Mona Ataya On Multitasking, Motherhood and Empowering Mums Everywhere Within The Region
The Mumzworld co-founder and chief executive is not only empowering mothers with her vast e-comm platform, but has built a tight-knit community and support network to boot
Ten years ago, Mona Ataya was a mother with three young sons and a demanding job. Multitasking was a way of life. But it was made more complicated by the lack of crucial touchpoints every mother is desperate for. As she tried to provide her children with the best across all fronts, from food and clothing to toys and books, Mona discovered just how difficult it was to locate the products she loved in the region. Not to mention the dearth of information in Arabic on the items she wanted. And then there was her overarching realisation that there was a scarcity of places for women to come together to support each other as they brave the world of motherhood.
As a serial entrepreneur – who started her career working in the United States with Procter and Gamble and then later at Johnson & Johnson before launching her first online business Bayt.com, a leading job site platform – Mona was always on the lookout for need vacuums that she could fill. It was while she was at Bayt that she had her “ah-ha” Mumzworld moment. She quickly came up with a business plan and pitched it to her partners at the company. They agreed to back the idea if she would run it. And run with it she did, building the e-commerce platform into the largest online children’s goods retailer in the Middle East.
According to Mumzworld, the Middle East mother, baby and children’s goods market is worth over $10 billion and it believes that the growth of e-commerce hovers at about 39 per cent annually. This is despite the fact that online penetration currently rests at less than 10 per cent. That potential, and the deft way that Mona and her team were able to weather the pandemic, only to come out stronger on the other side, help to fuel the recent acquisition of a majority stake in the company by the 100-year-old Saudi healthcare and consumer goods conglomerate Tamer Group.
With the support of the Tamer Group’s extensive distribution network and their influx of capital, Mona now finds herself and her company on the cusp of massive expansion.
Harper’s Bazaar Arabia spoke with her about this pivotal time in the evolution of her company and one thing is clear, this chief executive is looking forward to the challenge.
One of Mumzworld’s driving principles is to empower women. Tell us more about that?
Everything we do is about empowering women and that starts with the customer – the mother, who is empowered to make informed decisions for her children. First of all through content, through information. She can search, compare and educate herself on Mumzworld. And then transactional, once you’re aware and you have the right information you translate that into buying the right product for your children. Then there is the community. Belonging to this community of mothers who can share, who can engage, who can tell authentic stories, not just the ‘nice to hear’ stories.
In terms of the business, our head of technology is a woman, our head of inbound logistics is a woman. I recognise that 50 per cent of the population are women, women are as skilled and as smart [as men]. So being very aware that women can also do these jobs, we were able to find the best of the best for Mumzworld. Then from an investment [point of view], we recognised that we were building a brand that was for the region, from the region and driven initially for the gatekeeper of the household, which is the woman.
So we opened up an investment round in the second year of our tenure, just for women. We said, ‘listen, you are the eyes and the ears of this community. Why don’t you come in and be a part of this success story?’ It is about completing this 360-degree brand that has become an indispensable extension of a mother’s life in the Arab world.
Do you feel as a female CEO, your vision and your decision making processes are different from that of a man?
I have certain styles that are unique to me and certain behaviours that are unique to me, even compared to my female counterparts. I am different from the next female just as I am different from the next male. Now certainly our ecosystem in e-commerce, in retail, is male-dominated. The supply chain is male-dominated, technology is male-dominated. So moving in that space as an outsider, if you like, has its challenges. But at the same time, there are advantages to being an outsider because perhaps people underestimate you. When you’re sitting in front of a man as not only a female, but as a mother of three, there are questions in the back of their mind, that I have actually also been asked. You know, ‘who takes care of your kids? Do you have time to pick them up?’ The questions that you would never ask a man. And there are challenges even with the social elements. I’m not going to go out golfing with the guys. I am working and then I am home with my family. It’s a different DNA.
What has surprised you the most during this last decade of building Mumzworld?
