Latest / The Women Behind the WOW / From Baby Sensory Mum to Business Owner | Helen's 15-Year Journey
Transcript
- Lee Whitwell: Welcome to The Women Behind the Wow. I'm Lee Whitwell and today's conversation is really special one for me. I am going to be chatting to Helen, who became my very first franchisee back in 2011. So we've got lots of years to look back on, lots of stories to reminisce about, and probably quite a few that we've both forgotten about too. Helen has spent the last 15 years building a baby sensory business and being part of the lives of so many families, so many thousands and thousands of families. But this conversation is a little bit bittersweet too because the time has come for Helen to pass the baton on her knees, her back, finally telling her that 15 years of getting up and down to those babies on the floor is enough. and her baby is now looking, her baby, well, is her baby, her business is now looking for a new owner. So today we're gonna go right back to the beginning. We're gonna be talking about how it started, how she built it, what she built, the highs, the difficult bits, and what this business has meant to her. So let's meet Helen. hello. Very excited, very, very excited Helen: Good morning! Lee Whitwell: to be speaking to you on this. Helen: so I'm Helen, Helen Barrett. I run Baby Sensory North Reading. I've been running that for five years now and before that I was Baby Sensory High Wycombe and Marlow which I ran for 10 years. Lee Whitwell: Amazing. Helen: Yeah. Lee Whitwell: So again before we go back, what does your classes and your business look like now? Helen: What do they look like now? Crazy. Crazy, crazy. So I run three days a week. I run three classes in each location. And across my territory, I think I've got a really nice dimension across my territory. So I run in Tilehurst on a Thursday. I run in Caversham Heights on a Wednesday. And I run in Henley on a Tuesday. So yeah, they're all doing really, really well. Lots of returning mums and babies. which is really really lovely. Lots of new ones being pulled in as well. So yeah, they're definitely keeping me busy. Lee Whitwell: Amazing. So if I if I'm a new customer and I come to your class and I I nervously open that door, what you know, and I don't know anything about baby sensory, tell me what what what what is baby sensory? Helen: So Baby Sensory, our classes are an hour long. They include sensory activities and free flow play. So when somebody comes in, I just welcome them, obviously introduce myself, let them know where everything is within the class. And I usually say, this is our sensory area. We're going to be here for around 20 minutes. Activities range anything from singing, signing, musical instruments, puppet shows, water play, messy play, balloons, parachutes, lights, bubbles, pom poms, you name it, we use it. but not all in the same week, thank goodness, because that would just be crazy. I say that the music is different every week, the activities are different every week. If somebody comes for an entire year, they are never going to see the same lesson planned twice. There's always something new and exciting every single week. So after around 20 minutes or so, we have our exploratory play area. That changes around as well, have lots of different activities going on over there, lots of... toys, tents, puppets, books and so on. And then we come back to the sensory area and we have more sensory activities before we finish with our wave goodbye. And I always explain the importance of having that play, rest, play within the class so that babies aren't getting overstimulated by the activities. So they need that rest period as well. I always point to the bed area in the middle, which is nearly always a favorite place, especially in my younger baby classes, because by then the babies are like, right, need a little snooze now. call it our little power surge. Mums sit around and they have a good chat and that's one of my favourite parts of the class is when I'm clearing up from the first part of sensory activities. And they'll go off for playtime and I can just hear the buzz. I mean obviously as the babies get older it gets louder and you hear balls being thrown around, goodness knows what, but just the buzz of conversation and that just, I love that and I know how many friendships are formed in my classes. And people come back and they go, I used to come with so and so and so and so and I still see them and that's like three or four years later. So I really love that and I think it's just such a lovely community as well. But yeah, that's how I describe babysensory. Then come and make yourself comfortable. I think it's really, really important when babies come or mums come through the door, dads, carers, whatever. It's just about the babies, so if they need feeding, changing, get unsettled, they don't have to wait for the play break. just do what you need to do when you need to do it. I just want people to come, relax, pretty much the same as I am at home. I just want them to make themselves at home, want them to be comfortable and enjoy the time that they're there. Lee Whitwell: And I think in this day and age, you know, creating somewhere