This week in the Children’s Activity Business Club, I sat down with Sandra Kasparek – also known as the Online French Queen. Sandra has been part of the La Jolie Ronde franchise for 16 years, running classes first in person and now primarily online.

Here’s Sandra’s story, in her own words.

Starting out in children’s activities

“Well, obviously you introduced me as the online queen, but I was actually first teaching French in school nurseries. I had my own classroom five years ago. Before the pandemic started, I’d been running my business, La Jolie Ronde for years, so quite impressive. 

I initially took over an existing business in Livingston. I’m based in West Lothian in Scotland and I worked before that in a corporate company, always in customer service. But I was missing the fun factor and the joy of actually teaching. My dream was to be a teacher. So I knew that La Jolie Ronde would definitely fulfil that dream.

When I started my business, initially I had already 135 children. We were expanding locally in seven nurseries, five schools. The business was flourishing, and I loved everything about the methodology that we used.

And I was on my own. Believe it or not, 300 kids I was teaching a week, which was phenomenal. Honestly, Krissy, it felt like everything was a joy.”

Moving online during the pandemic

“So the pandemic hit. All the schools, the nurseries, and my own classroom shut down. I had 300 children still that I had to teach.

I didn’t know at the time anything about Zoom and the online platform. I had no clue about that. When I saw someone doing some training, I thought, I can do that. I was very confident and actually moved everybody, every single class – I think I had 25 at that time toddlers to secondary children – online.

At that point of my business, I thought – am I gonna have to redo everything? Online was not for everybody. But in five years, I became the marvel of Zoom. I decided I’m not gonna remarket everything again. I’m gonna really push for that online model, which really suited me. I’ve always been a bit of an entertainer. I wanted to motivate my children to engage with everything. So I stuck to it, followed my gut, didn’t go back in. And that’s when the magic happened.”

Giving it a go and finding what works

“I honestly think that without all the training, all the resources that you’ve got in your club, I wouldn’t be here. I would not have taken everything that I’ve tried, everything that I knew nothing about, but I gave it a shot. Some things work, some don’t.

Like the first time I ran a Black Friday offer – I had one customer. You gave me the satisfaction of saying, this is a big win. That’s one room, how can we make it better, how can we promote that win? You were right because everything I had to put in place, that Black Friday offer is still there. I’ve used it and I’m going to make it better and better every year.

Your challenges are very good because they are factual – you give us the things to do, we implement it, it happens. We’ve got the method. It’s up to us to do it and that’s what I really love. I’m very hands on. I love action.”

Results and recognition

“There is not a single pupil of mine who didn’t get an A. That is phenomenal. There were quite a lot this year. It’s very effective now to have the secondary coming to me and staying all the way to the highest, because I know what the exams are like in Scotland, and I know what they want. I can tailor every single couple of mine to get those A’s that they deserve.

I also had articles in the Daily Record and the Evening News. We were just taking pictures, sharing what we do – the baking, the outdoor games, the shopping – and that was written up. That started with an idea initially in the club.”

Why investing in your business is worth it

“OK, well, I’m gonna put myself into the shoes where I was two years ago. Two years ago, I didn’t know what to post.

I thought going into your club I would have at least some guidelines of what to do, how to do it, the content to do it – and this is what I learned. There is not a day that I don’t know what to post.

I wanted to join a club so I could get new customers. That was it. One customer a month was all I needed. And one customer pays a month – that’s all I needed to make my business work. Where am I now? It’s phenomenal.

I’m visual, I’m visible, and I’ve got a successful business that people can see. And that is priceless.”

Sandra today

“I’ve done a lot by myself in 16 years, but the experts are there to guide you and help you go faster. And today I’m doing your live with you. Never, ever two years ago would I have thought I’d be able to do that.

Even if my mother tongue is French, maybe I make some mistakes, but I’m still authentic and it’s still me. So thank you for encouraging us to go live and show ourselves.”

Sandra, thank you for sharing your journey. It’s been amazing to see you step into your crown as the Online French Queen and build a thriving business that inspires both children and parents.

If you’d like to find out more about Sandra’s French classes, you can DM her directly through her page. Taster sessions are available, and they’re a brilliant way to see the magic in action.