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Q&A with Mama and Food Blogger Meeta Arora

written by Parita Leave a Comment

In my opinion, today’s mama Q&A requires no introduction! If you own an Instant Pot, I’m 99.9% sure you’ve come across Meeta’s blog – Piping Pot Curry If you haven’t tried her recipes, what are you waiting for…? Seriously though, her blog is a go-to for simple, easy, and delicious recipes and meal ideas.

I love Meeta’s story because she truly went from pursuing her passion on the side to turning it into a venture – a true momprenuer. I think you guys will be super inspired by her journey, the hacks she shares and more.

Over to you, Meeta! 🙂

1. Tell me a little more about your family – number of kids, names, ages.
Hi, I am Meeta, and my husband is Mahendra. We have an adorable daughter Riya who is almost 6 years old, and we are expecting our second in July this year. My daughter is super excited and looking forward to meeting the baby.  

2. Tell me more about your line of work. 
I am a former Product Manager by profession, where I worked at an insurance software company building and improving software products. What that really means is I was responsible for defining the direction and for improving the product I managed. Before that, I worked as a software engineer. I made the switch to product management after doing graduate studies in management. 

Currently, I manage my food blog called Piping Pot Curry, where I enjoy combining my culinary skills with sharing my love for delicious and healthy food with others. Having been a working mom, I understand the challenges faced by mom’s where they want to feed their family healthy food, while not spending a ton of time in the kitchen. It is all about efficiency. So I share recipes and tips to make cooking easier, and lots of my recipes can be made under 30-minute. 

3. Tell me more about how you got to where you are now with Piping Pot Curry.
As I was working in my previous job, I wanted to do something on the side, a passion project. All that came to mind was food. I am a complete foodie. I love to cook, I love to go out to eat. Cooking is like unwinding time for me. At the same time, I met some friends who were into blogging. So after learning about their passion and success with blogging, I decided to start a food blog. 

In February 2017, I launched Piping Pot Curry. It has been a wonderful journey. Initially, I was doing it as a side project on the weekends while working. But then for completely different reasons, I decided to leave my job in August 2017 and had more time to work on the blog.  I spent some time learning photography, all the social media, creating videos. It has been super fun learning about this whole new world of blogging. I also saw good traction on the blog. So here I am almost two years later and still enjoying doing this full-time. 

4. What does a typical day in the life look like for you?
Our day typically starts around 6am, when my husband and I wake up. We go downstairs, I make tea, and we both get some work done while sipping tea until 7 am. Then we start getting ready and making breakfast/lunches. 

My husband and daughter leave home at 8:20 am and he takes care of the drop-off. This is when I finish cleaning up/getting ready and start my work at home around 8:45-9 am. My work involves cooking 1-2 days in the week, and most of the other time is spent on the laptop writing posts, social media, etc. (yes, this might seem counterintuitive, and I don’t always have to be cooking even though I have a food blog).  

Depending on the day, my daughters school ends at 3:15 pm or if she has an extra-curricular class at school around 4:30-5 pm. So I wrap up work and pick her up. We come home and finish homework, which is luckily just 15-20 minutes currently. Then my daughter gets some relaxing time to play with her toys or watch a little episode of TV while I prepare dinner. 

We then play some games or practice music or just do some artwork. Riya loves to play some board or card games every day. We have dinner around 7 pm. Most days my husband gets home around the same time, so we can have dinner together. Dinner is a struggle with our very very picky kid who can live on snacks but no real food. I have to give in extra time to get some nutritious food in her belly. 

Then my husband or I go through our bedtime routine with Riya – shower, reading, sleep (by 9 pm). This gives the other person time to finish up the dishes, clean, etc. If given a chance, my daughter would love to stay awake and keep playing, reading, etc. So we have to make a real effort to get her in bed by 9 pm. She does make sure to get enough sleep by only waking up after 7 am. And then we go to sleep around 10 pm. Some days it is later depending on any chores we have to complete.  Some days I wake up earlier at 5 am to finish up work or my husband is working late to finish his office work. 

Weekends are for chores around the house, meeting up with friends, going to the park, grocery shopping and just having some family time. We try to also watch a movie or show after putting Riya to bed. 

Now, this typical schedule is completely going to change once the new baby is here. I plan to take a couple of months off and then ease myself back into work by getting a part-time nanny.  

But overall, I love the flexibility my work allows. It is satisfying as I get to do what I like and do not have the pressure of reporting to someone. At the same time, I do have my goals for the blog and am committed to making it a success. 

5. What are your best hacks, tips, and tricks for getting the most out of your day?
The main mantra to follow here is to be present in what you are doing. In the evening, I completely block out work and only focus on home and my daughter. And during the day, I focus on working on the blog.  

