Meet the Women like No M-other

Say the word ‘mother’ and you picture a woman with an invisible halo, holding a milk bottle in one hand, a whisk or spatula in the other, a content expression on her face and maybe a song on her lips? But at Schbang things are a bit different. We are here to shake things up and throw mothers into the mix of our workforce.?

It’s time to meet the moms who believe that all play and no work makes them dull girls. And the men who tell us how this new breed of working moms are bringing something special to work.?

For centuries, motherhood was the ultimate goal and purpose of a woman’s life. Just second to being married. And while the world has unrecognizably evolved in many ways, things haven’t changed much when it comes to women, especially mothers in the workplace. A 2017 story run by the online publication FirstPost showed that while women were dropping out of the workforce in rural India, it was in fact some of the country’s most educated women across urban India that were leaving jobs faster than others!?

Keeping the stats aside, as a mother to a four-year-old, I have my own story to narrate. For many women, a career break post-childbirth often becomes a necessity because as anyone who’s had a child will tell you - diaper changes and deadlines, feed schedules and work schedules, potty training and knowledge training don’t really go hand-in-hand. What is truly disheartening is that in India not too many organizations are willing to change things.?

When I joined Schbang as the Head of the Content department in the middle of the first lockdown in 2020, I was very apprehensive about being able to work full-time and raise my 4-year-old son. But having been around for over a year now, I can safely say that as a new-age agency, Schbang truly is trying to lead the change in more ways than one. And Sohil Karia , Co-founder and Head of Business Transformation, believes this change in attitude and policy is something that is long overdue if organizations are keen to bring in strong women leaders back to the workplace.?

“See I have always believed that more and more women should be encouraged to return to work after becoming mothers, but that can only happen when organizations understand the needs of working mothers. From flexi-working hours to establishing a remote work system - we do everything it takes to ensure that the mothers working with us have everything they need to maintain a healthy work-life balance,” he says.???

He also believes that these women have a special skill set that makes them great team players and leaders as well. “What they bring to the table is truly amazing. They bring new ways to be efficient despite the many demands for their time. They are flexible when it comes to dealing with curveballs and are great at building relationships. If someone can handle a toddler or a teenager, there’s nothing the business world can throw at them that they can’t manage,” he believes.?

And Sohil’s team has its fair share of working mothers at leadership positions. Meet Sharmeen Indorewala who heads the Business Transformation division at Schbang and is a mother to one-year-old Ranea. For Sharmeen, working with the founder Harshil Karia was one of the primary reasons that she said yes to her role. While she has been part of the organization for over 2 years, she began heading the Business Transformation team only post the birth of her daughter in June 2020. Sharmeen is all praises for Harshil, Sohil and the empathetic work culture of the agency. “There’s no politics and the young, fun energy here makes you want to come in to work each day,” she says, adding that her flexible work hours have really helped her juggle her work and the baby with ease. “I don’t work beyond 6 pm and everyone has been extremely understanding of this,’” she says, adding that she is as excited today about building her career at Schbang as she was on the day she started out.??

For Schbang founder Harshil Karia, the experience of working with mothers has been an enriching one. “I love working with mothers. The beauty of motherhood is that it’s a new phase of life for a woman. They’re suddenly more aware, heightened with responsibility and a lot more balanced in life,” he shares, adding that over the years he’s seen many of his women employees grow from mid-level to leadership roles within the company, even as they’re going through their personal journey of marriage and motherhood.

A journey he shares with great pride is that of Dhvani Jagasia who is currently Schbang’s Head of Finance. Harshil shares how he watched Dhvani grow from a member of the creative team to the head of the web team and finally the head of Finance, all in the span of a few years. Each time, the organization has helped her fit into new roles that accommodated the demands of her personal life.? It retained a valuable team member that eventually became an invaluable asset to the company and that perhaps is his biggest victory as an employer, Harshil shares.?

For Dhvani, her journey at Schbang has been filled with challenges and change. But what’s kept her going is the strong backing she’s received in both her professional and personal lives. “My career trajectory has grown at Schbang and at the same time my personal life or my time with my daughter hasn’t suffered. That’s the reason I’ve been here for so long,” she says, adding that she is lucky to be one of the few mothers who has a career and is still able to watch her 7-year-old daughter grow into a young woman each day.?

What is truly heartening and perhaps plays an important role when it comes to the company's supportive policies and environment for working mothers is Mini Nair . A part of the agency since its inception this working mom has scaled upward in her career over the years and heads Schbang's Human Resources department today. And while the agency has been extremely supportive of its valuable employees turned mothers, it has also not shed away from hiring mothers or moms-to-be, something that is still a rarity for many companies.?

Rachaita Vyas is another new mother who joined team Schbang amidst the lockdown as Executive Producer, Schbang Motion Pictures and she is all smiling about her Schbang journey thus far. “I was hired in July 2020 and supposed to begin work from September when I suddenly found out about my pregnancy at the end of August. My first reaction was to call HR and my team head and inform them about my pregnancy. I wasn’t sure if they’d want to hire a new pregnant recruit but their first reaction was ‘So what?’ They were happy to hire me as planned if I still wanted the job,” she shares. Rachaita worked from home through the 9 months of her pregnancy right up until she went into labor. And though the company offered her a 6-month maternity leave, she was keen to resume work sooner. “My son is 8 months old now and I have been attending shoots and coming into the office once in a while and it’s worked really well for me so far. I am glad this is the company I ended up in while I was an expectant and then a new mom.”

It’s a delightful and empowering scenario for all mothers and moms-to-be at Schbang - to get the flexibility and encouragement to lead two different lives, simultaneously, and come out stronger with the best of our capabilities. For all expectant and mothers willing to be a part of this modern workspace - you’ll never have to look back. Schbang’s got you and your little ones covered for good! And we cannot wait to welcome you into our growing family.

Author: Bonsy Desai