www.womanthismonth.com showcase For inquiries please contact the brand managers via email: [email protected] or on whatsapp 34 422-227 / 33 282-228 Please give us a little information about yourself, your background and what you do. How has motherhood changed the way you work? I am a jewellery designer and jeweller at Azza Showroom, based at La Fontaine, with an educational background in law and politics, gemology, and jewellery design. Motherhood has improved me as a person and made me a better version of myself, as I reassessed my life and weeded out any unnecessary distractions, that included shutting down two businesses as I chose one business to focus on instead of running three along side my growing family. My priorities have been so clear and simple to maintain and I have never been more content and happy with this change in my life. Do women still confront the attitude that they have to choose between following their creative dreams and having children? Yes, I hear this all the time. I believe every woman is different, and being a mother is enough, we don’t all need to turn our creative outlets into businesses, we can have hobbies that are enjoyable and make us feel whole. Having young children, I feel this is a very important phase in a woman’s life as we need to invest in our health and self-care in order to be the best mothers we can be, and a creative dream can turn into a reality when the timing is right. If you have found it a challenge to combine the two, how have you overcome this? At first it was very difficult as I tried to work like my pre-babies self and be a full-time mother, after my first daughter turned one, I started refocussing on what my priorities were and what I really wanted to do with my life. Did I want to be involved with kids every day? Did I want to work long hours? Did I want to have time for myself? I then made decisions based on that and continued to change and evolve to make my lifestyle what I want it to be. What needs to change both generally and in Bahrain and the region more specifically, to encourage women to follow both their creativity and the path of motherhood? To start with, women should support each other more, I find that the biggest weakness we have. Women criticise each other rather than open doors for each other. Also, laws should protect motherhood in the early years, with more than just breastfeeding hours. I believe flexibility to work from home some days a week, more day-cares that are close to big companies to keep kids closer to their mothers throughout the day. Also, more appreciation for what women do when they choose to leave their kids and work to give their kids more in life. Are you working towards this in any way? Yes, through my company policies, and through my online platform New Mom Old Mom. I can and what I can’t do. I decided that for me to be able to work, I needed to get help. I needed to have a driver to take my kids to school, I needed a nanny to help me do this. I need to be able to sleep in certain days. Other days I wake my kids and I take them to school. I have to travel sometimes. If I travel, I ring my mother and she takes care of the kids while I’m away. I’ve found ways to try and get some help so that, at least, I can move forward with my projects professionally and creatively. If I didn’t do all these little things to help myself, it would be impossible. So, I think it’s really OK to accept where you need help and support and to not compare. I think comparing is really poisonous; and a lot of us mothers, we do that. You’re looking at the other mothers and asking yourself who’s doing things better? I think it’s important to say that this is what works for me right now and for my family. At other times it’s completely different. I have months sometimes where I don’t work at all. What needs to change both generally and in Bahrain and the region more specifically, to encourage women to follow both their creativity and the path of motherhood? I would say women need to start marrying men who are supportive of that. If that’s what a woman desires before she gets married – to have both a creative career and be a mother — she needs to marry a partner that’s on board. I think that’s the first thing. Also, speak to your parents, tell them about that. Don’t hide it, I think teenagers and young adults should speak to their parents openly about this. Explain that they want, to pursue something creative. That it’s not a hobby, because a lot of people, particularly in this part of the world, think of art as a hobby. So, the idea is to do marketing or business and then you can be an artist on the side. Some people don’t want to be an artist on the side, they just want to be an artist. Are you working towards this in any way? Working on changing the mentality? Of course, through my platform where I’m giving a voice to women to speak their mind and to be creative and to talk about what makes them unique and that they can make their own choices. We have lots of women talk about all sorts of things. Pursuing their dreams, pursuing art even though their husbands were against it. Other women decided to raise children on their own, so that they could live in a way that they feel is authentic. A lot of women on our platform are talking about making sometimes difficult choices and decisions so that they can live a life that’s aligned with their values. AZZA Owner of Azza Showroom March 2019 25
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