Revisiting “Press for Progress” And The “Motherhood Penalty”
On Thursday 11th April 2019, I had the great pleasure of participating in an awe-inspiring panel discussion with Evelyn Mills, Founder of Marriage Maestros; Lauren Lin, Co-Founder of Pivot Global Ltd.; Lena Wong, Founder of Hong Kong Momtrepeneurs Ltd. and Priyanka Gothi, Founder of Wise at Work (previously Retired not Out).
This sold-out event was organised by Ekta Tejwani, Founder of Mumz – Tinder for Mums, for women at a crossroads in their careers. The target audience was people on a career break who, for whatever reason, were struggling to re-enter the workforce here in Hong Kong.
Ekta Tejwani, Founder of Mumz – Tinder for Mums
Ekta and I first met in March 2018 when she attended a 'Re-Engage with your Career workshop' that I facilitated for FLEXImums. The target audience was people on a career break who, for whatever reason, were struggling to re-enter the workforce here in Hong Kong. Ekta told me that after having decided to end her previous entrepreneurial venture a few months earlier she had applied for almost 30 jobs, had 6 interviews and was offered either low paying roles, unpaid roles or internships.
Nine months – from conception to delivery
In the past nine months, she started a Facebook page called MeetMumz, a platform for sharing social gatherings including, play dates, coffee meet-ups and wine tastings. Following this, she launched the App Mumz – Tinder for Mums. All of this time she has also, literally, been growing another life inside of her.
This workshop inspired Ekta to write a short poem.
Reflecting on Ekta’s story and that of her fellow panelists made me wonder who is actually paying the price of the motherhood penalty here in Hong Kong?
All my fellow panelists are highly educated, talented women who decided to use their talents to serve others whilst having the freedom and flexibility to spend time with and care for their loved ones. They have chosen to do this for themselves because they could not get this through a regular job in a company.
Companies paying the price whilst women continue to rise!
My take is that companies will ultimately be the ones paying the price of the motherhood penalty. Talented women will continue to #pressforprogress on their own terms by creating work that allows them to best use their skills and talents if organisations continue to make it impossible for them to do it for and with them.