Culture doesn’t just pertain to geographical regions – it occurs sociologically in any space where humans congregate and build life. It’s the different feeling you get when you step into a Planet Fitness versus a Lifetime Fitness versus Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy in California.

The feeling (or vibe, you could say) a space gives off is distinct, and it has everything to do with the culture fostered in it.

It’s the person smiling behind the counter versus the one pretending you don’t exist – or worse, an empty front desk. It’s the protocol you take when you bow on and off the mats, and when you thank our training partners at the end of class. 

Culture makes a place, group of people or business unique. Creating culture can be like putting on a show – one that never stops, yet sustains itself and fuels all of its actors.

At Easton Training Center, we have a culture of respect and stewardship. For example, our founder Amal Easton implemented the rule of lining up by order of rank, with the higher belts peeling down and training with lower belts.

In martial arts academies where this sort of partnering doesn’t intentionally happen, higher belts may often just train with each other, leaving the white belts to fend for themselves, unarmed and – most times – unskilled. 

With Amal’s method, upper belts could share their knowledge with white belts while working carefully to exert control over their movements. 

Upper belts still get good work in as well. When attending higher class levels, like intermediate and advanced classes, even the lowest ranked student is fairly skilled. Higher belts also choose their partners first when it comes time to train, starting with the Black Belts and moving down the pecking order until everyone is partnered up.

This ensures that Easton academies have strong cultures, with higher belts passing knowledge directly to lower belts in class, while also affording those same higher belts ample opportunity to get high level training in. 

Culture happens alongside structure

Whether you’re a two-man operation or you’ve got a whole team to work with, it’s important that you work to develop your culture alongside your systems.

This means that as you work to systemize your processes, like streamlining classes with a curriculum, or creating video tutorials so your instructors can hold an orientation session the same way every time, you’re doing so in a space that still depends on and values people. 

It’s easy to lean to one side or another – sometimes having an extremely proficient marketing strategy and effective social media presence, but lacking some of these qualities in your brick-and-mortar space.

The last thing you want is for somebody visiting your town to check your website, see that you’re open for class and drop in to find the academy vacant and the front desk with a sticky note that says “BRB.”

“Culture is a byproduct of the principles and values of a given group of people,” says Jordan Shipman, former GM of Easton Training Center in Longmont, Colorado, and current Kids Martial Arts Program Director. 

“Sometimes these principles are defined, and sometimes they’re not. In those instances – the group inevitably takes on the values and principles of its leaders.”

When building a culture, it’s important for values and information to trickle down one cohesive stream. From the GMs to staff to senior students to new students – each of these will set the example for how the next should act. 

Trying to build a culture? 

Write down five keywords that are important to you for a business, or team, to have. Maybe you wrote honesty or something seemingly basic like kindness. Would you go above and beyond to make sure your team reflected those?

Choose values that you would fight tooth and nail to preserve. These values will water and grow the garden that becomes your community. 

When you’ve decided on the values you want to foster, make sure everyone on your team is on the same page. You can’t expect people to just know how to act if you don’t tell them.

Explain to your team why a certain way to show up is important to the company’s values, like greeting everyone who walks through the door by name. 

Not everyone will buy into or believe in the values you set. In those cases, it’s imperative to either get those staff members on the same page or to (amicably) let them go. Nothing kills culture in a company or academy like people who disregard the team’s values. 

You can learn about a place’s culture by studying it, but the best way is through example. Just as a toddler mimics what the adults and children around her do, we take cues from our peers to guide us in the space’s social norms. Your staff and students do the same.

As a leader and business, whatever values you allow ourselves to display – from camaraderie to ego – will ripple out into your community. That’s why some schools have entitled upper belts, groaning, weight-dropping bros and counters full of employees that barely notice you, while other places feel like home.