Muddy Stilettos


<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-did-you-come-up-with-the-idea-for-inspired-education">How did you come up with the idea for Inspired Education?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2048" height="1536" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2840.JPG.jpeg" alt="NADIM INSPIRED" class="wp-image-130972" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2840.JPG.jpeg 2048w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2840.JPG-600x450.jpeg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2840.JPG-1000x750.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2840.JPG-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nadim and daughter Lyla</figcaption></figure>



<p>I was a partner in a large private equity firm and had an idea to create and grow a school group, but I kept getting turned down by the senior investment committee and I was getting frustrated. Then I suffered the biggest tragedy imaginable – my daughter Lyla died from a rare brain cancer just after her third birthday in 2012&nbsp;&nbsp;[you can read Nadim’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lylansoulifoundation.org/about-lyla.php#:~:text=Lyla%20Nsouli%20Foundation%20%2D%20About%20Lyla,loved%20to%20sing%20and%20dance." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">moving tribute to Lyla here</a>] – and in that moment my whole perspective on life changed.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I left my job with no real plans, but for me it didn’t feel like a risk. I had already lost everything that was important to me. I was like, “What more can I lose?” Everything became irrelevant. So, I started my own thing and started with this little group of four schools in South Africa in 2013. Now we own and operate 125 schools in 30 countries, educate 95,000 students and employ over 14,000 staff members;&nbsp;and Inspired is just coming up to 13 years old.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-dna-of-an-inspired-school-nbsp">What’s the DNA of an Inspired school?&nbsp;</h4>



<p>The most important thing in an Inspired education is for the child to be confident in who they are, and for us to respect who they are as individuals. Everything we structure is around the child, then it’s the staff and after that it’s the parents. When a school joins the group, we always respect the ethos and values of what made that school special. We share what that school does well with other schools in the Inspired group and so on- we basically are maintaining the ethos and values of each school while sharing and implementing best practices globally.&nbsp;</p>



<p>On top of that, we very much believe in the three pillars-with academics being at the centre but Sports and Performing Arts as equal pillars to Academics, so we make sure these are ingrained. A big benefit of us being a global group is we are able to create international school exchanges and summer camps; we currently have 500 children around the world doing an exchange programme at Inspired schools, with 15 pupils currently spending half a term boarding at our school here in the Bahamas.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-school-groups-get-a-bad-rap-for-being-commercially-driven-nbsp-can-you-run-a-vastly-profitable-school-empire-and-be-altruistic-about-education">School groups get a bad rap for being commercially driven.&nbsp;Can you run a vastly profitable school empire and be altruistic about education?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="900" height="1187" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/international_group_of_premium_schools.jpg.jpeg" alt="REDDAM HOUSE SCHOOL WOKINGHAM" class="wp-image-130975" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/international_group_of_premium_schools.jpg.jpeg 900w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/international_group_of_premium_schools.jpg-455x600.jpeg 455w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/international_group_of_premium_schools.jpg-758x1000.jpeg 758w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Inspired school, Reddam House in Wokingham</figcaption></figure>



<p>I love this debate! Listen, whether I’m for-profit is completely irrelevant. Who is going to come to my school if I have bad facilities, a bad head teacher, no sports, no performing arts? Schools are basically products and services, and if I offer a bad product, I&#8217;m not going to have any students. And a school is one of the few products and services where the alternative is not only another school on offer at the same price, but one that’s free offered by the state!</p>



<p>There&#8217;s not one of my schools that is not one of the top three in the city in which we operate academically, and that&#8217;s despite being non-selective.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I have little respect for some of the most famous academic schools; I mean, if I accept only the academic top one percent in the country, then you better damn well get them into the top universities in the world. I&#8217;m taking pupils without even knowing what they’re going to get, and then I&#8217;m getting them the best possible grades and having them achieve beyond their potential. That, for me, is a much bigger achievement than what the highly selective schools do. And then on top of it, I&#8217;m able to make a profit.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wow-tell-it-how-it-is-nadim">Wow, tell it how it is, Nadim</h4>



<p>You ask me a question, I&#8217;m going to answer it…&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-re-always-interviewing-billionaires-on-muddy-um-sort-of-ok-never-your-work-life-must-be-crazy-how-do-you-find-balance-nbsp">We’re always interviewing billionaires on Muddy (um, sort of. OK, never). Your work life must be crazy – how do you find balance?&nbsp;</h4>



<p>I am not a billionaire… Honestly, I think balance for me is impossible. With schools in so many continents I can work 24 hours non-stop, and I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ll ever get to a mentality where I’ll be like, “Oh, I lost this opportunity, but it&#8217;s okay, I&#8217;ll get the next one’. The problem with that approach is then you don&#8217;t have a life, right? But I don&#8217;t think the ‘balance’ thing is the right answer, because it potentially goes against your own personality of being driven and competitive. Also, is chasing your personal balance the right answer for your shareholders and your stakeholders?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>The thing is, I’m always striving. To be competitive you want to do more. I tell people on my team, “Listen, I&#8217;m hard on you because I&#8217;m even harder on myself. Don&#8217;t ask me for pats on the back. I don&#8217;t want to hear about all the good stuff; just keep doing it. Tell me about the bad stuff so I can help you solve it.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s how I am with myself as well. I don&#8217;t look back and say, “Oh, great, you did such a good job”. I think as soon as you get to the point where you&#8217;re satisfied, you have to move on and let someone else do your job.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-you-a-british-success-story">Are you a British success story?</h4>



