By all appearances, she is composed. On good days, she is polished in her work attire. On other days, she’s in her wrinkled shirt and jeans. Always with phone in one hand, juggling a press query in one moment and a grade 2 class update in the next. She crafts the voice of the company, leading communications, managing crises, representing a brand that never sleeps.
But behind the voice and presence, she is also a wife, a mother of four, and a woman constantly straddling the delicate balance between public duty and personal devotion.
In an industry powered by motion: buses, trains, and people, her life rarely stops moving too. When the first train and bus roll out before dawn, she is often already online, replying to messages and emails, or anticipating the morning headlines. Her roles in communications are not defined by office hours. They are defined by urgency, responsibility, and an unspoken agreement… to be “always on.”
Weekends blur into weekdays. Public holidays turn into unofficial workdays. Celebrations are often shared with one eye on the family, the other on a phone screen, ready for the next statement to issue or media query to handle. Her career, though rewarding, is not without cost. There are missed moments… dinner, parent-teacher meets, bedtime routine, school run.
Yet somehow, she shows up for both worlds.
At work, she leads a team, managing not just strategy and content, but people, each with their own challenges and expectations. At home, she does the same. Children needing her attention, a spouse leaning on her strength, a household needing coordination. She is the manager, the planner, the mediator.. She is the heart.
All this in a field where boardrooms and backends are still dominated by men. She must work twice as hard to be heard, stay three steps ahead to be valued. The grit it takes to navigate a space not always built for women, much less working mothers, is nothing short of extraordinary.
But does she ever stop to wonder… Is it worth it?
There are days when exhaustion sets in like fog.. thick, heavy, and unrelenting. Days when she questions whether the sacrifices are too steep. Whether chasing excellence at work is worth the price of guilt she sometimes carries at home.
And yet, she keeps going.
Because she believes in what she does. Because representation matters. Because her children are watching and learning that women can lead, at home, at work, and in spaces where few dare to venture. Because, despite the tiredness, there is fulfillment in knowing she is part of something bigger: keeping a city moving, and her family growing.
Her story isn’t about having it all. It’s about holding it all, with love, with strength, and with an occasional tear in the quiet moments. It’s about showing up… imperfect, but determined. Flawed, but formidable.
So, is it worth it? Ask her on a quiet night, when the house is finally still and her phone stops buzzing. She may smile, sigh, and say, “Some days, I don’t know. But today, yeah.. Today, it is. Most days, they are.”
Written by A. Balancing duty in public service and care at home, she writes from the heart of both worlds.