Franchisees Say (2020)

A few testimonials from our franchisees past and present on Sing and Sign's Founder, Sasha Felix (there were more - but we picked these!) 

"Sasha is our founder, our friend and our inspiration. I am currently in my 17th year as a Sing and Sign franchisee.  Throughout that time Sasha's enthusiasm and creativity has helped my business to grow and thrive.  She has always managed  to get the balance right - providing friendly guidance from a strong centre, whilst allowing us franchisees a degree of independence.

Sasha is deeply committed to early years development and the positive effects of baby signing and the Sing and Sign programme was excellent from the very start.  This has only grown over time with Sasha's gradual tweaks and additions year by year which have helped it to develop and adapt with time - for example the development of classes for three different age groups, and the journey of our support materials from videos, to DVDs and now to online. 

Two years ago I was faced with having to end my franchise when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but with Sasha's advice and support I was able to navigate a very difficult 6 months, take on temporary staff, and retain my business for when I was well again.

This year her forward-thinking has enabled all of us franchisees to stay financially solvent despite Covid 19 - again her creativity, combined with her problem-solving skills, meant that by the time lockdown came she had sufficient video content from us all for her to put together an extremely professional online programme for which she has asked no fee - all proceeds for the classes go direct to the franchisees."

Julie Warriner - Bedfordshire Franchisee

"In what has been a hugely challenging time for many families, I cannot thank or credit Sasha Felix enough for her part in enabling my business to move forward during Covid19. From the outset Sasha led with integrity and wisdom, putting in many hours over and above calling to pull together a wonderful adaptation of the Sing and Sign programme.  She made decisions and acted on them well before lockdown hit the UK.  We felt prepared and confident.  Through her superior vision she has enabled me, a mum of children with special needs, to focus on their needs at a crucial time AND keep my business growing at the same time. And yes, I mean growing, not even cruising! Sasha has shown great leadership in listening to her people on the ground, us, and adapting the directive where needed as well as keeping us abreast of Government changes in recent weeks.  None of us have felt isolated or singularly burdened by the weight of this crisis and its impact on our business. She has proved herself a leader in our sector and has won the admiration of many. It is an honour it is to be part of Sasha’s Sing and Sign family!"

Syrah Martin - Woodford Franchisee 

"There really aren't quite the words required to express how grateful I am to be part of Sing and Sign. Our content across the board is spearheaded and created by Sasha she puts in the countless hours and gets every single one of us working together, supporting each other. She truly goes above and beyond and I am so so proud to be part of her team. I know no other company which has provided such support, such a unified approach and such an amazing end product. I have lots of associates in this industry and we are all talking and supporting each other. Sadly, none of those I've spoken to have been supported or unified as we have. Time and time again Sasha outdoes herself with Sing and Sign. We have always been ahead of the competition and the online platform and the way that Sash has utilised it just elevates us to another level yet again. Our current online content is slick, it is professional, it's phenomenally well put together and our families love it. I have not had a single negative comment, everyone is elated. I have had numerous photos and clips of film of babies and toddlers enjoying the classes with their families at home. Comments like:

"I was sceptical (sorry) but I'm absolutely bowled over at how good it is"
"We've watched it 5 times today, I'm thinking about signing up to Stage 1 as well simply for some variety for me!"
"I can't believe how focused she is"
"Once he worked out what was going on he was utterly transfixed!"

I could share more and more, I've had messages of love each day"

Shell Harris - Harrow & Rickmansworth Franchisee

"I have been the Sing and Sign Franchisee for the Winchester and Basingstoke area for the past 15 years! Sasha Felix is one of the most inspirational women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She not only introduced me to the wonders of baby signing all those years ago and created a platform to do the job I love on a weekly basis, but more recently she also thought outside the box incredibly quickly and provided all her franchisees with the most amazing online resource (and income stream) to provide to our customers with her wonderful Sing and Sign @HOME programme during this pandemic. Sasha's ability to bringing educational and fun resources to parents everywhere is yet again shinning through! She has always had this knack of knowing what her customers may need or want to support their little one's learning journey.

"I am one of the lucky ones, proud to be a Sing and Sign franchisee and proud to work for Sasha to whom I owe so much. Sing and Sign has been one of the most amazing journeys and adventures with my children. But it didn’t stop there! As a Sing and Sign ambassador, my journey continues. Each morning I wake up with a smile, full of pride, looking forward to meeting new parents and their babies eager keen to find out more about this very special way of communicating and bonding with their little ones. We are so grateful to Sasha and her sheer determination that she has in abundance, making her an exceptional woman, mother and a boss and I am so proud to have her in my life."

Vesna Guzina - Islington & Chelsea Franchisee

"I have been a Sing and Sign franchisee for over 7 years and I think it's testament to Sasha that there are so many long-term franchisees in Sing and Sign. The support that she gives and encourages us to give each other has been amazing since day one. 
Sasha has made sure that the business has evolved, to make sure we are keeping up with cultural, technological and environmental changes, which allows all of us to keep changing our businesses for the better. This has been even more true during the current Covid pandemic. Sasha pre-empted the closure of face to face classes before most of us did and started working on a comprehensive online course for customers. She then listened to feedback from the franchisees and worked with us to implement the course as best possible. The fact that the online course has been so popular and has been voted as one of the Top 13 baby courses online by the Independent, is all down to Sasha's hard work and forward thinking.
Without Sasha's help and guidance during this pandemic, many of us would have been left with no income for our families. I am truly grateful that this hasn't been the case, and we are already receiving clear and unified guidance on the possibility of returning to face to face classes in some form. 
I personally know many other franchisees from other baby groups in my area and I am always struck by how much more support we receive from Sasha. Sasha leads by example but trusts us implicitly to run our own franchises in our own way, which I think really shows in our classes. It really feels like a family. Everyone who works in Sing and Sign is truly passionate about the benefits and wants to offer the best classes we can, and that comes from above."

