Make It Work Sarah Wong

Rachel Tan, an e-commerce whiz based in Malaysia, has made waves in leadership positions at the likes of Shopee, L’Oreal, Nuffnang and Oxwhite, the Malaysian retail company famous for selling 2,500 white shirts in just three hours. She's also the founder of In Real Life, a digital publishing platform, which was sold in 2020. But that's not all. Rachel's story takes a unique turn after welcoming three children into her life.  She realized the potential to merge her love for nurturing kids with her marketing prowess, leading to the birth of The Nurts, an innovative venture that offers books, toys, and games designed to foster precious parent-child bonds.  For those intrigued by the concept of fractional work, Rachel also shares her journey of securing a two day a week marketing leadership role at Oxwhite, whilst growing The Nurts, her own business inspired by her kids.

Rachel is also extending a special offer to listeners of Make it Work for products purchased on The Nurts' online store. Valid until 30 June 2024, use the code, MAKEITWORK10 for a 10% discount with a minimum spend of RM 120 (~ USD25)! 

In our conversation, we chat about:

🌟Juggling Mum-preneurship and 3 kids

🌟Fractional Work: How Rachel Found a 2-day-a-week Marketing Leadership Role

🌟Combining Work and Play: Starting The Nurts

🌟The 3 Most Important Relationships 

🌟The Importance of Knowing Thyself

🌟How to Overcome Self-doubt



Connect with Rachel on:

👋The Nurts https://www.thenurts.com/

👋LinkedIn ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheltan88/

👋Email: rachel@thenurts.com

#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerJourney #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #FractionalLeadership #TheNurts

Chapters

0:00 Make It Work Introduction

00:02 Episode and Guest Intro

01:32 Hello Rachel

01:46 Rachel's Journey: From Marketing to Motherhood and Entrepreneurship

03:58 Childcare Arrangements - A Different Experience with Each Child

05:53 Starting a Business Amidst Family Life

07:35 Rachel's Career Shifts and Embracing Flexibility

10:51 How I got a 2-day-a-week Marketing Leadership position

16:56 Advice for Pursuing Flexible, Fractional Roles

18:40 Balancing Entrepreneurship and Parenthood - Know Thyself

21:19 Inspiration from Parenting: The Birth of The Nurts

23:49 The Role of Supportive Partners in Entrepreneurial Journeys

27:42 Reflections and Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

30:43 Connecting with Rachel Tan


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Rajani Patel and Anu Shenoy are the co-founders of FemTech Startup Veira Life. Presently based in Singapore, they have diverse backgrounds - Rajani was an engineer turned stay home mom and later pursued a career path in early childhood education whilst Anu is a former management consultant. What they share in common is that they both took career breaks to care for their children and later found their second calling to start Veira Life, an online platform which provides personalised coaching for mothers from pregnancy through to their post-natal journey, early childhood parenting and transitioning back to work. Or in their own words, creating the support system they wish they’d had. Join us as we chat about how they are filling a gap for women and empowering spouses along the journey too. 

Today, Veira Life is extending a very special offer to listeners of Make it Work. Use the code MIWFREE to get access to all their virtual prenatal classes FREE when you register on their website.

In our conversation, we also discuss:

🌟How they navigated multiple career changes

🌟Veira Life: Anu and Rajani’s venture to change the way support is given to mothers

🌟The biggest lesson learnt after interviewing hundreds of mothers across geographies and age groups

🌟What keeps them motivated as first time entrepreneurs in their 40s and 50s



Connect with Rajani and Anu  on:

👋Veira Life’s website https://veiralife.com/

👋Rajani’s LinkedIn ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajani-patel-4141876/

👋Anu’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anupamashenoy/



#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerJourney #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #Veiralife #CareerTransitions



Chapters

0:00 Make It Work Intro

00:12 Episode and Guest Introduction

01:36 Hello Anu and Rajani

04:44 Challenges Faced as Working Mothers

06:32 Rajani: Figuring Out A New Career After 8 Years As SAHM 

10:05 Anu: New Motherhood Taught Me A Tough Lesson: To Be Kinder To Myself

15:21 Veira Life: Providing The Support For Mothers We Wish We Had

17:21 Why Support Spouses?

19:30 What Keeps Us Going as Entrepreneurs Despite Our Life Stage

27:49 The One Thing to Takeaway From This

29:56 Outro


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Nila Bhattacharyya is currently based in Bangalore India with her husband and 3 year old. Prior to embracing motherhood, Nila's career spanned diverse roles; from serving as an oil rig engineer in Brazil to working as a global-traveling management consultant based in the United States.

However, following the arrival of her first child, Nila made a pivotal decision to return to India, leaving consulting and starting a new career in product management for a healthtech company headquartered in the United States. Join us to hear how and why Nila made these significant shifts to balance family needs whilst staying true to her career ‘north star’.

In today’s honest and practical conversation, Nila also shares about:

🌟The structured framework guiding her career transitions

🌟Candid observations of parenting in the US vs India

🌟How she expanded the proverbial village to her workplace, breaking taboos by integrating pregnancy openly into professional life early on

🌟How embedding frameworks such as “Jobs To Be Done” and “Operational Key Results” help her prioritize her parenting goals



Connect with Nila on:

👋Email: nilanjana.bhattacharyya@gmail.com

👋LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/nilanjana-b-3b36651a

#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerJourney #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #UStoIndia #CareerTransitions

Chapters

00:00 Make It Work Introduction

00:11 Episode and Guest Introduction

03:07 Motherhood: An Internal Shift In Perspective Toward Work

05:58 It Takes A Village.. Which Includes Your Workplace

09:03 Getting Help And Figuring My Priorities

09:57 Exploring Career Options - Why I Pivoted Into Product After Motherhood

15:55 Making A Geographical Shift For Family - A Move Beset With Doubt

18:19 Parenting in US vs India/Asia: Some Big Differences Observed

22:28 My Spouse Is My Biggest Cheerleader

26:54 Looking Back, What Would I Do Differently?

