Reenat Akhter HR Consultant, Recruitment and Retention, Human Resources When I was a kid, I was very inspired by my own mother. She used to go to the office and seeing her be a corporate lady inspired me a lot. I like working from home, but I’m a very extroverted person. I like those small conversations every day because I think a coffee conversation can sometimes yield a wonderful idea. Back at Unilever in Bangladesh, my boss used to say I did the right kind of management by walking around. The first thing in the morning I would do was grab a cup of coffee and then walk around talking to different people. I believe that in my profession of HR, talking to people and getting the pulse of your organization is extremely important. I do miss that part. When I was a kid, I was very inspired by my own mother. She used to go to the office and seeing her be a corporate lady inspired me a lot. I always envisioned myself to be that someone working in an office and making a difference. And doing something good. What inspires me every day is when I can make a positive change or impact in whatever I do. I did a personal purpose finding exercise and the purpose I have in life is “Create Super Balance to Inspire”. I am someone who loves creating recipes and not just keeping it to myself but sharing it with everyone so we can all make it better. I started working at Dal in April, right at the start of the pandemic. It was a very difficult time for my family, given this unsure world we moved into with the travel bans. It was emotionally burdening for me and my husband because we didn’t know when he could come next or when we’d see each other and what things would be like. Fortunately, a flight was arranged for the permanent residents of Canada and citizens to fly into Canada. He fortunately got a seat and flew to us. Finally, we were reunited as a family. Both me and my husband went to the top business school in Bangladesh. That is where we met. We were together in the same class for four full years. In the second semester, things started to fly a little bit higher, so that’s how it happened. We sang together in several events, studied together and things seem to have stuck the right chords. Now, we’ve had 18 years of togetherness, 15 years married, 13 years of being parents to two wonderful children. As a child, I was brought up by a single parent. I used to live with my mother only. Me and my mother did travel, but not to too many places. We went in and around Bangladesh and neighbouring countries. Most of my cousins and my aunts and uncles used to reside in North America or the UK. I’d grown up seeing them and it was exciting when they used to come to Bangladesh. I think from a very young age I was fascinated by life abroad. For me, that was abroad then. Then when me and my husband got married, we used to travel extensively. That is when the differences were very evident in the quality of life and everything around. That is when I started to envision life abroad. A very challenging moment in my life came in 2016 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. As you would by now realize, she was a very important part of my life. She was my support. When she was diagnosed, my world literally came crashing on me. But at that moment, I realized tables have turned, and I am to take on the role of mother now and take care of her. She has survived. She went through chemo and all of that. She has recovered. My son, who is starting Grade 8, and my daughter who is starting Grade 6, are loving it here. They are really happy. The whole reason we came to this part of the world was for the better quality of life and a better life for the kids. When I see them so happy and content, it seems all the sacrifices we have made are worth it. ← Sydney ↑ Home Duane →
