Angela Lau

My name is Angela Lau and I am the VP of Corporate Operations here at Delvinia. I’ve been with the company for just over 9 years and have been fortunate enough to hire great people, manage a team I love, help grow the business, and build policies and procedures as a foundation to the business. Through these 9 years, Delvinia has been a part of my growth professionally and personally from promotions, to marriage, to buying my first house, and supporting me through two maternity leaves.

As someone who spends over 3 ½ hours a day commuting in and out of the office each day, you would think I’d be one of the happiest to work from home daily. Frankly speaking, while there are definitely benefits to working from home (hello! – save 3.5 hours a day, save on transportation costs, more time with the family, etc.), the challenges are also real. COVID-19 has provided me the following experiences through working from home as a mother of two:
Losing my single chance of ‘me-time’ that I would normally get while commuting in and out of the office.

• ALWAYS being asked (or, often, demanded) for something by my children
• Being tested everyday on how to be both an entertainer and provider to my children all while trying to achieve outcomes and objectives at work
• Worrying every day that I’m being a bad mom while my children are out of school (Are they watching too much tv? Are they eating enough? Are they eating too much? Are they doing enough educational work? Will they fall behind? Are they wondering why mommy is more focused on work than on them?)
• Missing being in the office and seeing friends and colleagues who give me that important mental break
• Feeling scared people will see or hear on Zoom how messy and crazy my household actually is (someone always seems to be screaming – I won’t say whether that’s me or my kids)
• I like myself just a little bit less (I get frustrated a little easier, I lose my patience a little faster, and I can’t switch on and off the employee/mom mode fast enough)
• I work three times more trying to balance being both a full-time mom and a full-time employee
• Losing that relaxing ‘space’ that is my home while working from home full time for days on end
• Not caring about how I look, how I dress, or what I eat

Despite what I’m sharing above, I feel blessed that I’m working for a company who cares about each and every one of its employees. Every day, our CEO sends out two emails as a means to share his own struggles, feelings and thoughts. He opens up the door for people to communicate with him. The Executive team meets daily to ensure every staff member is okay before worrying about the performance of the organization. I take great pride in how our company is managing through the situation and can only hope others are fortunate enough to experience the same. 

I’d love to hear stories of other working moms in a similar situation as me. Are you struggling? Are you finding strategies and coping mechanisms you’d like to share? I’d love to hear your story!