Shayla McLeary-Jones is a UK-based blogger and influencer and founder of The Daily Shayla – where she shares parenting tips, random thoughts, lifestyle hacks and general life experiences with her readers. Shayla earned a degree in classical music in 2018 and plays the violin and produces music. Check out thedailyshayla.com to learn more and you can also follow Shayla on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud and TikTok, to name a few.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to start your blog?
So I’ve always been interested in arts for one, particularly I’m a musician, so I’ve been playing the violin for about 17 years now. So artistic ways of creation was always something that I wanted to get into, I started with trying to make YouTube videos and stuff from a young age.
And after I had my daughter, I was thinking, I have a lot to say, so I was wondering what’s the best way to kind of share that with the world because I run a lot basically. So I wanted to put that on a platform and I found a few blogs on the internet, just random searching. And I thought like, this is what I would like to do, so I just started up my blog. It started initially being about my journey in motherhood, that then it progressed and was born in something completely different, but yeah.
You cover a wide variety of topics ranging like you said, from motherhood, to lifestyle, to fitness, what’s your favorite topic to write about?
I think it’s definitely fitness, especially during the pandemic, my fitness journey has definitely progressed. So I’ve been able to write about things I’m learning along the way, which is definitely very fun.
I love that you share what you’re learning. What would you say your approach to fitness is? There’s a lot of different approaches I’m interested in yours.
At the moment, I just I’m able to work out when I have the time to work out. Initially, it was trying to do as much as I could and work out like seven times a week. But now, especially cause I have my daughter, I work out in the morning, I’ll try or if I can, I’ll try and work out.
If not, then I have other ways to get the fitness in, walking, doing activities with my family, things like that. So it’s kind of, much more laid back at the moment.
At what point did you realize you were an influencer?
I think it’s when I started getting paid for sponsored posts, things like that. I never thought I would be at that point, especially in this stage, in my blogging journey.
But then when that started happening, I was getting comments from people as well. Yeah, I started to realize like, oh, they’re actually people reading my content, which is great.
What’s been a memorable collaboration to date, whether it’s in a blog post or whether you were reviewing a product or giving an endorsement?
I would say is one I did quite recently it was for plays.org. It was a website that just has a hundred different games and for me self-care is really important. So I was able to play the games and then talk about the games that I played and then promote to everyone, which was very fun because I like playing video games or online games, computer games. So yeah, that was probably my favorite.
How do you structure your average day?
Well, in the mornings for one, I would always start my day with doing my exercise. Once I work out, it kind of gets everything going and like my brain working. And after that, I usually have quite a few ideas that would want to write about. I’ll probably jot down things in my notes app on my phone or something, and think about what I would like to write about.
Sometimes I would start right away just working on blog posts and things like that, and that probably is a two hour window at that point, I’m just working on my blog.
If not, then it’s like replying to comments, things like that and scrolling on social media. And then I just go about my day. A lot of it is very mother based. I’m very, I do a lot with my daughter, so we’re probably out and about, but then when she’s in bed, I get home and we’re able to work on my blog a bit more. And then before I sleep, I do things that I enjoy, whether it be like skincare or watching some Netflix, things like that.
What are some of your goals for the next year or so as it pertains to your blog or social media or with your music?
I would definitely in for music because as well as my violin, I also do like to produce music, so I would like to get a bit farther with that. Possibly use my platform to promote my work a bit more and get that out there, which yeah, that will be good for me. As well with my blog, I think my main goal for it, I want to influence people, which is like the whole thing about being an influencer. I want people to read my blog and be inspired and want to change their lives, like I changed mine. So yeah, those are the two main things I think I would like to work on at the moment.
Note: Influencer Spotlight interviews are edited for time and clarity.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
