Gone are the days when motherhood solely meant staying at home and attending to the needs of the family.
Today, mothers come in all forms and sizes. Some stay at home. But others? They opt to trudge out into the world of work, kids strapped on to hips as tightly as the heels on their feet.
Working mothers; a true force of nature.
And if we were to talk about true forces of nature, then Elisa Yuvallos is the perfect person. Elisa is a mother of two beautiful boys, a 6 year old and a 2 year old. At the same time, she’s also the Finance and Accounting department head of their family businesses.
How many businesses? A whopping total of six companies across varied industries. The latest one is an online grocery store you may have heard of by now: CloudKart.ph.
When asked if she struggled with being a mother and a working parent, Elisa was quick to answer truthfully.
“Balancing work and motherhood has always been a struggle – still is, until now.”
In this interview with the fascinating Elisa, we talk about motherhood, work, and the passion that fuels us all to be our best.
Have you always been a working mom? When did it start and why the choice to take on the tough role of being both?
I have always been a working mom. It wasn’t so much of a choice but something that just happened naturally. My husband and I were married for five years before having our first child, so from the moment we got married, we worked on and built the family businesses together. I am so blessed with my husband who treats me as an equal professionally. We have such big hopes, dreams and plans for our family, for each other, for our businesses and for our employees and we know that we need to work together and rely on each other.
When you started off balancing work and being a mother, what struggles did you encounter? Was there a particular struggle that you encountered or did balancing both come naturally to you?
I always feel like I’m not spending enough time with my kids, and I feel guilty that I’m not able to be part of a big chunk of their day-to-day routine. At the same time, I feel like I can and should be doing more for our businesses, and I feel sad that I’m not able to mentor our employees as much as I would want.
Even though I would go to work the day before and the day after I would give birth, I always had my kids with me since I would set up a crib right by my work table. I would also babywear and be able to do my work with them cozily sleeping on my chest. As they grew older, I would accompany them to their classes then bring them to the office with me after. With the pandemic, my elder son has his online classes beside me in our home office and my younger son can just cry out for me when he wants to take a nap and breastfeed.
The biggest blessing is that I have loving and dependable ates for both kids, who have been with them since birth. I also have generals in our companies, who I can rely on since they have been with me since I started my life as an entrepreneur.
Balancing work and motherhood is truly a struggle. But it’s a challenge that I happily (on most days) take on since I really love my kids and I also cherish my work.
During the lockdown and the ongoing pandemic, a lot of people were having trouble with their grocery shopping. The struggle to buy then transport it home was a pressing issue for many, especially for the mothers. Was helping these mothers a part of the reason why CloudKart came to be?
I was one of those panicking mothers since I was in charge of our household with 15 people, which included my two kids and my husband’s lola who is almost 90 years old. I also suddenly became in charge of my parents, who are both senior citizens and lived a few kilometers away but across the border.
Even without COVID-19, mothers have so much going on all the time. The term “mental load” was mentioned to me by my mommy friend and that’s when I realized that it’s not just me since there’s an actual name for it. So yes, CloudKart was definitely conceived with mothers in mind. It is my personal goal to take away the burden of grocery shopping from mothers so they can focus on other tasks and have more time for their families and for themselves.
What’s one thing about motherhood that you would not trade for anything in the world?
It’s seeing myself through my kids’ eyes. There are times when I feel down, tired and inadequate. Then my kids run to me with the brightest smiles, just so excited to hug me and be with me – just so happy that I am me. I am reminded that I am amazing because my kids think that I am the best person in the whole world.
With age comes experience. If you could give advice to the younger mothers and mothers to be, what would it be?
Ask for help and accept help. Since we cannot get together personally, chat groups with other moms are great for unloading some stress or asking for advice. We are also blessed with husbands, grandmas, aunties, nannies and mommy friends who take care of our kids when we need to take care of ourselves.
Do you have a certain moment or memory that really made you say “This. This is why I love being a mom”?
I feel this way every night when I tuck the kids in bed. I love watching them sleep, knowing that they are safe, healthy and happy.
I also feel this a little bit extra on the kids’ birthdays. When I see them happily blowing out the candle on their birthday cake, I think about how much they’ve grown. I get really happy knowing that we grew together and excited for our adventure ahead.
Lastly, if you could change one thing about how the Philippines view working moms, what would it be and why?
Maybe not so much how the Philippines view working moms but how we make judgments, in general. People have so much to say about working moms and stay-at-home moms, without realizing that both situations have their own challenges and that sometimes, those moms didn’t have a choice but were forced into those roles.
I am a working mom while my mom was an amazing stay-at-home mom. We tackled motherhood differently but the love that we put in is purely the same.
Photography: Rae Cabradilla-Padin