Sixteen years, thousands of families and the power of becoming part of a community: Julie Hetherington – TinyTalk

There’s something very special about a business that families don’t just remember, but actively come back to years later.

That’s exactly what Julie Hetherington has built through TinyTalk South West Birmingham & North Worcestershire. Julie has been running her franchise since 2010 and, over more than 16 years, has supported well over 1,500 families, with some returning for second, third and even fourth children.

Julie is a double finalist at The Class Business Awards 2026 for Customer Excellence, sponsored by Nic Welsh from The Stripey Elephant, and Community Impact, sponsored by Karen Heap from Socially Shared.

What makes her story so powerful isn’t rapid growth or constant reinvention. It’s the depth of the relationships she’s built over time, and the way one baby class became something much bigger than she ever expected.

It started with needing community herself

Before TinyTalk, Julie was a qualified accountant working in Birmingham city centre. After having her daughter, she found herself in the same position as so many new parents: suddenly navigating a completely new world and looking for somewhere she could feel less alone.

She found TinyTalk and absolutely loved it.

“It was the one thing that I wanted to go to through the week.”

Julie wasn’t just drawn to the baby signing. What stayed with her most was the community around the class. She met other parents who were figuring things out at exactly the same time, and some of those people are still friends today.

At the same time, returning to accountancy didn’t feel particularly appealing. She knew she’d probably end up squeezing a five-day workload into three days while also dealing with nursery bugs, childcare and all the usual realities of going back to work after having a baby.

When she overheard her TinyTalk teacher talking about how she’d become a franchisee, something clicked. Julie realised she could create the same sense of belonging for other families while building a more flexible working life for herself.

The original plan? Five years.

Sixteen years later, she’s still here.

The business grew, but the relationships became the real story

Julie took over an existing franchise and had to move quickly. She went from two classes in her first term to around five or six in the second, eventually growing to as many as 11 classes a week and now settling at nine.

Over that time, the numbers have added up, but it’s the stories behind them that really show the impact.

Julie has had families return after nine-year gaps. She’s taught siblings across multiple generations of one family. She’s been invited to parents’ weddings and recently went to the 16th birthday party of one of her original TinyTalk babies.

That kind of loyalty doesn’t happen because someone enjoyed one good class.

It happens because people feel part of something.

Julie’s business has become woven into the local community to the point where she jokes that she can’t go supermarket shopping without seeing several people she knows.

And for a class-based business, that’s a huge measure of success.

Customer excellence is often in the tiny details

One thing Julie has learned over 16 years is that longevity doesn’t mean doing exactly the same thing forever.

The core lesson plans might stay familiar, but the experience keeps evolving.

She refreshes props, adds little seasonal touches and pays close attention to who’s actually in the room so she can adapt the session around them.

“I think that’s one of the secrets for going so long as well.”

There’s a really useful lesson in that for any established provider. You don’t necessarily need to constantly reinvent your whole product. Sometimes customer excellence comes from keeping the foundations strong while continuing to notice the small things that make the experience feel personal.

For Julie, that means:

• knowing the families in front of her rather than delivering on autopilot
• refreshing familiar sessions so they still feel exciting
• continuing to learn and bring new knowledge back into class
• making social time and connection as important as the activity itself
• creating an environment people genuinely want to return to

That consistency is what builds trust over years, not just terms.

Still learning after 16 years

Julie’s longevity hasn’t made her complacent either.

TinyTalk provides franchisees with the core training and British Sign Language signs used within the programme, but Julie has chosen to keep developing her knowledge far beyond what she needs simply to deliver the classes.

She’s recently completed BSL Level 2 and is preparing to move onto Level 3.

Part of that is personal development, but it also enriches what she can offer families and has even given her the confidence to communicate with Deaf people outside the classroom.

That curiosity feels like another reason the business has lasted.

Even after 16 years, Julie still wants to learn.

Not every successful business needs to keep getting bigger

One of the things I really appreciated in our conversation was Julie’s honesty about growth.

She’s not in a phase where she wants to double the business or build a huge team.

She’s happy.

She runs nine classes across newborns, babies, toddlers and nursery provision, and while she’d like to add another nursery session and develop more organisational training, she doesn’t feel the need to chase growth just because that’s what business owners are told they should do.

That feels important.

Success can look like scale, but it can also look like sustainability, reputation and having built something you still enjoy more than a decade later.

Julie’s next phase is about deepening what already works rather than making the business bigger for the sake of it.

Three pieces of advice from 16 years in business

When I asked Julie what she’d tell someone starting out now, her answer really summed up the way she’s built her business.

First, don’t assume passion alone will make the business work. You can be brilliant at delivering your class, but you still need to understand how to run the business around it.

Second, don’t try to copy somebody else.

“If you’re like me and you’re nuts and crazy, that’s great. If you’re quieter, just be you.”

And third, keep paying attention.

Julie has watched marketing go from noticeboards and local conversations, through the huge shift towards social media, and now back towards stronger community-led, face-to-face connection again.

Her advice is simple:

• listen to the customers already in your room
• notice what’s changing around you
• adapt without losing who you are
• use the training and resources available to you
• keep your finger on the pulse of your local community

That isn’t flashy advice, but after 16 years, it’s clearly working.

A business built on being remembered

Julie originally joined TinyTalk because she wanted to recreate the community she’d experienced herself as a new mum.

Sixteen years later, that feels like exactly what she’s done.

Families have returned after nearly a decade because they still trust her. Children she once knew as babies are now getting GCSE results. Parents have become friends, and Julie is now patiently waiting for the day one of her original TinyTalk babies comes back with a baby of their own.

That’s the kind of impact that takes years to build and can’t be faked.

Customer excellence isn’t only about giving people a great experience while they’re with you. Sometimes the real test is whether they still remember how you made them feel long after the class has ended.

Julie’s families clearly do.

Watch the full interview

In our full conversation, Julie shares how she went from accountancy to TinyTalk, why she originally thought she’d only run the franchise for five years, how she’s built extraordinary customer loyalty and community over 16 years, and what she believes new providers need to understand about building a business that lasts.

👉 Watch Julie’s full finalist interview here.

Julie is a finalist for Customer Excellence, sponsored by Nic Welsh from The Stripey Elephant, and Community Impact, sponsored by Karen Heap from Socially Shared, at The Class Business Awards 2026.

If you want to spend a day learning from people who’ve built businesses at every stage, from brand-new providers to owners like Julie who’ve been doing this brilliantly for more than a decade, join us at The Class Business Live on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull.

We’ll be talking about what sustainable growth, customer loyalty, community and long-term success actually look like before celebrating together at The Class Business Awards & Afterparty that evening.