29:51 How I Embed Jobs To Be Done and OKRs In Parenting

31:54 Key Takeaways: New Ways to Define and Grow Your Village

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Follow along! We’d love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions from you.

PS. We are always looking for great stories to be featured! 

➡LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/ 

➡Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/ ➡Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com


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Sharon Fan, a Canadian-Taiwanese, had lived and worked in Asia, North America, Europe before taking charge as the Managing Director of the Taiwan office of a fast growing regional health tech startup. Leading a growing team, she dedicated herself to 15-hour workdays until a significant change reshaped her priorities: motherhood.

Opting for a transformative career pivot, Sharon chose to return to her former company, embracing a downshift, including a 50% pay cut, to transition into an individual contributor role. How and why did she do it? And what are her thoughts on it, since making the shift 2 years ago?

In our eye-opening conversation today, Sharon also shares about:

🌟Her challenges as a first time mom (“the minutiae of it all”)

🌟Why she embraces the concept of a career downshift and her unique perspective on it

🌟How she balances traveling for work and leisure for up to 30% of a year with her spouse and toddler

🌟Interesting aspects of the work culture in Taiwan that affect family life



Connect with Sharon on:

👋LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonfan/

#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerDownshift #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #



Chapters

00:00 Make It Work Introduction

00:11 Episode & Guest Introduction

02:01 Day In A Life

03:56 Why Motherhood Was So Tough For Me

06:49 Why Taking A 50% paycut Was Worth it

11:17 Why I Love The Term "Career downshift"

16:02 Work-life Integration In Taiwan

20:21 Working With My Spouse

25:53 Outro

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Follow along! We’d love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions from you.

PS. We are always looking for great stories to be featured! 

➡LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/ 

➡Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/ ➡Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com


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Claire Harbour is a mother of four, an avid traveller with an equally interesting career path. She has worked as a strategy consultant, a retail director and a headhunter. Now as a coach, she is on a mission to help women cope with change and find their very own ‘a-ha’ moments in life. Claire recently completed The 100 Women project, where she coached 100 young women in 100 days What has she learnt along her journey?

We chat about:

🌟Ashley Connell’s story: empowering women to fulfil unmet needs for small businesses

🌟Building a priorities list to dump, delegate or delay

🌟Practical exercise: Plan your ideal ordinary day

🌟What she has learnt from coaching 100 women in 100 days and creating ‘The Safe’, a sharing community for women 

🌟Figuring out your values so you can be honest about what you want and live with purpose



Connect with Claire on:

👋Claire’s website ⁠www.claireharbour.com⁠ 

👋The Safe ⁠https://the-safe.mailchimpsites.com/⁠

👋LinkedIn ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairemjharbour/⁠



#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerJourney #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #Coaching #DisruptYourCareer



Chapters

00:00 Make It Work Introduction

00:10 Episode Intro

01:00 Ashley Connell: Training SAHMs for business owners

03:06 Build a priorities list: dump, delegate or delay

07:45 Embrace your new identity as a mother, grief the loss of your old identity

08:33 Practical exercise: Plan your ideal ordinary day

10:29 The 100 Women in 100 Days Project

15:22 The Safe: A community for young women to reflect and explore

16:29 Key takeaways 



Special credits to Kash Baden in helping with the production of this episode!



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Follow along! We’d love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions from you.

PS. We are always looking for great stories to be featured! 

➡LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/ 

➡Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/ ➡Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com


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In Claire Harbour’s own words, she “fits in everywhere and belongs nowhere”. Claire holds French and British passports but really is the quintessential global citizen, having lived in almost 20 countries and can speak 8 languages. Claire started her career in Asia, was once the General Manager for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy in the UK, and since entering coaching 20 years ago, she has now coached over 2000 people. All this whilst single-handedly raising four children (who are now well-adjusted adults!).

Amongst the many hats Claire wears, she is currently advisor to the Harvard Business Review,  has written a book and co-hosts a podcast both entitled “Disrupt Your Career”, a program interviewing those at the forefront of talent and career management. Claire is especially special to me because she was one of my first cheerleaders in starting this podcast! I cannot wait to share Claire’s unique wisdom and style in this podcast with you.

In our conversation, we chat about:

🌟The secret ingredient that helped her cope as a single working mother of four: her client relationships 

🌟What she learned from her children as they pursued unconventional paths

🌟Why asking for what you need is so important - and powerful

🌟Setting priorities so you can dump, delegate, delay

🌟Figuring out your values so you can be honest about what you want



Connect with Claire on:

👋Claire’s website www.claireharbour.com 

👋The Safe https://the-safe.mailchimpsites.com/

👋LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairemjharbour/

#MakeItWorkPodcast #WorkingMoms #CareerJourney #Inspiration #FamilyFirst #Coaching #DisruptYourCareer

Chapters

0:00 Make It Work Introduction

01:09 Hello Claire

03:39 Claire's journey: Moving out of the corporate world

06:46 Finding work-life compromise with 4 children

09:07 Am I just my work?

13:44 Letting my children pursue unconventional paths

17:16 Coaching hat on: Cultural differences observed across clients

21:20 Learning to ask for what you need

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Special credits to Kash Baden in helping with the production of this episode!

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Follow along! We’d love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions from you.

PS. We are always looking for great stories to be featured! 

➡LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/ 

➡Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/ ➡Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com


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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/makeitworkasia-podcast/message