{"id":5503,"date":"2026-07-02T03:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T03:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/case-study-paul-prendergast-brick-nj-leadership\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T03:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T03:29:28","slug":"case-study-paul-prendergast-brick-nj-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/case-study-paul-prendergast-brick-nj-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: How Paul Prendergast Kept Enrolling in Brick, NJ While Other Schools Were Down 50%"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the spring of 2020, when the shutdowns hit, most martial arts school owners went into survival mode \u2014 down 50% or more, frozen, just trying to hold on to whatever students they had left. <strong>Paul Prendergast<\/strong>, who runs a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai academy in <strong>Brick, New Jersey<\/strong>, did the opposite. While his peers were paralyzed, Paul was off by only about 10 to 12 percent \u2014 and still actively enrolling new students on full 12-month programs, including one family that paid nearly $5,000 in full. His explanation for the gap between him and everyone else comes down to one word he keeps returning to: leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watch Paul Prendergast&#8217;s story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"max-width:820px;margin:20px auto;\"><div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;border-radius:12px;box-shadow:0 8px 30px rgba(0,0,0,.35);\"><iframe style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FawYvxYDrqE?rel=0\" title=\"Paul Prendergast, Brick NJ, on Martial Arts Wealth Mastery\" loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Down 10%, not 50%<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul got on a Zoom call with about six to eight other school owners who wanted to know what he was doing. As he described his plan for reopening and staying open, they thought he was crazy \u2014 and, in his words, &#8220;scared to death.&#8221; Then he dropped what he calls the bomb: he was still signing people up. Students were trickling in, nothing dramatic, &#8220;plugging a couple of holes here and there,&#8221; and his numbers were off by only about 10 to 12 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Their mouths were hanging on the floor,&#8221; Paul said. &#8220;<em>You did what?<\/em>&#8221; And when they asked whether he was signing people up on a two-week program, he told them no \u2014 he was enrolling them on <strong>12-month programs<\/strong>. They couldn&#8217;t wrap their heads around it. The other owners, meanwhile, were all saying the same thing in the same breath: &#8220;We&#8217;re down 50%&#8221; and &#8220;we&#8217;re just trying to maintain what we&#8217;ve got \u2014 we&#8217;re not even thinking about new students.&#8221; They were down by half, and they didn&#8217;t want to try anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still enrolling \u2014 including a $5,000 paid-in-full<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul wasn&#8217;t just theorizing about staying open. He was closing enrollments in the middle of the shutdown. He did about six programs the previous month and another four or five in the weeks after \u2014 and had a family pay close to <strong>$5,000 paid in full<\/strong>. He&#8217;d enrolled three people virtually, moved all of his classes onto Zoom, and had his whole team working on getting existing students back on the rolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His daycare was reopening, too, and the numbers there told the same story: 60% of families were coming back the first week, and by the fourth week he was projecting 90% back. That&#8217;s not luck \u2014 that&#8217;s the payoff of a school that stayed in contact, kept teaching, and led its families through the disruption instead of going dark and hoping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Ask for forgiveness, not permission&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul credits Stephen Oliver, Dr. Greg Moody, and World Champion Jeff Smith \u2014 and the group as a whole \u2014 for the mindset that carried him. He leaned on two lines he picked up from the coaching. When the other owners questioned how he could even consider reopening, he told them: &#8220;If someone tells me to close, I&#8217;ll close. But for now, I&#8217;d rather ask for forgiveness than beg for permission.&#8221; And on the question of whether to fight for growth or just hunker down, he put it plainly: &#8220;You&#8217;re either green and growing, or ripe and rotting.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul is candid that he had only recently come back to the group \u2014 &#8220;I came late to the party&#8230; I&#8217;ve only been back with you guys for about a month now&#8221; \u2014 and already had a wish list of goals mapped out for the rest of the year. The turnaround in his mindset, and his school, was fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The tell: other owners&#8217; staff were texting Paul<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s the detail that says everything. Some of the owners on that Zoom call had brought their employees on to listen. After the call ended, those employees started texting Paul and his team directly. Their message: &#8220;I wish we were doing what you guys are doing. My owner doesn&#8217;t get this \u2014 he&#8217;s not understanding it.&#8221; And then they used the exact word Paul kept coming back to: &#8220;We&#8217;re not getting any leadership in our schools.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s the whole lesson in a sentence. The staff at the struggling schools could see it clearly. The difference between the school that kept enrolling and the schools that were down 50% wasn&#8217;t the market \u2014 New Jersey was locked down like everywhere else. It was whether the owner showed up as a leader: to their students, telling them it was time to come back and train; and to their staff, telling them to keep enrolling and keep serving families. Paul did. Watching it even empowered his own team \u2014 they came off the call, in his words, &#8220;pumping their chests and standing up straighter.