Shelan's life is a patchwork of different cultures and landscapes; she was born in northern Nigeria, growing up among the Tiwi - an aboriginal community on an island north of Darwin, and moved to England at the age of eleven. Shelan then travelled to Buenos Aires after graduating in Modern Languages from Oxford, and stayed for nine years. Then another chapter in England, followed by six years in Kenya on flower farms by Lake Naivasha and the lower slopes of Mount Kenya.

Now, Shelan lives in Andalucia, Spain. She has learnt in and outside many classrooms around the world, teaching in some of them too. Her professional career has revolved around international education, learning and development, with an emphasis during her time in Kenya on anti-discrimination.