{"id":7255,"date":"2020-11-13T11:30:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T11:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/?p=7255"},"modified":"2020-11-13T11:26:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T11:26:36","slug":"franchisee-case-study-debbi-ledwith-razzamataz-newbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/franchisee-case-study-debbi-ledwith-razzamataz-newbury\/","title":{"rendered":"Franchisee case study: Debbi Ledwith, Razzamataz Newbury"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Meet Debbi, mum of three who is the Principal of Razzamataz Newbury as well as working part time as a teacher. Hear how she balances all her commitments with home schooling over lockdown and her passion for the arts.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your background?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I qualified as a secondary school teacher of performing arts in 1992 and was the Head of Performing Arts at a school in Basingstoke since 2000. I\u2019m also mum to three children; Daniel 12 and Christopher and Jenna who are both ten.<\/p>\n

What attracted you to the franchise sector<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friend knew I was looking for a career change and she suggested a franchise theatre school to me as an option. I have never run my own business before and I had never really considered it until I found out more about Razzamataz. I had to learn a lot, I had to start from the very beginning in some areas, but it has been totally worth it. Being a part of Razzamataz is like being part of an extended family. There is always someone to ask for help and usually someone has encountered the problem before, so you don\u2019t have to constantly reinvent the wheel.<\/p>\n

How do you manage the work\/life balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

By being disciplined.\u00a0Three days a week I spend the whole day at my desk, working through the various elements of running a Razzamataz school.\u00a0The other two weekdays I am working\u00a0in school, so it\u2019s important that I prioritise, although the flexible nature of Razzamataz means I can catch up in the evenings if I need to. Saturday mornings are spent at Razzamataz and I usually take Saturday afternoons off.\u00a0Then Sunday I do the odd bit, depending on what the family are doing, ready to get back into it on Mondays.\u00a0I am currently having an office built and I think that this will help me to shut the door on my work at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

How did you manage home schooling and lockdown<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found running Razzamataz a lot less stressful than trying to home school three only partially-willing students!\u00a0There are a lot of parents in the Razzamataz network so there\u2019s a lot of consideration to this if you can\u2019t make one of the live webinars or training events. During lockdown, I focused on the children to help them with their school work and scheduled my Razzamataz work after they had finished. Without this flexibility it would have been almost impossible and made a difficult situation even more challenging.<\/p>\n

How has your team and students coped during the COVID pandemic<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am beyond proud of my team.\u00a0 During lockdown they all had to move massively out of their comfort zones and learn lots of new skills.\u00a0They didn’t complain once and were a great support to me as I was trying to figure it all out.\u00a0The team have adjusted incredibly quickly to teaching during COVID and have taken everything in their stride.\u00a0The students similarly, are adapting to everything that is being done to keep them safe.<\/p>\n

\"DebbiHow has Head Office helped you through 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whenever it got tough, there was always someone there to boost your morale.\u00a0Head Office gave us so much information and kept up completely informed during the whole lockdown process.\u00a0It is so reassuring knowing that there is always someone there to talk things through with you and to offer support.<\/p>\n

What are the most rewarding aspects of being a Razzamataz Principal, especially in this climate<\/strong><\/p>\n

It means such a lot to see our students every week and to know that we are still able to give them a good performing arts education even in these challenging times.\u00a0I love being my own boss and working to my own schedule, this really works for me.<\/p>\n

How does the flexible nature of Razzamataz suit you<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love being able to work around my life and my family.\u00a0This flexible working method enables me to be there for my three children whenever they need me.\u00a0Making the decision to invest in a Razzamataz school was the best one I could have made, I could never go back now.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a typical day like<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a ‘Razzamataz Work Day’ I take the children to their schools and then come back home.\u00a0I make a cup of tea and start work, checking my emails.\u00a0 This can take quite a while, depending on which day it is, then I move onto bigger jobs, such as marketing, finances or planning.\u00a0If I am picking up the children then this comes next.\u00a0If not, then I work through until about 6pm (usually remembering to stop for lunch).\u00a0Then it is time to cook dinner and relax with a glass of wine!<\/p>\n

\"Debbi<\/p>\n

How has Razzamataz helped you to grow and expand<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the challenges that we are set, such as the Facebook challenge during lockdown.\u00a0I am extremely competitive and these kinds of things really work for me.\u00a0I also love the awards at Conference, for the same reason.\u00a0Razzamataz is completely supportive of growth and on hand with ideas to make this happen.<\/p>\n

How do you stay motivated<\/strong><\/p>\n

I stay motivated for my family as well as for myself.\u00a0I want to be successful and to better my own achievements.\u00a0Being part of a successful franchise means that there is lots of contact between Head Office and the Principals, as well as between the Principals themselves.\u00a0Once you set out to do something, there are others to spur you on.<\/p>\n

How important do you think the arts are for children today \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Extremely important.\u00a0As a secondary school teacher, I can see how much it means to my students to have an outlet for their emotions and feelings.\u00a0It is the same at Razzamataz, our students need the creativity and escapism in their lives right now. It is for this reason that I want to continue to grow and to share my love of Razzamataz with as many students as possible.<\/p>\n

What have you learnt about yourself through business<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve discovered that I can do whatever I put my mind to. Franchising has taught me that I can learn new skills and use them to achieve success at the same time as being able to spend quality time with my children without feeling guilty. Through running Razzamataz, I\u2019ve learnt that work can be fun and rewarding and I can react quickly to issues and solve them efficiently.<\/p>\n

What advice can you offer anyone considering a franchise <\/strong><\/p>\n

What are you waiting for?\u00a0If you love performing arts and working with children and want a job that is rewarding then go for it.\u00a0The more you put in, the better it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Debbi, mum of three who is the Principal of Razzamataz Newbury as well as working part time as a teacher. Hear how she balances all her commitments with home schooling over lockdown and her passion for the arts. What\u2019s your background? I qualified as a secondary school teacher of performing arts in 1992 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-razzamataz","category-childrens-franchises"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Debbi-Ledwith.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}