy, they were really interested to hear what you had to say. And you've had heaps of success with the other people, so I'm really looking forward to it as well.
GEORGE: That's cool. So what can we expect on the weekend, Robbie?
ROBBIE: So yeah, like I said, it's in a great location in Cronulla. It's going to be on the 20th and 21st of March. We've got some speakers coming from all over the country. It's going to be at Club Cronulla. It's going to be capped at about 50 tickets. There's about 10 tickets left. So if anyone does want it, they better be quick. It's going to be a great small event with some of the best martial arts business speakers in the country. So I'm really looking forward to this.
GEORGE: Very cool. Yeah, really looking forward to it. And thanks for putting it on. Thanks for the invite. I looked at the names and saw the list of people you had as speakers and I was truly honoured to be amongst really good business minds and great martial artists. And I'm really looking forward to listening to a lot of the speakers there.
ROBBIE: Yeah, it's a big line-up. It's a big line-up.
GEORGE: Like you said, it's not people that you see on a stage every day. It's not people whose business is to speak, their business is martial arts. And they're really good at the martial arts and they don't really speak about it. So getting that level of insight, it's the room to be in.
ROBBIE: Yeah, I mean, I even got Peter Graham, you know, he's like one of the only Australians to win five world titles in boxing, karate, MMA and kickboxing, and he's going to be speaking as well. He's going to be there taking photos with everybody. So I'm very grateful that, including yourself, all these speakers have volunteered to come and speak at this event. So I'm very honoured.
GEORGE: So if anybody wants to attend, where can they go?
ROBBIE: Yeah, so they can follow us on the Instagram or Facebook page, Level Up Business Summit. I'll post it on there for you to see. And yeah, you can buy tickets online or send me a message direct, or message George and he can forward them to me. So I'm on Instagram and Facebook, Robbie Castellano. So yeah, get in. There's only 10 tickets left though. It's nearly done. It's pretty much done.
**Register for The Levelup Business Summit here: https://spblive.net/levelupsummit
GEORGE: 10 tickets. I will leave a link on the show notes for this episode. So if you go to martialartsmedia.com/169, the number's 169, there'll be details there for you. I'll leave the link and you can just go from there and grab a ticket. Really looking forward to it. I've also decided to put a couple of events back on the Sunshine Coast. So Robbie, you are keen to travel, when's it happening?
ROBBIE: Excellent! When? When's it happening?
GEORGE: I'm confirming three dates actually. I'm going to typically run one event per year. So we did Sydney last year. The previous couple of years was the Sunshine Coast. I've got dates for, I'm going to have to confirm them in a new video, but I've got dates for May, August and November. November I think it's the 13th and 14th. So going to do it a bit different, I'm doing three in the sense of I'm going to go more boardroom style, get 10 to 12 people to really work on a great topic, a couple of things to work on, and get a closer room to get people to work on your business in a small environment.
ROBBIE: Awesome. Yeah. I loved your event last time, George. So I'll be definitely going to yours again.
GEORGE: Awesome. Cool, Robbie. Well, thanks so much for jumping on.
ROBBIE: Thank you very much for having me, George. Always a pleasure.
GEORGE: I will see you next month.
ROBBIE: Thank you very much, sir. Cheers.
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