where, you know, adults can make friends. they may be a lawyer, I They could have done anything before and be very proficient in whatever that is, and then we have Helen: Yeah. Lee Whitwell: a baby. Helen: Yeah. Lee Whitwell: And actually, know, creating this space where they're comfortable enough to be able to just talk about what's going on. Helen: Yeah, that's what I always say. mean, sometimes I get them doing the doubtless things and I always say, goodness, I wish I was recording everybody right now. And I always laugh when I make them do silly sign songs or whatever. And I say, we were all professional women and then we became mums. And it just all goes out the window. And I know a lot of like my mums have got really professional careers. and they are just singing like the wise man builds his house upon the rock and whoosh it. It's just really fun it's just yeah it's complete madness sometimes but good fun. Lee Whitwell: So let's go back. Zip zip zip zip zip zip. Helen: when I have less lines and wrinkles less grey hair Lee Whitwell: When we had less lines. Hey, I pay to have mine the colour it probably is. I'm literally fooling myself and just dyeing it grey, knowing this is actually the colour if I left So when we didn't have grey and Helen: Wrinkles, yeah. Lee Whitwell: wrinkles, and our knees didn't hurt and we didn't ache and our and our memory was with us, you know, 24-7. Helen: You Mm-hmm. Lee Whitwell: I think were you my one of my first customers? Briony was my literal first Helen: Yeah. Lee Whitwell: taster. Helen: Yeah, so I started, I think it was about April 2011. So, Orla was about four months or so. Yeah, and I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea what baby sensory was. And I just remember walking through that door and just like, wow, that was it. I was hooked. And like I say to a lot of people, I never left. I'm still here. And Orla will be 16 in November. Lee Whitwell: so you started in the April, and I think in the December you were signing contracts and starting your own classes in 2012, early 2012. What made you make that decision? What were you doing before? Helen: I don't know. I was an accountant in the motor industry. So it was quite a high pressure job. And I mean, I think at the time I had no idea I had postnatal depression. And the thought of going back to work just absolutely freaked me out. And even though had lovely nursery all lined up, grandparents in the wings to take over childcare as well. I just, the thought of going back to that environment just really scared me. And then I don't know, it was probably one of the emails that you sent out one day and it had a bottom franchise opportunities available. And I thought I could do that. And I remember saying to my husband, do you reckon I could do this? And he says, what, stand up in front of a room full of people and make an idiot of yourself. He went, you do it every day at work. I went, true, it's not quite a boardroom, but, and. So I just, yeah, I contacted you. Next thing I remember coming on a taster session with you to, it was winter wonderland, and I remember picking up paper snow all day and I came home and I thought, what am I doing? Lee Whitwell: Yeah. Helen: And I was absolutely exhausted. I just fell asleep on the sofa in the evening, but I had so much fun. And I could, obviously being a mum in those classes for that year, I just knew the benefits of it and how it made people feel. And that's what I kind of, I just needed to do something different. it just felt like that was the natural step for me to take to be more involved. And also what it really did, what it allowed me to do and still allows me to do to this day. I've never had to worry about childcare. I've had every school holiday with Orla, which is also important for me because my mum lives 200 miles away. So in the school holidays, we go and see her. And it's just worked around my family. I mean, there's very little I've missed out on school plays and trips and special assemblies or whatever. I've been able to do that because I've been able to plan my classes around my life. So yeah, it just became a real sort of natural thing to do. I mean, it was the scariest heck because I remember at the time you said, right, you can either have Oxford or High Wycombe because I couldn't have Reading So I did spend 10 years trundling up and down that M4. But yeah, it just, was fun. It was really exciting. It was really scary. I mean, I had absolutely no idea. I didn't know High Wycombe at all. But yeah, just doing something new and exciting and fun and actually bringing that joy to other parents was just unbelievable and it just felt really worthwhile. So what I've done for the last 15 years, it's just felt really, really worthwhile. Lee Whitwell: let's talk about building your business because you built your business in High Wickham from scratch. Helen: Mm. Lee Whitwell: Can you remember what it felt like? Helen: It was hard work because I mean as everybody knows I'm not the best person on social media but we didn't really have social media then it was walking around with leaflets putting up posters. I honestly don't know how I did it I started in Marlow I think and with Widmere