How She Did It? Mom Corps Helped Aarti Vakharia Find Flexibility
Posted on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 @ 03:01 PM
Name: Aarti Vakharia - Boston, MA
Family: 1 daughter (3 ½ years old) and currently expecting a second child
Education: George Washington University: B.S. Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business: MBA
After college, I started working in consulting for Charles River Associates International (CRAI) in their Washington, DC and Boston offices. At CRAI, I worked on consulting engagements across a number of industries, including: pharmaceutical, energy, financial, government, chemicals, and media.
After working there for almost five years, I decided to attend business school at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While at Booth, I focused on my attention on Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. After my first year of business school, I interned at American Express in the OPEN Small Business Cards division’s Finance group. Upon graduating from Booth, I took a year off and spent it with my newborn daughter. After my year off, I joined a digital marketing agency in Boston called Digitas. I primarily worked with online marketing strategies that included websites, micro sites, and email campaigns.
Thereafter, I joined The Princeton Review (TPR) as Director of Strategy in their largest division, Test Prep. After six months, I was promoted to Assistance Vice President of Product Management for High School products, TPR’s largest revenue grossing set of products. I worked on product management and marketing for the SAT and ACT product lines as well as other college entrance exams such as SAT Subject tests. I also worked with our COO/CFO on strategic planning for the company in addition to my daily responsibilities and was then promoted to Vice President of Strategic, Technology Initiatives. In this new role, I was leading a company-wide transformation project that affected TPR’s organization, processes, and technology. I worked on a number of initiatives that included: process reengineering, instructor compensation, organizational design, change management, and introducing new technologies affecting our operations, product management, marketing, product development (content), and finance groups.
Why you turned to Mom Corps?
Upon graduating from business school and having a young child who was less than one year old, I realized the importance of finding a position that would allow me some flexibility but also provide me with a challenging career opportunity. My husband was in his medical residency at the time, and I knew that I would require a very flexible work situation since he was working very long hours. In my job search after business school, I submitted my resume on the Mom Corps website and was contacted by one of Mom Corps recruiters, Nadia McKay, for the Director of Strategy position at The Princeton Review. Nadia was extremely helpful throughout the recruiting process, and I really felt like she was my advocate. The full-time position was going to allow me better hours so I could pick up my daughter from day care and would limit travel. I didn’t have a guarantee that I could work from home one day a week but I was allowed the flexibility to work from home as needed. It was a very demanding position that reported directly to the President of the division but I was able to manage it because I was able to complete my work in the evenings and on weekends and wasn’t forced to work long hours in the office.
Do you still hold that position? Have you moved on to another role? Have you stepped back out of the workforce?
I just left the position to move abroad for a position that my husband recently accepted. I will likely step out of the workforce for the next 6 to 9 months as we make this transition abroad with a newborn baby.
Please summarize how having a flexible job through Mom Corps affected/improved your overall work/life balance and your professional and/or family life?
I am very grateful to the Mom Corp for placing me in the Director of Strategy position at The Princeton Review. From that initial placement, I was then promoted two times where I was still afforded some flexibility in my subsequent positions.