With two kids under two, this Adelaide mum spent maternity leave building a business to help Aussie professionals support each other

Tweet

Image Credit: Maree Giannetti

Somewhere between the 3am feeds and a never-ending laundry pile, Adelaide teacher Maree Giannetti has managed to build a business.

Whilst we love to see any and every SA woman making waves in the small business and start-up space, a story about a mum managing to start a business with two kids under two at home, all whilst on maternity leave, safe to say, caught our attention. Anyone who’s had a newborn knows that windows of free time can be about as reliable as Adelaide weather in spring!

So what is it? Shareify is an Australian online marketplace where teachers, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, counsellors, psychologists and other professionals can buy and sell practical digital resources. Think worksheets, activities and tools made by people who use them at work, for people who want to use them at work.

Maree Giannetti

Credit: Shareify

From her time in the classroom, Maree started noticing a frustrating pattern: Australian professionals making the same resources from scratch, over and over, or turning to overseas marketplaces stuffed with American spelling and examples that just don’t sound quite right when said with a ‘bitta’ good ol’ Aussie twang. There are only so many times you can cross out “color” or cringe at someone saying “candy” or “sidewalk” before you decide to take matters into your own hands.

“As a teacher, I know how much time, knowledge and creativity goes into making a really good resource,” Maree tells.

“There are so many talented Australian professionals creating incredible things, and I wanted to build a place that brought that expertise together.”

She saw room for a marketplace where those professionals could share their work and help each other save time. “Somewhere people could find resources that suited our local context, pay in Australian dollars and support the people who created them.”

“The heart of Shareify is Australians helping each other. Someone has already spent hours creating something that could make another person’s working day easier. I wanted to help connect those people,” Maree explains.

Turns out, there was quite the market for it. Shareify launched in January 2026 and has recently hit around 1,000 resources on the platform, with a growing community of Aussie creators and customers finding it organically through Google. A clear sign of just how underserved this niche was.

“That feels like a really special milestone,” Maree says. “Behind those resources are real people who have chosen to put their work and their trust into something I’m building.”

And even Maree has been caught off guard by what’s turned up on the platform.

“What has surprised me most is the breadth of creativity and expertise out there. Even as a teacher, I’ll open a resource and be blown away by the thought and work that has gone into it.”

From lesson plans and printables to therapy resources, whatever specific resource has you thinking, “God, I wish that was out there,” Maree has designed the website so you can find it, all while knowing you’re supporting other local professionals.

And the best part? You can find it all on one website, saving you from sifting through a million different tabs, losing hours scrolling past unnecessary blog posts and clicking through endless “accept all cookies” pop-ups.

But for Maree, there’s been a huge amount of learning along the way, and she’s well aware there’s still a long way to go.

“I’m a teacher learning how to build a business while raising two babies, and I’m still figuring that balance out. I believed in the idea enough to keep taking the next small step, even when progress was slower than I wanted.”

“We’re still early in the journey. Building the collection is one part; helping more buyers discover it is the next. I’m proud of how far we’ve come, while being honest that growing a marketplace takes time.”

Maree’s goal is to turn Shareify into Australia’s go-to spot for professional digital resources, whilst helping local educators and allied health workers earn a bit of extra income from work they’ve already done. Because if you’ve spent your Sunday night building the perfect lesson plan, it might as well pay you back.

“I’d love a busy teacher or therapist to think, ‘Someone in my community might have already created exactly what I need,’ and know where to find it,” she shares.

“The vision is bigger than downloading a file. It’s about backing Australian expertise, giving people time back and building something we can all be proud to be part of.”