When you take a break from work, how daunting is it to re-enter the workforce? For those who have done it, most will say that the prospect of re-entering the workforce can be terribly intimidating. Our society wholeheartedly accepts a woman’s decision to take a break, however, when she decides that she is going back to work, she is often perceived as a quitter, not ambitious and/or not skilled enough.
To help such women, Rita Kakati Shah founded the company Uma, which is dedicated to empowering women to succeed in life and work after a career break or transition. Uma was started based on her own personal journey in response to the challenges she faced to return to work after she took four years off to raise her two small children.
Rita’s professional career began on the trading floors at Goldman Sachs in London, where she spent 10 years across different roles and was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Citizenship and Diversity Award in recognition for her outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion at the firm. Rita graduated from King’s College in London with a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Management, and an M.Sc. in Financial Mathematics. She is a trained and accomplished classical Indian dancer and oil painter and lives with her husband and two small children in New York City. Headquartered in New York City, her company also has a presence in San Francisco and London.
Recently, Rita was in conversation with Brown Girl Magazine speaking about her own personal journey of going back to work and starting Uma.
Read more at: Brown Girl Magazine