The First 12 months…

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Dom (00:10)

Have you ever wondered what a Swish franchise looks like? Well, we're joined by Leah, who is the proud owner of Swish Winchester, who is close to completing her first year as a principal. We call our franchisees Pro Partners to denote the partnership between us and their professional training. Leah, how are you?

Leah (00:27)

I'm good thinking, how are you?

Dom (00:29)

I'm good. So you're coming up to the end of your first 12 months of being a pro partner and running your own school. How has it been?

Leah (00:38)

It's been great. I can't believe it's coming up to a year. I'm really loving the community that I'm building in Winchester. It's been really great.

Dom (00:46)

I hear great things. mean, you've already got 60 students enrolled into your classes after just over 10 months, which is a huge milestone. So congratulations.

Leah (00:58)

Thank you, yeah, we've done well.

Dom (01:01)

You've done really well. So talking about your journey up to the point of starting this Pro partnership, could you tell us a little bit more about your performing arts experience and you know, your amateur experience up to that as well?

Leah (01:17)

So I attended an Amdram group as a child. I did dance classes and singing. And then when I was sort of 18, I decided that I would audition. And then I went off to Trinity Lab and Conservatoire for a year. And then after that, I went on to do a degree at Italia Conti.

Dom (01:31)

Fantastic. So you did the three years at Italia Conti.

Leah (01:41)

Yeah, so I did the three year, I was the first year to do the degree. And then I graduated there and decided that I actually wanted to be more on the creative side. So I went on to assist with some West End directors and then went on to do a bit more teaching elsewhere and things like that in between.

Dom (01:51)

So Leah, what led you to partner up with Swish?

Leah (02:01)

So I've always wanted to own my own business and it's something that I have wanted to do since a young age. When I graduated, I very much wanted to not lose my creative outlook and projects, but I wanted something that I could invest in and build. looked at a lot of options I looked at other competitors and I spoke to friends that have also done it themselves.

And I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go with a company that had a lot of experience and could also act as more of a mentor for me building this company. And I didn't have much capital. So Swish seemed like the best option because of all those factors. And it's something that I've always wanted to do I really love teaching and inspiring the next generation. And I felt like.

Swish was the right company for me to work alongside to build my own brand and business.

Dom (02:57)

Yes, absolutely. So with Swish, we built this package because we very much believe that the professionals coming in are there to inspire and teach. You're there as a creative. You're not there because you want to sit and do admin and chase leads and all the rest of it. having that whole team of customer service agents at your fingertips is a really valuable asset that Swish offers.

And the other point that you made about capital is absolutely spot on because again, we're not trying to attract people who just have money. We much prefer to find people that are professional and passionate about their teaching.

Dom (03:48)

So Leah, let's talk a bit more about the customer service support that you receive. Just talk to us a bit more about how that's benefited your business over the past 10 plus months.

Leah (03:58)

Yeah, so I, to be perfectly honest with you, I have another job on the side and I don't have the time to be able to handle all of the admin tasks and the daily interactions with customers about trials, about money, whatever it is. And so by having this admin team at my hand, they are able to handle all of my business.

Dom (04:12)

Yeah.

Leah (04:27)

and I'm able to delegate tasks to them to help me grow this business. And to be honest, and I'm creative, coming into this journey, I didn't want to spend all my time doing admin, which I felt a few of the other competitors perhaps suggested it would be more of that. And I didn't want to do that. I wanted to teach and I wanted to be a creative and swish.

Leah (04:56)

And having this team has allowed me to not have to give up the teaching and the creative side of things.

Dom (05:05)

Or yeah, let that suffer as a result of trying to focus on admin because that sucks your time. And you know, we speak to pro partners about this being a one day a week working opportunity as opposed to five days. And a lot of the competitors do pitch it as five days because of the lack of syllabus support and prep and the same with the admin side. But let's talk about software.

Leah (05:08)

Yeah.

Dom (05:29)

So Swish has its own bespoke software solution, which handles everything from class registers to onboarding, outboarding. Can you talk to us a bit more about how this has benefited you?

Leah (05:43)

It's amazing. I have taught elsewhere before and what I found was that I had stuff everywhere. So I was having to log on to different avenues to download registers and music and contact parents and all things like this. The software allows a system where everything is collated into one. And so I can...

Leah (06:06)

see who are trialing, who's on the registers, medical notes. I can message customers. can group email them. So I don't need other softwares like MailChimp to be able to import all my customers. It's just automatically done for me. So I can then just do everything via one system basically. And it's been amazing.

Dom (06:29)

Re Data protection. How has the software helped you navigate those areas?

Leah (06:36)

So the software internally helps handle all the GDPR, the ICO protection, photos, accident forms, anything really that you can imagine. It sort of internally manages that and allows me to access that information but not spend hours trying to collate it.

Dom (07:00)

Do the parents have the ability to log on and update their profiles themselves?

Leah (07:06)

Yeah, absolutely. So the customer can log on and change any details that they need to at any time. If things change, medical information, things like that. But also we can log in as the customer and change the details. So if someone phones us up and needs to change their information, then we can log in as a customer. So you've got that sort of two avenues of being able to keep everything up to date and keep everyone safe basically.

