The co-founder of Good Glamm Group and Founder of Baby Chakra, Naiyya Saggi is a tech enthusiast and is passionate about women in technology. A Harvard Business School graduate, she is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country right now and is working towards making parenting easier with her platform Baby Chakra, which merged with the Good GLamm Group in 2021.
BabyChakra has been consistently recognised as one of the top pregnancy-parenting technology products by global tech powerhouses such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. In today’s edition of e4m’s Women’s Day special series, Saggi talks about her idea of a gender-equal tomorrow and her role models.
Edited excerpts from the conversation:
.jpg)
What are your thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’? According to you, how can women leaders and workers in the formal space create a sustainable future?
Gender equality is non-negotiable not just for tomorrow but critical today as well. India today has the lowest participation of women in the workforce it has ever had historically (20.3%) which means more women were working in my mother's time than in mine. This impacts not only the financial security, independence and autonomy of women in homes but also hobbles the growth of the country's economy to not have 50% of its population participate in the economy.
Women and men can do 3 things to create a more equal future.
- Understand and celebrate the differences: While we talk about gender equality, the main focus should be on Gender Justice, i.e., you are not judged or treated less because of your gender. It is imperative for every leader and team member to be constantly reminded that both women and men have will at different times in their lives need additional support and vocal evangelism from workplaces and leaders. It doesn't make anyone any less to have that additional support extended to them. An especially critical time is parenting and motherhood for instance: employee engagement and support during pregnancy, through maternity and additional integration post work with access to childcare for parents is a strong predictor of continued employment. While organizations may talk about the costs associated with this, the reality is when weighed against the costs of hiring a new team member, the loss of institutional knowledge, the morale costs to team and also just the overall costs to the economy it becomes beholden on leaders to ensure women and men are supported at this time.
- Share more stories - At the Good Glamm Group, we, the co-founders, and many of our key CXOs and acquired companies have strong founders who are female. This gender representation is extremely rare in Unicorns in India and globally. It is extremely critical to have women leaders come out strongly and talk about their journeys to their goals. Stories shape social narratives. The more stories we share of women who have been successful, the visualization of leaders and CEOs in families and girls across India changes to talking about CEOs who are women. Not the traditional male archetype. This is why in marketing and ads as well, it's a welcome change to see more female protagonists take charge on screen, play leadership roles and also share their journeys of ensuring their ambition stays heightened through pregnancy, motherhood and parenting by equal parenting with their spouses.
- Ensure Voice: Both men and women need a workplace where they are encouraged to be authentic and have a voice. It is imperative of the leader to ensure that the quietest person in the room is encouraged to voice their opinion and not for the sake of inclusivity alone but because study after study has established how it makes good business sense to have diversity and inclusiveness in decision making. At business schools, this was drilled into me in the Challenger Air Shuttle explosion case where the quietest voices had the most wisdom but due to not being heard led to disastrous consequences.
Which women have been your strongest supporters and role models (both personally and professionally)?
I come from a family where there were no differences in how women and men and their aspirations were treated. My mother, a retired IAS officer, has been my biggest role model. I have seen her manage and resolve situations of riot and conflict with bravery and determination. I have equally seen her rally her teams to support the most disenfranchised voices. Hence at home, she has been the role model to my sister and me and to all the kids in our extended family.