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Franchisee Stories - Trish Nawacki was MAD enough!

31st March 2010

Trish Nawacki joined MAD Academy as a franchisee in September 2004. Since then she has successfully built up her business and doubled her franchise area. Here she tells us how she finds running her own business and what it’s like being part of the MAD Academy team!

Q: What were you doing before MAD?

Before starting with MAD Academy I was an IT Manager for a construction company. However, I’d taught guitar to groups of kids and had been singing for what seems like forever! I had also been involved in plenty of theatre productions.

I had been thinking of going to teacher training college but didn’t know how it would fit around my life with two young children.

Q: Why did you choose to join MAD?

I spotted MAD Academy at the Reading Children’s Festival. My daughter wanted to join the trial class they were running. She really enjoyed the lesson and I saw how different it was from other classes we’d been to. It planted the seed in my head; I thought, “I should think about doing this”.

I could see how running a MAD Academy business would give me a better lifestyle fit and it would add to my teaching experience. It could be the best of both worlds - allowing me to satisfy my need to teach whilst fitting in with the children. It was a bonus to see that I could combine all of this with my love of music!

I then met the founders. They had such drive and enthusiasm for what they were trying to achieve. They also had the right backgrounds to succeed in what they were doing. It was a new and fresh business with absolutely nothing jaded about it. The energy of the whole business was very fired up and very committed!

Q: What’s the best bit about running classes?

The children! Seeing a shy child finally come out! It took me one whole term with a particular child and now she’s like a ray of sunshine! It’s wonderful to see. Or when you get the children that won’t concentrate or engage. Then, little by little, they start to come into the class. You feel like you’ve really helped them. They glow – and try all the harder the next week when you’ve praised them.

Q: What’s the hardest thing about running classes?

Keeping the children constantly engaged is a good challenge – you do feel it when you’re losing them and you have to have an armoury of techniques to bring them back into the fold and get them to concentrate. The best technique I have to get them back is to get them to play musical instruments – they’ll all come back for that! Otherwise, there are some songs that ALWAYS work!

Sometimes you have to turn on a nine pence and change your plans! You may need to pick a song to calm them down or, equally, to wind them up – it’s really important to be attuned to the mood of the class in order to adapt to it.

Q: What are the highlights of running your own business?

Engaging with people and children and being creative. Its also fantastic, learning about running a business from all aspects:- marketing, accounts, HR etc. It’s really fascinating and has given me the confidence to run my own business – and to do so in the future.

Q: Would you recommend joining MAD Academy?

Absolutely! The support has been fantastic! The biggest benefit is the confidence you gain from being part of a larger organisation – there’s safety in numbers! This way I feel I’ve got back-up and it seems less risky. Also, I have others to bounce ideas off – it’s hard to check on your own creativity when you’re on your own. This way you’re still working with people.

If you want to work with and inspire kids, and you want to run your own business and have fun then this is the business for you!

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