Planning the week helps a lot too. I use Asana to help me plan out my work week. I can add tasks and assign them to specific days of the week to make sure I accomplish my goals. 

We also try to divide up chores between me and my husband which makes it easier to manage the day…using the calendar is our friend. Any task that needs to get done by a specific time goes on the calendar. My husband and I add each other to the tasks or events which need both our attention. This also helps to not double book ourselves or over-commit. 

6. What are some of the big challenges you face and how do you overcome them?
Even though I get a good amount of time in the day, it feels like I am never able to get done all the work I planned out. I guess we all have a long to-do list of things to do both for home and work. And it is best to accept that the list is never coming down to zero. 

That said, how I tackle my list is by “prioritizing.” Whether it is work or home, we sit down and think about the most important tasks to finish on a day or on a specific weekend and try to get them done. For example, on the blog, I am deciding between creating a new recipe versus creating a video for an existing popular recipe. Or when I have less time in the day when my husband is traveling for work (typically 1 week in a month), I plan accordingly. 

On the side of spending time with Riya, there are always so many things we want to do along with her such as taking her to the park, zoo, museums or just spending the evening coloring and reading books. We are not able to do it all, but the idea is to have small wins and feel like we are making some progress.

7. How do you deal with mom guilt? 
I am the person who does not feel as much mom guilt. I feel like I’m now able to give my daughter a good amount of time when I can pick her up before 5 pm (some days at 3:15) and spend 3-4 hours with her in the evening. This was different in my previous job when I could only pick my daughter at 5:45 pm every day. So the time I get to spend with her is much more now and we definitely cherish it. This will change as the new baby comes and the time will get divided between the two.
 
Oh…a couple of areas I feel where we can do much more is in taking her out to various weekend learning activities such as the museum, exploratorium, etc. We also want to get the kids (and us) to spend more time with nature and get some exercise, but we have not been able to incorporate much hiking in our routine in the last 1-2 years. We used to be able to do much more of that. 

8. How do you carve out ‘me’ time?  What does ‘me’ time look like for you?
As I work from home, it is much easier to carve out me time. It is mostly a massage or catching up with friends over lunch/coffee for me. 

9. What are some of your guilty pleasures?
The simple things! Enjoying a good cup of coffee with a croissant while I work being one of them. Or there are days when I am not in a mood to work (especially if it is a day when I am at the laptop writing rather than cooking) or I’m too tired from other chores. Having my own work, also means I can decide on a whim to take time off and go for a massage!

I need to work on my health goals, but I also enjoy desserts, so there is no way I am dieting or leaving desserts out of my life!

Also, we don’t leave a chance when we can have a date night, by dropping Riya off for a play date with friends. 

9. What’s your mama mantra?
Prioritize the most important things to be done and be okay with things not being perfect. Every child (and life) goes through phases. Some will be wonderful and some not so much. Remember that if you are in a phase where you are stressed or are not enjoying as much, it too shall pass. 

Thanks for making time for this Q&A, Meeta! I love that you followed your dreams and made PPC a reality! I can’t wait to see what’s next…including your beautiful baby of course!

Written on June 14, 2019 Related:motherhood, Uncategorized, Working mama series, working motherhood

Diary of a Working Mom – Q&A with Aartee Badiani

written by Parita 1 Comment

It’s FriYAY, and I’m back with another Diary of a Working Mom Q&A!

Today, Aartee Badiani is sharing a bit more about her life and how she juggles being a working mama to not one, not two, but THREE boys!

Aartee and I ‘met’ on Instagram a while back (story of my life it seems!), and we instantly hit it off. Her page is full of the awesome books she reads to her boys every night, and I get so much inspiration from it all. Makes me want to buy all of B&N for K! 🙂

More than anything, I love how Aartee keeps it real and doesn’t sugarcoat motherhood. She’s my kind of people!

1. Tell me a little more about your family – number of kids, names, ages.
We have 3 boys! Neel is almost 7, Nish is 5, and Nirav will be 2 in July. Funnily I always wanted 3 kids even when I was little! 

2. Tell me more about your line of work, role, responsibilities, etc.
I work in customer information. I essentially review account data, set up new accounts, make changes to existing accounts, etc.

3. Walk me through a day in your life.
My alarm goes off at 5:10 am, and I generally snooze it at least once! I take a quick shower and then get ready for work. If needed, I finish up anything I didn’t get to the night before – so lunch boxes, the kids clothes, setting out backpacks, etc. Then I head to work where my day runs from 7:00 to 3:45.

After work it’s off to the races! I pick up Nish and then Neel. Sometimes I’ll do a quick grocery run with them, but I try to get that done on the weekends. We get home, and I give the boys about 15-20 minutes time to unwind while I empty lunch boxes, go through backpacks, and give Nirav some attention.

