JONNY WILSON
School Growth & Profitability
Jonny Wilson is the founder of Build a Music School and the creator of the #BAMSQUAD. He started his own music school in an old shed in Upper Hutt, New Zealand with just 30 drum students, then grew it into a 2,000+ student, multi-site school with 60 staff, five music buses, and lessons running across 30 schools in Wellington. After selling the school with his wife Kate in 2019, Jonny began helping other music teachers and school owners grow with the same practical, real-world strategies that built his own school. Today, through Build a Music School, Jonny has helped hundreds of owners get more students, build stronger systems, and create music schools that are profitable, sustainable, and built to last.
BENJI KUSHINS
MULTI-ARTS School Expert
Benji built Art & Soul School of Creative & Performing Arts with over 1,000 students. There's a ceiling to what you can earn as a solo teacher - and Benjie hit it, then broke through it. He started teaching drums, toured with a band, opened a studio with a fellow teacher, and eventually built Art & Soul School of Creative & Performing Arts with his wife Lauren, now serving over 1,000 students across schools and their own studio. What he figured out along the way: how to grow without burning out, how to add income streams, and how to turn a one-person teaching practice into a real multi-dimensional business. If you're a solo teacher who knows there's more but doesn't know what the next move looks like - Benjie's perfect for you.
NICK TUCKER
Systems & Operations Specialist
Nick runs ‘Spark Music and Dance’ with 600+ students. Most people wait until everything is perfect before they make a move. Nick lost his job twenty days after buying his house, five days before his wedding, and a day after his car broke down - and still started a music school. No business degree. No music background. Just a decision. Today he owns two commercial properties and two schools in Minnesota. If you're sitting in a 9-5 right now wondering whether someone like you could actually pull this off, Nick is living proof that you can - and is perfectly placed specifically for people making that exact leap, from first idea to fully systemised, profitable school.
KELLY KENNEDY
Student Retention & Teaching Excellence
Kelly understands Kennedy School of Music. Kelly didn't grow slowly and carefully. She moved countries, hired a manager, cracked the school market, and scaled to 700+ students a week - all while raising young children. What she built at Kennedy School of Music isn't just a success story, it's a blueprint for how to grow fast without sacrificing the life you're building it around. Kelly's strength is showing owners how to stop being the bottleneck in their own school - the right hires, the right systems, the right way to get into schools and unlock serious growth. If speed matters to you, and so does balance, Kelly is the coach who's actually done both at once.
An additional layer of exclusive music school owners compounding specialist IQ - so every angle of your business is covered by people who’ve actually done it.
Mike Lowden
Digital Marketing Specialist
You don't want a coach who read about growing a music school. You want one who actually did it. Mike Lowden started Loud and Clear Music School in 2014 with nothing. Today it's a multi-location school in Ohio that's been running for over 10 years. But here's what makes Mike different from every other "music school owner" out there - he didn't just grow a school. He became a certified Google Partner, ran his own digital ads agency, and figured out exactly how to get more music students through the door using Google Ads. Mike's focus inside BAM is the thing most school owners get completely wrong - digital marketing. If you want more students, faster and more predictably, Mike is your guy.
RUTHIE SMITH
Early-Stage School Growth
Before Ruthie helped music schools grow, she helped Gwen Stefani and U2 do it - working at Universal Music Group on marketing campaigns for some of the biggest names in the industry. Then she had kids, started teaching music on the side, and realised that the teachers and school owners she knew were incredible at music and terrible at getting found. So she switched. Now she takes the kind of marketing thinking that works at the highest level and makes it simple enough that you'll actually use it. If the business side of your school feels overwhelming - the messaging, the brand, the systems that bring students in consistently - Ruthie turns that from your weakest area into your business strength.
ADAM & RACHEL ATKINS
Student Acquisition Specialist | Systems & Teams Development
Adam and Rachel Atkins built Anthem Tuition from the ground up after years teaching across Greater Manchester. What started as one small music school in 2012 grew into three locations, a team of 50+ teachers, and one of Manchester’s top-rated music schools.
Adam understands what it’s like to start scrappy and grow anyway. Rachel knows how to turn musical skill into a real business, building systems and teams that let a school scale without burnout. Together, they help music school owners build something that lasts, even while juggling real life alongside the business.
Alistair Mawhinney
School Leadership & Scale
Alistair has already solved the problems you're facing. He runs Epic Music Academy in New Zealand, teaching 1300+ students a week with a team of 15.
He also runs a church, which means he only spends about 8 hours a week on the academy. To make that work, he's had to get ruthless about systems - everything streamlined and built to run without him. That's exactly what he's handing you.
Alistair is living proof you can grow something big without it swallowing your life. When you get on a call with him, you're getting direct, practical advice from someone who's built what you're trying to build - so you can move faster, with fewer mistakes.
Michael Hemsworth
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Lisa Harper
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Kate Wilson
COO
Anna Tucker
Administration Manager
Rory Anderson
Content Specialist
Suzie Wellin
Support Lead
Ciana Froemming
Creative Specialist
