We were lucky to catch up with Jalyn Rangel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jalyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

My husband and I ran our martial arts school on our own for almost two years. We eventually brought on my brother in law as an assistant instructor. At the time he was a senior in high school and we were his first job. He’s grown a lot in the company and is starting to take over classes for us. We’ve also had a few other employees come in and out. We recently brought on one other person to start assisting in classes. We are in a difficult industry to hire people in. Not only do you need to be a black belt, you need to be able to teach (just because you know something doesn’t mean you can teach it), you need to be good with kids/students and have good customer service skills with the parents. It’s a lot to ask from someone.
We also have built a culture that the instructors need to fit into. They need to be able to create a relationship with our students and hold them to a high level.
Staffing has definitely been one of the most difficult things we’ve encountered in business.

Jalyn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My husband and I bought a Martial Arts school in March 2020. We were hit with a pandemic shortly after taking over. We ended up having to close the school for quarantine 17 days after we bought it. We used the time to renovate and make the business look how we wanted it. We were able to re open in May 2020. For the next couple of years we had a very slow growth but within the last year we have started to grow at a steadier rate. We teach Taekwondo to ages 4-adult. We pride ourselves on holding our students to a high level. We know each student individually and take the time with everyone to ensure that they perform at the best of their ability. We make sure that our students earn every belt they get from us.
I’m most proud of how engaged our students are. We have had instructors come in from other schools and they have commented on how all of our students seem like they want to be there and are trying their best. We try to create an environment that pushes, encourages and motivates all of our students.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I watch a couple of entrepreneurs on YouTube that have really helped my mindset with owning a business. I currently watch Christian Guzman, Maxx Chewning and Gary V. Watching their journeys and success have really motivated me within the last few years.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My husband is my business partner. We met while working together at a martial arts school. We really bonded over our love of martial arts and interest in business. We knew really early on that we wanted to own a martial arts school eventually. The original plan was to start a school once we had kids, were in our forever home and felt like we had the time/money to start a business. The opportunity to buy a school came up less than a year into our marriage and we took it. It was definitely different timing than we expected but we are still making it work. Running a business with your spouse if difficult but I think it’s important to figure out what you’re each good at and focus in those areas. He is a great instructor and loves teaching classes. I enjoy handling finances, marketing, social media and planning events. It took us about three years to really find our own place in the business but it made things a lot smoother once we did.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.irondragonmartialarts.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jalyn_kicks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QwZwYFGAdYfspjuJQ1lfA