Dayang Lily was born and bred in Kuching, Sarawak. Ever since in school, she had always seen herself as someone who would work in corporations as a career woman. However, the day her first child was born changed all that.
Lily graduated with a Computer & Systems Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the USA in 1993. She immediately got a job offer from a multinational company soon after her graduation, and started her career as an engineer. Three years after working, she got married and was blessed with a son, Hakeem in 1997.
“When I first held my newborn, I immediately felt a higher calling in my life. It changed my life’s perspective and saw this child as the most important responsibility I need to bear. Nothing else mattered”, said Lily of her life changing moment.However, being a new family, she knew she had to continue working so that they can have a secure financial base before she could venture into something new that would provide more time with her child. At the same time, she kept on a lookout on other career options that would enable her to have an income and at the same time have more time with her son.
Two years after the birth of her first child, her daughter Hannah was born. It was then she knew she had to seriously find ways on how to have a better work-life balance as her current work schedule made it hard for her to have quality time with her young children.
“I chanced upon articles on working from home written by Ms Chong Sheau Ching in the local newspaper and was immediately attracted to the concept of working at home. It seemed like the perfect match to what I was looking for – income and time. Yet, I was not sure what kind of work I can do from home”, Lily shared.
Her search was beginning to bear fruit when a seminar on working from home was held by a group called “Mothers for Mothers”, headed by Ms Chong Sheau Ching. She registered for the seminar with her husband to find out more on what the concept was about and how she could be part of this lifestyle. It was an eye-opener for her as she met many women who were able to have a successful career and business, with their offices based at home. She was inspired by the sharing and knew this was the path she wanted to take. Her husband, Ahmad Nazri, who attended the seminar with her was very supportive as he had heard the benefits the families gained when the mothers chose to work from home.
The next challenge Lily had was to find what she could do from home. She toyed with a few business ideas with her friends, but none fit her interest until one day when she walked into a bookstore. As a mother who loved reading with her children, Lily loved bringing her children to bookstores. While on a visit to a major bookstore in Malaysia, she realized there were not many choices for Islamic children’s books. The available books were not suitable for young children as they were too wordy and hardly any colours that would attract the attention of children. Thus, that sparked an idea on filling the gap as a business opportunity. From there, UmmikuSayang.com was born, which was the first online Islamic Bookstore in Malaysia (now has been renamed to Shop.Alimkids.com) where parents are able to buy a variety of Islamic books for their children from anywhere in the world.
“Being new at entrepreneurship, Lily and her partners attended trainings related to business and marketing so they could build a stronger business.”
She formed a company with her husband and friend, Hani Abdullah and now the company is over 14 years old. It took her two years before she finally was able to make the switch from being a fulltime employee to a fulltime work-at-home mom. The company was growing and they had resellers all over Malaysia helping them sell the books to parents and schools. Lily had her office in one of the rooms in her home and managed online orders from there. Being new at entrepreneurship, Lily and her partners attended trainings related to business and marketing so they could build a stronger business.
At the same time, many mothers came to them and asked for advice on how to start their own business from home. Seeing the need to share their experiences, Lily and Hani created a series of seminars called “Executive@Home” where they shared with mothers steps to take to start their own careers from home. Lily was selected as one of the Best Teleworking Mom in 2004, an award organized by eHomemakers.net and Nestle Berhad.
After five years of building their business from home, in 2006, Lily and her partners decided it was time to open up a retail outlet which offered Islamic books and parenting needs in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. They have also developed their own Islamic enrichment program called ALIMKids which teaches children about Islam using play-based activities. In 2013, Lily ventured into event management by organizing the Malaysia Islamic Children’s Fair (MICF) which was the biggest fair and exhibition related to Muslim children in Malaysia. Lily has been the Chairperson for MICF since 2013.
“I believe that working from home enables a mother to balance between raising her children and managing her career. When my children were younger, I spent more time with them than on my business. Now that my children are in school and one in college, I have more time to focus on my business without the guilt of leaving my children behind”, shared Lily.
Lily believed that family support is very important for a successful work-life balance. As a mother, one should not take on the role of a “superwoman” who tries to do everything. Seek help when necessary, be it for the family or the business. Invest in time and money to learn new skills through trainings or workshops available for entrepreneurs. Join networking organizations to widen their circle of contacts.
“I have no regrets switching careers from an engineer to an entrepreneur, as I have gained so much, both personally and professionally since making the change. I hope other mothers would be given the chance to explore other career options that enable them to have a better work-life balance”, said Lily in conclusion.