The pandemic and lockdown has been tough for all business owners and the fitness industry has been no exception. Listen in today as Carl is interviewed by fellow martial arts podcaster Gordon Burcham. Carl Denne shares his inspiring story of how after losing everything he was able to rebuild his martial arts business and with the support of his mentors, created a brand new studio during the pandemic. They discuss finding the strength to rebuild a business, the importance of surrounding yourself with like minded people and how they can help pull you up in times of need.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You may face challenging times in business, and could even lose everything you have worked for. Losing everything you had and having to rebuild everything from the beginning again is a challenge that will make you stronger. Strengthening your business through a pandemic is a huge achievement. You have taken your business to a new level through the hardest time many entrepreneurs will have ever faced.

• Having people in your life who are direct and honest with you can help motivate you. You need to have people pull you up in the right direction rather than holding you back by trying to protect you from failure. When something feels right to you, you will know and you will run with it.

• Having people on the same level as you or slightly further ahead than you can help inspire you. Discussing your business with others in a similar industry can help you identify areas of your current model that need tweaking. Having people identify areas of your business model that are excelling can be really motivational, and give you the confidence boost you need.

• Surround yourself with positive and like minded people in all aspects of your life. It doesn’t matter what class or sport you partake in, you will always be surrounded by people who want to do the same thing as you. By being around people that understand your passion as a business, this will help you streamline your business and excel.

BEST MOMENTS

“I very quickly went through the ranks within the fight team.”

“It was pain like i’ve never felt.”

“This felt right.”

“I probably would have had a full on meltdown in lockdown if it wasn’t for this.”

ABOUT THE GUEST

Carl Denne Founder and Chief Instructor of HKA, I have been teaching kickboxing for over 20 years and running HKA since 1998. At Hastings Kickboxing Academy (HKA), we have put together different programmes for children, teenagers, and adults to help with their development, general fitness, and confidence. All while increasing their strength, performance and building their self-esteem. HKA is a family run business dedicated to the community. We give our time, experience and knowledge back to our students and help them become the confident leaders of tomorrow.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

HKA Main landing page www.hastingskickboxing.co.uk/kickstartnow

YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/user/Hastingskickboxing

HKA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Hastingskickboxing

carldenne@hotmail.com  

Facebook Business

Gordon’s Book

Gordon’s Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Hi, my name is Carl Denne.  

I was born in Hastings in 1980. Married, father of two beautiful daughters, Bethany and Leigha. 

My daughters, the wife, and gym ARE MY LIFE.

IF I’M HONEST, I pretty much failed at school. Heavily dyslexic, I was dismissed for being a “naughty kid” that didn’t want to learn. I was heavily bullied for having shit clothes and ginger afro hair. I didn’t have many friends. 

When I say bullied I don’t mean called a “poo-poo head” and being looked at in a nasty way. I mean thrown downstairs, and hit with chairs and tables. Clothes were stolen whilst in the shower. That kind of bullying…

Oh, how things have changed… 

Martial arts, and specifically Kickboxing, have changed my life, and now I am much happier and change other people’s lives for the better on a daily basis. 

I am a complete adrenaline freak, so In my spare time, track days, jumping out of planes, sitting on top of them, rage buggies in the desert… The higher, the faster the better for me. I’m always looking for the next thing to get my blood pumping, so if anyone has a challenge I’ve not found yet, please feel free to share. 

I do like a Saturday night movie night, Chinese, Netflix, lots of chocolate with my three little ladies. I love being around my friends and family. This is why I love the crazy HKA family so much, as this is my extended family.   

I left school with pretty much nothing! A few sad GCSE’s C - D grade, BUT I did have a shit-ton of energy and passion to achieve, and to prove all the teachers and people that looked down on me for all those years, wrong. So, after a few jobs here and there, I settled on working for Openreach (BT) as a cabler/jointer copper and fibre optic multi-skilled engineer with HGV.

I left this in 2015 to chase my dream of running my own Kickboxing Academy and working with the future of today, rather than a job that just paid the bills. 

I’ve trained pretty much my whole life: Karate, boxing, Judo, from the age of 9, and of course, I’ve now done over 29 years of Kickboxing. I’ve passed many Instructors and coaches courses, attended many training courses and seminars, grading up through the syllabus. I passed my 4-hour hell-on-earth 3rd Dan black belt in July 2018 with the ICO.

If I’m honest my real passion and skills have come from learning the hard way; through being in the trenches. I know how it feels to be on your arse. I know how it feels to have to pull yourself out of the pit. I’ve been through

a divorce. I’ve lived through the pain and have worked with thousands of members, students, children, teachers and adults over the years, and the one thing I get told every time is how well I/we keep it very real, and that I have a complete understanding on most eventualities. 

Thank you for reading and listening. I hope you connect with myself and the team, take away some ideas, understand you’re not alone, and that it’s good to talk, listen and help others as and when you can. 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Gordon Burcham has been training, teaching, and working in the Martial Arts industry for nearly twenty-five years. After earning his first black belt, he went on to win three consecutive World Titles against guys half his age.

In 1998, in the midst of his competitive career, he launched his own dojo, which still runs today. After retiring from the competitions, he decided to focus more on helping others in the MA business while still running his club.

Burcham has trained with industry giants like Alfie Lewis and developed his street-smart business attitude working with top business coaches. He is now considered one of the foremost authorities on peak performance in the business-side of the MA industry.

He has proven his techniques work through the transformation in his own personal life, athletic career, and business as well as those of his coaching clients. Burcham teaches that success is the result of forming good habits and moving forward.

His is a real-life success story going from bullied school kid to earning multiple world titles, and his MA school is currently one of the most successful in the UK. Gordon loves self-development and helping others, enjoys travel and family time. He is now learning how to fly planes and pursuing a speaking career!