Meet Barbara, Technologist & Entrepreneur cum Mom

Barbara Hanna, Ph.D., is a Technologist and Entrepreneur passionate about fostering technology that educates, empowers and/or connects individuals. She is the Founder and CEO of Cyant, a startup focused on connecting art and technology to foster learning, creativity and engagement. A woman owned and led company working towards B-Corp status, Cyant is particularly committed to help empowering women and girls. She holds a BEng. and MEng. from the University of Cambridge UK, and a Ph.D. from the University of Surrey, UK.

Disclaimer: These are just things that worked for Barbara. These are not intended to make any statement on this topic. She strongly feels this is a very personal matter and works out differently for everyone.

Rapid Fire

• Typical go to meal — I love to cook and buy things that are seasonal and market fresh. We go to Farmers Markets a lot.
• Your best friend when it comes to handling tantrums — My child is too grown up to throw tantrums now, but there are a few approaches from being firm to handling it through compassion depending on the situation. Trying to distract them, “Hey! what’s that in your hand?” is another solution.
• Biggest stress buster — Depends on the kind of stress. I like to run. Exercise is a good stress release. I mentioned it before but I love to cook too.

Excerpt of our chat

Q. How did being a mother affect your career? Do you think you are consciously taking less challenging projects because you know you are a mom?

No, I never held myself back because of being a mother. All of us have different capacities, unique work environments, positions, roles and responsibilities. However, you’ll be surprised, by the stamina you discover after you have a child. You can stay organized, efficient at time management and productive.

Q. What was your support structure like during and after your pregnancy?

It’s an individual choice and depends on your situation and finances. Try to get help when you can. Having a support network of friends and family helps a lot.

Q. What is that one thing that bothers you the most and you would want to fix in the system?

There are still biases in society, the workplace and in people’s minds. I think understanding the needs of not just mothers but parents in general would definitely help us.

Q. Do you face decision fatigue? Calling the shots at work and making decisions about the day-to-day trivial things like food, dress to non-trivial ones like kids school…

I don’t think I faced decision fatigue. But it’s important to take your time, get the right inputs and information. Also, it is good to surround yourself with the right people whom you can reach out to and whose advice can help make the right decision. You have to remember that decisions are not made in vacuum. Sometimes they are easy and sometimes they are not, but you make decisions all the day

Q. What drives to you be a working mom?

I never felt that my being a mother and my working were incompatible. I find it fulfilling. Usually the things I work on are things that I enjoy and am passionate about. And I love my child and being a mother. The key is to feel fulfilled. If you feel fulfilled, you will feel happy, and you will transfer that happiness to your relationships. And I think my working has provided positive experiences for my child too.

Q. What advice do you have other women, how to create a healthy environment at home for both your kid and spouse, your relationship and yourself?

If you can develop a good support network, it really helps. Especially as first time mothers, if possible, try and delegate. Make sure to create time and space for yourself too. And follow your intuition.

Originally published at www.pimothers.com.