Working Moms Rock

This is me, 7.5 months pregnant with my second, on a business trip in Japan. My husband and I decided he and our 1.5 year old daughter would come along.

This was me spending a few precious moments with her in our hotel room before the day began. Then hubby would take her to local parks while I went to my meetings.

We then took a week off and spent time with my in-laws in Taiwan.

That was my way of juggling business travel and motherhood, sometimes.

There were many more business trips where I had to leave the family behind. Including one year when I burst into tears in a Singapore conference room, because I had to miss Mother’s Day to attend a leadership offsite on time.

I wish I had spoken up when the offsite was being planned, but fear held me back. I didn’t want to be seen as weak, and I didn’t want to be the only one complaining.

My leader at the time didn’t have a family with young kids, and the rest of his global leads were single or had no kids. No one even realized the conflict, until my emotional outburst.

I was grateful. My manager made it a point to check all future team offsites and travel dates before they were booked. It became an org norm with the tone set at the top that it’s ok to speak up. And it’s ok to schedule business around key life moments.

As we conclude Women’s History Month, to all the working moms out there, let’s share our stories because we are not alone. Let’s first be compassionate with ourselves. And as Maya Angelou says: '𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯.’

Ask for the support that would help you thrive. 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

Advocate for yourself. And we can talk through the how: dreamplando.live

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