We were lucky to catch up with Pete Salas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pete, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I am definitely happier being a business owner. I do sometimes think about having a regular job. The upside to that would be having a regular paycheck you can count on, health care benefits, insurance plans, and retirement accounts. But…..the positives of being a business owner are even more attractive to me……being able to implement policies that I feel are effective, the opportunity to increase my income if my plan goes well, and the responsibility for success or failure to be put in my hands instead of someone else’s. So many times, in a regular job, we feel like “ if I was in charge, I would do things differently “. As a business owner, that’s exactly what you get to do. As far as benefits go, you can still have those. You just need to pay for them yourselves. I feel like the freedom to be your own boss, makes this a worthwhile trade-off.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Actually, I never planned to be a martial arts instructor with my own school. I was studying to be an accountant. I had been training in martial arts since the age of 14. At the age of 23, I partnered with a friend who had a karate school in National City, CA., but he decided to move to New York. I kept running the school, but it was not successful. This is when I believe God stepped in and revealed His plan for my life. The school was designated to be torn down, along with the rest of the block, to make room for a hotel. The city paid me a small amount of money, which I took and moved to Chula Vista. I opened my own school on Third Avenue at the age of 25. The school teaches the martial art called Kenpo, which is from Hawaii. While Kenpo is known as a street self defense style, which we provide to men, women, and children, we also look at it as a vehicle to build self confidence, improve self esteem, and develop discipline, focus, self control, and better mental and physical health. We feel that it can be a truly life-transforming endeavor.
I believe that what sets us apart is that our approach differs from many schools that have a sort of “ military “ approach to teaching, while we have found a way to use a more positive method. Rather than disciplining the students ourselves, we aim to teach people to discipline themselves through positive motivation.
We are probably best known for turning out many sport karate champions, but what we are most proud of is seeing so many of our students grow into champions in life…..many of them becoming leaders in their careers and in their communities.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have been blessed to have a good reputation among my peers in the martial arts ( other martial arts school owners and instructors). It can be a competitive field, often suffering from negative talk about each other. I have made an effort to speak respectfully about my competition, and am fortunate to be friends with many other school owners, who tell me they have never heard me put down another school. In fact, I have been blessed to collaborate with other instructors and often work on projects together.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of clients has been our website. One thing that I’ve learned that helped me…….highlight the benefits and the services you provide to the public……how you can help clients ….and less attention to personal accomplishments

Contact Info:

• Website: SweetPetesMAA.com
• Facebook: Sweet Pete’s Martial Arts Academy

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