12/08/2025
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘅 𝗞𝗶𝗱𝘀
Sometimes, the most powerful transformations begin with uncertainty.
For Hollie Barber, becoming a Relax Kids coach wasn’t just a career change – it was a leap of faith that led to purpose, passion, and a future filled with colour, creativity, and calm.
At just 25 years old and a mother of two, Hollie lived in a small village in West Dorset. Her journey to Relax Kids began during a time of transition and self-reflection.
“𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱,” 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴. “I’𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦-𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.”
In 2017, she came across Relax Kids and knew she’d found something special. “I 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺.”
That start has quickly turned into a thriving, life-changing career.
Since becoming a full-time Relax Kids coach in September, Hollie has already made a huge impact. She works in five primary schools offering both in-curriculum sessions and
after-school clubs, runs Saturday classes at a local dance academy, and hosts holiday workshops. Within just six months, she expanded into seven primary schools, one preschool, and one secondary school – many of which fund the sessions themselves.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨,” she says. “𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”
Her creativity shines in every aspect of her work. From designing lesson plans and crafting activities to creating posters and marketing materials, Hollie brings colour and joy to every session. And the children can feel it.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩!”
But the greatest reward, she says, is the difference she sees in the children.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘒𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 – 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
Since training, Hollie has continues to help her own children grow with calm and confidence as well as help others, applying the Relax Kids ethos to her new professional roles within schools.
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 - 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝗮 𝗗𝗠