It is possible to have a successful career, be a brilliant parent with minimum guilt? Yes, you can.

In the third instalment of the Cogs Singapore’s Ladies Breakfast we were overjoyed to have Annette Male, MD of DigitasLBI Singapore join us to present.

“Work life balance. Is it possible for a successful working woman to have it all? Having the best of both worlds is. It’s not rocket science, but that’s not to say it doesn’t take careful planning, a supportive family, a bit of flexibility and possibly some compromises in life.”

So why do women feel such pressure and stress over balancing their lives. A Baby Center survey actually revealed that up to 94% of mums felt guilty for a variety of issues, and this needs to be addressed.

Battling with natural “mum guilt” is tough enough, but those women who choose to go back to work often face an extra challenge. There is so much negativity around working mothers, criticisms like ‘ they are not good parents for spending hours away from their children’,  ‘they are less capable of maintaining a happy healthy home life’, that ‘businesses do not respect them’ – are totally unfounded and untrue. What Annette discussed was actually the opposite – working mums often see a host of benefits to their life choice of being a working mother :

* Daughters of working mums are found more likely to reach a higher level of education
* Sons of working mums are found to spend more time helping out around the home
* Children of working mothers are more independent
* Mums at work help to reduce to gender inequality in the work place
* A working mother is less prone to suffer from depression
* Mothers who work are able to manage better quality time with their children

There are plenty of successful women across the globe that are paving the way for working mothers, none more so than Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook (and featured on Forbes Billionaires list). Her book ‘Lean in – Women, work and the will to lead’ is empowering for women in today’s society, sharing the notion that is it actually great for you to have a career; you will are better off financially, better at building relationships, collaborating and problem solving.  She has recently began speaking publicly after her husband passed away and discussing the difficulties that single mothers face, she is inspiring women across the globe.

Annette went on to share some tops tips from herself and female colleagues on how to achieve a work life balance – all of which we found valuable, our top 3 top takaways were:

* Be clear from the start as to what you want and what you are prepared to commit to and let your employer know. If you want to work 4 days a week – then ask for that and do that and stick to it.
* You can’t do it all, but you can have it all. There will inevitably be times you need to compromise. This is where you make a choice, but you must be realistic in your goals.
* Just because you are ambitious doesn’t mean you are bossy or ruthless. Annette explained that you should ‘be aggressive in your goal but not your demeanor’. It is OK to let people know you are passionate and driven.

Annette’s talk was refreshing and inspiring and left a room of 20 women buzzing with the prospect of pushing boundaries in their personal and professional life. It’s always good to see a number of ladies stick around after the event and continue the informal chit chats over a coffee and more croissants.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Annette and the DigitatLBI team to their support and participation, Annette’s honest words and realist attitude were both endearing and motivating and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event, if we managed to inspire just one attendee that they can “have it all” we have done what we set out to achieve, and remember in the words of Annette “It’s never perfect and its exhausting but that’s what makes life interesting.”

If you are looking to get back into the digital industry after a career break, check out our opportunities in Singapore today, or contact us for a chat to discuss your options.

To out about the next Ladies Breakfast Event contact us at contact@cogsagency.com

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