<p>No, I’m 100% Lebanese. I have a British passport, and I did live in London for 20 years, but there’s nothing British about me. Obviously, if you&#8217;re successful, you are described as British Lebanese in the British Press. If you commit some bad act, then you&#8217;re just Lebanese!</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-life-is-about-creating-brilliant-education-for-kids-tell-us-about-your-own-family">Your life is about creating brilliant education for kids. Tell us about your own family.</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-scaled.jpg" alt="King’s College School Bahamas " class="wp-image-130995" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-600x400.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kings-College-School-Bahamas-Inspired-Ed-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://www.kingscollegeschool.bs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">King’s College School Bahamas</a>&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>



<p>I have three amazing kids – one of them just turned nine, the second is turning 13 in February, and the eldest is now 15.&nbsp;&nbsp;We’ve lived in the Bahamas for the last five years, but I&#8217;ll be very upfront, I moved here primarily because of flawed UK tax policy.&nbsp;We moved here, and the local school wasn’t great and I just thought, “These guys will sell me their school and I’ll fix it”. I was very naive about how this place operates. They told me, “No, we&#8217;re not doing that,” and I said “Guys if you don’t do that, I’m going to have to open my own school. They thought I was bluffing, but I don&#8217;t bluff, and I opened one. I’m still not very popular with them! But our school&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kingscollegeschool.bs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">King’s College School Bahamas</a>&nbsp;is incredible, it opened three years ago and it is almost at capacity</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-your-own-childhood-like">What was your own childhood like?</h4>



<p>I was born in Lebanon during the civil war. The country was tearing itself apart – things like my classroom being on fire because someone fired an RPG the night before; or my French teacher getting kidnapped; or a bullet coming into my house that missed my brother by inches; friends getting killed by sniper fire or by playing with booby trapped toys. We have a lot of stories like that, unfortunately. But you know, on the other hand, we were insulated because of our strong family. I’m very close to my brothers, my parents have been together for 60+ years, and we grew up with a lot of cousins, aunts, uncles. I give a lot of credit to my family for giving me stability but then I also credit the instability caused by the war forcing us to move with my ability to work with anybody around the world, and land in countries I have never been to before and get deals done!&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-did-you-try-hard-at-school"><strong>Did you try hard</strong> <strong>at school?</strong></h4>



<p>I was terrible student! I wouldn’t get a scholarship to any one of my own schools, that’s for sure. I was always trying to get away with things and make people laugh. In a way it was just a reaction to the turmoil &#8211; the street to street fighting under our buildings, snipers and bullets. Eventually my family left Lebanon for good.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-have-a-daily-routine">Do you have a daily routine?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2101" height="2560" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-scaled.jpeg" alt="nspired Education founder &amp; CEO Nadim Nsouli and family" class="wp-image-130978" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-scaled.jpeg 2101w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-493x600.jpeg 493w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-821x1000.jpeg 821w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-1261x1536.jpeg 1261w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nadim-Inspired-and-kids-1681x2048.jpeg 1681w" sizes="(max-width: 2101px) 100vw, 2101px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nadim and family</figcaption></figure>



<p>My life is all about my kids and my business; that’s it. I&#8217;m a very early morning person and I like structure, so I start my first calls at 5am. I stop from 7am-8am because that&#8217;s when the kids are up and getting ready to go to school. I&#8217;m back working from 8am-12pm, before going to the gym for an hour with a 15-minute lunch, then I work from 1.30pm till dinner. I might exercise again early evening before dinner. I do a lot of sport, otherwise I&#8217;ll go crazy. It puts me in a totally different headspace.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-biggest-misconception-about-you">What’s the biggest misconception about you?</h4>



<p>That I’m living the dream – I&#8217;m not! One of my biggest regrets is that I&#8217;ve travelled so much in the last 13 years, but I barely know these countries in terms of culture and fun because I literally get my work done and fly out on the same day so I can be with the kids. It’s such a lost opportunity. Work-wise we’re opening more schools this year and we’ve also just launched the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inspirededu.com/news/inspired-education-announces-nsouli-scholars-programme-2026-support-next-generation-global#:~:text=Bahamas%20as...-,Inspired%2C%20the%20leading%20global%20group%20of%20premium%20schools%20which%20delivers,2026%20to%20support%20the..." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nsouli Scholars Programme 2026</a>&nbsp;to offer fully funded places to exceptional pupils who can’t afford to access an Inspired education – but who knows, maybe this is the year I also pay attention to myself a bit.</p>



<p><em><a href="https://www.inspirededu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inspired Education</a></em></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



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<ul>
<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/school-reviews/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Discover 600+ school review in Muddy&#8217;s Best Schools Guide</a></li>



<li><a href="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/reddam-house-wokingham/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Review: Reddam House Scholl, Wokingham</a></li>



<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/pembridge-hall-preparatory-school-notting-hill/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Review: Pembridge Hall School, London</a></li>
</ul>


Is this the most influential man in education right now?

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