Dom (07:33)

Let's segue into the syllabus support that you receive. I know for many subcontracted teachers you mentioned subcontracting yourself for directorial work and what have you in teaching. Obviously there's a lot of prep in the content that you're delivering ordinarily. With Swish, what makes it unique in terms of the syllabi that you receive?

Leah (07:57)

So we receive projects and shows throughout the year depending on the time. And what's really unique about them is that the syllabus is designed and tailored to the students to be able to give them a natural progression. So each stage you can understand the learning outcomes and what we want the children to achieve.

Obviously everything's provided for us, which is amazing because as I said before, I've taught elsewhere and the amount of prep that's needed to create projects and things like that can take hours. Whereas with Swish, we're provided with all of the worksheets, all of the material online that we can learn. And it's amazing that we can just find it in one place and be able to just teach. And one thing that I would say as well about having that resources is not just that helps me, but it has enabled me to gain some really, really good teachers that don't necessarily have the time to be able to prep during the week because of their other commitments to work. But actually by supplying them with a syllabus already laid out, they're able to learn it and teach it and it's not taking up hours of their time. So it's definitely something that I've learned is that having this syllabus has meant that I'm able to get some really good teachers in my team.

Dom (09:21)

And achieve a level of consistency as well. Everyone knows why we're doing what we're doing. And that's one of the big gripes, you know, when I take on teachers and I've taken on teachers elsewhere, their one gripe is about not knowing the sense of direction.

Why are they doing what they're doing? What are we trying to achieve? So I think that's fantastic in terms of its consistency as well.

So Leah, how is the syllabus delivered to you as a pro partner?

Leah (09:48)

So I receive all worksheets right to my door, which is amazing. And that's for all stages. And each stage worksheet is designed obviously to fit the project that they're working on. And there's small details in that worksheet as well, which means that we can keep track of things, give them stickers so that they can collate them in the young groups. And then we're also able to log into an online platform where I'm able to understand why we're doing these projects, what we want to aim from the projects which is amazing. It's not just all admin. I'm able to log on and get real insight into technical exercises and things like that I can be doing in the class. And everything is just online, which is again, great. I don't need to go anywhere to do this it's just readily available.

Dom (10:40)

Absolutely. And I think the great thing is that behind the creation of this syllabus is a team of professionals, people who have trained professionally, been in the industry. So, and they remain current with what the market is doing as well for the needs of the industry. So there's a real quality to what's being delivered. And I think there's a nice amount of input from the pro partner as well. For example, with some of the warmup exercises or the order.

You know, some of the improvisational exercises towards the end, that's brilliant. So it doesn't stifle creativity, but it gives you a real sense of direction and achieves a great level of consistency, which you can then pass on to your teachers to create a wonderful session for the students.

How did the students benefit from the syllabus?

Leah (11:31)

So on every worksheet there is a QR code and the QR code takes you straight to a folder of which in there students are able to practice at home and they've got all of the resources. So that's choreography, that's guide vocals, that's tracks and on there parents are able to log in with their child or the child on their own, practice all the material and also it's a great way for the parents to be able to keep track of what it is that the child's doing in the class and why they're doing it. So there is a continual conversation online between the teacher and the customer to try and create a unified understanding of the aims and the projects.

Dom (12:16)

So Leah, how have you found working with the venue, working with your teachers over the past 10 months, how smooth has it been?

Leah (12:25)

Yeah, so like any business, there's been the ups, there's been the downs, but one thing that I really appreciate with working with Swish is the fact that I'm able to call upon my mentors that have had the experience, that have been through this. So in terms of my venue to start with, I've now got actually three venues that I rent from and I feel like I've really knuckled down on key things that I need from a venue.

So that the logistics of when I'm teaching flow, which has been amazing. In terms of my teachers, there have been times where I've had, you know, have difficult conversations and things like that. But again, I'm able to call upon my mentor, you know, ask them advice on how to handle situations and things like that. But I've now built a team. coming up to a year and I've now built a team that I can rely on. And I know that...

I don't need to be there. And that is one thing that I've really valued the past, especially six months, is that I feel like I've grown a team that is able to, with the help of the syllabus and everything like that, they feel prepared and well supported that I don't necessarily have to be physically on site, which has been amazing. And actually,

Dom (13:40)

And in addition to having the mentors and having built your own team is that you've got a group of professionals in the other pro partners that are growing all the time, the network of pro partners that are growing to pull, you know, to speak to, to confide in, to ask questions with as well. I actually know, you know, there's a couple of pro partners that get on really well and, you know, almost have formed a bit of a team themselves and may even look at doing show projects together and sort of combine forces, so to speak, which is fantastic to see as well.

Leah (13:55)

Yeah, 100%. It's amazing to be able to speak to people that are going through it and understand and also get some advice from each other because one thing that I have learned is that every venue is different and every area is different and being able to speak to other people that have gone through it and understand and can share advice on things that have worked for them is invaluable.

