For every mother thinking that her career ends once she has a baby, today’s story will prove you wrong. Having a baby is definitely a new phase of your life, a tough challenging one full of endless responsibilities. The fact that it stops you, or pushes you to your utmost potential is up to you to decide. Some mothers put an end to everything meaningful in their lives the day they give birth, while others build empires. Today’s mother was an academically successful lady who has been a very hard worker in one of the top multinational companies in town. She kept being intact until she said goodbye to the corporate life in her 8th month of pregnancy. She chose to do something from home post pregnancy, not only to feel good about herself and continue her career, but also to offer genuine support to each mother in town.
This story’s heroine is Nadia Gamal El Din, Founder of Rahet Bally community.
“I felt I need a mothers’ community; I needed a support platform which would be my trusted source of information”
Nadia’s Story:
The moment I gave birth, I felt I need a mothers’ community; I needed a support platform which would be my trusted source of information. I wanted a place that would feel relevant to my needs. There are a lot of mother support platforms, but they are all not locally based. It was even worse, because most of my married friends had no babies yet when I gave birth, and I wanted the advice of people my age. This was how it all started. I realized there is a market gap. I thought I would start by myself and become this support to the surrounding moms.
One week post delivery, I prepared an excel sheet which had everything I bought, everything I found useful and everything I found useless. I wanted others to learn from my own experience instead of repeating my mistakes. I had a genuine feeling that i want to have a mom-to-mom chat with everyone who has a newborn to benefit her and save her the hassle of each step I am taking. Moms I don’t even know started to use my sheets and share them on social media. My work went viral and this was when I decided I will build a moms’ community. I named it “Rahet Bally” because this is my sincere intention; to make it a peaceful destination for mothers who are looking for support.
“The reason why I think it is going so well so far is because I turn my everyday personal experience with my son”
The reason why I think it is going so well so far is because I turn my everyday personal experience with my son. Let’s say I went to a place and I found that I would have found it more mother-friendly if it had rubber floors; I start to look for mother friendly outings and collaborate with them so I can make other moms’ lives easier. When I started my first trial, my partner was too commercial while what I wanted was genuine support so I left her and started my own “Rahet Bally” community.
“Rahat Bally” is a platform from home, trying to reach as many mothers as possible. I was inspired by Baby Centre and wished I could present something similar, but more relevant to the local Egyptian market. I cared to make it more professional than other platforms by not depending only on mothers’ advice to one another, but rather get answers from a pool of experts working with us.
The more challenges I find as a mother, the more opportunities I have for my community. I intertwine my personal experience with my career. I use my own personal questions as ideas for topics to discuss and daily tips to give them useful content.
“I have so much passion for what I do which is something I believe makes all the difference.”
My number one pillar is to offer support to a certain mindset; all my work and the effort I exert proves that getting a baby can never stop you, on the contrary it can be a catalyst for a new you. I am trying not only to lift myself up, but spread support wherever I can. I have so much passion for what I do which is something I believe makes all the difference. When you the have passion, you can do wonders. Also organization is crucial to balance your time.
One last thing I found very helpful is working out. After deliver, I started to do sports; it gives me energy and really revives my happy hormones. Moms need to do things for themselves; they have to nurture themselves, balance their diets and do sports. The more you invest in yourself, the more you can give to your own kids. This will result in a happier house. For me, my baby was never a drawback to my career; on the contrary, he is the reason why I turned to a better version of myself.
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