The ups and downs of being a model and a mum.
By Shannay Hall
The number one thing to acquire with children is patience, and being a mum at 22 with a career as a model has challenged me in that area..
Modelling can have odd hours and is very spontaneous, so this means you have to have a few baby sitters on call. Lucky I have an awesome partner and we work well together when I have a job. Iyla, is still so young, only 22 months I want motherhood to be my main focus and maintain my career. I’m so grateful that my friends and family are really great with her and ready to help.
I once brought Iyla to a shoot as the stylist said she would look after her, which didn’t go at all well as baby wanted me every time we started shooting. I had to call my friend and thankfully she was able to come and pick her up!
At 22 I can honestly say, I’m happier with my body since I’ve had a baby, my womanly hips I love! I guess now I have a greater understanding of how the body of a woman works and how it’s designed. There’s so much pressure for model mums to get back into shape. Even more so if there is a pressing financial need to get back to work.
This is an example of one embarrassing day doing a Redken hair shoot. Iyla was only 3 months old and it was a 2 day shoot, I was expressing milk in the toilets every 3-4 hours and my milk was leaking all on the clothes, everyone was totally understanding and were very sweet about it.
At my age I still haven’t learnt all the social graces that I guess time and experience will teach me, this is another big learning curve for me in the business.
One thing I’ve learnt though, that is to plan ahead of time but having a little baby, that can be a huge challenge as they are unpredictable and their needs are changing all the time. My agent may call the night before or 3 hours before with a job, this is stressful, I have to ring around and find a sitter for Iyla. One great bonus I just love is the look of surprise when I tell my client that I have a toddler!
Being a Mumma certainly makes me look after my mind as well as my body!
I so want to be strong for her.
