OOZE MAGAZINE - issue 01 03:22

COVER STORY
People
with Sarah Keates
6
What does it mean to be a woman in
your culture?
Expats living in Hong Kong are highly
privileged, I recognise this. What does it
mean to be a woman in this position? I
think we have a responsibility to be
honest, culturally sensitive, helpful,
useful, and speak to important topics
that need airtime.
What challenges did you have to
overcome during your journey?
Being taken seriously was hard initially
because I was young when I started
WOI. I have worked in “old boys club”
type environments that were rife with
bad behaviour that was excused as “the
way it is”. That was challenging,
infuriating, and I lost my arguments
99% of the time in these situations.
Then, reverse engineering a business
that had already taken off was
extremely challenging. Separately, I
have spoken candidly about my anxiety
7
in the past and I
am still asked about
it a lot, but I no longer
feel comfortable“leaning”
on this as a challenge. This
is said with the utmost
respect to anyone out there
struggling with mental
health issues.
What advice would you give to
someone who is trying to become an
entrepreneur, especially women?
Ask lots of questions but think about
what you can bring to the table.
Consider how you can become
8someone that should be
invited along to events
where you can learn. That
might. sound a bit
“tough love” but there’s a
lot of take and not a lot of give in the
business world. See where you can be
helpful to anyone, everyone, and refine
your skills, contacts, and experience
through service and community. Read
or listen, as I do on podcasts and
Audible. Don’t be afraid to express
strong opinions, they’re refreshing, and
ask when you don’t know. I spent too
long pretending I knew whereas now I
often say, “could you tell me more
about that please”. Seek to give,
understand, and enjoy the process.
What was your organizational culture
like 10 years ago for women and
working mothers? Do you feel the
company makes annual efforts towards
improving the culture for this cohort?
I was very lucky at both my previous
9
employers, with flexible
working, understanding
leaders, rooms to pump
and feed, and other benefits.
I believe these companies are
committed to making the landscape
better for women and working
mothers. I opted to work at these
organisations due to their values, so I
would be surprised if they lacked
progress. I am certain the same is not
true to other companies who still have
a shocking approach to gender parity,
equality, and fairness. So overall, the
picture is probably still fairly bleak.
10
How did you balance being a
mother and professional? How do
you set an example as a role model
to people at work vs to your
children?
II don’t believe in pretending we’re
doing it all. When I had my first child at
23 I found this pretence to be deeply
unhelpful and a massive shock when
reality hit me. I don’t think it’s possible
to be an amazing mother, sleep 3 hours,
look perfect, be professionally
exceptional, have amazing sex, social
life, and the perfect home. Instead, I
believe in outsourcing what I can,
getting help, and picking my battles.
I am blessed to have a wonderfully
supportive mother. In Hong Kong, we
also have the blessing of live-in foreign
domestic helpers, which, as a single
parent has been the single biggest factor
in enabling me to work and parent. I
don’t, for example, cook, clean, grocery
shop, or do much in the way of
domestic tasks. I am not ashamed of
this. I can run a family home and have
done so before; what I cannot do is spin
400 plates without dropping something.
So, my approach is: wake up early (for
time to yourself), outsource what you
can, and let go of perfection.