My Story
hi! My name is Shay. I’m an Aquarius spirit and love living a colorful life!
I’ve been a creative entrepreneur for over 12 years and LOVE what I do. I own bunglo, a best selling home decor company sold at anthropologie. I’ve designed multiple brands, websites and marketing strategies for conscious woman on a mission to create inspiring change.
When I became a mother, with a business, I quickly realized I needed support. There was all of this talk about preparing for motherhood, but nothing about preparing my business for motherhood. Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I created it for myself. And now I’m on a mission to share it with you!
My Timeline of living life as art.
1988
Born in Detroit, Michigan.
1994
Started my first business - sold coloring book pages on the playground for a quarter so I could buy crystals from the discovery store at the mall.
1997
Set up a booth at the Detroit Festival of Arts and sold my handmade hemp necklaces. Made $250 and purchased a fancy coloring pencil set.
1999
Dad gifted me his vintage Fujica Camera. (Still one of my favorite cameras). Began taking photos around the house, mostly of my brother Conrad, who’s now a model. I like to think I trained him :)
2003
Sold my first large scale painting. Started selling paintings regularly. Saved for a flight to Europe.
2004
Went to London + Paris with friends.
2006
Won the Oakland County’s International Leadership Award at the ‘Going Global’ Conference.
Accepted to the University of Michigan’s school of Art + Design.
Traveled with a friend to Italy and the Netherlands for our senior spring break.
2007
Hired as a staff photographer for the Michigan Daily Newspaper.
Interned at Moosejaw Mountaineering in digital marketing.
Interned at Hour Detroit Magazine as a design assistant.
2008
Spent a month in Kenya documenting the need for clean and safe drinking water for the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative.
Awarded the Kelly McKinnell Travel Scholarship.
Granted $10,000 in funding from the University of Michigan International Center to travel back to East Africa.
Promoted as the Photography Editor of the Michigan Daily Newspaper.
Photographed my first wedding, the images were picked up by Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine. Grew my photography company almost overnight!
2009
Produced and photographed a month long documentary in Tanzania and Zanzibar, focusing on preventable blindness for Standard Chartered bank, in partnership with the Cliton Global Initiative.
Spent 2 months in Austin, Texas working for the documentary company, Students of the World.
2010
Graduated from the University of Michigan’s school of Art + Design with a focus in Photography and Painting.
Hired to photograph the Clinton Global Initiative Conference in NYC. Photographed Obama, Ashton Kutcher, Brad Bitt, Bono, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba and 126 world leaders.
My photographs of women at water wells in Kenya was featured on a billboard in times square.
2011
Spent the year living in Malaga, Spain. Traveled to Morocco, Italy, Portugal, France and started a photography blog.
Sent on an assignment to cover the aftermath of the earthquakes in Haiti for the organization Un Techno Para Mi Pais.
2012
Won the CIEE’s international blogging contest and awarded an all expense paid trip to Spain, Morocco, Botswana, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Chile.
2013
Landed a job as a Visual Merchandiser at Anthropologie.
Took a road trip from Austin to San Fran with zero plans.
Bought a one way ticket to an Ashram in India. Traveled throughout Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for a few months on less than $2,000.
2014
Launched bunglo online and at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, West Elm and Anthropologie.
Sent on a photography assignment for the Little Stones Documentary in India. Got deported as my visa was expired. Quickly learned that India uses the British date system (I got the month and date backwards). Under arrest for 24 hours.
Went camping in the Big Sur, CA.
2015
Went back to India (with the correct visa) to design a limited edition collection of fair trade rugs and pillows for bunglo.
Named Bloomingdales’ ‘Newest Designer in Home Decor’.
Featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Architectural Digest, HGTV, InStyle, House Beautiful, Redbook, and Good Housekeeping.
Traveled to Guatemala to document stories for Noonday Collection.
2016
Spent the year living in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
Acquired Strolby.com, a Brooklyn based e-commerce marketplace.
Attended the United State of Women Conference at the White House hosted by Oprah and Michelle Obama.
2017
Moved back to Austin (missed the sunshine!)
2018
Launched Indigo & Sage, previously known as Strolby.com.
Bunglo went direct to consumer and moved all production to the USA.
Traveled back to Guatemala to document stories for Noonday Collection and source fabrics.
Successfully launched the Creative Entrepreneur Toolkit - an online course to help women launch businesses in 12 weeks!
2019
My daughter Lily was born.
Opened a creative agency focused on branding & webdesign - www.ShaySpaniolaCreative.com
2020
Began focusing on creative systems for mamma-preneurs after needing support with juggling it all!