When Stan Lee joined the Red Belt Podcast, he was on his 48-foot cruising catamaran off Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands, connected over satellite internet. He has been in the martial arts industry since 1992 and has owned his Florida school since 1995. These days he works on a rotation of about three months on and three months off. While he sails the Caribbean, his staff run the school.
Lee started out with an edge most instructors don't have: a college business degree with a focus in finance, plus sales experience from two years as a stockbroker. In the early 1990s he and his instructor attended industry business events and used what they learned to grow that instructor's school to about $25,000 a month, a figure he says was almost unheard of back then. His talk with host Brian "Barn Cat" Debes explains the model behind his current freedom: an after-school program, a character development curriculum, and a constant focus on the customer actually paying the bills.
How the School Runs Without Him
Lee hasn't stepped away completely. He still sees himself as the quality-control person. He handles hiring and staff training when he's back on land, adjusts proven Facebook ads remotely, and does some customer service from the boat. His wife still runs payroll every two weeks. Daily operations belong to a staff of seven, a mix of full-time and part-time, including three black belt instructors, office staff, and after-school supervisors.
The schedule is less about working remotely and more about balance. After three months on the boat he misses his school, friends, and favorite restaurants. After three months on the mainland he misses the boat.
Why After-School Is a Need, Not a Want
Lee's strongest advice, especially for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu owners, is to add an after-school program. He brought his back during the 2008 financial crisis, when he saw that parents treat after-school care as a necessity rather than a luxury. His town is a quiet tourist town with a fairly low median income, and the program has stayed reliable through every downturn except the COVID school closures.
The economics change how the school operates. Lee enrolls children as early as kindergarten and keeps them in the after-school program through middle school, at close to $100 a week. After that, they continue in evening classes through high school. Because each student is worth so much over time, Lee says he could enroll just 20 people in a year and still turn a profit. Compare that with the usual school that has to sign up 25 people a month just to stay even.
He also rejects the "babysitter" complaint. "Don't be a babysitter. Train," he says. His after-schoolers train five days a week and become excellent martial artists because of all that mat time. The program also lets him offer real full-time jobs, since staff can work from early afternoon through the evening classes. And it builds future instructors from students who have trained with him for a decade or more.
How the Facility Works
Lee's school is about 4,000 square feet. He started at about 3,000 and expanded into the unit next door. The after-school block runs from roughly 1:30 to 6:15 p.m., and kids rotate through three areas:
- ✓A responsibility room for homework, with one adult supervising
- ✓A large activity room with two stations for play and snacks, staffed by two adults
- ✓The martial arts classroom, with two black belt instructors
Running classes of about 25 at a time across four rotations, the school can handle around 100 after-school students. Evening classes for teens and adults start later, after the after-school kids go home. His adult program is mostly parents of enrolled children.
For owners just starting out, Lee suggests looking at your current school-age students. If you have 50, at least 20 are probably already paying another after-school provider. Twenty kids at close to $100 a week is about $8,000 a month, enough to pay for a van or more space. To staff it, start by giving current team members more hours, and then consider involved parents who want part-time work. His hardest roles to fill are drivers with commercial licenses for his buses, so he hires retired bus drivers and pays them well.
Character Development Kids Actually Absorb
Lee's second point is that dads may want good Jiu-Jitsu, but moms want their kids to become better people. Moms usually decide on enrollment and do the driving. If you don't deliver character development, retention suffers.
Young children learn visually and physically, not through lectures. Lee's wife used to host a children's TV show, and together they built a visual character curriculum that they now license to schools. For the youngest students it uses a cartoon character named Harry, along with short animated clips, screen-based visual aids, and coloring sheets. At the end of class, instead of giving a speech, the instructor asks leading questions about what Harry is doing, such as cleaning his room without being told. Students take home a matching coloring sheet. When they bring it back, it goes on a bulletin board that shows parents what the school stands for.
With adults, Lee keeps it low-key. He adds recommended reading between belt promotions, sells the books he recommends, takes a real interest in students' lives and goals, and makes MIA calls that show care instead of chasing tuition. "Progress leads to interest leads to retention leads to renewals," he says.
Think Like a Beginner, Market to Mom
Lee warns against what he calls "black belt eyes," judging your school from an expert's point of view. A competitor's ad showing a head kick looks impressive to a black belt. A prospect sees themselves as the person getting kicked. He also requires two private introductory lessons for every new student before they join group classes. Each grappling class reviews the positional hierarchy so beginners understand what is happening to them and don't just get beaten up.
He markets broadly as "martial arts" instead of naming one style. That starts conversations with prospects who are looking for something specific.
Key Takeaways
- ✓After-school programs are a need, not a want. They hold up in recessions and greatly increase lifetime student value.
- ✓Enroll young and keep them. Kindergarten-to-graduation students reduce the pressure to keep enrolling.
- ✓Teach character visually to young kids with stories, images, and take-home activities instead of lectures.
- ✓Give beginners structure. Private intro lessons and clear positional basics help retention.
- ✓Market to the decision-maker. For kids' programs, that is usually mom.
- ✓Build systems and staff first. Freedom like Lee's comes from a school that runs without the owner.
Listen to the Full Episode
Hear Stan Lee explain his after-school setup and early MMA history in full on Spotify or YouTube.
Whether you're adding an after-school program or tightening follow-up on your current members, Red Belt Software helps martial arts school owners improve retention and grow with attendance tracking, automations, and staff reminders.