The Contributors

Adele is mum to Sam and his two furry friends, a wife to Martin and a travel counsellor to many. When not planning amazing holidays or solving complicated itineraries, she enjoys the outdoors, eating, cooking and reading. She grew up in Bloemfontein, South Africa and have been a UAE expat since 2007 and loves what the city has to offer.

Currently living in Dubai, Ash has been busy boring (and bankrupting) her husband with her obsession for Interior Design, for several years and is now trying a new audience: our lucky Sassy Mamas. Check out her wonderful (and hilarious) blog, where she gives mamas all the top tips for creating a fabulously designed home!

As an author and mama to three, Amy has recently given up work to focus on her writing (oh and her kids)! Her blog: Surviving Motherhood, is an honest and hilarious way to make sure mamas know they are not alone. She shares her experiences in an honest and hilarious way, to make sure mamas know they are not alone! Her first book: Up the Duff without a Paddle shares everything a woman should know about motherhood before they join in.

Mama of three, Annabel Karmel MBE is the UK’s No.1 children’s cookery author, best-selling international author, and expert on devising delicious, nutritious meals for babies, children and families available here in Dubai. In 2006 Annabel was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition.

Proud mum of Juliette and Florentine, Amsterdam-born Anouk is a Certified Coach and Master NLP Practitioner (ANLP). She is the founder of COACH4FLOW and on a mission: to coach woman around the globe to reach flow and increase their happiness levels. When you’re ready to make that change in your life, you can contact her at anouk@coach4flow.com.

Claire is our mega-talented Sassy Mama photographer whose love of photography started aged fourteen, with an Olympus OM1 camera and a darkroom in her parent’s cellar. Claire now runs Claire Barlow Photography where she takes natural-light portraits that capture families and newborns in a playful and relaxed way.

Originally from the UK, Claire was raised in Doha, Qatar from a young age and returned to the Middle East to pursue a career in events. Along the way, Claire met a lovely man, married him (before someone else did!) and is now the proud mummy of 3 month old baby Dylan. She’s documenting motherhood in sunny Dubai with her newborn son on her blog Milk and Sandcastles.

French Sassy Mama Emily Lidén is the proud mother of two (beautiful daughters: Luella and Josefin), and the brain, face and heart behind Dubai our Sandbox. She has a degree from Parsons school of design NYC and used to work in the cosmetics industry before setting up her own design business together with her husband in Dubai. Emily is now a full-time mama with a passion for scouting out and sharing her goodies for what to do with your little ones here in the desert.

Emily McGuire Nicholson is a Marketing & Communications specialist who has been living in the UAE since 2008. She has a young son named Connor and has high hopes to register for the Standard Chartered Dubai 10K Road Race in January – wish her luck!

Fiona is a Chef, creative, food stylist, inveterate foodologist and fabulous mama to 2 gorgeous kids. Her expertise and experience are phenomenal; from catering and cooking for the Ferrari Formula 1 team at the height of its glory, to cooking as a private Chef to VIPs and media celebrities, teaching Masterclass food styling seminars and workshops, and writing regular columns and features for other publications.

Frankie is a sassy aunt to four little people (who she loves to spoil!). A self proclaimed beauty junkie, she has worked for a number of magazines including Tatler and online title hip ‘n healthy before moving out to Dubai a couple of months ago as beauty editor for Gulf News.

American expat Gina Pistone-Serhal is the proud mama of two boys as well as the founder of Whipped, the neighbourhood bakery. She also blogs at Pastry School Diaries, where she teaches herself (and her readers) the art and science of all things sweet.

Jasmine is from the UK originally and has lived in the UAE for 7 years. She lives in Satwa with her amazing husband Alex, daughter Amber (8), son Indiana (5), 2 cats, five fish and a tortoise. She’s been teaching HypnoBirthing for five years and is also a BabyCalm and ToddlerCalm teacher. She feels very blessed to have found something that she’s passionate about, that fits in around her family and that makes a positive difference in peoples lives.

Mom of two, Kathryn is a design and interiors blogger at House of Hawkes. Born and bred in South Africa, she has a marketing background that spans South Africa, the UK and the UAE. Before the arrival of her kids, she headed up the marketing and business development team for The Grooming Company.

Katy’s a devoted Mum of cheeky little daughter Gabriella, 18 months, and a little white fluffy puppy Sonny.  She’s loving life in sunny Dubai after a couple of years having lived in HK, where her love affair with all things Sassy Mama began! Homemaker, neat freak and interior design addict with a very, very special talent for annoying her (untidy) husband!

Laura moved out to Dubai with her husband and eldest boy back in 2011, leaving the corporate world to become a full time stay at home mummy. Since then she’s started blogging about all mummyhood over at Life with Baby Kicks.

Lidiya is a natural light photographer specialising in newborn, child and family lifestyle sessions. She is drawn in by the beauty of tiny details, the unique moments of motherhood, and magic of childhood. Through interacting with children, she successfully captures genuine emotions, and all the quiet moments in between. Her newborn photography is minimalist, while the child images are vivid and bright to express the whimsy of childhood!

