JOIN USEntrepreneur aims to make parenting gender neutral
Anupama Tej is one of the brains behind Tinystep, a parenting platform that aimed at new mothers. She is the COO of the platform that allows parents to share queries so that they can be answered by other mothers. “Many mothers struggle initially and constantly question themselves.
This format allows them to not only reassure themselves but also get tips and tricks from other moms who have gone through similar experiences,” she says. In order to ensure a wider reach they have made the platform available in 14 vernacular languages.
Recently, she published the book ‘From the Ashes She Rose’. The book was inspired by the challenges that women around her have been facing, starting with her mother. “My mom struggled a lot to ensure both, my sister and I, could get to where we are. She made sure we grew up to be educated and independent,” she says. Talking to mothers through Tinystep too played a role.
She realised many struggles that mothers faced were universal. “Mom guilt, family/society pressure forces many women to quit their career after childbirth. I wanted to highlight a few stories of women who are running business from home, or managing multiple shifts while being there for their child etc,” says Anupama.
To this end, she reached out to female entrepreneurs and women thriving in traditionally male-dominated fields such as aviation and F&B. She captured stories of Madhavi Irani (chief content officer, Nykaa), Malika Sadani (founder of The Moms Co), Nandini Sarkar(global head of diversity and inclusion, The Boeing Company)and Ria Shroff Desai (head of people operations, Sula Vineyards)among others.
Through their stories, Anupama hopes to inspire people to dream, not give up and achieve their goals. “These people had to fight to get where they are. Success was not handed to them. They were second-guessed for being women and mothers, and they still didn’t give up,” she adds. Ultimately, she is striving for a world where parenting becomes gender-neutral so that the pressures of maternity are eased.
‘From the Ashes She Rose’ is available on Amazon.