Kellie Browning has spent almost forty years telling stories, not through books, but through experiences.
Running her own business as a home-based, mobile travel advisor with Connected Travel, she has helped generations of clients create journeys filled with meaning, emotion and memory.
Based on the Mornington Peninsula, Kellie lives locally with her husband and is the proud mum of two sons, now both devoted fathers themselves. She is incredibly grateful for the amazing women who share her sons’ lives and are raising their beautiful children alongside them.
“Working in travel is really like storytelling,” Kellie says. “You’re setting the scene, shaping the feeling and creating moments people will carry with them forever.”
What she never imagined was that her most personal story would one day become a book.
Becoming a children’s author was never on Kellie’s radar. But when she became a nanna, everything changed. It was a moment that marked the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
There is something deeply moving for Kellie about seeing familiar expressions, mannerisms and quirks appear in her grandchildren as tiny reflections of the people she once raised, now continuing their story in a new generation.
Being a nanna has given Kellie something she didn’t realise she needed: patience, presence and perspective. Where parenting was often busy and fast-paced, being a grandparent allows her to slow down, sit in the moment and truly see the little people growing in front of her.
She also laughs about what she calls “the nanna smile.” When she’s in the supermarket with her grandbabies, she often shares a quiet smile and nod with other grandmothers; a silent code that says, ‘we are lucky, we are blessed, and we understand the magic of being part of a child’s world.’
The idea for her book My Nanna Says came from one beautifully ordinary moment when Lennie, her oldest granddaughter, began sharing little sayings with other family members such as, “My nanna says ‘I’ll help you rip the band aid off fast and it won’t hurt.’”
Hearing her own words echoed back through such a small voice stopped her in her tracks. It made her wonder whether these everyday simple small phrases, the gentle reassurances, and the comforting promises might become part of her grandchildren’s lifelong memories.
That same weekend, she wrote My Nanna Says.
The book is very simple in words, yet deeply meaningful in its message. Kellie spent time searching for an illustrator who could truly capture the heart of the story, eventually finding Moran Reudor, whose soft, gentle illustrations perfectly reflect the warmth, innocence and emotion of the book. Moran’s ability to capture the children’s features and expressions brought each page to life, adding depth and soul to every scene.
The final page invites grandparents to write their own personal saying, transforming every copy into a keepsake; a place where words, love and memory live on.
Kellie also chose to walk the path of self-publishing, embracing the entire creative journey from concept to completion.
“It’s not just a book,” Kellie says. “It’s a way for grandparents to leave something of themselves behind.”
In many ways, the book mirrors Kellie’s life in travel. Both are about connection. Both are about feeling. Both are about creating moments that last long after they’ve passed.
While Kellie continues to help clients explore the world through Connected Travel, My Nanna Says is a reminder that some of the most meaningful journeys happen much closer to home: in living rooms, at bedtime, in whispered words and gentle hugs.
It is a celebration of love, presence and the quiet magic of being a nanna and it is the most meaningful story Kellie Browning has ever told.
Kellie is thinking about book number two; a book about the big wide world and what little people can discover within it.