Stephen Oliver

Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt and the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, one of the martial arts industry's leading coaching and consulting organizations for professional martial arts school owners, BJJ academies, and MMA gyms. A martial arts school owner since 1975 and business coach since 1985, Oliver has spent more than five decades building, operating, and advising successful martial arts schools. He also serves as CEO and Chairman of NAPMA (the National Association of Professional Martial Artists) and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A Georgetown University cum laude graduate, he earned his Executive MBA through the Executive Program at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He was promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt in April 2026 and inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame in August 2026. He founded Mile High Karate in Lakewood, Colorado, in August 1983. Learn more at MartialArtsWealth.com and StephenCOliver.com.

School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverApril 1, 2016
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Geoff Cielo: Leadership Development as the Growth Lever

A case study in transformational growth driven by a leadership programme rather than by marketing spend.
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverJanuary 1, 2016
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Paul Miller: Running a Four-Million-Dollar Operation, and What Comes After

A school operator at four million dollars in annual revenue on the management problems that only appear at that scale.
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverJuly 1, 2015
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Buzz Durkin: Student Service as the Whole Business

One of the industry's highest earners on why he treats student service, not marketing, as the growth engine.
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Industry History

Stephen OliverMay 29, 2015
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Sterling, Virginia, 2015: A Mastermind Meeting and What Came Out of It

A May 2015 mastermind meeting with Jeff Smith, Stephen Oliver and Greg Moody, and the numbers attendees reported afterwards.
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Industry History

Stephen OliverMarch 12, 2015
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Panama City, 2015: School Owners at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center

In March 2015 a martial arts mastermind group toured the U.S. Navy’s diving and salvage school and heard from its…
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverDecember 1, 2014
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Robert Blum: Turning Around a School That Had Limped Along for Fifteen Years

A former IBM executive whose job was outsourced took over a failing school and reported an 800% increase in business…
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Industry History

Stephen OliverNovember 3, 2014
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West Point, 2014: What a Martial Arts Mastermind Went to a Military Academy to Learn

In November 2014 a group of martial arts school owners met at the United States Military Academy at West Point.…
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverOctober 1, 2014
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David Inman: Running a Top-Performing School

The operating detail behind a school performing at the top of its peer group.
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverAugust 1, 2014
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Joe Borucki: From Struggling to a Second Location

A school owner on the path from a struggling single school to opening a second location.
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School Owner Profiles: Behind the Scenes with the Top 1%

Stephen OliverJanuary 16, 2013
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Paul Miller, 2013: The Four-Million-Dollar Operation, Three Years Earlier

The Sounds of Success interview with Master Paul Miller, presented on this page.
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