5 minutes with.... Siobhan Rennie from MeOhMy

With almost 17,000 Instagram followers, thousands of daily readers of her blog MeOhMy, and as a contributor to The Motherish, Siobhan Rennie is one of Australia's most popular mummy blogers.

After 15 years of working in media, journalism and public relations, Siobhan has used her writing and PR skills to bring the world her stories of transitioning from the corporate world to being a stay at home mother to sons Harry and Aoife.

So what is it like to share your most intimate life moments with the world? We recently sat down with Siobhan to find out about all things blogging and parenting.

Q: How have you found the transition from a career in the public service and corporate Australia to being a stay at home mum?

A: In one word? Tough!

It was a huge shock as I was always so career driven and it was my number one priority – until our baby boy came along and that all changed. I felt lost for a while, as my work had always been such a big part of me. I had a bit of an identity crisis for a while there.

But the transition gave me the idea and impetus for my blog, which began as being all about going from 'manager to mummy' – from working in the corporate world to being 'just' a stay at home mum (which is a job a lot harder than you expect, and to be honest a lot harder than a full time corporate job ever was!).

Q: Was it difficult at first to write about such intimate and personal details of your life? Does it get any easier the more you write?

It was. Some topics are quite easy to write about, others are harder.

However what has kept me going is the amazing feedback I've had from so many mums around the globe who have gone through a similar transition. They say that by reading my blog they realise they're not alone and find a lot of common ground with other mums, which is brilliant.

Siobhan and baby Aoife (picture courtesy MeOhMy)

Q: Your blog and Instagram accounts have been hugely successful and popular so far. Has the response been a little overwhelming and unexpected?

To some extent. When I started a year ago I remember thinking I would have made it a success if I got 1000 followers on Instagram and a few hundreds reads of my blog - I now have nearly 17K on Instagram and thousands of reads per day on my blog, so that's pretty astounding!

But it has also been a lot of hard work, in the beginning for not much reward. It's a hard slog but has also led to so many different opportunities that make it worth it. Through this I've also met (either in person or virtually!), so many amazing mums running their own businesses, it's very inspiring.

Q: What has been the biggest parenting lesson you've learnt so far?

There is no such thing as 'perfect' when it comes to mum life and you just need to go with the flow, relinquish control a bit and breathe! As someone who has always been highly organised and a perfectionist, this has been hard to learn.

But some days no matter what you do things just go to sh*t (excuse the language!), and you just have to breathe, smile and get some air!

Q: 'Mummy bloggers' have a bit of a bad reputation on the internet. Do you think this is a bit unjustified?

The majority of the other mummy bloggers I have come across on Instagram are genuine, lovely, caring people. They behave on social media like they do in person, and never say anything that causes offence.

Others, however, definitely do not fall into this category! I've heard of backstabbing and I myself have been the subject of some 'mum shaming' by one mummy blogger in particular.

But that's the risk you take when you put yourself out there publicly  - you have to take the good with the bad. And I'd say 90% of them are great!

Siobhan and son Harry (picture courtesy of Siobhan Rennie)

Q: One of your passions is keeping fit and active while pregnant and after you've had a baby. Can you tell us more about why this is so important?

Pre baby and pre pregnancy, I kept fit because I wanted to stay healthy and look good - plain and simple! During pregnancy I did what I could but was sick with both my pregnancies so it wasn't easy.

Post-partum, exercise has taken on a new meaning. It's the only 'me' time that I get. I get to clear my head, breathe, focus on something other than babies and it just feels good moving my body. I also want to raise our children to be fit and healthy, so they lead long and happy lives, and leading by example is a big part of that.

Q: Do you have any tips for aspiring bloggers?

1. Make sure your blog is very 'you' otherwise it won't be sustainable.
2. Find a niche and then write about it. In my case I was looking for someone who was writing about the sort of transition that I was going though and couldn't find anyone – so decided to start a blog on that subject myself.
3.  Make sure you have a point of difference. Use social media to plug your blog (Instagram is the best tool, in my eyes).
4. Stick with it – perseverance is key!

Q: What does the future hold for Me Oh My? Do you have any big plans or exciting things in the pipeline?

I have a few big collaborations that I'm working on at the moment, in conjunction with my management company. And a vision for the future that looks very bright!

Words by Siobhan Rennie and Daniel Murphy. Images courtesy of Siobhan Rennie and MeOhMy.

Siobhan Rennie Bachelor of Communication (Journalism), University of Canberra (2001) Siobhan Rennie is a freelance writer, media and public relations professional and the Founder and Editor of MeOhMy. She completed at Bachelor of Communication majoring in Journalism at the University of Canberra in 2001. Prior to starting her blog, Siobhan worked for Prime Minister and Cabinet where she was Director of Media Operations of the G20 Taskforce. You can connect with Siobhan via Instagram, Facebook and at her blog.