New mama Lindsey is a freelance writer and runs her own blog, ArabianNotes.com, about life in the UAE. She moved to Dubai in 2006 and was married on the beach against the backdrop of the Burj Al Arab. After leaving the UAE for 18-months, she found the call of the region too hard to ignore – returning to Abu Dhabi in January 2013 where her son was born in February 2015.

Louise is a freelance fashion and lifestyle writer, and full time mama to gorgeous girls, Milla and Emilie. She’s worked with some of the most renowned fashion brands in the sector and moved to Dubai in 2008 with her husband, where she worked for multibrand store Boutique 1 and set up her own label, Lulu Bare.

Louise is a full-time mummy to two gorgeous boys and a part-time freelance kids and lifestyle writer. Originally from Kent in the UK, she moved to Dubai with her husband to start a new life in the desert in 2010. When she isn’t investigating a new kid’s play area or family-friendly restaurant, she’s blogging at Mum of Boys and writing for various publications in the region.

Louise is a British food photographer, wedding and portrait photographer and videographer, based in Dubai. A mum of two girls, and a former graphic designer and art director, she is passionate about communicating ideas through a visual language. She is now a freelancer hoping to take her love of food photography to the next level.

Marissa first moved to Dubai in 2000 following the love-of-her-life: hotels! Fast forward a few years and a few other countries, she met Aussie hubby Matt in Dubai who ensured that changed. She now spends her days running after two sets of happy feet, ages 4 and 1, while working on her blog Little Sybarites and (trying to) study interior design.

Maysaa was born in Lebanon, but her parents picked up their five kids and moved them to Melbourne where I stayed for 24 years. In 2012, her little family moved to Dubai and the magical, crazy, unique, sandy adventure began along with her blog 365 Days in Dubai. She completed a Bachelor of Education and taught for four years before she became a full-time stay at home mum. Currently, she chairs the board of the Islamic Museum of Australia.

Mia, a Certified Raw & Plant-based Chef, Yoga Teacher and Health Coach (AADP), is the passionate healthy foodie behind Graciously Green where she shares her favourite raw, cooked and plant-based recipes as well as green-living ideas. She offers realistic ideas for healthy eating with wholesome recipes that are fun, easy to make and most importantly delicious.

Monica lives in Dubai with her husband Anil and two children: Tavishi, 8.5 years old and Pravit, aged 5. She loves to capture beautiful portraits be it maternity, newborn, family or lifestyle glamour shots.

Monica was born and raised in India and has been living the expat life for the last 12 years. She’s a citizen of the world, having lived in the USA, Malaysia, UK and now Dubai.

Natalie’s specialty is photographing little ones of all ages from newborn babies upwards. She loves capturing special moments and the love within families, so expect a shoot with her to involve many fun moments as well as emotional ones. She also is a pregnancy and experienced newborn baby photographer – she recently trained with an amazing newborn baby photographer, Kelly Brown, at her studio in Brisbane.

Dr Rania Ayat Hawayek is a Specialist Paediatrician working at Infinity Clinic. She looks after children of all ages, focusing mainly on early feeding issues and reflux as well as allergy-related conditions such as eczema and asthma. Originally from Lebanon, Dr Rania grew up in Dubai and moved back here after spending several years in London where she studied and trained. She’s a mama of 2, Victoria who is 4 years old and 2 year old Richard. You can contact her on rania@ihcdubai.com.

Renae Gard is a super talented photographer, with a huge focus on family life. Her photography specialises in the fine art of posed newborn photography, maternity sessions, and all those special milestone baby moments. Her adorable snaps of 1st birthdays (and, of course, the cake smash) are definitely images to pop on the mantlepiece.

Shani is a Midwife, Antenatal Educator and founder of Hatched – a fun, unique place for education and support in all things relating to pregnancy, birth, new mum support and baby massage. Offering up top tips, useful advice and sharing her 13 years of experience in the industry, Shani’s philosophy for new parents is all about “boosting on preparations and loosening on expectations”.

Born and raised in the UAE, Sonam Basantani previously worked across prominent magazines in the Middle East before going freelance.  As a Sassy Mama  contributor, Sonam uncovers the latest beauty trends and must-have products for our amazing mamas.

Stephanie is a soul photographer, published author of Hungry – Feed Your Soul, and a contributing author to the bestselling series “Adventures in Manifesting”. She’s super passionate about living a vibrant and colourful life behind her popular brand Nektar, using her knowledge as an Aura-Soma® Color Practitioner to lead creative and personal development workshops. Her approach as a photographer is casual, laid back and photojournalistic in nature, allowing the pure essence of her subjects to shine through.

Tammy grew up on a farm in South Africa and she’s lived in Dubai for 11 years. She studied a Bachelor of Primary Education at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and then went on to teach Preschool and Foundation Stage both in South Africa and Dubai. About 6 years ago, she left the school classroom environment and started running Toptots Mother and Child Workshops in Dubai.