DUBAI: Nearly two decades into her modeling career, Shanina Shaik, an Australia-born model of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Lithuania descent, said the moment that stayed with her most was not a runway show or magazine cover but the day she turned down a job.
In a post on Instagram this week, the Australian model opened up about a career decision she made for her son, revealing she once declined an opportunity that most people in her position would not have.
She paired the message with polished behind-the-scenes footage from a studio shoot. In the clip, Shaik poses against a bold red backdrop in a black-and-white-trimmed set, her dark hair swept back by a sleek headband and her makeup glowing under the lights.
“19 years in this industry. This is the decision that still sits with me,” she wrote in the caption.
“There was a moment I turned something down that I knew most people wouldn’t in my position,” Shaik wrote, “but being home to raise my son and spend time with him matters more than any campaign ever could. I don’t regret it. If anything, it’s the choice I’m proudest of.”
She added: “19 years in, and I’m still working, still building … but being his mom comes first.”
Shaik used the moment to speak candidly about the tension between a demanding career and motherhood. “This industry doesn’t always leave room for that kind of choice,” she wrote. “So I’m learning to make my own room, in my own time.”
She did not name the campaign she declined.
The model shares her son, Zai Adesuyan Matthew, with her partner Matthew Adesuyan. Their first child was born in Los Angeles in September 2022, and Shaik has spoken often since about how motherhood reshaped her, once describing it as “powerful.”
A former Victoria’s Secret model who rose to prominence on the brand’s runway, Shaik has continued to front high-profile work in recent years.
She appeared for Victoria Beckham Beauty during Paris Fashion Week in 2025 and modeled for Net-A-Porter in early 2026, and in 2024 she took part in her first Mother’s Day campaign, fronting an Australian shoot for fashion platform Witchery alongside a young Zai.