End up in Hazelmere and word just soon spread which was amazing Yeah, and I just built on those classes. I moved around an awful lot. this is how times have changed. I remember once, I used to go and drive to Wooban Green, set up, run one class, clear down, drive to Marlowe, set up, run another class, and then tidy up really quickly because yoga were coming in. And that's what I did. Yeah, Lee Whitwell: I vaguely remember saying, You are mad, Helen. Don't do that. Helen: absolutely bonkers. And I think Marlow I... I moved around so many times in Marlow until I found the perfect venue and obviously when I found I ended up at Liston Hall and I stayed there until I left. But yeah, I had really good sort of good locations and then of course I got my Jess. Jess, my class leader, she was absolutely amazing and between us we had two days each and yeah it just grew and grew and grew and I was really sad to leave High Wycombe. But the time was coming and obviously Briony was thinking of leaving here, so it was just such a natural step. Lee Whitwell: what I like about you as a business owner, you've never been scared to try new things. So you've never been scared to move your venues. You've had class leaders, you've you know, you've you've you've changed from one area to another. So, you know, as a business owner you have you know, you've never been scared to try new things. Helen: No, which is quite funny really because I think I might go back to my star sign, I'm a Libra and I weigh things up and sometimes I can't make a decision to save my life so I'll probably try bit of everything until I find the right thing. But yeah, I realise when things do need changing and yeah, I think I'm one of these people, it's better to regret the things you've done and the things you haven't done. And that's always been my philosophy. So it's like, well, let's give something a go and hope it'll work. And most of the time it has, sometimes it hasn't. And I've to admit defeat and move on. But yeah, it's like, just try something new and see if it works. And if it does, then fantastic. Lee Whitwell: think there's this good thing about being in business actually, you know, it's yours and you know, you can try different things, you can do different things, Helen: Mmm. Lee Whitwell: which keeps it interesting. Helen: and then COVID hit. mean, blimey, we've had some ups and downs, haven't we, over the years. And running baby classes from my front room was just probably up there with one of the most craziest things I've ever done. But it entertained my neighbours as they'd walk past and I'd be jigging around, doing an Irish jig, waving ribbons around or something. Lee Whitwell: Well I was gonna ask you, what has been the most difficult part during this fifteen years? Helen: I COVID was hard for everybody. And I remember you saying, right, everybody get your hairs cut. You're going to be on video for the next however many months. And yeah, just being online, that was really crazy. And actually. I think at the time I had 220 customers and I went down to about 20 overnight. That was really tough. But I think by about the third lockdown, I was inundated and I was running birthday parties online and family members were joining from all around the world. And I remember in one particular weekend, we had a birthday party and the family was part Dutch and the family joined in from Holland and the granddad made all these puppets. and he was singing along. One of the aunties was a singer and she did this song and everybody was crying and it was just so lovely because people just used to join in and then it got to a point where babies would come up and then touch the screen and people used to send me videos of their babies watching me on the screen and you know that was absolutely lovely. So yeah, a tough time. Especially when I thought I still had to run all 12 classes from my living room at the same time whilst my daughter was trying to do school work and my husband was trying to work. Once we worked out how to do it, I think it was a learning curve for all of us, wasn't it? It was just like we had to just do what we could at the time. But recording studios, my garage became my recording studio and I had it all set up with pretty butterflies and everything. And then I ended up doing baby massage on there as well. So I was doing Hello Baby at the time. So I was running that and I had Bryony and her customers jumping on board for that. It was really lovely. even though it was a really tough time, the positives that came out of COVID were just, yeah, they were really good. And then of course, when we came back, I mean, I remember Jess and I with our little baby sensory face masks and our measuring stick, two meters, everybody two meters apart, nobody move. We came back and it was just absolutely. gorgeous. was just yeah, it really emotional coming back. So yeah, there's definitely been, there's been a lot of ups and downs over the times over the years, but mostly good. Lee Whitwell: Not everyone came through COVID. It was a true test Because it was either Helen: Hmm. Lee Whitwell: do nothing or you can try something. Helen: Yes. Lee Whitwell: we are business owners. you Helen: Yeah. Lee