Franchisee of the year 2022: Erin Wattam of BabyBeats and Mindful Movers

Erin Wattam talks expansion plans, the importance of structure and support and why, if you love what you do, you’re winning at life

Name: Erin Wattam (30)
Organisation: BabyBeats and Mindful Movers Wakefield West
Years trading: 5

Erin Wattam, from BabyBeats, has managed to grow her business all whilst looking after a newborn baby and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ve been a fitness instructor for 10 years now, so I’ve always had a passion for health and wellness. I was working in a gym where BabyBeats was running and that’s where I found out about it. I got to see the classes and see the difference that it made in people’s lives as well.

I love being a part of people’s maternity leave and just being a part of those special moments and memories. I think it’s a real honour to be involved in such a special time in people’s lives. I really believe in the message and what BabyBeats stands for. The most difficult part is when you have big, huge challenges such as COVID. It completely changes the way that you have to work. It was hard being in an environment where you weren’t one-to-one with people.

During COVID we went virtual. I started doing classes through Zoom, which is amazing because we were so lucky to have it and to be able to do something like that. But I had to change my mental approach to how I did things. Luckily, it worked, and we got to meet more mums because it didn’t matter where in the world you were.

The franchisor helped by having the structure and support if you were struggling with anything. There is always someone to speak to who has a successful plan and business. They can advise you and ask: ‘Have you tried this? Have you done that? This really worked for so and so.’

We all just really support each other as well. If anyone ever has a question, they’ll get five different answers back from different instructors in the UK, which is nice as well. When you are working on your own, you don’t get that.

If you put the hard work in, the rewards will come at a later time. I felt that when I first set up, I was working really hard, and not really hearing any noise. But then suddenly, it starts to trickle in. People tell other people how amazing your classes are and how much they love them.

I’ve now qualified to do the Mindful Movers classes, as well as BabyBeats, which are from preschool up to early years. It means we can take classes at schools now. My plan is to be doing a couple of Mindful Movers classes alongside my BabyBeats and maybe do lots of workshops for sports days and sports weeks. I want to just keep growing as a business. I’d also like to branch out into prenatal classes so that I can take a mum from being pregnant all the way up to having an eight-year-old.

Get to know

Idea of success
Enjoying what you do. I don’t think it comes down to how much you’re earning. If you love what you do, then you win at life.

My motto
Smile every day, even if you don’t feel like smiling.