Hi beauties, OK I’m back.. 😍 Sharing with you about my late MIL the founder of Bluebell or we called her umi.
Anyway, before she had her mind on this business, she was serving in corporate for 30 years. She was an iron lady, a tough lady boss where she has worked in teleco industry and her last post was in TIMEdotCom as SVP in Corporate Strategy & Int Business Div before she decided to apply for VSS. Her experienced in TIME dotCom served numerous roles which include International Sales and Marketing, Regulatory, Strategic Planning and Customer Care.
When I first got to know her, during my dating days with my husband, I always felt a bit intimidated whenever I’m around her. She had a very strong aura. You know what they said about Kelantanese women right. They all have a very strong, determined and hardworking character & they usually rule the house. 💪😉
Although she was soft spoken, but somehow you can still feel her firmness whenever she spoke & gave direction. Umi climbed her way up to the corporate ladder while juggling and acing her duty as a mother of SIX. Yes, you heard that right, six kids guys!! By the age of 30 years old, she already had 4 kids! Terer kan.
I can’t imagine myself being in her shoes. How umi managed to do that? Juggled between a mother, a wife, a boss and a staff. Myself yg ada anak 4 before I left corporate world at 36 yo pon rasa mcm tak cukup masa to spend time with my kids, lagi- lagi those days with outstation works, late night submission, crisis lagi.. 😅
One thing I truly remembered was how she trully supported me during my breastfeeding journey especially when I had Eijaz in Jan 2012. I was in FGV & that year was such a busy year for me as FGV planned to be listed in Bursa. After 2 months of maternity leave, im back to work & immediately in March, I received an instruction from my boss that I had to go for an outstation in Jengka! Yes Jengka & I’m like, hmmm there goes my breasfeeding journey. I have decided, takpelaa, Eijaz will have to be fed with formula while I was away. But then umi suggested ‘Aliaa, why don’t Aliaa bwk je Eijaz to Jengka, bring the maid along’.
And I did follow her advice and that was the best advice ever! Whenever I had to work late nights, she would came by all the way from Shah Alam to KL (my office) and brought Eijaz along so I can breastfeed Eijaz in the car. My husband would do few rounds until Eijaz was totally full and they will bring back the milk that I had pumped during the day to be freezed. By 11 or 12ish at night then only I would come home. Yes, that was my routine for few months, I was like a zombie. But then again, thinking about it now, I was sooo lucky to have such a great MIL, a strong support system, I mean I cannot imagine any other MIL would do that right. Paling senang is just to offer formula je, it was an easy way out. But umi was different; she was one of a kind mother in law, never ever she complained about me being busy with work, balik lambat or work during the weekends.
I guess, she understood the hustle. Or maybe she could have saw me just like herself back then, juggling with work and small kids, especially when you are in your late 20s. Very passionate about our work, eager to climb up the ladder, fulfill our roles being a staff at the same time served our duty as a mother. But she has taught me one great lesson that the key is to focus on priorities that are in the moment and find the right balance between profession and parenthood because moments that passed by were definitely irreplaceable.❤️❤️
(TBC). Xoxo : Aliaa Z
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