Shamally Chopra

I tok my first break in 2005 summer, when my daughter was born. I left at the top of my career - and knew that it was not the smartest move careerwise. But this was important for me - to be home with my baby. In the 3.5 years I took off, I had a baby boy and then stated looking to go back to work once my son turned 2 in 2008. I was given an opportunity of my lifetime (Financial management and Operations management for a restaurant chain in Washington State). The company was growing - and I grew in my role and scale. I went from working 5am-12pm to working full time over the 4 years I worked with them. I was very fortunate, the company I worked for was very accomodating and very accepting of my kids, my life at home. They let me work my hours - as long as I was able to deliver, they were OK. I am deeply grateful for them to be able to let me grow at my pace.

Now for the second time I took my break - my husand got an opportunity to moe to India in 2013 - and the kids and I moved that summer. It was an interesting transition, getting adjusted back  into my life in India. School, maids, roads, traffic, it all grew on us!!

I setup my own business in Pilates and worked around my kids and my life around the house. I got into the best shape of my life at 36, got certified to work with rehab clients. Life was good and I was able to balance my work and home. Come 2017 end, I figured we are not moving back to the US. This was my time to decide if I wanted to get back into the corporate world. It took me 3 months and meeting so many people and speaking about my challenges for me to find the place where I am at. Someone had to take a chance at me and my skillset that was not used for a few years now.

Well, someone did! Today, I manage multiple processes in Global Operations. I am looking at automating & reengineering some of our manual processes, streamlining operations across 3 cities, 24*6.

I am able to utilize all the things I've learnt in my 2 breaks - working with injured people has taught me so much empathy & kindness. Being a mom twice over has taught me patience, to sweat the small stuff, to pick my battles, to miltitask, to prioritize, to streamline. I am very fortunate that today my kids are 13 & almost 12 and are so incredily accepting and proud of my new role. We talk about my work everyday, so they feel like they are a part of my life. I am a better mother for that.

For that, I am deeply grateful to my husband - my rockstar and my support.