Inspirational actions come to us from women of all backgrounds. With women working in business now more than ever, we understand how crucial it is for women to work together to achieve our goals.
Carerha, a website and Facebook page, was created to allow women the flexibility that they need in both their domestic and professional lives. It helps women find the job they want and also assists businesses in finding the right employees. It allows women to have the work-life balance that they desire.
Jessy Radwan (29-year-old CEO, founder of Carerha Hire Super Mama) is a working mother who couldn’t find work that was flexible enough for her schedule. She was faced with the dilemma that many working mothers face between her career and raising her children. Because she felt that she was not spending enough quality time with her children, she tried hard to find a job that would give her both career fulfillment and the time she needed to spend with her family. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to find this job.
“This caused a lot of frustration, and it was at this point that Hire Super Mama was conceived, beginning as a Facebook group,” Radwan said. “It started four years ago as a way for mothers to learn from each other’s experiences in the workplace and to support one another in finding flexible employment.”
“I was astounded by the sheer number of mothers going through the same struggle – to find a profession that fulfils them intellectually while also allowing them to care for their children.”
Radwan realized that the market has a large pool of skilled workers. This includes the many professional mothers who quit their jobs after having children because they couldn’t find work that was flexible enough to suit their needs.
Radwan realized that women were looking for more flexibility as the demand for Hire Super Mama grew. Radwan stated that women around the globe are seeking flexible jobs that will allow them to advance in their careers and take on new responsibilities.
This was how Carerha, Egypt’s top platform for women’s careers and the first of its kind in the Middle East, was born. Radwan saw that women needed more than a facebook group like Hire Super Mama. She set it up as an additional site.
“We are now more than 40,000 women on Hire Super Mama, mostly mothers. We provide funded programmes for our members, including one with Microsoft and CareEgypt for freelancers,” Radwan said. “We also provide courses for mothers to know more about how to become remote workers. I should say that besides my family, Hire Super Mama members are giving me the support I need.”
Being a woman, a mother, and an achiever at the same time is possible, and a woman’s sense of identity, financial independence, broader perspective, improved problem-solving skills, and overall happiness are all enhanced by a successful career. Her confidence will increase as a result of these things, including as a mother, even as she might be heavily dependent on her family’s support and her own drive for success.
“We firmly believe that a working woman can be a better mother, contrary to the widespread misconception in Egypt that she cannot. My motivation is making sure other women feel the same pain that I did. The moment I became a mother was the moment I felt I lost my identity at work,” Radwan said. “I had to choose between my work and my daughter. This was very unfair.”
Radwan’s biggest challenge was to convince employers that flexibility would work for their women employees. The market is more open to flexibility than ever, partly because of the widespread adoption of home-working during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“They finally saw that working from home, as a sort of flexibility, is very beneficial for them and cuts costs,” Radwan said. The Carerha website for employers is simple and inexpensive. Employers can post jobs for free for a 3-month trial and then subscribe to a package ranging from LE150 to LE400.
“We are planning a major meeting in October that will help to raise awareness about offering women flexible jobs that help them to achieve a work-life balance. There will be workshops and a job fair,” Radwan said, adding that not so many years ago people did not believe in flexibility and had not heard about working from home.
Both are now seen as promising ideas and the market opens up to such initiatives more and more.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 18 August, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Below is a link to the short version:
