The road to Mums@Work
Upon graduating from NUS Business School with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1998, Liew Sher Li took her maiden steps into the corporate world as a trade officer with IE Singapore (now Enterprise Singapore). After a transformative experience in Japan, where she taught English for three years, Sher Li eventually moved into higher education in a bid to contribute more to the youth space. She also started a family at the same time. However, shortly after the birth of her first child, her mother fell ill, posing unprecedented challenges for Sher Li. Having weathered that season of struggles, Sher Li was filled with the conviction that women should never be made to choose between work and family. This motivated her to eventually start Mums@Work, a social enterprise that supports female caregivers in Singapore.
Mums@Work: Mission and milestones
Over the past 12 years, Mums@Work has enjoyed tremendous success Under Sher Li’s passionate leadership, they have grown to over 49,000 members and actively partner with corporate organisations to offer jobs and flexible work arrangements to women. Her hope is to bring this beyond Singapore’s shores, and the team is the team is excited to also serve the Hong Kong and Japanese offices of their Singapore clients, extending the organisation’s influence beyond local shores.
On challenges faced by working moms in Asia, Sher Li sees a trend towards working moms having to take career breaks to manage the load of ailing parents and young children. This typically takes place when these women are in managerial positions, which further adds to the complexities, due to the heavier responsibilities.
Sher Li (fourth from right) and her Mums@Work team at a career fair
.. Women should never be made to choose between work and family
Sher Li speaking at an Accenture event
Riding on the NUS Business School foundation
Sher Li credits much of what she learned about marketing and the importance of it to her time at NUS Business School. She benefitted from both the strong mentorship of her lecturers like Associate Professor Ang Swee Hoon and leadership opportunities with the BIZAD Club. Taking up the role of marketing head for several fundraising and orientation projects, she gained exposure to international brands while sourcing for sponsors, and understood the crucial role of marketing in the success of any business. These experiences came in very handy when the time came for her to chart her own entrepreneurship course.
Sher Li’s NUS Business School journey also provided the environment for the establishing of lifelong friendships. Her freshman orientation group mates became her support group all through university, and eventually lifelong friends.
Sher Li (extreme right) and her freshman orientation group mates
Sher Li (back row, second from left) with the same orientation group mates on graduation day
Advice to budding social entrepreneurs
On founding and growing social enterprises, Sher Li opines that there are often situations when one must look more long-term than what seems necessary. Decision making is not always about dollars and cents. It is important to constantly question the value proposition to society at large – so be firm and always know what your business stands for, what contribution it brings to the world.
Decision making is not always about dollars and cents. It is important to constantly question the value proposition to society at large – so be firm and always know what your business stands for, what contribution it brings to the world.
