For a lot of women, pregnancy and new motherhood is a time of joy and excitement - at least some of the time. In most cases, however, most mothers, especially new ones, also experience worry, disappointment, guilt, competition, frustration, and even anger and fear. Shaney Vijendranath Co-Founder of the parenting startup, Momsays, has been on that road before and was determined to help other mothers not to go through the same experiences.
As a young mother, Shaney quickly realised that motherhood can be a very lonely journey. For this reason, in 2014 she launched her acclaimed blog, You, Baby and I, in an effort to connect with other moms going through similar experiences.
“I wanted advice from real moms; moms who had actually used the products and experienced the brands daily," explains Shaney.
After blogging for over two years, Shaney realised that the platform was more than just a mere blog. It brought together a group of mothers who had trust towards each other. The blog grew popular and as a result, won several awards. In 2016 it was named Africa's most influential parenting blog, the year that followed it was awarded Best Parenting Blog at the South African Blog Awards. This came after Shaney collaborated with some of the world’s biggest brands such as Mattel, Disney, LG, Volvo, Samsung and Unilever.
“It was around this time that I started to realise that You, Baby and I was more than just a blog. It had become a tribe of moms who trusted each other’s opinions. My readers became my friends and support system, the people who were there for me during both my happy and sad moments," she adds with a smile.
And with this realisation, in 2016, Shaney partnered with her husband Vije Vijendranath to come up with Momsays. This came after seeing a wide gap in the baby sector. Momsays assists brands to engage and sell well to first-time mothers. It does this by using the collective knowledge of many South African experienced mothers. She explains that the startup gives mompreneurs and products an opportunity to engage with consumers directly and partner with other like-minded mompreneurs. This gives them a chance to gain from the best in the sector.
Shaney's love for entrepreneurship stems from a tender age. She says part of her reason to venture into entrepreneurship was so that she would be able to help a single mother who became the sole provider to the family, following her father's passing when she was just 8 - years -old.
“My mom is the reason I went into business, watching her work hard every day to try and provide for me inspired me to build something she would be proud of. She sacrificed everything for me”, she says compassionately.
Whilst in primary school, Shanèy showed a keen interest in people and entrepreneurship.She started selling personalized greeting cards to classmates in grade 2 and then helped her mom make money by taking orders from teachers for Justine (skincare range). She wanted to make a difference and impact in the world. This passion was made even more achievable when she was chosen for a UNICEF ‘violence against women and children program’. This gave her the opportunity to meet American actor Laurence Fishburne, members of parliament and create poems for UNICEF’s official website at the age of 12.
Fast forward to 2019, Shaney (28) is now a successful entrepreneur and is looking to grow more in this space. She credits mentorship as one of the factors that have helped her to thrive in her business endeavours.
“I think is so important to have a mentor. Sometimes we underestimate the value a mentor can bring. So, I have always had a mentor I still have a mentor that regularly communicate with, to share my highs and lows and getting advice. And my husband happens to be one of my mentors because he’s been amazing in this entrepreneurial journey with me and he is usually the first person about everything and anything. So mentors play an important role in your journey of entrepreneurship and if you don’t have one I’d suggest you get one. “
It goes without saying that quite often most moms are faced with new questions, decisions, and challenges every day. Questions like my kids like, "Mom, how do I draw a Little Pony?" "Which jogging stroller will be light enough to push up that hill by my house?" Or big parenting challenges that keep them up at night like, "How do I talk to my kid about bullying?" They constantly have decisions to make. Fortunate enough, we live in a world full of information at our fingertips, moms are going online with questions big and small, and it creative and innovative platforms like Momsays that will help them answer some of these questions to help them make better decisions.
To learn more about Momsays visit www.momsays.co.za
Featured entrepreneurs - Shaney Vijendranath
Age - 28
Year founded - 2017
Turnover - R700,000
Start-up funding - Identity future fund capital