Today, I want you to meet my colleagues Komal Shah, Priyanka Karwa, Sunayani Ganguly and Yajnaseni Chakraborty.
They are perfect examples of what we are trying to achieve with our free, upcoming online bootcamp on ‘Remote work revolution for women’.
So here are their stories.
Komal Shah
Komal has been working remotely for almost six years now, and is Co-Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer at SkillArbitrage. Before she joined us, Komal worked in three countries, led an IPO, and headed international legal teams.
But in 2016, she relocated to Mumbai with a three-year-old daughter and did not want to travel two hours every day in the notorious Mumbai traffic to a downtown law firm. She would rather spend those hours with her daughter. At the same time, she did not want to give up on work either.
Enter remote work, which has given her the perfect work-life balance and saved her precious time and energy, which she has devoted to her family and herself. By eliminating the need for travel, Komal feels she has the time and opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.
She still works 12 hours a day, and runs a team that spans across several countries, with her major clients based in Singapore, Dubai, UK and California.
Priyanka Karwa
Priyanka was the first remote employee to join us as we were scaling our startup in 2015. Having shifted to Mumbai post-marriage, Priyanka’s conservative family background meant that while she could step outside the home to work, she still had to fulfil all her family responsibilities. And she was finding it difficult to balance the two worlds.
After the birth of her first child, she herself did not want to leave the baby with paid caregivers. But as a workaholic, she also felt a deep need for a professional identity. When she connected with us, she explained that she was only looking for part-time remote work since her baby needed full-time care, so she joined as a customer care executive.
In the years since then, Priyanka has become a mother for a second time, and has worked her way up to the position of Director of Employability and Placement, helping thousands of our learners find domestic and international jobs, internships, and freelance work.
What’s more, she has used her example to inspire at least 10 other women in her neighbourhood who come from similarly conservative backgrounds, to seek a professional career. A passionate baker herself, she has even tutored home bakers who are now working from home and earning handsomely!
Sunayani Ganguly
A veteran of the advertising industry, Sunayani was no stranger to the everyday misogyny of a male-dominated profession. So much so that some of her workplaces didn’t even have separate washrooms for women.
Having worked for some of the biggest names in Indian advertising, Sunayani was also frustrated by what she saw as the inherent ageism of the industry, which makes a woman feel ‘old’ at 40, while her male colleague of the same age is probably seen as ‘experienced’.
Moreover, she also experienced the ‘gender pay gap’ which is prevalent in almost every country in the world, when she discovered that a junior male colleague whom she was asked to mentor was paid the same salary as her.
Incidentally, Oxfam’s ‘India Discrimination Report 2022’ pays special attention to the gender pay gap, revealing that women face bias both in recruitment and pay across the country. For those interested in the full story, check out the Frontline report here.
Remote work has made her gender irrelevant, as far as Sunayani is concerned. Her worth is now measured solely by the work she does as Head of the Marketing Content team. Working remotely, she feels great about not having to use make-up, or to care what clothes she wears. Only the value she creates counts!
While producing daily marketing content such as ads and other communication, she feels the flexible work schedule also leaves her with time to pursue her passion for creative writing and poetry.
Yajnaseni Chakraborty
An experienced media professional and author who joined us in 2022, Yajnaseni was a regional editor with a reputable national media house when she lost her job overnight at the height of the pandemic.
Panic-stricken, the single mother realised she wouldn’t readily find another job, given the widespread freeze on recruitments thanks to the pandemic. So she took the freelance route and began working from home, though she wasn’t sure if she would find steady work since she had no guidance in this area.
By the time she joined us, however, working from home had become the new normal for her, as it had for most of the world, and she fits perfectly into our remote work culture as Senior Content Writer for the Marketing team, a role which helps her indulge her passion for writing.
Accustomed to an extremely high-pressure office environment, Yajnaseni finds the flexibility and pace of remote work thoroughly refreshing and peaceful. Plus, she can now spend more quality time with her son and catch up on her favourite pastime, reading.
You too can do what they have done!
Not just these four, SkillArbitrage has over 200 women from 6 different countries working as a team!
And what’s more, we have helped over a thousand women till date find remote jobs and remote freelance work! Want to know their stories? Want to know how we can help you? Make sure you do not miss our live, online, free bootcamp!
Remote work gives women the FREEDOM they have always been seeking.
FREEDOM from commuting
FREEDOM from leaving your children alone or with paid help
FREEDOM from 9-5 drudgery
FREEDOM from office cubicles and office politics
FREEDOM from choosing between family and work
FREEDOM from being limited by a small local job market – because remotely, you can work with the entire world
FREEDOM from low pay and toxic bosses
Remote work has given control back to women.
Men will never understand what a game changer remote work has been for women.
If you ask our colleagues, you will find that none of them want to go back to a brick and mortar workplace, because they can no longer be comfortable in that limiting environment. They have got used to the flexibility and comfort of remote work, and see no reason to return to their earlier routines.
Worldwide, thanks to the pandemic, remote work is here to stay. According to this Times of India article, “In 2023, the remote work landscape is expected to look much different… With the rise of virtual reality, 5G technology, and AI-powered software, professionals around the world will benefit from enhanced connectivity, improved security, and greater flexibility when it comes to working from home.”
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