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Mother’s Day Insights From Fraud-Fighting Moms

The word “mother” conjures up countless images of that same person handling multiple tasks without breaking a sweat. Shelter-in-place diktats have taken this multi-tasking for fraud-fighting moms several notches higher as work hours have expanded, children are at home taking online classes, and adults are working from home. Let’s be real, being a mother is certainly not as glamorous as the movies make it out to be. However, if there were ever an award for multi-tasking it would no doubt go to the mothers.

Motherhood is a constant juggle of priorities and sacrifices while trying to keep your wits about you. It is one of the most challenging roles women will take on in their lifetime. Mothers often carry the emotional labor of the family, ensuring everyone and everything is taken care of. Juggling between household chores, managing school and screentime for kids, and delivering on their own professional commitments can be an overwhelming proposition. But we do it anyway because we care to. 

As a new mom with career ambitions, returning to work after having a baby felt like an internal tug-of-war. However, it’s taught me that being a mom and a contributing member of a team don’t need to compete in priorities when both are important to us. Being a mom helps us be better professionals and vice versa. 

It’s no surprise that I continue to meet strong women and moms in the business of fraud-fighting. In March we hosted 100+ attendees at our Women’s Day event honoring women in fraud. In April, we had our first all-women panel as part of our fraud prevention virtual panel series. The women in this line of work embody the leadership qualities any employer would care to have on their fraud-fighting bench: supportive, responsible, good communicators, and typically the glue bringing everyone together. 

This Mothers’ Day, we wanted to give a voice to these mothers who work tirelessly for their causes. Arkose Labs reached out to several working mothers, who are highly respected professionals in the fraud prevention industry, to understand how they are managing in this new environment working motherhood. Here’s what they had to say:

On work-life balance

“It takes a lot of mindful effort to find work-life balance, and I don’t always do it. It’s not easy and most of it comes from sacrificing the me-time.”

A key theme we heard from moms is that balance, while still elusive, takes intentional effort. Some of them compromise on their me-time and still end up feeling guilty of allowing too much screen time to their kids. However, given the situation we are in, they are prioritizing their tasks, planning their daily schedules, and forcing themselves to take breaks to recharge themselves when they can.

Who keeps them grounded the most? Their kids.

“My kids remind me of the bigger picture of life and keep me laughing.”

On how being a mom helps them being a fraud fighter

“People in the fraud-fighting space are looking out for others. By definition, that’s what moms do as well–we are protectors.”

Moms know the best interests of the family and are the protectors of the house. Similarly, mothers in the fraud fighting space are putting in their best efforts to help protect netizens from the bad guys. One thing fraudsters and children have in common is they’re unpredictable. Both can test your patience to no end. Fraud-fighting moms know holding strong to long-term priorities keeps them from getting swept up in the daily chaos.

“Being a mom gives you the ability to focus on what’s important and keep things in perspective.”

On the effect of pandemic on their work approach

“The pandemic has caused working from home evolving into living at my workplace.”

The “workplace” has a whole new look to it these days. It’s 1 part office, 1 part school, 1 part chores, and a whole lot of screen time within the same 4 walls. The effects have varied from mom to mom. 

Some of the working moms we spoke to were happy that the pandemic had eliminated the travel time from their work schedules (up to 30%!). It also helped them improve their abilities to schedule time and allowed them to spend quality time with their families, making it slightly easier to balance work and family life. 

One thing is for sure, it requires them to put a more concerted effort into time management. 

“I got better about scheduling time away from work throughout the day to help my daughter with online school and to spend lunchtime with her so she didn’t feel so isolated. It meant some late nights catching up on work, but it was the best thing to do.”

What words best describes their situation as a working mom during the pandemic

“Vigilant”

“Juggling”

“Tired”

“Grateful”

The themes that emerged from this discussion possibly echoed the sentiments of all working mothers – juggling between tasks, prioritizing them, and trying to stay as flexible as possible amid all the chaos around them. This often leaves them stressed out and tired. However, true to the spirit of being a mother, they are grateful and happy for what they have and take inspiration from their kids to keep fighting the bad guys and make the internet a better place for their future.

The perfect Mothers’ Day gift

With family members demanding attention at home, working mothers are stretched too thin trying to balance work and family while also enduring chaos at home. Make this Mothers’ Day special for your mom by sharing her workload and helping her unwind. Trust me, she’ll appreciate it 10 times more than another bouquet of flowers.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Arkose Labs authored by Julianne Rose. Read the original post at: https://www.arkoselabs.com/blog/mothers-day-insights-from-fraud-fighting-moms/