Natasha Bakon... dipping her feet back into the working world
Motherhood takes on different chapters and for former pharmaceutical sales executive Natasha Bakon, her new chapter means repositioning herself for today’s workforce. Bakon moved to Jamaica 14 years ago, the result of her husband Laszlo who lives and works in Kingston, Jamaica. The decision, she tells SO, was hardly difficult! “Many people ask if this was a difficult choice for me to leave my job and home country behind, but in fact it was the complete opposite! I was the happiest person to pack my bags and leave Trinidad and my working life behind.
“Unlike many of my friends, love and happily ever after were not in the cards for me in my earlier years. In the years after university, while most of my friends were getting married and having babies, I continued to devote myself to my career in sales and marketing. So even though moving from Trinidad meant leaving this career behind, I was ready and excited at the chance to be a full-time wife and mother.”
Indeed, the early years of being a mom of three young children she describes as being awesome and challenging at the same time. “While I felt so blessed and grateful to have the family I always wanted, it was in no way close to the fairy tale I imagined about being a housewife. I found that being a full-time mom was such a demanding job and it was a job with no breaks or vacation or salary! But as every mom knows, the time just flies by and before you know it, you blink and those chubby toddlers become teens. I am happy that I was able to be fully present in their journey to this point. The days are always still full, but my role is changing as my bunch of three are growing older and becoming more independent.”
With the children all high schoolers, Bakon cites the family needs and dynamics as evolving in a positive way for her... “I’m finding windows of time slowly creeping back into the day. I can now manage to squeeze in the time to exercise and to meet up with friends, from time to time. It’s in these years I realised that surprisingly, I missed the working life I was so eager to leave behind. I do not miss the deadlines or the work stress, but I do really miss being able to share my ideas and the ability to contribute something meaningful outside of the home.
“I tried briefly going back to work fulltime, but it was not the experience I hoped for. A lot has changed in the workplace while I was busy changing diapers and I no longer fit well into the demands of that corporate box. So, I’ve decided to create a box of my own. I started a small company which allows me to work from home with flexible hours and still meet the demands of the family.
“I see a lot to look forward to in the future! I remain happy and blessed to watch my children growing but now I’m also enjoying dipping my feet back into the working world. My head is still full of big dreams, and I say that it is never too late to reach for your dreams.”