Overcoming The Challenges Of A Maternity Break: Getting Back To Work And Loving It

My Life So Far

I'm Yaazhini Ramachandran. I'm 29 years old. I'm an architect and interior designer. I mentor design aspirants. My parents always wanted me to do what makes me happy and that has paved the way for me to build a career around what gives me joy (design, teaching college students, working on various projects). I'm now part of the Knotty Junk Artisans, an initiative to encourage and nurture artistic skills in children.

My husband, Aditya Elango, is a former international badminton player who now runs a badminton academy to coach kids. We have been married for almost six years now. We are huge pet lovers. Our puppy, Minnal, is like our child and is always with us. Our little daughter, Adya Innisai, was born 19 months ago, and life has become even more beautiful since her arrival. Adya and Minnal have a wonderful time together at home.

I thoroughly enjoy being me, surrounded by blessings. Doesn't my life sound picturesque? Well, it wasn't always so.

The Difficult Times

After delivering my daughter in 2019, I started my maternity break, which was intended for 6 months. But due to the pandemic, I kept extending my break, not knowing when I would be able to resume work. The postpartum blues and the new-mom stresses added to pandemic woes, and soon I was facing an identity crisis. I was feeling lost and desperately wanted to pull myself out of whatever was gripping me.

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

That was when my best friend, Nivedhitha, reached out to me. She asked me to join her venture Knotty Junk Artisans, as a creative partner and tutor. At that time it was only going to be online classes as we were still under lockdown. I readily accepted the offer. This artistic opportunity saved me and restored my confidence as I was back to doing something I love. The job helped me channel my energy and organize my days productively. I found myself paying careful and loving attention to my job, my child, myself and my family. My association with my friend and the interactions with kids and the people in business lifted my spirits.

We have slowly but steadily built a base of wonderful little artists whose parents trust us and enroll their kids in our creative courses every month.

I believe every new mom needs a supportive friend, just like I had.

Work-Life Balance

I must mention my wonderful family, always supportive of my decisions and ambitions, and helping me work out my schedules. For example, every time I need to conduct a class, my husband, parents and sister pitch in and babysit so that I'm comfortable and can work peacefully during my classes. I'm also blessed with an able nanny who helps me step out for work and meetings with the confidence that my daughter is well taken care of in my absence.

Balancing family and work is a challenge faced by all women. Knowing my priorities, having a supportive family, and having an organized schedule has helped me create a balanced life. I switched from a job that demanded nearly 10 hours of my time every day, to a job that gave me comparatively flexible hours four years ago, even before my daughter was born. It was a conscious decision, as I wanted to prioritize my family, health, and my future child. So, balancing my job and my child now is not difficult for me.

Workday mornings can get stressful, and as I'm a nursing mom, I can't just jump out of bed as soon as I wake up. I need to wake up 20 minutes earlier than my schedule and nurse my child. So, the preparations for all other activities happen the night before, right from food prep for the next day to setting out my clothes and accessories to wear to work the next morning. This saves me a great deal of time in the mornings.

I do work from home on some days. I have worked from home on many freelance projects right from when my child was 7 days old. My daughter is used to seeing me sitting in front of my laptop or writing notes. As she is growing up, she does demand attention from me but when I try and make her understand that Mumma is working, she gets it.

My husband and I make it a point to give our child undivided attention during dinner and for a couple of hours till bedtime. That is when we three get to spend some time together as a family.

I think a mom getting back to her career is a very personal choice. If she wants to do it, she must somehow make it happen. The No.1 tip would be to make a trustworthy arrangement for your home and child if and when you need to be away for work. Another tip would be to train your child at an early age to be away from you for some part of the day, so there's no separation anxiety for both you and your child when you want to restart your career.

Knowing my priorities, having a supportive family, and having an organized schedule have helped me create a balanced life

Being a Businessperson

Being a full-time architect and design tutor has given me enough experience to understand the dynamics of working with people.

However, I'm a new entrant to this sea of women entrepreneurs. There are many days when we might feel demotivated because of minimum response, and some days self-doubts may arise when we wonder if we are doing enough. But since we deal with kids and their parents most of the time, we don't think much of numbers and deadlines. We love what we do and we love kids. So, we take one day at a time.

The journey isn't always easy. Women entrepreneurs are not taken seriously by many people. Somehow, we are seen as having fewer connections and considered less energetic and financially less sound in comparison to our male counterparts. I know so many successful women entrepreneurs who are soaring high, especially after motherhood, and are giving serious competition to others. An accepting and gender-equal society would be ideal and we are not giving up till we achieve that!

The reason behind my confidence could also be my role models. Both my husband and I were raised by very strong and independent women, and that laid the foundation for both of us to believe that every woman should be who she wants to be, despite the expectations society dumps on her.

Finding Happiness in Little Things

I'm generally a very positive and high-spirited person. I try to remind myself daily that I'm doing what I love at home and work. So, when some days are not so great at work, I always have my home, my family, and my pet to compensate for it. I might sound like a very tacky mom, but after a tiring session or a stressful journey back from work, my child's welcoming hug and my puppy's licks have become the most fun part of being a working mom. I've never been more tired in my life but I've also never been more satisfied!