Becca Balcombe - Croydon Franchisee

"Sasha Felix is just like her Sing and Sign, genuine, professional, expert, empowering, and family centred. She founded Sing and Sign back in 2001, which currently lends it’s name to around 120 Franchises in the UK and beyond. Sing and Sign is a truly beloved household name. I would say what makes Sing and Sign special is Sasha Felix.

She will always look at ways to support ‘‘her gang' and has adapted to changing demands with online memberships, new content and social media interactions.

Most recently at the start of the pandemic, in a sea of child activity providers, Sasha shone. We filmed content and Sasha spent weeks editing into two amazing 10 week courses of @ home online courses. This was all so the Franchisees could still earn some income, you see we don’t pay Sasha commission."

Faye Bryant-Myers- Birmingham Franchisee

"My name is Lucy and I run Sing and Sign classes in Eastbourne, I have taught now for 13 years and had the franchise for almost 11! To say I LOVE MY JOB is the understatement of the year, I know, and truly appreciate just how lucky I am to be able to work as I do and pay for what I do with my earnings! For all that, I have the amazing Sasha Felix to thank! I took my own little girl to classes, simply couldn’t wait to get started and it all grew from there!

Sasha is forward thinking, professional and talented. We are all in awe and vitally so are our customers... Sasha has quite frankly kept us all afloat and I honestly think strengthened our brand even more through these difficult days"

Lucy Stevens- Eastbourne Franchisee

"Sasha has done an amazing job looking after the mums, dads and babies at this unprecedented time of national crisis - as well as us franchisees . The online sessions are so true to Sasha’s vision for Sing and Sign - so warm, loving and calm - absolutely centred on the developmental needs of under twos and their carers. They are bringing the sessions to people who otherwise would not have a chance to come to class and that is turning this awful situation into a positive - so that parents can continue to enjoy this precious stage of childhood to the full extent. It has also meant that we franchisees have been able to keep some income at this time with a programme that we all contributed to and are all really proud to promote.  
Musicality, communication , connection, understanding, decency, charm, love and good humour. We need it now more than ever. I will be forever proud to be a small part of it."

Rachel Nightingale - Wirral Franchisee

"As a franchisee, I know Sasha Felix looks after not only me but the other Sing and Sign franchisees across the country. She works hard to provide guidance and words of wisdom and to bring unity for us all. In setting up the franchise she has also enabled so many of us who are Mums ourselves, Sing and Sign parents, to return to work and still be able to look after our children as well as run our own businesses
Aside from all this and on a more personal note, I can tell you that Sasha is a genuinely kind, giving, focused and determined woman of admiral qualities, who it is clear to me is always thinking of others and how to help them, in all of the desisions that she makes. I know that when there is something for which I need her valuable advice, that she is ready to assist me in whichever way she can, despite that there are already so many things that she is already contributing her efforts to. She really is a special lady who deserves recognition for her achievements."
Claire Cox - Cheltenham, Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester Franchisee

"I feel very lucky to be part of this Sing and Sign family that Sasha has created and very grateful to her for all the help, support, kindness and love she shows us all."

Nicki Gaskell - Isle of Man Franchisee

"As a franchisee, Sing and Sign has allowed me to do something in which I believe passionately, at the same time as meeting so many wonderful people - both big and small! And Sasha .... (I'm in danger of getting very gushy now) the way she runs The Empire (!) is phenomenal. She leads it so strongly and is such a wonderful visible figurehead, yet is flexible about how we wish to run our own individual businesses, providing opportunities that we can take up if we'd like or consider for later. She is super supportive of all of us and S&S really does feel like a family. I can't tell you how grateful I am for everything she has done for me over the past 7 years as The Boss! What a wonderful gift Sasha has given us."

Katy Bovaird - Harlow Franchisee

A poem for the amazing Sasha ...

"She created a rainbow out of music, a business out of joy.

She's turned sceptics to believers and spellbound many girl and boy

She's been brave to take it further and built on her success

Now look at where it's taken us - ahead above the rest!"

Corma Holmes - Brackley ex- Franchisee

"We started our Sing and Sign journey sixteen years ago and we are so very glad we did - it has truly enriched our parenting experience. Sing and Sign is simply the best way to learn baby signing. I now have parents telling me what a huge difference S&S has made to them - I am proud to be a Sing and Sign teacher! It's a joy being a part of the family and its all thanks to Sasha - she is an inspiration."

Leese Mott - Staffordshire Franchisee

"In this 20th year of Sing and Sign I feel proud to have been to be a part of this fantastic company. We have gained so much as a family through signing together and personally through meeting wonderful parents at class! Thank you Sasha for launching an amazing programme, it still feels special. Roll on another twenty years!"

Pippa Jenkins - Leamington ex-Franchisee