Giving mums a choice

Mona Ataya is an inspiration to mothers everywhere. Working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, with three boys under 10, two of whom are twins, is a feat which requires plenty of coffee, she admits.

Now she is offering other mothers the same chance she had to get back into the workforce, by investing in Mumzworld.com, an e-commerce company focusing on baby and children products and information she founded in 2011.

And with the baby and toy market in the MENA region valued at close to $8 billion, according to Euromonitor data, a population of more than 10 million babies, and the region’s mother typically wielding twice the spending power of her European peers, Ataya said she believed this was an opportunity savvy businesswomen in the region would be eager to investigate.

Ataya, who is Palestinian American and grew up in Kuwait, has lived in Dubai since 2000, when she co-founded job portal site Bayt.com with a group of local entrepreneurs.

A large part of her decision to leave “corporate America”, where she landed her first job with Proctor and Gamble at the age of 21, was to be involved in setting up a business so she could have more work flexibility once she chose to have children. When she became a mother, a frustration at the lack of accessibility to baby and children’s products and information in the Middle East led her to set up Mumzworld.com to “empower mothers to make the most informed decisions for their families”.

And after two-and-a-half years out of the workforce, this was not without its own challenges, she said.

“The question every mother asks when they have their first child (is) if they should go back to the workforce and for how many hours a day.

“For most mothers, particularly educated women, it’s very difficult for them once the child comes. They’re disconnected or forget they were in the workforce, and women get a lot of positive reinforcement there. There’s growth, development and learning which you don’t always feel you’re getting at home. And there are a lot of challenges if you exit permanently so a lot do opt to go back, but because there aren’t many part-time situations in the region, or globally, many have to go back full time.

“(But) even when she goes back full time, she still has children at home who depend on her …so when they’re sick or not at school, what does the mother do? Can she call off work too?

“(Many of my employees) are mothers, and they are amongst the highest achievers. They’re not always in the office, but once the kid is in bed, they go straight to the computer and get what they need to do done… and I understand that because I’m a mother.

“I know the challenges they face…you’re compromising your time, you’re making a lot of personal sacrifices.

“I was very fortunate to then be able to go back to a business I was part of … 99 per cent of women can’t do that.

“That’s what this is about. To have a business you can part-own and contribute to, with the flexibility that entails, and to feel a part of something, and contribute to mothers in the region in a positive way…and still dedicate themselves to their children which is the most noble task out there.”

Investor applications were open until September 20, and the company had received a “tremendous level of interest already,” she said.

The current investor gender ratio was 50:50, but about 60 to 70 per cent of employees were female, including a founding partner and business manager in Saudi Arabia, and most were mothers, she said.

“Obviously there are challenges, but a lot of upsides too. As a female, you best understand what the consumer, and the family, wants.”

While she would not disclose the minimum amount necessary to invest, Ataya said there would be flexibility in how women contributed – whether it was purely financial, or, depending on their skills and experience, whether they wanted more of a role within the business.

“Each mother needs to know what is right for her children and what she’s comfortable doing. There are mothers who are dissatisfied with the status quo or feel they can contribute. I’ve always felt I can add value and it would be a disservice to my children if I didn’t.

“The bottom line is that cliché — just do it… You can’t sit back and wait for things to come to you.”

sarah@khaleejtimes.com