We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelley Thompson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelley, appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

Most people when you mention ‘sleep coach’ will automatically think of sleep training aka cry it out (CIO); however, we are working to change that narrative so more families can realize that sleep is a vital skill that our little ones need to learn to support maximum growth and development. In the last year I’ve brought on a pediatric occupational therapist, Bailey Garcia,MOT, OTR/L, to my team to help educate parents on the role development plays in sleep. We work together to help parents navigate the constant evolvement of skills of their child so they can feel confident for each new stage. Just like with other developmental skills, little ones need different strategies and opportunities to master sleep, as we believe there is no “one size fits all”.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! I’m Kelley Thompson. I’m a Nashville area native, certified pediatric sleep consultant, mom of 3, and former elementary school teacher. For the past 8 years I have virtually helped many exhausted families around the world reclaim the joys of parenthood with healthy sleep habits.

I have been in your shoes and understand the path down the endless road of sleep deprivation. Having a baby myself that has suffered from many health issues and rough patches of sleep, guided me to helping educate families on the importance of healthy sleep foundations and creating Serenity Sleepers.
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Prior to becoming a certified sleep consultant. I obtained a bachelor and master’s degree in early childhood and middle school education and had the pleasure of working with children for many years. Through the years I have developed a strong passion for educating myself and others on creating healthy and safe sleep environments for babies and children. After having my first son, who is now 11, I knew setting up and implementing the best sleep foundations was of highest importance. I became the ‘sleep guru’ to family and friends over the years and new I wanted to take it to the next step. Almost four years ago I took the plunge to become certified and live out my true passion, helping families develop peaceful sleepers and implement healthy sleep education.
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I completed my certification through the Institute of Pediatric Sleep and Parenting and continue to take continuing education courses yearly. I was also recently voted one of the top sleep consultants in the United States!

Proud to Be:
Certified Sleep Consultant, Infants and Young Children
Voted One Of The Best Sleep Consultants In The U.S.
Certified Elementary and Middle School Teacher, State of Tennessee

Bailey Garcia, MOT, OTR/L joined my Serenity Sleepers team in 2021. Bailey is a trained and licensed Occupational Therapist since 2011 who has dedicated her career to the field of pediatrics. Having served in many different settings, Bailey has gained a vast knowledge of childhood development and ways to facilitate growth through the usage of practical play skills. She is passionate about helping parents generate ideas and find information to help make child development (& sleep) less of a mystery. Bailey is continuously expanding her knowledge through continuing education courses in both development and sleep in order to help Serenity Sleepers families. Bailey and her husband Victor have two young sons, who have given her first-hand experience of the challenges and joys that accompany parenthood.

Bailey offers developmental milestone consults exclusively for Serenity Sleepers families. Sleep and development go hand-in-hand, as milestones can often cause sleep disturbances due to little ones processing and practicing new skills during sleep hours. Bailey assists families with questions concerning feeding, rolling, reaching, sitting, crawling, baby equipment, toddler behavior & tantrum, and etc. so you’re not having to frantically Google search because a licensed, trained professional is already on board and ready to help! (Disclaimer: While Bailey is a licensed Occupational Therapist, this is not considered an Occupational Therapy service.)

With a combined 19 years of professional experience as a certified sleep consultant and occupational therapist + 5 children between them, we help families like yours tackle their sleep goals by integrating child development, parental health, and normative childhood sleep patterns at the center of our sleep philosophy, so your family is sleeping peacefully again. Healthy sleep habits (and confident parents) make for healthier, happier children.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Serenity Sleepers is passionate about babies, toddlers, their families and helping everyone get a good night’s sleep. We’re also passionate about connecting families with other experts who can help your family thrive. Serenity Sleepers has grown to where it is today partly due to our great word of mouth referrals from other like-minded businesses. Having a network of other experts to refer to when questions come up outside of our expertise has been a pillar to our success.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy to growing Serenity Sleepers has been our consistent performance helping families! Word of mouth will always be the strongest way, in our opinion, to maintain a growing clientele. We have also relied on the performance of our website blog to gain organic clients, as Google remains to be the primary place for parents searching to find answers about their little one’s sleep.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.serenitysleepers.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/serenitysleepers
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2116556588586419
• Other: Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/SerenitySleepers