My in laws live with us and my MIL will cook a few nights of the week. If I am making dinner, I get that started while the boys are doing homework. If I am not making dinner, I stick Nirav in his high chair with some crayons and paper while I help the other two with their homework. I probably also throw in a load of laundry at this point as well. After homework, I just keep them at the table and serve dinner. Post dinner is bath time and then they are allowed to watch TV or play if they have any time left. They usually don’t to be honest, so it’s story time (our favorite), prayers, and bed! I try to tie up all the stuff for the morning the night before, but if I’m being honest, there are days I fall asleep with the kids! 

4. How has becoming a mom influenced your role at work?
It’s made me value my time more! You don’t realize how much you can actually get done in a short amount of time until it becomes a lifestyle! 🤣

5. What is your favorite tip on how to integrate work and life?
Cut yourself some slack! Laundry is never ending in my house, and I struggle to find a way to manage it. That being said, I do the best I can and I have to be ok with not getting to everything! 

6. How do you handle mom guilt?
I struggle with this daily! Lol. If you have tips I need them! 

7. What is the most surprising part of being a working mom?  And the most rewarding?
The most surprising is know your kids are ok without you! Which sucks to know, but they benefit from everyone in their lives in some way! The most rewarding has been knowing that I will figure it out and balancing the two worlds! 

8. How do you carve out ‘me’ time?  What does ‘me’ time look like for you?  On that same note, what’s your guilty pleasure?
Right now I’m bad about me time because at the end of the day I just fall asleep…. My guilty pleasure is definitely bad reality TV though…when I get the opportunity! 

9. What’s your mama mantra?
Prioritize what’s the most important and focus on that! You’ll figure the rest out.

10. What’s the best piece of advice you received when returning back to work after having your baby?
Funnily your mantra! Take things one day at a time!

11. What advice would you give to mamas-to-be about returning back to work?
Don’t worry about everyone else! Figure out what works best for your family and stick with that.

Thanks for stopping by, Aartee! Your boys are so lucky to have a mama like you!

Written on May 31, 2019 Related:motherhood, Working mama series, working motherhood

Let’s Talk Career and Motherhood

written by Parita Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, when I asked my Instagram followers what they wanted me to share and blog about, a few people mentioned stuff around career – why I chose what I did, what I love, what I don’t love, the future, etc.

Today, I’m going to share more about my current job/career, how it supports me as a working mom, what I love, and what I wish was different.

This is me speaking at a conference in Vancouver last December

Background info

This will likely mean nothing, but I’m a Senior People and Culture Manager for a global professional services organization.  I’ve been with my current company for just about seven years now.  In those seven years, I’ve not only been able to work with really amazing people on some cool global projects and initiatives, but I’ve also been able to take my career with me as we moved around for Vishnu’s (from Miami to St. Petersburg (FL) to Chicago.  

Working mama support

On the working mama front, everyone I worked with, especially my boss at the time, was super supportive – both when I left on maternity leave and when I returned. Speaking of maternity leave, I was able to take 16 weeks under my company’s policy, which obviously wasn’t long enough, but I know how lucky I am compared to some.  And as I’ve talked about in the past, upon my return to work, I was (and still am) able to start back on 4/10 schedule where I essentially work four 10 hour days and get Friday off (to do all the things I can’t during the week/weekends). This alone has helped me maintain some degree of sanity, so while my Fridays aren’t always relaxing, I do love my high level of productivity.  A good way to go into the weekend!  

What I love 

First and foremost, I love the people I work with.  They are the #1 reason why I’ve decided to stay here.  

I also love project management, which is a large part of what I do.  And even better, I get to do it on a global scale.  On a given day, I could be working with our firm in the UK, the Philippines, and Argentina.  I get to travel the world without leaving my desk!

Now that I’m a mom, I also appreciate that I can pretty much do my job from anywhere, and that I don’t have to travel too often.  I’m also lucky in that I have the option to work from home a couple of times a week.

I also love where my office is located.  On the days I do go into the office, I love that I can walk to work.  I don’t know how this happened (I strongly prefer warm weather), but unless the temperature is in the teens, I’m walking.  Chicago will do that to you I guess!

What I wish was different

Honestly, from a working mom perspective, this is the ideal role and company for me.  But given that I’ve been here seven years, sometimes I itch for something new.  New company, new industry, new problems to solve, etc.  Then I look at my what I love list and think otherwise!  

My two cents

Whether you’re a work outside of the home mama or not, when it comes to career, I think taking a big picture view is important.  Know what your priorities are and align your decisions to those.  And know that things shift.  Life is made of different seasons.  Some seasons are filled with work travel and long hours, while some are more about balance.  

As I’m learning over time, your career isn’t black or white.  There’s some gray.  But mostly, it’s what you make of it and how you frame it for yourself and the season you’re in.

Written on May 10, 2019 Related:motherhood, working motherhood

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