Balancing Parenthood Led to My Thriving Career

Parenthood brings about a profound transformation, and for me, it has led to a shift in perspective that has helped me thrive in my career. I had always been career-focused including working long hours, and I had assumed that having children would hold me back. However, becoming a parent actually turned out to be a positive change for my career.

Before having kids, I had high expectations of myself and others, but when I became a mom, I realized that everyone is unique and brings different strengths and skills to the table. This new perspective helped me build better relationships with my team. Observing my children's learning process and how they made mistakes, I began to adopt a positive attitude towards failures for myself and others. I now see them as opportunities for learning and personal growth. 

Juggling the demands of work and family was challenging, and time became a precious commodity. I was forced to delegate and look at the bigger picture, prioritizing high-value work and strategic thinking which helped my team scale-up immensely. It forces me to deliver value, collaborate well with teams and not take on any admin work. All of the above led to promotions in quick succession. To achieve work and family balance, I utilized flexible working arrangements, which my employer accommodated, allowing me to work from home or adjust my schedule as needed. This flexibility helped me manage my time more effectively, reducing stress and improving my overall productivity. 

In addition, I made use of after-school clubs for my children a few days a week, which they enjoyed. We had help from a nanny who did the school runs as well as a maid who ensured the house was in order. This allowed for more high-quality time with my children when they were at home without being stressed and worrying about cleaning. We were fortunate to have support from other parents who were willing to help with pickups and occasional babysitting when we were in a pinch. Having a community of like-minded parents was invaluable, and our children loved having playdates with their friends. 

My husband championed my ambitions wholeheartedly, and we created a system where we shared the responsibility of caring for our children and managing our household. He even took shared maternity leave for our second daughter, which allowed me to continue working while knowing that our daughter was in good hands. We use a shared color-coded calendar to organize our schedules, school runs, volunteering, public speaking commitments, and other events. By scheduling everything, from work deadlines to family appointments, we are able to plan ahead and make sure everyone knows who is responsible for what. It also allowed me to schedule my work commitments around my family's needs. Adding my to-do list items directly to my calendar as events to ensure I make time for all those goals. 

I am a great fan of atomic habits and manage to juggle multiple things effectively without compromising on things that are important to me, such as health and well-being, continuous learning, and growth by doing little bit at a time and habit stacking. For example, while the kettle is boiling for my coffee/tea, I will do 50-100 reps of jumping jacks. 

After having kids, I realized the importance of being a role model for them and paving the way for future generations so that my kids can enjoy a better future. I became unapologetically ambitious about my career and wanted to ensure that there were more women in engineering, especially in senior leadership positions. That's why I decided to join Women Who Code as a lead to make a difference. 

Despite the challenges of being a working parent, I've found that it's possible to enjoy both my career and family life. Through my experiences, I've learned the importance of work-family balance, delegation, prioritization, flexible working arrangements, after-school activities, external help, and atomic habit stacking. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire other women to start a family without worrying about their career progression and to find a system that works for them and achieve success in their personal and professional lives!