From One Baby Class to a Full Early-Years Journey: How Amy Wilson-Phillips Grew Hushabye Hands
Growth is not always about adding more.
Sometimes it is about looking closely at what happens between the things you already offer.
That was one of the biggest lessons from my conversation with Amy Wilson-Phillips, founder of Hushabye Hands in Chorley.
Amy took over an established independent baby-class business three years ago. Since then, she has rebranded it, opened a dedicated venue, expanded the timetable and built a much stronger journey for families from pregnancy through to the toddler years.
But the growth did not come from adding classes at random.
It came from noticing where customers were dropping out.
Taking Over an Existing Business
Before Hushabye Hands, Amy worked in law and later moved into baby classes while on maternity leave with her second child.
She already knew she loved teaching and connecting with babies and parents, but she wanted something of her own.
Amy considered buying a franchise or starting from scratch. Then, when her youngest daughter was around ten weeks old, she received a call from the owner of a business she had previously attended with her children.
The owner was ready to sell and trusted Amy to take over.
“It all just fell into place really.”
The business already had a local reputation, which gave Amy a useful starting point, but she was still determined to make it her own.
She changed the branding, created a new website and began reshaping the offer around the families she wanted to support.
Some parents still returned because they remembered the original business from years earlier, while new customers began to recognise Amy as the person behind it.
Why a Permanent Venue Made Sense
At first, Hushabye Hands operated across three venues.
That meant resources constantly moving between Amy and her class leader, with different equipment needed on different days.
The logistics quickly became complicated.
“It just made sense.”
Amy began searching for a permanent base where everything could stay in one place and families would always know where to go.
Her venue is now recognisably Hushabye Hands, complete with its own branding, sensory room, baby-changing facilities, kitchen area and parking.
But Amy is clear that taking on a venue involves much more than replacing several weekly hall-hire payments with one rent bill.
There is the lease, insurance, utilities and the responsibility of being tied into a longer-term agreement.
Her own lease is a five-year contract with a three-year break clause.
The right venue also has to reflect the actual needs of the customer.
For Amy, that meant asking practical questions:
- Is the space suitable for calm, sensory-based classes?
- Is there convenient parking for parents with babies?
- Are there baby-changing facilities?
- Is there space for refreshments and stay-and-play sessions?
- Is it still within the area where customers already know the business?
A venue may be part of the dream, but it still has to work as a business decision.
Filling the Gaps in the Customer Journey
When Amy took over, Hushabye Hands mainly offered baby massage and baby and toddler signing.
She soon realised there was a large gap between them.
Most families attended baby massage during the early months, while signing generally became more suitable from around six months onwards.
That meant customers could enjoy their first course and then disappear before they were ready for the next one.
Amy knew she needed a stronger journey.
“I realised that I needed to have a bit of a stronger customer journey.”
She introduced baby yoga, then created her own development-led sensory class, blending massage, yoga, play and a weekly focus on different areas of a baby’s development.
The Mummy in Me and The Daddy in Me were designed to feel more relaxed and community-led, giving parents space to get to know one another, ask questions and build supportive relationships.
Toddler yoga is now the next piece of the journey, giving families who enjoy the movement side of the baby classes somewhere natural to continue.
The aim is not simply to keep selling another course.
It is to make sure every family can see what comes next.
Building Community Before the Baby Arrives
Amy’s support for parents begins before birth.
Before taking over Hushabye Hands, she had trained and worked as a breastfeeding peer supporter.
She and a friend later created a weekly community breastfeeding group, which Hushabye Hands sponsors.
Amy has also developed an antenatal breastfeeding workshop, allowing her to meet parents before their babies arrive.
“The journey starts even before the baby’s born.”
That creates a much deeper relationship with families.
They may first meet Amy during pregnancy, access breastfeeding support after birth and then move into massage, yoga, sensory, signing and toddler classes.
Community is not an extra activity sitting beside the business.
It is part of the customer journey itself.
Creating the Village New Parents Need
Amy’s own experience of early motherhood has shaped the way she runs Hushabye Hands.
Her second baby was born during the pandemic, when lockdown restrictions meant she could not access the classes and groups she had valued after her first child.
She had experienced a traumatic birth and struggled with postnatal depression.
That period showed her how important baby groups can be.
“I realised how important they are for new mums.”
Parents may arrive for massage, sensory play or signing, but they are often looking for something else too.
They are looking for reassurance.
They are looking for people who understand how intense early parenthood can feel.
They are looking for a place where they can talk without judgement.
Amy works hard to create that environment.
Her message to parents is that they know themselves and their babies best.
The role of the class is not to add more pressure or tell them everything they should be doing. It is to offer support, connection and a trusted place to land.
Building a Team for the Next Stage
Amy currently delivers most of the baby classes herself, while her two class leaders focus mainly on signing.
The next phase of growth is about training those class leaders in more of the programme.
That will allow Amy to step back from some delivery and spend more time developing the wider business.
She wants to fill the existing classes, strengthen the toddler offer and continue building the community around the venue.
This is an important transition for any growing class provider.
At the beginning, the founder often is the business.
But if every class, decision and customer relationship still depends entirely on them, growth eventually reaches a ceiling.
Training the team is not simply about covering more sessions.
It is about creating the space Amy needs to lead.
Recognition That Builds Trust
Amy is a finalist for Emerging Business of the Year at The Class Business Awards 2026.
She has also received recognition through the Female Business Awards and Club Hub Awards.
For Amy, awards provide more than a title.
They offer a chance to reflect on the work, receive external validation and strengthen credibility within the local community.
Customers celebrate the recognition with her, often sharing how much they value the classes.
That public response also helps new parents see that Hushabye Hands could be the right place for them.
The award may come from a judging panel, but the strongest proof still comes from the families who walk through the door.
Watch the Full Interview
Amy’s story shows that sustainable growth comes from understanding the full experience around your classes.
She has taken an established business and built stronger links between every stage, creating a journey that begins before birth and continues through the early years.
Along the way, she has created a permanent home, developed new programmes, supported breastfeeding families and built the kind of community she needed herself as a new mum.
👉 Watch Amy’s full finalist interview here.
Join us on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull for The Class Business Live, followed by The Class Business Awards & Afterparty.
The daytime event runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm, bringing finalists, judges and sponsors together for guest speakers, mastermind discussions and brilliant sector connection before the evening celebrations begin at 6:00pm.
