Rachel Wilson coaches customer service staff in a corporate office five days a week.
On Saturdays and Sundays she puts on a pink top, sings nursery rhymes and makes toddlers lose their minds with excitement.
She is Yorkshire’s Ms Rachel, and she’s booked solid until autumn.
The 40-year-old from Birstall, West Yorkshire, runs a tribute act based on Rachel Anne Accurso, the American children’s entertainer whose YouTube channel has become one of the most watched on the planet.
Wilson doesn’t just share her first name. She shares the energy, the songs and apparently the effect on small children who cannot tell the difference.
“It has been more popular than I could have imagined,” she told Creatorzine.
Corporate coaching and toddler wrangling use the same skills
Wilson’s day job is Coaching Lead at Zenith Vehicle Contracts, where she runs group training sessions and one-to-one coaching for customer service teams.
She says the crossover with children’s entertainment is bigger than people think.
“In both jobs, there’s a requirement to keep a room full of people engaged during training sessions, interested and inspired,” she said.
“So they might sound like they’re worlds apart but in reality, the principles are the same.”
The difference is that one audience is trying to hit quarterly targets and the other is trying to eat crayons.
The skill set transfers either way.
It started on maternity leave during Covid
Wilson’s route into children’s entertainment began in 2020 when she was on maternity leave with her daughter Evie-Jae, now five.
She started running baby and toddler classes during Covid restrictions, sometimes leading sessions while breastfeeding.
“I’ve always thrived when working with young children,” she said.
“Returning to my full-time job made me realise I wasn’t done with that world at all.”
The Ms Rachel angle came when someone told Wilson she reminded them of the YouTube star.
As the real Ms Rachel’s popularity grew, so did demand for Wilson’s tribute act.
She’s been performing since, and bookings haven’t slowed down.
Wilson also has serious performance credentials behind her.
She’s been dancing since she was five, attended The Royal Ballet School at 11 and continued performing until around seven years ago.
“I try to be careful to not over-perform when I’m being Ms Rachel,” she said.
“She is very genuine and natural on screen so I try to carry that over to my appearances. I think it really helps that my real name is Rachel too. It makes it even more authentic.”
The moment that made a mum cry
Wilson says the best part of the job is being present for what she calls “magical early memories.” But one moment stands out.
“One mum told me she had a cry with happiness, as she has never seen her autistic son so happy,” Wilson said.
“It’s a real privilege.”
She says parents regularly tell her they can’t believe how engaged their usually shy children become during her sessions.
A charity fundraising event proved to be a turning point, after the reaction from parents and children pushed demand well beyond what she’d expected.
The admin happens at midnight
Juggling a full-time corporate role, motherhood and a weekend performance career is, by Wilson’s own admission, a challenge.
“Any parent today knows how hard it can be to juggle everything,” she said.
“I just try to do my best and be fully present when I’m at home with my family. It does mean a lot of my admin and message-replying happens late at night once everyone’s asleep, but that’s how I make it all work.”
She’s aware other Ms Rachel tribute acts exist and says she’s fine with the competition.
“There is room for us all,” she said. “People will decide themselves who they want to book.”
Her approach is less about spectacle and more about connection.
“Children don’t always want to be performed for,” she said.
“They want connection and to be involved.”
Why it matters
The tribute act economy for children’s entertainment is a growing niche that barely existed five years ago.
Ms Rachel’s rise created a market where parents will pay for the live version of something their children watch on a screen every day.
For creators watching this space, Wilson’s model is worth noting. She hasn’t quit her job.
She hasn’t gone viral. She’s built steady demand through word of mouth, repeat bookings and being genuinely good at something specific.
Children’s content is one of the most lucrative corners of the creator economy, and the live performance side of it is still largely untapped.
Wilson says she’d love to write a children’s book and create her own original content eventually.
For now, she’s booked through autumn, answering messages at midnight and making three-year-olds believe Ms Rachel just walked into their birthday party.
Worse business models exist.
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