Katie Bradley of Baby Sparks Mansfield & North Notts: How to Build a Class Business Around Community, Confidence and Real Parent Support

A successful baby and toddler class is never only about what happens during the session.

The activities matter, of course, but so does how parents feel when they walk into the room, whether they feel judged or reassured, and whether they leave with more confidence than they arrived with.

That came through strongly in my conversation with Katie Bradley, owner of Baby Sparks Mansfield & North Notts. Katie spent more than 15 years in primary education before leaving teaching during her second maternity leave and moving into the children’s activity sector. Nearly three years later, she has built a growing sensory and baby massage business with a strong focus on development, inclusion and community.

Leaving teaching without leaving children behind

Katie didn’t leave education because she had stopped caring about the work. She left because the system around it had become unsustainable.

She had reached a senior level, was coaching staff, leading the English curriculum and teaching Year 6, but the workload had become relentless. Even while officially working three days a week, Katie says she was often working around 50 hours.

Her second maternity leave created the opportunity to think differently. She had already attended Baby Sparks classes with both of her own children and loved the way the sessions explained not only what parents were doing, but why each activity supported a baby’s development.

That made the move feel like a natural next step. Katie could still work with children and use her education experience, but in a way that fitted much better around her own family.

Give a new business time to become established

One of the most useful things Katie shared was how long it took before she genuinely felt the business was working.

She said:

“I think it took me about 18 months to kind of really feel that I was getting somewhere with the business.”

That is such an important message for new class providers, because early growth can feel painfully slow when you are comparing yourself with businesses that have been established for years.

Katie knew relatively early that she was making an impact. She was forming strong groups and could see the community developing, but the commercial side took longer to feel secure. Word of mouth had to build, families had to recommend the classes and the business needed time to move through that first full cycle.

Her advice is simple: the work you put in does start to come back, but not necessarily immediately.

Small classes can create huge impact

Katie shared a brilliant example from one of her earliest groups.

Her second ever class had only five people in it, and at the time she felt disheartened.

“I was like, is this really the right decision? Have I made the right choice?”

Looking back, that class tells a very different story.

Those families stopped attending around 18 months ago, but they are still in touch. The children remain close friends, and one of the mums has even been a bridesmaid for another.

That is such a good reminder that numbers do not always tell you everything about the value of a class.

A small group can still create incredible loyalty, friendships and long-term connection. Sometimes the class you worry is “too quiet” becomes the one that proves what your business can really do.

Inclusion starts with adapting, not expecting conformity

Another really important part of Katie’s work is the way she supports children who may not find traditional class environments easy.

She has had several neurodivergent children and children with additional needs attend after parents initially felt nervous about bringing them to a class at all. Some families were worried about how their child might react, whether they would follow instructions or whether they would feel welcome.

Katie’s approach is straightforward:

“We just adapt.”

She has seen children build trust, participate in ways parents did not expect and form relationships with adults when that had previously been difficult.

That mindset matters because the goal is not to force every child into the same version of participation. It is to meet them where they are and adjust the experience so they can access it.

Parents need reassurance too

Katie is also very open about the realities of parenting.

She talks honestly about her own children, including the moments when they do not listen, do not sit still or decide the carefully planned session is absolutely not what they fancy doing that day.

That honesty makes parents feel less judged.

Katie said:

“I’m never gonna sugarcoat being a mum for you.”

That relatability is part of the experience she creates. Parents can come into the room knowing that if their toddler runs off, refuses to participate or behaves like a completely normal toddler, nobody is going to make them feel like they are doing something wrong.

And that support is not limited to mums. Katie also talks about dads, grandparents and other caregivers who attend and need the same reassurance, particularly when they are navigating parenthood alongside work and everything else life throws at them.

Explain the why behind the activity

The developmental focus is what originally attracted Katie to Baby Sparks, and it remains a huge part of what makes the classes distinctive for her.

Parents are not simply told to complete an activity. Katie explains what is happening developmentally, why a baby might be showing a particular reflex, how sensory development progresses and what parents can do to support movement, rolling, crawling and coordination.

That creates value beyond the session itself.

Parents leave understanding their baby better, and they can recognise progress from one week to the next. They also become more confident about what they are seeing and why certain activities matter.

For any children’s activity provider, there is a wider lesson here. Customers often value the experience even more when they understand the purpose behind what you are asking them to do.

Growth works better when the culture travels with you

Katie is no longer delivering everything alone.

She now works with Charlie, another ex-teacher who had previously attended Baby Sparks as a parent herself. Between them, Katie delivers 10 sensory classes, Charlie delivers six plus two nursery sessions, and Katie also runs a weekly baby massage class.

That is a really interesting next stage of growth because Charlie already understands the experience from several angles: as a parent, as a teacher and now as someone delivering the classes.

As the business expands, that shared understanding becomes incredibly valuable. Growth is not simply about adding more sessions. It is about making sure the warmth, adaptability and developmental focus that customers already trust still feels the same when another person is delivering it.

The strongest class businesses support the whole family

Katie’s story is a reminder that baby and toddler classes can do much more than provide an hour of activities.

They can help parents understand their child.

They can create friendships that last years.

They can give families with additional needs somewhere they feel welcome.

They can build confidence in children and adults at the same time.

And they can become a regular point of connection during a stage of life that can sometimes feel isolating.

That wider impact is difficult to capture in a booking system, but it may be one of the strongest reasons families keep recommending the business.

Watch the full interview

In our full conversation, Katie shares more about leaving teaching, starting Baby Sparks during maternity leave, the reality of the first 18 months in business, building a community around her classes, supporting neurodivergent children and growing the team with Charlie.

👉 Watch Katie Bradley’s full finalist interview here.

Join us at The Class Business Live on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull for a full day of speakers, mastermind conversations, practical ideas and networking with people who understand what it takes to run and grow a class-based business.

Then from 6:00pm, we move into The Class Business Awards & Afterparty to celebrate the founders, teams and businesses making an impact across the sector.

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