Letter to Mompreneurs...
What do we really want on Women's Day?
Dear Mompreneurs,
Happy belated Women’s day! I have been wondering if giving extra air miles or meal discounts are sufficient? Is that all that we are asking? We need equal respect!
Most of the articles I read yesterday, we're talking about how we would have more women-entrepreneurs if women start possessing an appetite for risk-taking and are courageous. Let’s get one thing straight, we move to another house after marriage in an unfamiliar environment, deliver babies knowing it can be life-threatening. These require much more courage than starting a new company.
All this reminds me of the two things which I was contemplating when I was restarting my career as a mompreneur. One was the faith in myself, which is one thing we have to start inculcating in ourselves and in our daughters to lead them to success. Second, was will I be able to devote time to my family? But my husband had faith in me which I didn’t and agreed to share the responsibility and here I am, I started GoGaga — A NextGen Dating App.
I feel that most women-entrepreneurs go through this dilemma of work-life balance. Specially mompreneurs. Women are taught to believe that their “family is very important” and they strive to become super-woman to keep the balance. A family is indeed very important, but I would like to teach my daughter that “work is equally important”. We must learn to express when we are tired, ask for help when required and delegate work.
All the women-entrepreneurs talk about how they balance work and family. Successful men need not mention family in their success story. Let's change this by teaching our sons to share the family responsibilities equally.
On Women’s day and ever after, we expect people to treat us equally:
1. By accepting a woman leader with equal respect as a male leader.
2. Appreciating your homemaker wife/mother’s skills of multi-tasking, time-management and money-management.
3. Help a working lady not feeling guilty, by not reminding her of how important it is to be with family. She knows!
I would like to wish Happy belated Women’s day to two inspiring women without whose support I could not have thought of running a startup. My mother-in-law (Amma) and my mother who have been teaching their sons to share the responsibility and bestow freedom on their daughters to chase their dreams!
