What Happens When Two Sons of
Martial Arts Grandmasters Team Up?

They Revolutionize The Way Member-Based Schools Operate.

Hi, We’re Master Ron Sell &
Grandmaster Cheong Park

If you want to stop being an owner who has to be on the mat, in the studio or on the gym floor all the time – then you share the same mindset as us. The reason we built Spark Membership is simple: to help overworked member-based business owners win back
their time and lifestyle (including ourselves).

 

We started out helping Martial Arts schools. But, today, Spark Membership helps thousands of member-based
businesses of all kinds run more efficiently.

We’ve Got 30+ Years Of Real-World Experience Running
Member-Based Businesses Just Like Yours

We’ve been in the game since the early 1990s. We’re part of the last generation of martial arts 

passing from father down to son. Our fathers were Grand Masters, and they passed their
knowledge and wisdom down to us…


This passing of knowledge from one generation to the next lives on in Spark. We pass everything 

we’ve learned from 30+ years running member-based businesses down to the next generation
of member-based businesses like yours.

More Than Just Kickass Software, All The Guidance And Knowledge Member-Based Businesses Need To Succeed

As small business owners ourselves, we know what it’s like.
Building a business is the ultimate challenge. It takes a whole lot
of passion and more work than you ever imagined. And there
are no guarantees of success.

 

While we might not be able to guarantee your success, we can dramatically increase your chances of achieving it. That’s because Spark empowers you with all the knowledge, tools and technologies you need to build the business and lifestyle for your family you’ve dreamed about.

 

“Humbly speaking, the superpower of Spark
has always been understanding what it takes to run a member-based business, what owners need most,
and how to create it.”

Ron Sell

Master Ron Sell

Co-Founder & CEO Of Spark Membership
7th Degree Black Belt

Spark Has The Power To Change The Direction Of Your
Future…But, First, Let’s Take A Look At Our Past…

1991 – Opening the
doors on school no.1

Having practically grown up in martial arts schools, run by his parents who were both Grand Masters, Ron opened his first school in 1991 in Florida. Ron was just 19 at the time and it would start a decades-long journey as a small business owner.

1995-1999 – Here Come Schools 2 & 3

After four years, school number one was thriving. It was time to expand. Ron opened his second school in 1995, aged just 23. Like his first, the second school grew rapidly. And there was only one thing to do: open a third school. And that’s exactly what he did, opening school number three in 1999.

2003 – Opening school 4 & growing fast

After 12 years, business was booming. Ron was managing three successful schools. Demand was everywhere. So he opened his fourth school in Tampa, Florida. Based on everything he’d learned from 12 years running schools, this fourth location exploded to 320 students in the first 6 months. But then the overwhelm started to set in…

2004 – Selling up & stepping back

By now, Ron was running four schools, training 1000s of students and working non-stop 80+ hour weeks. There’s no sugar-coating it, he was overwhelmed. His businesses were running him. He had no free time to spend with his partner, newborn baby, or hobbies. Something had to give. So, he made the difficult decision to sell his schools and take a step back.

2004-14 – First foray into software

Enjoying clear headspace for the first time in over
a decade, Ron had time to think. Why had his schools
been so successful when others struggled? The answer
was systemization. Ron had built systems for every
aspect of business. He took these systems, taught
himself to code, and built his first successful
member-based software business.

2015 – Going in different directions

After ten years building software used by 1000s of businesses, Ron and his partner had different visions for the company. So, Ron exited his first software company. With everything he’d learned about building software, Ron knew there would be a round two. And next time would be even bigger and better.

2017 – It started with a ‘Spark’

Refreshed from a break and still with the mind of a school owner, Ron couldn’t shake his drive to help other small business owners. Armed with the knowledge of building software for the past decade, Ron teamed up with Grand Master Cheong Park, the owner of eight successful martial arts schools to build Spark Membership.

The name said it all. Spark was about bringing the fire and burning desire to help small business owners.

2018 – Building the DNA & code of Spark

For the second time in his career, Ron sacrificed time with his family. He moved to South Florida for weeks at a time to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Grandmaster Park. Spark combined Ron’s real-world and software experience with Grandmaster Park’s on-the-ground connection of owning multiple schools.

Months were spent in the trenches, running into roadblocks and setbacks. But what kept us going was we were going to help a lot of school owners overcome the problems we’d faced ourselves as small business owners.

“Our philosophy for Spark from the start was no
holds barred transparency. We committed to sharing everything we’d learned from three decades running schools. This was rare in an industry where people don’t often share what it takes to succeed.”

Cheong Park

Grand Master Cheong Park
Senior CEO of Spark Membership
7th Degree Black Belt

2019 – Take off: 1,000 schools helped in year one

Two years after the Spark was lit, it was time to launch. And Spark took off in a way beyond what we ever imagined. School after school started signing up for Spark. We were riding a rocket ship!

 

First 10 schools. Then 100. Then we flew past 1000 schools in our first year. We felt exhilarated. And vindicated. We’d built a product that instantly solved the biggest problems that school operators had been crying out for help with.

2020 - Pivoting
in the pandemic

Just as everything was going smoothly, the pandemic hit. Our first thoughts were with the 1000s of businesses using Spark whose doors were forced closed indefinitely. Their livelihoods were under threat. We pivoted fast, introducing new features, including online training courses, so schools could go virtual to survive. Incredibly, over 500 new schools adopted Spark during the pandemic to shift their businesses online.

2022 - $50,000,000+ generated & going global

We quickly learned that many of the problems martial arts schools face are the same ones other member-based businesses deal with. Now, member-based businesses of
all kinds, like Yoga studies, CrossFit gyms and Cheerleading schools, across four continents depend on Spark daily. We’ve expanded our product to cater to their every need – without ever forgetting our martial arts roots.

To Date, Spark Has Helped Member-Based Businesses Generate $40,062,744.59. And Even Though We’ve Been In The Game For 30 Years, We’re Still Only Just Getting Started…

Join 2,000+ Member-Based Businesses…
Win Back Your Time & Lifestyle With Spark Membership

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