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Paul&#8217;s story should teach you<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>The market is rarely the real problem.<\/strong> Paul&#8217;s peers blamed the lockdown; Paul was in the same lockdown and stayed nearly flat while they fell 50%.<\/li><li><strong>Keep enrolling \u2014 on real programs.<\/strong> He didn&#8217;t downgrade to survival-mode two-week trials. He enrolled on full 12-month programs, and even landed a ~$5,000 paid-in-full, in the middle of a shutdown.<\/li><li><strong>Lead your students and your staff.<\/strong> Reach out, tell families it&#8217;s time to come back, and hold your team accountable to keep signing people up. That leadership is what fills the school back up.<\/li><li><strong>Green and growing, or ripe and rotting.<\/strong> When everyone else pulls back, the owner who keeps moving forward takes the market.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Reading<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/why-mma-gyms-struggle-with-recurring-revenue-and-how-to-fix-it\/\">Why MMA Gyms Struggle With Recurring Revenue (and How to Fix It)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/bjj-academy-enrollment-system-convert-trials\/\">The BJJ Academy Enrollment System: How to Convert Trials Without Feeling Salesy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/leadership-ladder-build-the-bench\/\">The Leadership Ladder: How to Build the Bench That Lets Your School Scale<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/case-study-tooke-mma-houston-retention-leadership\/\">Case Study: How Tooke Mixed Martial Arts Fixed Retention in Houston<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is Paul Prendergast?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul Prendergast owns a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai academy in Brick, New Jersey, and is a member of Stephen Oliver&#8217;s Martial Arts Wealth Mastery coaching group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did he do differently during the 2020 shutdowns?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While other owners were down 50% and only trying to hold on, Paul stayed off by roughly 10 to 12 percent \u2014 moving classes to Zoom, keeping his families engaged, and continuing to enroll new students on full 12-month programs, including a family that paid close to $5,000 in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does he credit for the difference?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leadership and mindset \u2014 showing leadership to his students (telling them it was time to come back and train) and to his staff (holding them accountable to keep enrolling). He credits Stephen Oliver, Dr. Greg Moody, Jeff Smith, and the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery group for the coaching and drive behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lead your school through anything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whatever the market is doing, the schools that lead keep growing. If you want that kind of leadership behind your school, start with a free, no-obligation Personal Evaluation with our team. Call or text our National Director Bob Dunne at <strong>+1 (720) 256-0208<\/strong>, or book online below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#0a0d14;border:2px solid #c89a3a;border-radius:16px;padding:30px 22px;text-align:center;color:#eaeef5;margin:2.5rem auto;max-width:900px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"><div style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-weight:800;letter-spacing:1px;font-size:clamp(24px,5vw,40px);color:#f3d488;line-height:1.05;\">FREE COACHING SESSION<\/div><div style=\"font-weight:700;letter-spacing:1px;margin:10px 0 20px;color:#eaeef5;\">WITH &#9733; STEPHEN OLIVER &amp; WORLD CHAMPION JEFF SMITH &#9733;<\/div><div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/api.leadconnectorhq.com\/widget\/bookings\/bobdunne\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#f7e3a6,#e8b84b 55%,#c89227);color:#c1272d;font-weight:800;text-decoration:none;padding:15px 26px;border-radius:10px;\">&#128197; BOOK YOUR FREE COACHING SESSION<\/a> <a href=\"tel:+17202560208\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#f7e3a6,#e8b84b 55%,#c89227);color:#c1272d;font-weight:800;text-decoration:none;padding:15px 26px;border-radius:10px;\">&#128222; CALL: +1 (720) 256-0208<\/a><\/div><div style=\"color:#f3d488;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:2px;margin-top:18px;font-size:14px;\">&#9733; LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE &ndash; CLAIM YOURS TODAY! &#9733;<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephen Oliver, MBA and 10th Degree Black Belt, is the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, CEO of NAPMA (National Association of Professional Martial Artists), and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A martial arts school owner since 1975, he and his coaching team \u2014 including World Champion Grandmaster Jeff Smith and Dr. Greg Moody \u2014 have helped owners across the country build stronger, more profitable schools and $1M+ businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the 2020 shutdowns, most school owners were down 50% and just trying to hold on. Paul Prendergast\u2019s BJJ and Muay Thai academy in Brick, NJ was off only 10\u201312% \u2014 still enrolling students on full 12-month programs, including a $5,000 paid-in-full. The difference was leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-million-dollar-school"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Case Study: How Paul Prendergast Kept Enrolling in Brick, NJ While Other Schools Were Down 50% - Martial Arts Wealth Mastery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/martialartswealth.com\/go\/case-study-paul-prendergast-brick-nj-leadership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study: How Paul Prendergast Kept Enrolling in Brick, NJ While Other Schools Were Down 50% - Martial Arts Wealth Mastery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the 2020 shutdowns, most school owners were down 50% and just trying to hold on. 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