Impulse English Academy is an English academy in Madrid with more than 220 students and a 5.0 rating on Google from 189 reviews. It has been open for four years, and it's where I learned how a business really finds and keeps its customers.
Daniel Fitzpatrick
I love business, and I love helping other owners grow theirs.
I grew up in Clonakilty in West Cork, and I'm a qualified secondary school teacher who ended up building businesses. Today I own three: an English academy in Madrid, a company that runs language trips to Ireland, and a marketing business that helps Irish companies win more customers.
How I got here
Sport was my whole identity when I was young. Then came back surgery, two hip surgeries and shoulder surgery. It took me a while to accept what those injuries were telling me, but I finally realised that sport wasn't the arena for me. Business was.
Some of what followed was hard, including five months living in the storage room of my own academy. You can read the full story here.
What I've built
Danu Local takes what I learned there and applies it to Irish businesses. A lead means nothing on its own. The system behind it means everything, and that's why we sell booked appointments rather than leads.
Danu Cultural Institute runs language trips to Ireland, which brings my work in education back home.
Charity work
I have a keen interest in fundraising and charity work. After earthquakes struck Venezuela in June 2026, people in West Cork gave almost €7,000, and in October I travelled to La Guaira and helped deliver supplies to more than 220 children. I'm going back this December to reach 400 children.
Read about the appeal and how to help.In the press
The Southern Star, the Cork Independent and The Echo have all written about the Venezuela work. You can find their coverage here.
