I am beyond delighted to announce that our North Surrey franchise owner, Miss Emma, reaches her magical milestone birthday of 10 years with babyballet® today. Miss Emma is not only a truly inspirational lady who has brought such a huge amount of dancing joy to all the stars who have attended her classes, but in more recent years, she has become a dedicated and loving mummy to her two children, Gabriella and Oliver, enjoying the flexibility that being a working mummy brings.

The North Surrey franchise was originally started in 2012 by the previous franchisee, but even though Miss Emma was the teacher and not the business owner at that point, she was instrumental in the launch and success of the franchise from day one and has been dedicated and devoted to it’s success ever since, so it gives me great pleasure to congratulate her on her special birthday today.

Miss Emma’s babyballet® journey started as a babyballet® teacher after she responded to an advert when the former franchisee was recruiting. Miss Emma, a professionally trained dancer and graduate of the highly acclaimed ‘Performers College’ in London, instantly fell in love with the brand and the ethos and immediately joined the team.

She was attracted by the concept of our non-competitive ballet classes where little ones are introduced to the magical world of ballet and dance without any pressure or stereotypes and felt becoming a babyballet teacher was the perfect way for her to be able to share her own passion for dance and ballet with the next generation.

Fuelled by her own love for dance, which started when she was only 3, her dream of bringing dance to young children quickly came true. Before long she was teaching multiple classes per week and everyone who joined was inspired by her. She was driven and dedicated to giving every child the most sparkly introduction to dance as she possibly could.

When the opportunity arose to buy the franchise three years later in 2015, she jumped at the chance as she was already fully invested in the joy she was bringing as a teacher and felt that becoming a franchisee would allow her to take that dream of inspiring the next generation to the next level. She has since worked hard to build a franchise to be super proud of.

Owning the franchise has definitely given her the chance to inspire the next generation but it has also given her the opportunity to work flexibly around her own two children, Gabriella (3) and Oliver who was 2 yesterday!

I greatly admire how she has managed and grown her business whilst building a family too – all whilst navigating through the uncertainty of a global pandemic!

Running a business, especially when combining it with having a young family, doesn’t go without it’s challenges and Miss Emma is first to admit that, at times, it can be a juggling act but ultimately she says it’s well worth it.

“I feel so lucky to be able to work babyballet® around being a mum! I can work it suit me so that I still get the chance to see my own children achieve all their milestones as well as having my own business that I am passionate about”, she says.

Miss Emma’s attention for detail and bringing the best quality classes to her stars is reflected in how much her school has grown. Along with her team of equally devoted teachers, thousands of babyballet stars have since fallen in love with ballet and many of them, have loved it so much, that they have gone on to pursue their own dance dreams beyond our classes.

One of her former babyballet® stars is currently performing in the West End as “Young Elsa”, others have won All England Dance Competitons and many are going on to take examinations, and so much more! She feels privileged to have been the one who inspired them by introducing them to the world of dance in the first place!

But no matter what each child goes on to achieve, each and every child that tiptoes through the door is special to Miss Emma and she loves seeing her classes allow them all to shine in their own individual way.

She has received wonderful feedback for her hard work and she has scooped three prestigious finalist accolades over the decade including, ‘Hoop’s’, ‘Best Dance/Drama Activity for the Under 5s in 2020 and ‘Whats On 4 Kids’ ‘Most Outstanding Activity Leader for the Under 5s’ on two occasions, in 2014 and 2018.

When I asked her about the highlight of her decade with babyballet®, she replied, “The absolute highlight for me has been growing a school to be proud of and watching thousands of little stars come through the door and fall in love with ballet and dance just as I had done when I was younger. I have loved being their inspiration. I have also had the pleasure of meeting amazing families who have gone on to be lifelong friends. And in the last few years, it’s been great being able to combine that with being a mummy too!”

Miss Emma is incredibly modest when it comes to her own ability and is reluctant to sing her own praises but she really has got such a dazzling career and extensive experience that her babyballet® stars are fortunate to have her at the helm at their classes in North Surrey and we want her to feel all the love today and beyond because she thoroughly deserves it!

As a youngster she studied, ballet, tap, modern, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, and upon graduating from ‘Performers College’, she went on to perform both in London and abroad as both a professional singer and dancer . Couple that experience with the care, precision, devotion and drive she has given to building the business, it’s no wonder the franchise is the huge success that it is today!

Miss Emma always shows admirable resilience and strength to power on through but she definitely underestimates her own brilliant ability so I hope when she reads this she realises that she dreamed, believed and achieved because she is a true star herself!

Her joy of ballet and dance has inspired thousands of babyballet stars throughout that decade because of all the love, care and attention that she has put in, which is a wonderful achievement.

Miss Emma is very excited about what’s in store for her franchise. Her future plans look likely to include expanding the business, teaming up with local businesses for events and to keep inspiring even more little stars to love dance and go on the achieve great things, all whilst being a fantastic mummy to Gabriella and Oliver.

I would like to thank her for responding to that advert back in 2012 because we have loved her being part of the babyballet® family and sharing the magic of babyballet® to so many.

It is wonderful to see that over the decade her dream of inspiring the next generation has come true. She definitely dreamed, believed and achieved!

Congratulations on all your success, Miss Emma. Enjoy all the celebrations and lovely comments because you thoroughly deserve them!

Here’s to a sparkling future, Miss Emma! You’re a star!

With love, Miss Claire x

To find out more about our babyballet dance classes in North Surrey across Cobham, Weybridge, Woking, Surbiton and surrounding areas, please contact Miss Emma on northsurrey@babyballet.co.uk or click here to visit her webpage!