Whitwell: have to try new things, you have to evolve, you have to think outside the box, you have to make work whatever it is. the show must go on. Helen: Yeah, definitely, Lee Whitwell: thinking back over these years, what are you most proud of? Helen: I'm not very good at bigging myself up. But when people do come to me and tell me how much my classes have meant to them, that's really lovely. People coming back just because they said, you know, they've just loved it so much. When they've had another baby, they've come back. So I'm really proud of having that continued, loyalty, Just keeping going. There's been times where I could have just said, no, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, done. And I know some people come back and go, I you were leaving like three years ago. I'm like, yeah, I know, and I'm still here. I think because I do love it so much. So I am just very that I have managed to keep going as long as I have really. So yeah, I am proud of that. Lee Whitwell: So why are you leaving? Helen: Because of this. I think the times are changing now. I'm, you know, all is going to be leaving secondary school this year. She's heading off to college. I think it's just time for me. And 15 years is a really long time to be crawling around everything's starting to really hurt I know I always laugh with my parents, always say, I feel like your granny sat at the front of the class. actually a lot of the moms could be my children. Lee Whitwell: Yeah. Helen: I'm just kind of thinking it is time for me to move on and do something else. Lee Whitwell: for your customers and you love your customers, who do you want coming in and taking over and being the next baby sensory practitioner for your customers? Helen: Somebody who has got better knees, we always laugh about my knees, it's actually my hip that's worse, and my back. Somebody with lots of energy, somebody who is willing to just get on the floor, be really stupid with the babies, not worry about what people think of you, because actually, if the babies are having fun, the mums are having fun. I learned that very, very early on. somebody wants to make a difference in people's lives wants to get stuck in. It's hard work, it's really hard work. So long as you're not worried about the hard work element of it, that's really got good payoff for you because you've got that satisfaction at the end of the day. I mean, even if I think I've had a bad day, I come home and I realised just how much joy I get out of my work. So yeah, somebody who just wants to have something that is a lot of fun And it's for you, that's the thing. It's gonna be for you, what you do, what you put into it, you get out of it. So yeah, definitely a sense of humour and not frightened of hard work, Lee Whitwell: Is it a hobby job or is it a real business? Helen: business hobby. I remember back in the day when people used say sit so is this your main job? I think sometimes people they'll come in and they see us sitting there singing nursery rhymes and waving a few puppets around and whatever and they think that's it but obviously there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes the bookings the social media the registers the preparing the cleaning the making So it is full time. know, on my days off, my mother in law still says, you've got a day off on Friday. No, I don't have a day off on Friday because I'm unpacking my van and I'm thinking about next week and I'm doing my follow-up emails and everything. So there's a lot, lot goes on behind the scenes and a lot of things that people don't sort of probably wouldn't think about, but yeah, it is a real business and it is a real full-time job. Lee Whitwell: so why somebody, an adult with a baby, come to your glasses, come to baby sensory? Helen: I'm going to say because they're the best ones. I love, and I think this is how I felt about it when I came as a mum as well, it gave me everything. With Baby Sensory, it's a fantastic place to meet people. It's a really sociable class. You get developmental information, so you learn a bit about your baby. You learn how to play with your baby. You get to experience lots of fantastic activities. a lot of little things you can take home and do as well, so you get lots of play ideas. And then you've got the play element of it as well. So it's not just a class for sign in, or it's not just an educational class, or it's not just this or that. There is everything. We touch on so many different elements within the classes. It gives you, well, everything. I think if you've got to pick one or two classes, that was always my thing. I wanted to do something for me. I did a rhyme time thing and then I picked one class that I was going out to pay for and that was the one because it just gave everything I wanted to do. Lee Whitwell: And I was leading it, so you know, you came with them. Helen: Well, obviously, mean, yeah, sort of. I forgot about that bit. Yeah, I did think you were a crazy lady. Still do. And yeah, we loved it. And actually, do know, the amount of times in class we're doing an activity and I go, I remember doing this as a mum. And I think the first few things that really stuck in my mind was the big air ball