About me

Hello! I’m Shanèy but you can call me Shan. I’m a mom of 3 kids (2, 4 and 7-years-old), an entrepreneur and a blogger.

I’m the Co-founder of the parenting startup – MomSays and just recently made the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list in the business category!

I’m also the SoGal Chapter Lead for Johannesburg.

My story:

Truth is, I became a blogger by accident! I got married at 20 and became a first-time mom at 21-years-old.

I quickly realized that motherhood can be a very lonely journey, especially when none of your friends are parents yet. I felt like there just wasn’t enough support for new moms especially when trying to filter through baby products and trying to decipher which are the best options. Everyone had their own lists, but no one shared what South African moms were purchasing and why, so I began blogging to connect with other moms in the community.

You, Baby and I blog (2014)

In 2014, I made my first mark in the blogging community by winning Kids Emporium’s Mommy bloggers competition.

During my blogging journey, I became a regular guest on the popular parenting show Great Expectations on ETV and wrote for several publications including Milestones, Essays, Huffington Post, Living and Loving.

You, Baby and I was named Africa’s most influential parenting blog – 2016 (Webfluential) and Best Parenting Blog 2017 (South African blog awards) in South Africa.

I’ve collaborated with some of the biggest brands in the world like Mattel, Disney, Hasbro, LG, Volvo, Burger King, Samsung and Unilever.

After two years of blogging I realized that You, Baby and I was more than just a blog. It became of tribe of moms who trusted each other’s opinions.

MomSays (2016)

Towards the end of 2016, I  saw this as an opportunity and decided to launch MomSays to test my theory.

It hasn’t been an easy road for me but I don’t regret it.

MomSays was created to help moms along the journey of motherhood.

Currently

I’ve been blogging here for over 6 years about motherhood and parenting. I’m thankful for all the opportunites I’ve had and the people I’ve met through this journey however it is time for a change.

Right now, I want to focus more on myself and my travels on this blog. So it’s life after baby. What happens when you become a mom in business? How does traveling for work affect the kids, traveling with kids, entrepreneurship, mom-cations and so on.

You might find a few guest blogger articles here as well because I really want to use this platform to encourage other moms to share their stories and connect with you too.

Get to know me

• I love traveling! One day, when my kids are all grown up and don’t need mommy anymore (well, they will always… but you know what I mean), I would like to do a food tour over a few months. Visit some of my favourite countries and try different cuisines.
• I love binge watching so Netflix is my weakness. I can sleep at 3am watching my favorite shows like Greys Anatomy.
• I love a good plate of food – I’m a foodie even though I can’t really cook but I do try! I love trying new resturants and visiting my favorites once in a while to indulge. I’m one of those people that become loyal to brand or place if I love it.
• I love taking out pictures – still learning the art of it from Instahubby.
• I love finding a good hack so pinterest is my life!
• I love a good road trip!