READING FAIRY

Prior to having my eldest daughter I was a lawyer and although I enjoyed the challenging work and meeting new people I was always told I was too nice to be a lawyer and I think they were right!

After the birth of my eldest daughter Lily I worked for a lovely local company doing events management then Covid hit. After returning to work post furlough I worked in accounts as events weren’t really a thing in the aftermath of Covid!

I then fell pregnant with my second daughter Moira and as I was approaching the end of my maternity leave and stressing slightly about hours and flexibility I received an email from my Franchisor about Reading Fairy. I had initially looked at Toddler Sense but as soon as the Reading Fairy email arrived it felt right! On the day I received the email in fact when is was on my way to collect my daughter from nursery I saw a double rainbow and thought it must have been a sign!

In terms of experience with younger children mine was very limited other than experience with my own. Having said that I found articles regarding how little ones learn absolutely fascinating and I had begun exploring phonics with Lily as she was starting Reception year that September – I am very glad I had done the training once she did start school as it helped me massively!

I spoke to my local Baby Sensory leader as I had attended her Baby Sensory classes with both my girls. I had a FaceTime chat with my Franchisor Kate and I travelled to watch a Reading Fairy session in Liphook.

Seeing the sheer volume of materials and planning which went into the classes was a big draw for me. I think mainly however it’s the ethos behind Reading Fairy, the instilling a love of reading into children from an early age and showing them how to escape into the magic of a good story is just beautiful. 

I love reading with my daughters and seeing how they and all children can be totally engaged in a story is wonderful and I felt that if I could bring that magic into children’s lives then it would be the most rewarding job in the world!

Our family was extremely lucky to have been gifted part of my husband’s inheritance early and we made a decision to invest the money into the business so that I could be more flexible and spend time with the girls whilst building the business.

 I was perhaps a bit naive in that I expected to be making a profit from the word go but I have since been told by many that the first two years of a business are about reaching a break even point! In terms of advice I would say really do your research and don’t expect to make a profit for at least the first year. But remember the benefit of having your own business and the flexibility you need for your family is something you can’t put a price on!

Having legal experience this part was okay for me. I would certainly advise having legal advice or speaking to someone who knows contracts. The contract for my franchise was very clear and precise and any questions I raised were quickly answered by my franchisor. Make sure you understand everything in your contract before you sign.

The support from WOW has been amazing. The IT systems the content of the lesson plans and quality of the props plus the social media is second to none so I absolutely recommend starting a franchise. I think dependent on the franchise you need to ascertain just what you get for the amount you are paying as I think with some franchises you get a lot less but with WoW I really think it’s worth the money.

It is sometimes lonely but we have a wonderful community who are so supportive and we have the opportunity to attend regular conferences to chat in person.

Things like tax, pensions, insurance etc are a big learning curve when starting a business so make sure you understand these.

The training was great and on Zoom so very flexible.

In terms of lifestyle there is an awful lot of work in starting your own business and probably a lot more than I was prepared for. Some days are really hard but the more I’ve become familiar with the programme and plans and the more I do classes the more I am relaxing into the role and loving it. I can take and collect my daughter from school every day and can attend most performances etc. Sickness is an issue as there’s only me but I’m extremely fortunate to have grandparents around who help out a lot with last minute childcare.

 I can truly say that I am well on my way to 100% loving what I do and prior to Reading Fairy I dreamed of saying that and never thought it would become a reality. I’m not sure where it will take me next but I know I am enjoying the ride and I love meeting and making a difference to children’s lives!