One of the best things about working at Dubai Chamber is the exposure I get to different people and businesses.

We have a division through which we help startups navigate their way in Dubai, and it was through one of our startup events that I met today’s featured Working Mum - Ketaki Sharma.

The first time I met Ketaki, I interviewed her for our social media channels and was inspired by her goals and grit. This was before I had any children. Seeing her progress so successfully with her startup, which she launched when her daughter was just about 2 (!), was so inspiring and the interview with her just stuck with me. Since then we kept bumping into each other and we’ve just stayed in touch.

Meet Ketaki Sharma, mum to an 8-year old and founder and CEO of a research and analytics firm

Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself

I am Ketaki Sharma, the Founder and CEO of Algorithm Research, a bespoke data analytics and research firm based out of Dubai. Algorithm Research is now nearly six years old and is a Y-Combinator startup school alumnus as well as winner of Facebook Grant and RAKEZ Business Excellence Award, among others.

In my past life, I was involved in setting up research desks from scratch at two local banks in the UAE. I have also worked as an economist with Nomura Securities and have a sovereign rating background, having worked with S&P.

I am mum to Paavaki, my 8-year-old girl who manages to be mellow and playful at the same time😊 In my free time, I enjoy practicing yoga, playing golf and swimming.

Q. You are a mum to an 8-year old and founder and CEO of a startup. How do you manage it all?

I wish I could claim to be confidently straddling the two worlds of career and family. It is a juggling act where some days I succeed and on other days I fail miserably. It is impossible to keep everyone happy at all times and you just have to prioritize at that specific moment. It is a day at a time approach for me.

Q. What is your ultimate goal as a working mum?

The idea is to give each day my best shot at doing the best I can with the time I have.

Feeling rushed or not being able to be “fully present” is largely due to constant distractions. For me what works has been to:

a) keep the phone on silent for a large part of the day

b) practice meditation

c) practice yoga

Meditation helps me reconnect with myself and helps me get that much needed balance. Keeping the phone on silent helps me concentrate better and get the job done. Having said so, by no means have I figured it all out. It is a daily choice that I need to make.

Q. Where do you get your inspiration?

Being outdoors, my yoga practice and interacting with people with diverse life experiences keeps me inspired.

Q. What is your best productivity hack?

Whatever gets done in 10 minutes, I complete that task immediately and the rest of tasks get on to the to-do list based on priority.

Q. What is your parenting mantra?

For me, my job as a parent is to ensure that I give my child an emotional anchor, teach her good habits and give her values that our parents gave us. For instance, the value and reward of discipline - we encourage my daughter to practice playing the piano at least thrice a week. The outcome is glorious when you do not give up and keep trying.

Q. Did becoming a mother change the way you think about work? How so?

Becoming a mother brought a massive change in my approach to work. I was always a driven economist but after Paavaki’s birth I realized I needed more flexibility and working fixed office hours did not support my responsibilities as a new mum.

The option of working from home 8 years ago was unthinkable for anyone in a non-IT role. The urge to do justice to my role as a mum, encouraged me to launch my own analytics and research startup.

Q. Tell us a bit about Algorithm Research and its launch? I believe you started it while your daughter was still small? How did you manage to launch a business while being a mum?

Since being a mum defined me as much as a person as being an economist/researcher, I decided to keep both the profiles while making changes to my employer 😊

Becoming a mum helped me muster the courage to work for myself and launch Algorithm Research. It has been a life changing experience for me.

Q. What were your biggest learnings?

It has been about unlearning and relearning. I had to unlearn the employee mindset and learn to think like an entrepreneur. I believe that mindset is the hardest to change and it takes time, patience and persistence.

My ability to RISE above the circumstances was driven by these 4 letters – R.I.S.E.

“R” for resilience. I knew I had to be resilient and bloody-minded to get things done and not take no for an answer.

“I” for a certain level of (calculated) ignorance. Nobody could defeat me if I did not even know that I have lost. This mindset for me was best captured by the Steve Jobs phrase – “Stay hungry. Stay foolish”. Had I been overly intellectual about adversities, I probably would have failed.

“S” for survivor spirit. This is when failure was not an option and the only way was to be positive and reframe the adversity. At any rate, a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor and I guess I was just lucky to have some innate survivor skills.

“E” for exercise. I knew that a healthy mind could only be borne out of a healthy body, so whether it was yoga or a late evening dip in the pool or a round of golf, sweating it out was pretty important for me.

Q. What is your advice to new mums looking to start working again or looking to venture into entrepreneurship?

You are the average of the five people you interact with the most, so choose them well.

Q. Favourite tool that makes your life easier?

I use YouTube a lot – it is my go-to tool for inspirational speeches, audio books and also my favorite user manual.

Q. Parenting book / advice that was a game changer for you?

I have never read any books on parenting. Instead I seek advice from some of my friends with older kids, and my mum.

Q. Favourite quote

One of the legendary Hindi poets, Harivansh Rai Bachchan once said “mann ka ho toh achchha, aur jo na ho toh aur achchha” which literally translates into “it is good if you get what you desire but even better if you do not get what you desire”.

What you desire is bound by the limits of your own thoughts and imagination, whereas what you ultimately get might be far greater and more meaningful – much beyond you could have perceived for yourself.

So much wisdom here! I hope you found as much value in it as I did.

If you enjoyed this and feel like someone else can benefit from this conversation or this community, please share!

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If you have any questions or comments for Ketaki, do leave a comment here or hit reply and I will make sure she gets your message.

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Have a great week!

Love,

Abha

Working Mums Club

WMC Wisdom issue #8: Ketaki Sharma, mum…