Breaking the Mould: Motherhood & Work

I never thought I’d say it, but motherhood has transformed my career path for the good. For the first time, I find myself indifferent to what people think my work life is or could or should be. I know what you are thinking – this is nonsense. If anything, motherhood brings the opposite. Sure, I expected a reduced social life, some extra wobble on the hips, to be tired ALL the time and even less cool but I’ve always known what I wanted to do professionally, and I was determined to do it for the rest of my life. 

I decided to become a lawyer when I was eight. I followed through, I felt I was good at it, and really enjoyed those long hours. Having a family was something I wanted but there was no way I’d be cutting down hours or compromising on a career I’d worked so hard for. 

Then life happened, I met the most handsome Austrian man, fell in love and after a few years of flying here and there, we started our life in Vienna. Not long after, our first child was born, and the world changed forever. 

Although I missed working, I could no long imagine that other people’s needs would take priority over mine. My time became my biggest asset, and I was not willing to share it with everyone anymore. Going to job interviews just made me feel inadequate — there are only so many questions about how planning to juggle a 20-hour job and motherhood one can take. Funnily and ironically enough, only middle-aged fathers seemed to come up with these sorts of questions.

Around this time that I teamed up with fellow lawyer, Severina, founding together Austria for beginners. Since my son was not in kindergarten yet, I brought him almost everywhere with me – consultations, client appointments, anywhere and everywhere! He was always around and for the most part, I loved it. He also somehow knew when throwing a tantrum at MA 35 could be beneficial for my client or when a toothless smile would do just fine. 

By the time he started kindergarten, our small organization had turned into a full-time gig. Although I was relieved, I missed having him around. Plus, people were much more eager to give me answers when a super cute one year old was spilling juice all over their desks.

I started looking for ways to combine my two passions – being with my son and working as a legal professional. My co-founder, becoming a mother herself in the meantime, was thinking along the same lines.

During the course of our work so far, we had met many women, finding themselves in Austria for one reason or another. Being an expat is hard enough but raising children in a foreign country is a whole new game. Continuing your career at this point is difficult, especially if you don’t speak German (well enough). We realized that for many of these women, becoming self-employed was the answer to their problems.  

We asked ourselves, ‘What do you need to start a business in Austria?’, ‘What do you need if you have children?’, ‘No family around to help?’, ‘Don’t know the system or/and the language?’, ‘What if you don’t have a big enough network to offer support and access to opportunities?’. Suddenly, I realized that we make our own solutions. A coworking space with babysitting? That’s it! Together with Severina’s excellent idea about including business and legal consultations in the services, we quickly got to work and started planning (and I got pregnant with my second!). I always remember the day we submitted our final business plan as it was also the day I gave birth. My daughter was born AND so was The Collaboratory.

You see, I never thought I had what it took to be self-employed. I even used the phrase “perfect employee” about myself on numerous occasions! Motherhood has taught me otherwise and I am so very grateful. My daughter came to work with me for an entire year. I really had the best of both worlds. I didn’t feel the guilt, I wasn’t torn. And my kids….my kids love coming to the office with me and brag about it to their friends. 

My parents keep waiting for me to find ‘a real job’. My mother-in-law believes I don’t really work because I am self-employed. Middle-aged men think my kids have no place at our meetings. Others considered me crazy for starting a business with a preschooler and a newborn. Truth told, sometimes I also think that only a crazy person would do this, but on most days I am just happy and dare I say, proud.