Can you make a living teaching jiu-jitsu? The question comes up constantly in online BJJ groups. Stephan Miller has an unusual answer, because he doesn't own a school. He's a black belt who manages the Columbia, Maryland headquarters of Mike Stewart's Rising Tide, a location with more than 620 students. By his own account, he has earned over six figures for each of the last seven years.
Miller started training in 2010 and took over a small club as a blue belt, where he was paid almost nothing. In 2015 he joined Stewart's school, then called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Maryland. At the time it had one location and roughly 150 students. Today Rising Tide has six locations. Miller calls himself an "intrapreneur": someone who builds income streams inside an existing business instead of starting his own. His story shows owners how to keep a great coach.
Why Teaching Classes Alone Doesn't Pay
A coach who shows up, teaches and goes home won't make a career of it, Miller says. Host Brian "Barn Cat" Debes goes further: unless an instructor's name draws students by itself, a teach-only role is close to volunteering. Both reject the idea that only elite competitors earn well. Miller has no notable competition record, yet as a purple belt he taught more privates than most black belts.
He credits that to understanding the customer. He sorts adult motivations into fitness, hobby (community and purpose) and self-defense. For most people self-defense is temporary, usually a reaction to a scare. Fitness and community are what keep members coming back. Miller learned this when a student he'd pushed to drill harder explained that training was simply his time to laugh, sweat and hang out with friends.
He now teaches every instructor: "The number one thing people care about is how you make them feel." A high-energy class with plenty of rolling, he argues, keeps more students than a technically perfect one where nobody sweats.
Building Income Streams Inside the Gym
Miller grew his income by adding offerings that also help retention. He has shared his numbers in detail:
- ✓Private lessons: $150 for a single adult hour, or $1,000 for a block of ten. Kids' privates are 30 minutes: $70 each, or $500 for ten. Friends can split one session's fee. No one at his location charges under $75 an hour, blue belts included.
- ✓Quarterly camps: Four sessions built around one theme, such as side control escapes or a Kimura system. They cost $50 per session ($200 total), with a discount for booking two camps. Camps are capped at 15–16 students and usually sell out.
- ✓Parents' night out: A monthly Saturday-night event with a rented bounce house (about $125), pizza, Nerf battles and a movie, priced at $50 per child. Miller worked out that a 20-kid night brings in about $1,000, with roughly $775 left after costs. A $10 bring-a-friend discount also produces new leads.
In 2019, he says, privates, camps and parents' nights alone brought in $47,000, not counting salary or sales commissions.
His privates pitch is specific. When a parent mentions a struggle, such as a child stuck in mount, he suggests a block of ten and offers a time slot on the spot instead of a vague "let me know." He books privates next to group classes so other members see them.
What Owners Should Learn From the Pay Structure
Miller left his first school partly because it took about 30% of his private lesson income. At Rising Tide, Stewart takes no cut of his privates, camps or parents' nights. The reasoning is retention. A member who pays for extras is more invested and more likely to renew.
Debes notes that a revenue split isn't automatically wrong. Some programs take a share but raise prices so coaches still earn more. The real issue is incentives. Rising Tide started Miller at $20 per sign-up, with a bonus once he reached 100. Today staff earn $100 per sign-up, plus renewal pay. Debes adds that if an owner wants larger down payments, a flat fee per sign-up won't encourage them. A percentage, or a flat fee plus a percentage, will.
For owners, the lesson is that a promising instructor who can't make ends meet will leave. Letting them build side income costs little.
Retention Starts on Day One
Rising Tide has new students roll on their first day, but carefully. Miller picks the partner, and experienced members match the newcomer's pace. He describes a very nervous new student who signed up after he paired her with a calm, experienced woman and then sat down to talk with her. A careless partner could have lost her for good.
Other practices he recommends:
- ✓Tell first-timers the only expectation is to smile and have fun, and give them one concept to remember instead of a full technique.
- ✓Check in with new members at 30, 60 and 90 days. Most students who quit do so in the first three months.
- ✓Help new students make a friend. In Miller's experience, people who leave class without connecting with anyone rarely stay.
- ✓Set frequency targets. New students are encouraged to train two to three times a week, and once-a-week members are a warning sign.
Becoming the Person the Owner Can't Replace
Miller's main advice for coaches who want to earn more is to make it unnecessary for the owner to be there. When Stewart opened his second location, Miller set a goal of running Columbia so well that the owners never had to visit. Debes calls this the best bargaining position an employee can have: an owner who never has to worry about a location will gladly negotiate pay.
Getting there takes years and real skill: handling upset parents, injuries and sales, and training new staff. Miller now develops his own sales team and holds regular sit-downs with instructors to learn what each one actually wants. One excellent kids' coach turned down extra paid classes because three hours a week was his limit. For anyone without an opening yet, both men suggest volunteering at a well-run gym and proving your value over time.
Key Takeaways
- ✓A coach who only teaches classes won't earn a living. Sales, privates, camps and events are where the income is.
- ✓Price privates and camps to reflect real value, and offer blocks to encourage commitment up front.
- ✓Owners who let key staff keep side income often get a payoff in retention and loyalty.
- ✓Pay structures shape behavior. Decide what you want (sign-ups, renewals, paid-in-full) and pay for that.
- ✓New-student experience, careful partner pairing and 30/60/90-day check-ins protect the riskiest months of a membership.
- ✓The most valuable employee is the one who frees the owner from day-to-day operations.
Listen to the Full Episode
The full conversation goes deeper on sales scripts and finding an owner willing to make a deal. Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube. If you're working on retention and building a team that can grow your school, Red Belt Software helps gym owners with the systems behind student retention and growth.