Before I get into this I need to clarify some things. If you think this is directed at you, it is not. I am not speaking directly to anyone or disparaging the way anyone chooses to live or run their own business. I see value in doing things a certain way and challenges in doing it another. What works for you, works for you. I am happy for your success and satisfaction.
My Academy is Killer B Combat Sports. A friend asked me if the B was me, due to my name being Brian. Yes, the gym is named after Brian, but it is my son Brian Jr that I got the inspiration from. He kicked the hell out of my wife for 9 months and we jokingly referred to him as Killer B. I liked the name and the imagery, so I changed my business name.
The idea of naming a school after my self is not something I want to do. I do not like the idea of building a school around an individual. A school is a place where a community trains together in a shared way to achieve individual goals. I prefer to define a community with a general term in order to allow an affiliation with a way, not a person. The way we teach may be ours at first, but over time it will evolve into something defined by the practitioners.
When a school is strictly defined by the owner who puts their stamp on everything, success becomes making the leader happy instead of practical application of knowledge. When we use general terms, there is room to grow, to be more inclusive, and to allow for ownership of the community by the community.
I choose the group over myself. It is not about making people in my image. It is about making people individually their best. We all own our place within Killer B. We all can be Killer B because it is not me, it is us. Nobody has Brian Wright on them because they are not me, they are who they are and I trust them to rep our community as individuals.
I know my place. I know I know more than most members but I leave room for that to change. I leave room and actually expect for members to be better and to take what I started further than I ever can. If it is all about me, when I am done, so is the academy. If someone wants to go open their own school, they can take Killer B anywhere and maintain a strong sense of self. They can’t take my name and be themselves. Our community can expand because we focus on the philosophy and way in which we train over who is the boss. Our real boss is practicality and effectiveness, not me.
In short, I want people to answer to each other, not me. I want people to believe in each other, not just me. I want people to feel that they have a place that they can own within our community because it represents all of us, not just me. I do not want to be at the top of a cult of personality, I want to have a group that subscribes to a group way to achieve individual goals.
Agree or disagree, fine by me. We all have the ability to do things as we choose. This is how I think and what I want to achieve. If you want to go another way, go for it and all the best! None of us can define what success means for anyone but ourselves. I know what success means to me, I celebrate your choices and applaud your success.
Brian Wright