Heart on Her Sleeve

Ambition, though a personal experience, has the power to be inspiring. This is a story of how despite the diverse challenges, from being a migrant to a working mother, the ambition of an individual has inspired others. By Natalie Leroy

Caroline Kahwati and her

family migrated from Khartoum, Sudan to Sydney, Australia speaking only Arabic with little knowledge about the English language at school. She was two years old. Caroline was told she would never be good at English but proved to the teachers they were wrong as she topped the subject year after year. Her eldest sister Heidi was subjected to a similar rhetoric, however, she went on to major in English at university - becoming one of the first migrants to do so. Heidi also went on to achieve her Masters in English as well as a Masters in Psychology and Sociology. Her other sister, Rolly was told she would never become a Doctor, but is now a highly regarded General Practitioner. On all counts, it was a teacher who made note that because they were migrants and also women, these dreams were not

The glass ceili be smashed t work, pas determi

achievable for them. They grew up during an era where technology surged and time after time, they were faced with roadblocks. Yet, the Kahwatis were never deterred and took every challenge head on. To me, that is what it means to be ambitious. To be passionate and go after a goal, despite so many reasons to give up. I’m lucky enough to call them family, with Caroline being my Mum.

The Kahwatis can not be

concisely summarised. Their stories vary from surviving civil wars and persecutions to running the largest textile shop in Sudan. I will however share a few stories from my Mum

ing is there to through hard ssion and ination.

worked in the business services section for 4 years looking after many and varied clients. Then she worked for 2 years in human resources where she headed the Chartered Accountants education program. Around this time she was also appointed on the Education Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

One of my favourite stories that she has shared from her time working at PwC

that I hope inspire you as much as they have for me. My Mum studied a Commerce degree at UNSW, graduating in 1988. Going through her course notes, her extensive revision techniques are apparent as I note she uses one acronym to summarise the whole course, each letter of the acronym representing a whole topic in the course. In her 2nd year at uni she worked at a company called Price Waterhouse in her holidays for some pocket money and good work experience. On completion of her degree, she landed a graduate role in the Business Services Division at Coopers & Lybrand. She ended up working there for 6 years. What is coincidental is that soon after, both companies she worked with merged to become PwC. My Mum has to be when she came to work wearing pants. She was always known as being fashionable, keeping up to date with the latest trends at work. Unfortunately, it was an unspoken rule that women would not wear pants at her work. Some legal firms around her even had it printed in the rulebook that women were not permitted to wear pants. That did not deter her. She wore a tailored suit to work, and her colleagues (all men) were pulling her leg about it. They wouldn’t stop joking around about her wearing pants, to the point where my Mum went to a partner on the floor.

“Is what I’m wearing appropriate?” my Mum asked. “Yes, of course, why?” the partner was shocked by the question. “Can you come with me and tell that to my colleagues?” The partner proceeded to tell her colleagues the same thing he said to her. No one has joked to her about women wearing pants since. And slowly there were more women in the workplace wearing pants. My Mum also pushed for part-time work when her Dad asked if she could help with the family business once a day in the week, noting she loved working fulltime at PwC. Part-time work was not an option back then, but still, she went to her manager and asked to change from working five days a week to four days a week. She also insisted on maintaining the same salary. She explained that she could complete the same amount of work in a shorter time at the same high standard. The manager was hesitant, but my Mum explained that if she didn’t meet the standard after one month, he could deduct it from her pay. The manager agreed to her terms. Her pay was never reduced.

My Mum later went to have children and despite wanting to stay at PwC, it was not possible. Her desire of working two days a week was not an option at the time nor was maternity leave. When she resigned from work, she explained that if part-time work and maternity leave did not become available, they would lose more people. Soon after my Mum left, those options became available. Today my Mum works full time at home for a family company. She sits on many boards and committees. She mentors and inspires all that work with her, as well as her family. I am extremely proud of her as she has taught me to wear my heart on my sleeve and encourages me to reach for the stars. The glass ceiling is there to be smashed through hard work, passion and determination.