and the one with the umbrellas. And every year I do that, go, I remember snuggling up under my brolly with all of them, watching the bubbles and... I just remember her little face, it was like, you know. So yeah. Lee Whitwell: think the classes are beautiful. I always remember, you know, Dr Lin Day saying the classes need to be beautiful. Everything about Baby Sensory is just beautiful. Helen: I've been doing it for so long, but if ever I struggled with anything, I'd always hear her voice in my head or I could hear you or see you dancing around the class doing whatever. and it like, right, that's what I'm doing, and get on with it. But yeah, that was one thing that she always said about making everything beautiful. Lee Whitwell: you are going to be a huge shoes to fill? However, somebody coming in new. will make it their own. They need to be all of those things that you said. Helen: Yeah. Exactly. And actually, sometimes when I'm like on our forums and I see like the new franchisees coming in and some of the ideas that they've got, I'm going, why did I never think of that? And I feel like it needs somebody fresh. And I just think people come in with their own ideas and just make it their own. And that's the beauty, you can build it up as much as you want or you can make that class however you want. But that's another thing, obviously, with our forums, you've got people on there and everybody's batting ideas around, so that's always really lovely as well. So there's always that support with other franchisees across the country. somebody definitely can come along and have fresh ideas and just make it your own. Definitely. Lee Whitwell: Do you know what I was thinking how many have you ever have you ever totted up how many babies, how many families have been part of your life during this journey? It must be thousands. Helen: No. No. I know. Can you remember the first days when it was paper lesson plans and if there was a change to like developmental, informational health and safety, it come out on an email and you'd have to write it on your notes and yeah, things have definitely changed since I came on. But yeah, we've been 20 years this year, haven't we? So I've been involved in that for a really long time as well. Hmm? Lee Whitwell: You are gonna be missed. You're gonna be missed. You are it's gonna be Helen: don't! don't! Because everybody keeps saying that, are you sure you're going? And I'm like, well, you know, Lee Whitwell: looking we're looking to sell your business, but what you said you said to me this week, why are you now thinking actually if you're in it until next summer, it's not is not the end of the world? Helen: Yeah, mean all has got, so after Christmas she's doing mock exams just before Christmas, then she does her final GCSEs May and June next year and then she finishes sort of just straight after that which means she's got like 10 weeks off before she starts college and actually I'm thinking do you know what this is probably going to be the last year that I can actually So right, that's it, summer is ours and do all the things that we want to do. and I'm thinking, do you know, if I actually went to get a proper job, a sensible job, I might not be able to have that time. You know, if I had like three or four weeks holiday a year. So yeah, that's again why it goes back to the whole, it's worked for me, it's worked for my family and it's meant that I've had every holiday with Orla, but this is like the final year I feel that we would have together all the time. So yeah, it'd be really nice if I could have that time as well. Lee Whitwell: So to end our conversation now, Helen: Thank Lee Whitwell: if anybody was listening to this and thinking, could I do this? Could I run my own business? What would you say? Helen: Yes, you can. I mean, if I can, anybody can, because I don't think I've got particularly great business head on me. But I think there's so much support out there to be able to run the business. You know, you've got great people behind you, a really good reputation behind you. And actually, like I said earlier, it's better to regret the things you've done and the things you haven't. And you know, if you come into this, you can do five years, you can do 10 years, 15 years. It works around your family. And you know, I have been keeping an eye out for work. And unless I try and find something in a school, I can't, you know, there's nothing else that gives you the freedom or the rewards that this does. There's not many jobs that you go home. And also, you know, sometimes it's been a really long day, but actually I'm probably back on my driveway by half past three, four o'clock. And then I'm here for my next lot of duties of mum buffs here and everywhere. But yeah, it just gives you a lot of freedom. And also, you know, there's lots of lovely things that... the making and the doing, so it's really creative as well. So you can get really creative with it. Yeah, it's good fun. It is good fun. And it's rewarding Lee Whitwell: Lovely chatting with you today and Helen: Yeah, you too. Lee Whitwell: Thank you for fifteen Helen: Thank you. Lee Whitwell: years. Helen: Thank you. Thank you for making me do it. Lee Whitwell: Yay.