Ten years at Interbrew UK, a major blue chip company. My roles included sales and marketing, at one point I was managing a team of ten sales managers. I then took the role as Human Resource Training Manager specialising in leadership, customer care, personal development and people management.
I became a Monkey Music franchisee in 2007.
My daughters attended Monkey Music classes.
Full-time during the school term, part-time in holidays with own management on flexible hours to fit in around the family.
Flexible working hours, work values and ethics of ‘nurturing a lifetime of music’ mirror home values of raising a family, networking on my area installs a feeling of belonging to the community which includes my family.
“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
This is how I feel about Monkey Music: I love teaching, singing, performing, interacting with children and building relationships with adults. Combine this with working for yourself, being in direct control of your turnover and profits and flexible working hours around the family and I feel this job is a winning formula.
Annual Support Meeting, Curricula Forum, knowledge that I can contact Head Office for support at any time, Facebook Monkey Troop to keep in touch with other franchisees and feel part of a team.
Self-motivation needed to execute the less interesting side of the business such as admin, accounting.
Recognition of my work by winning the Monkey Music Award for ‘Moving from good to great’, positive reviews from customer: e.g. 5 stars on Facebook with 30 reviews. Customers telling me that ‘Monkey Music is the highlight of their week.’ Dad’s approaching me outside of Monkey Music to tell me they know the words to the Monkey Music songs even though they haven’t been to a class as their child sings the songs at home. Seeing a child with Monkey in the supermarket or park highlighting how much Monkey Music means to the child. Being financially independent and having funds to contribute to my family outgoings and living a comfortable lifestyle.
Before joining Monkey Music, I worked as an area manager for a well-known high street fashion retailer. I was responsible for 40+ stores and a considerable amount of profit/turnover. My role involved managing and developing a team of managers to achieve various key performance indicators. A varied role that also included marketing, customer service, strategic and business planning all of which I still use today running my franchise!
Under 10 years.
I first heard about Monkey Music as I attended classes with my first son when he was 3 months old. After my second son was born we were all still going to Monkey Music and with maternity leave soon to end I was keen to explore more flexible working opportunities that would still challenge and stretch me but ensure I was around for my family too.
Every day – it’s a full time job – but you can flex the hours to suit your needs ie around school pick-ups..
The job is very flexible and fits well around family life. I am often able to pick William up from school and support him with his learning. I then plan in time to work a few additional hours in the evening to make sure from a business perspective I am up to date.
The ongoing support and training has been amazing. When I first started the business, I had a support call with the Franchise Support Manager every 6 weeks, this was a great help to ensure that I was going in the right direction. The teacher training forums have been an absolute inspiration. Sharing ideas with other teachers to ensure that you are planning and delivering the best classes and keeping ahead of the competition. The franchise network too is so supportive. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience which the network are always on hand to share.
It’s a great job, where you can utilise lots of skills. I love the creative side of the lesson planning and lesson delivery. Watching the children grow and develop is incredibly rewarding. The business side of things is also great as that is where I can stretch and challenge myself. Plus, I get to spend quality time with my family, which with a 9-5 job I could never do.
It is always busy so do not under estimate the hours that you need to put in. It is quite literally a full time flexible business opportunity.