Categories
Business & Baby by Shweta Talwar
Feb 24, 2018
When my first child was born a couple of years ago, I initially worked from home for a few weeks. At that point I had been running my health food company — The Salad Bowl – for a year and it needed my full attention to grow further.
But so did my baby and I soon realized it no longer made sense for me to run the business while taking care of my newborn. On more than one occasion I was on calls or had to go to meetings with vendors and clients but was preoccupied with my child. I started canceling meetings because I couldn’t leave my baby but that ended up hurting the business.
That’s when it hit me that my former workaholic, entrepreneurial self-wanted a complete break from it all. I collaborated with Varun Modgil, founder of Shusiya, and he came on board to run the business. My priorities had changed and being with my kid 24/7 was really just what I wanted to do for the next couple of years.
There was no social pressure to do this. It was just a very personal choice. My husband works full time and I truly believe one parent has to be the flexible one if you have the option to do that.
This, I know, continues to be a tough, and hot, topic amongst women.
When I was seven months pregnant I founded a group called Mommy A-Z. I had so many questions on pregnancy, giving birth and child-rearing that I thought having a community of women who have gone through this, or are in the same boat as I am, would make it a lot easier to have my questions answered.
Working moms vs. stay at home moms is always a big one in the group.
Business & Baby by Shweta Talwar
After a year of running the group, I realized I wanted to get more mothers involved that’s when my amazing partners Shivalli and Pia came on board. Today we have over 10,000 members. I truly believe there is no right or wrong. It’s just what’s right for oneself and what makes you individually happy. For me, that meant staying at home with my kid and pursuing something I never thought I would – an MBA degree. A year ago I enrolled in a distance-learning program at the Leeds Business School in the UK. So now every afternoon while my child sleeps, I get some time to myself and pull out the books. I need to clock in 10 hours of study time every week.
It’s not easy – especially now that I have a second baby who is barely a month old — and there are definitely days I ask myself whether it was the right time to take on something as challenging as an MBA.
Studying, toddler, husband, house and a new baby. That’s my reality. And that’s also my cue — my new born’s up for his next feed.
By: Shweta Talwar
Founder Mommy A-Z (Facebook Group)
Founder The Salad Bowl
ROSEWALK TEAM
Dr. Apurva Gupta
Consultant - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Panchsheel Park
