Hong Kong's international school market is so competitive that families who "spray and pray" their own applications usually fail, and increasingly turn to consultants after the fact.

In this MAD LABZ episode of the Madness Podcast, Nik sits down with Stefan Tueger, Executive Director at Lion Rock Education in Hong Kong ,a former school marketing and admissions director, who crossed over to found his own education consultancy after growing frustrated with how little most agents and consultants actually understood the families they were placing.

Stefan draws a clear line between the two often-confused roles: consultants work for the family, digging deep into a child's character and a household's fit before recommending schools - sometimes steering parents away from the "obvious" popular choices entirely - while agents work for the schools that pay them, prioritising placement speed over depth of research. He unpacks why Hong Kong has become a genuine outlier globally for day-school consultancy demand, with waitlists stretching years, tough interview gauntlets, and a market that runs on relationships and transparency rather than who you know on the board.

The conversation turns practical with Stefan's top tips for schools looking to get more out of their agent and consultant networks: reply fast, since families often need a place immediately; be proactive about sharing changes (new principals, opening classes, spare year-group spots); treat trusted consultants as an honest feedback channel into what parents really think; and arm partners with the unglamorous but decisive details, like school bus routes, that can make or break a family's decision. A useful listen for admissions and marketing teams weighing whether, and how, to lean more on external referral networks, plus a candid look at why some agencies get rejected wholesale and what separates a partner worth working with from one that isn't.