Ep167 | From Accountant to Kip McGrath Franchise Owner: A 10 Year Journey ft. Magdel Barnard

Magdel Barnard did not plan to run a tutoring franchise. She was a chartered accountant with her own practice in South Africa, moved to New Zealand and went straight back into accounting.

Then a mum in the school playground told her something was wrong with her son's reading. The school reports said otherwise. The educational assessment did not. What followed was a tutoring course, a kitchen table classroom, a friend asking if her son could join in, and a phone call to Kip McGrath. That was ten years ago. She has never looked back.

In this episode of the Franchise Everything Podcast recorded at the Kip McGrath conference, Magdel shares what that decade actually looked like. Why switching from accounting to tutoring means giving up control of the outcome.

Why she tells every student to choose their hard now or face it later. Why she makes sure every child in her centre understands the financial sacrifice their parents are making to be there. And why no AI tool on the planet can replace a tutor who looks a struggling student in the eye and says I know you can do this.

0:00 Welcome and guest introduction Magdel Barnard franchise owner Kip McGrath Auckland New Zealand

0:50 Background as a chartered accountant in South Africa and the move to New Zealand

2:00 Taking a tutoring course specialising in dyslexia dyspraxia and dysgraphia to help her son

2:52 How helping her son led to contacting Kip McGrath and becoming a franchise owner

3:04 The emotional moment of finding out her son was struggling and the guilt that followed

5:00 How New Zealand's curriculum changes in 2025 are creating a new wave of students falling behind

7:05 Why the curriculum change is both an opportunity and a challenge for the business

8:17 How an accountant convinced Kip McGrath she was the right person to run a tutoring centre