Dom (14:31)

Fantastic. So I think what is wonderful about having professionals head up all of the sites is that there is just a certain level of understanding and a certain lingo that comes with enduring those three hard years of training, as you'll know, Leah, and perhaps then going off into the industry and doing 12 month contracts of the same show. So that just means that they understand what we're trying to do from an admin perspective, but more importantly, from a creative perspective.

Have you found that as well?

Leah (15:16)

Yeah, 100%. I've been able to network with a group of people that are like-minded and also are still working. A lot of the pro partners are still in the industry in different areas, which has been amazing. We've got people that are still performing. We've got people that are in the creative field. And it's a network of industry professionals that you're able to call upon, get their insight and

Leah (15:43)

Bring a professional standard to Swish and set the bar of what other schools should be up against

Dom (15:52)

And this pro partnership is for people that have been through the long tiring tours and have got to a point where they go, you know what, I can't do this anymore. It's for people that want to support their other creative projects, be that in the West End or on tour or for some it's doing short plays, for example. And for others it's actually there to support some, some of their training and other full-time jobs as well. So there's so many different types of people that come on board and different circumstances, but the package that we created, because it is more of a one day working week opportunity, it does cater to lots of different scenarios. You're not having to give up the full-time job straight away necessarily. That could be an option in future, but I think that's what's fantastic. And it's based on the real gripes and experiences that

I've had that other people that work in this full time have had over the years as well and have created something that we're very passionate about and we believe in that serves that creative person.

Dom (16:58)

So Leah, earlier on, we mentioned about you looking at other competitors before you took on your pro partnership. There's definitely a sense that you need a higher level of capital, a higher level of financial investment with other competitors. Swish don't appear to operate like that. There isn't a huge buy-in fee to get a territory or even to expand your territory. It doesn't seem to add up. Why is that? What are they placing their emphasis on?

Leah (17:28)

I think the main thing is that Swish are investing in us and they want to create businesses with pedigree people owning them that have professional backgrounds that are industry professionals.

And I think that's the difference is that they aren't investing in necessarily an area or anything like that. They're investing in a person that they believe in and they believe will have a successful business. And I think that's the difference between Swish and other competitors is that it's not just any Tom, Dick and Harry that can own it. The standard is set and

Yeah, I think the main difference and the reason that the capital is so low is that they want us.

Dom (18:23)

And then you said about the standard being set, I think as a result of that, the value is set with Swish as well because these people have more often than not gone to amateur clubs themselves. Maybe at the age of three, they started dancing or they're acting or what have you. For some they came in later, but they all persevered. And at some point their brain switched on and thought, yeah, you know what? This is what I want to do for career. I'm going to go, I'm going to make a go of it. I'm going to audition.

Dom (18:50)

and they understand what that process is like, what's required of them, the kind of discipline and the prep, and that is valuable because they act as mentors and a source of inspiration for the students that attend their site.

Leah (19:08)

And I think as well, by having us at the forefront of each of these businesses, we're really able to monitor quality control and understand that the people that we are hiring are the very best and sets the standard of what the expectations are in the industry now, not 30 years ago, but what is expected of someone training or in the industry working and we're able to be the quality control. And that hasn't always been easy. And it has been something that, you I've learned throughout this process of like hiring people and things like that, but it's learning who fits the mold of what we need. And I think because of my professional background and training, I have a clear understanding of the requirements.

Dom (20:02)

And I guess if this isn't adhered to, there could be a negative outcome. Have you ever experienced anything like that?

Leah (20:10)

Yeah, when a place I used to work, the owner unfortunately didn't have a professional background. And what I actually found was the other teachers that I was working alongside were led by a person that wasn't necessarily professionally trained and understood the industry. And that has a negative effect of filtering down through the system.

And the principles of these companies aren't able to lead with the professional approach and understanding. And as I was just saying, what I learned is that it filters down into the teachers and then it filters down into the students, which then filters into the customers. And they're either, you know, as lovely as they are, either they're archaic knowledge or that experience or non-existing experience means that the projects and the things and the outcomes of what they are teaching just isn't to the same standard as what the industry and drama schools are expecting. I think that's the main thing.

Dom (21:16)

And I think principals also have a certain level of standard just ingrained in them from that professional experience. They just won't accept anything less than the best from everybody because they've had that expectation on them for so many years, particularly if they've worked in the industry from then they had to be consistent.

They had to be on time, they had to be presentable, know their material. You know, there was a level of discipline really.

So Leah, what would be your golden piece of advice for anyone watching who's considering a venture into starting up their own performing arts business for children?

Leah (21:53)

I think my advice would be what do want your investment to look like? Is that time, energy, money, or is that investing in the training you've already had and your creative side? I think what I would say is to look at the market and understand that if you want to do your own startup, that's a seven days a week task, wearing multiple hats. If you want to invest in another business with a large upfront cost and work five days a week doing a lot of admin tasks or whether that is investing in swish who allow you to have a creative outlook and allow you to put your training into inspiring the next generation. And I think that would be my advice is to look at the market and understand the pros and cons of everything. And it's In my opinion, it's clear

Dom (22:53)

Leah, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast and for giving us a real clear insight into this opportunity.

Leah (23:01)

Thank you.