Women working in a diverse range of roles with Honeywell share how having a family influences their day jobs - and how being a mother can help them with the way they approach their work.

Yunfei Zou, Technical Manager in Shanghai

Yunfei (pictured above) is mom to Chenshuo, aged 5.

She says her child describes her job as building "some parts inside of an aircraft to manufacture an aircraft".

Yunfei believes that motherhood increases her skills for work. She adds: "Multitasking, prioritizing and time management and using the skills to deal with conflict between kids helps dealing with conflict between adults."

Laura Main, Senior Systems Engineer, Phoenix 

Laura has two children: 8-year-old Nathan, and Harper who is 3.

She says: "My kids think that I make airplanes fly. I tell them that I work on the cockpit connecting all the signals that help the pilots fly the airplane. They love seeing the cockpits and always ask if this is one of mommy’s planes."

Explaining how being a mom helps her at work, Laura says: "I am so used to spinning 10 plates at one time, I use that skill set to track and stay on top of all the different programs’ schedules and tasks. Dealing with kids prepares you very well to work with all kinds of people in the office. If I can get a stubborn 3-year-old to eat their vegetables, convincing a grown-up to rework requirements is a piece of cake!"

Silvie Luisa Brazdilova, Research and Development Scientist in Brno, Czech Republic

Silvie is mother to Irena, aged 11, Alena, who is 7 and Kristýna, aged 3.

She says: "I tried to explain [to my children] that I am working on new avionics, but I guess their impression is that I am just 'sitting by a computer.'"

Silvie describes her family as a great motivator. She explains: "I would like to be an example for my daughters and show them that work can be a source of pleasure and satisfaction. And of course, I look forward to going to work as I am allowed to sit there and think without being disturbed all the time, in contrast with the lively environment at home."

Annemarie Diepenbroek, Global Marketing Director in Sydney, Australia

Annemare is mom to two teenagers: Freya, aged 16 and Marten, aged 13.

She says: "I explain to my kids that field workers are like astronauts: Honeywell provides them with their safety gear, monitors them and supports them with new software and hardware solutions that help them do their task safer and faster. They might not be in space but they are typically far away from the rest of the world doing equally dangerous and very important jobs!"

When asked how being a mom helps her at work, Annemarie comments: "We all benefit from safe, reliable and emission-reduced manufacturing, I am very much driven by these outcomes. When my two kids came along, my passion only grew stronger to stay in this field as I feel an increased sense of responsibility to help make our industry safer for everyone who works there."

Mary Bogdan, Senior Principal Scientist in Buffalo, New York

Mary has three adult sons: Bradley, aged 31, Colin, aged 28 and Ryan, aged 26.

Mary says science has always been part of her sons' lives and they are proud of her career: "My husband is a science teacher. Science was always part of my sons' lives. Honeywell had a family day when they were young so they got to see the labs. We used what I do for a living for science fair projects during the years. They are proud of what I do."

For Mary, being a mother improves her time management skills and helps her to understand different personalities and learn communication styles.

She adds: "Also, since [my sons] are all men, it helps me understand on a male perspective on a situation and how to effectively communicate with them."

Anjali Managoli, Engineering Manager in Bengaluru, India

Anjali is mother to Ninad, aged 10.

She says that when her son was much younger, he would describe her work as “taking calls” – as this is what she did at home. "Now that he is grown up, he understands my work to some extent, but he still thinks a major part of my work is 'taking calls,'" she adds.

Anjali describes being a people leader at work as very much like being a parent. She explains: "I am responsible for catering to the needs of my team, from ensuring that they are happy with their work to giving them the right tools and environment to perform their work. I act as a mentor, coach, critic and a friend as the situation and the person demands. When the team succeeds, you feel proud – exactly how a parent would."

Julie Lazar, Site Leader for Quality and Operations in Melbourne, Australia

Julie has two sons: Benjamin, who is 12 and Jonathan, who is 9.

Julie says her children have an understanding that their mom works on fire alarm panels saving people’s lives. They are also aware their mom is a leader in the workplace and spends most of her time in meetings. 

She adds: "Being a mom has helped me to relate to many of my team members and colleagues who are also parents, it has helped me in tuning my leadership skills having empathy for others. Me being part of diversity council, many times I was called to mentor new mothers and other women employees on work life balance."

Felicia Moore, Senior Director in Cleveland, Ohio

Felicia has two adult daughters: Christina, aged 25 and Katie, who is 21.

Felicia's daughters know she is an engineer. She says: "I love my work and I do my best every day. It’s really neat when their work or school and my job intersect, for example developing statistical models, me for product quality and my daughter for ecosystems or discussing analytics as it relates to biological systems."

For Felicia, being a mother enables her to empathize with team members in all situations and to coach them to be their best.

Ping Ye, Senior Research and Development Engineer in Shanghai

Ping Ye is mom to Nicole, aged 5.

When asked what her daughter thinks she does for a living, Ping Ye says: "Mom is an engineer who can design the airplane, the job seems like you build anything using LEGOs, but need more advanced skill you will grow later on."

She adds: "Being a mom is a lifetime career with more experience (joy, love, unsure and adventure, etc.), the same as [advancing] in work. So far, I think the biggest change is to improve self-management ability such as time control and multi-tasking, which help in daily work."

Barbora Nečasová, Business Analyst in Brno, Czech Republic

Barbora is mother to Míša, who is almost 5.

Barbora says it is not easy to describe her job to adults, so it is even more difficult to explain it to a child! She comments: "My daughter knows that I use a computer for my job. And that’s it."

Barbora finds that being a parent helps her a lot with her job. She explains: "I think it helps a lot. Just to get the balance. You know – to have a job is important for all of us but to have a family, you gain different priorities, a new perspective for your life. For me personally – thanks to this fact I can avoid the work-related stress."

Work for an employer that understands family life

Honeywell is a prime employer for women that understands the importance of family, provides competitive maternity policies and helps returners as they transition back into the workforce.

There is no time like the present to search and apply for exciting job opportunities with Honeywell.

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