An extended maternity break and her mother’s diagnosis of terminal illness, led Deepa Narayanaswamy, co-founder FlexiBees, to quit her full-time career. Later, when she was ready to get back into the workforce, she realized that there were limited opportunities for qualified women who wanted to return to their careers on a flexible basis. It was this lack of meaningful flexible opportunities that led Deepa and her batchmates from IIM Bangalore, Rashmi Rammohan and Shreya Prakash to set up FlexiBees, an organization with a vision to re-employ qualified women through flexible work opportunities.

 

Today, Deepa’s nearly six-year-old daughter Naisha is all keen to join the organization when she grows up. “ My daughter is very proud of FlexiBees, and keeps wanting to join FlexiBees when she grows up, versus pursue other professions. Sometimes she asks, "Mummy can I replace you at FlexiBees when you retire?" Deepa says with a smile.

 

Naisha, who was two when FlexiBees was started, understands FlexiBees is like “another child” to her mom and demands as much care and and at times more attention.

 

A large part of Naisha’s pride and understanding of FlexiBees stems from the fact that Deepa talks to her about her day and her work -  both her successes and her failures. “Once I was telling her about an online live session that I was going to do about ‘Returning to work.’ I was amazed how she summarized it with, "You are going to talk to some mummies whom you don't know very well, and tell them that - it is ok, you can work, and your babies will be fine."”

 

 

Being a full-time entrepreneur and a full-time mother, while deeply fulfilling, is definitely a tough balancing act. Naisha loves the fact that despite having such a busy schedule, her mother takes time out and plays with her. The mother-daughter duo engages in role plays and do craft work together. “Of all the things I do as a parent, the thing that matters the most to her is that I play with her whenever I get a little free :)  Naisha once said, " Mummy you are most loving, and do things which are perfect for me, like playing with me." With play and development going hand-in-hand, Deepa has noticed that her daughter is much ahead of her in craft work these days.

 

 

From her own mother, whom Deepa lost four years back, she is learning how to live life to the fullest. “My mother stayed empathetic, kind and generous even in the harshest of circumstances. I want to imbibe her love for life, resilience and positive attitude in my family and my child.”

 

Deepa is glad that Naisha seems to be honing many of these qualities already. Her proudest moments are when other parents tell her some everyday instance of Naisha’s generosity and kindness. 

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If you are interested to explore flexible work options with FlexiBees clients, register yourself with your detailed experience, skill-sets and resume at https://www.flexibees.com/for-job-seekers.html
We are not sending individual responses for registrations. If you are shortlisted for any role based on your experience, our recruitment team will get in touch with you.