I can think of two things. Talent in this part of the world is scarce. Actually, talent all over the world is scarce and because we’re changing so fast, finding specific skills becomes more and more difficult. What you really need to tap into is this mindset of learning, of curiosity, of proactive ownership and accountability. That’s the kind of mindset that, in today’s world, is succeeding. We’re building Mumzworld in an ecosystem that was very niche. Tapping into skills was very, very, very difficult, and tapping into that mindset was equally difficult. And that surprised me in a way, not disillusioned me, but it frustrated us.
The other thing that surprised me in this part of the world is the lack of desire – up until I’d say two years ago – to challenge the status quo. Early on when we went into meetings saying e-commerce is the biggest trend of the decade, for the first five years we had the door slammed in our face. And then in spite of that, we were in hyper-growth. So people said, ‘Oh, it’s a fad it’s not going anywhere’. So again, people are complacent with the status quo and that surprises me. But I think that’s changing right now.
Can you talk to us about a time where you made a misstep with Mumzworld, how you learned from it and grew from it as a leader?
I’ve made a lot of mistakes with Mumzworld, a lot of mistakes. I think the most painful mistake was, well, it’s just very, very important to choose your investor partners properly and your business partners. They always tell you, your investment partners are there for the ride and you know, in the early days when you need the capital, you say, ‘oh, I just need the money’. But you have to remember that the money comes with weight on it. So choose your investors, your shareholders, very, very carefully and recognise that unsmart capital can kill a business.
How do you continue to stay nimble and challenge yourself as a chief executive after 10 years?
There’s not a single minute of a single day that I’m complacent. I am trying to challenge the status quo every second and never expect that tomorrow is going to be the same as today. That’s in our DNA and it’s in our values. Mumzworld is very agile and we are constantly challenging the status quo. We believe in hyper-speed, we believe in flexibility. So when people come into the organisation and complain and say ‘oh, things keep changing,’ well, they don’t belong here.
The Tamer Group just acquired a majority stake in Mumzworld. What was the thinking behind partnering with them? Was it important that you team up with somebody from the region?
We have been in hyper-growth for the past 10 years. We were pioneers in this vertical space. We’ve gone out and raised multiple rounds of funding and the brand has anchored its leadership in the GCC region over the last decade. We are now ready for the next phase and this decision was a very strategic one for us. The next phase is about holding hands with a partner where it is a symbiotic relationship. One that is progressive, that wants to operate in the same DNA of agility and digitisation and wants to run to the finish line with us – and that was Tamer Group. What it means is regional expansion, product line expansion, and more services for the mother, to continue to empower her.
Do you make yourself a priority at any point? Because it sounds like everything and everyone comes before any needs you might have
This is a hard lesson I learned, just recently. The reality is, as an entrepreneur and as a mother, you give priority to everything around you – except yourself. I think as mothers, we do that naturally, we think that ‘Oh, it’s okay if we don’t give ourselves anything’. The reality is, if you don’t give to yourself, you have nothing else to give. So this is a lesson I learned. The healthier and stronger I am, the healthier and stronger everything around me is.
Advice To Lean On…
How do you deal with imposter syndrome?
I’ve never had imposter syndrome. I have always believed that I could be number one, because I always knew that, if you work hard, you get your results. Sometimes you have to work harder or longer, but it doesn’t matter. This is how we tried to raise our children. Our children can do whatever they want to, and they should never, ever feel that they are better than anyone or that anyone’s better than them — ever. We are only as good as our efforts. All of us.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received and who gave it to you?
My father said to me ‘you will get a lot of highs in your life and you will get a lot of lows in your life; treat them the same’. The reality is we’re going through a journey. We’re going to go up and down and you can get through the downs, just like your ups are not going to last. I think that was the best piece of advice.
What is the biggest mistake that female entrepreneurs make when they are starting out?
With entrepreneurship, what always helps is having mentors or partners or people that you can rely on and trust to give you advice, to give you feedback. So women need to reach out and ask for help. And they need to look at other women as well as men for that.
What must a leader always do?
I think being true to your values and your authenticity is very important. It drives my decisions, it drives everything that I do. I have walked away from situations that could have benefited the business because they weren’t in line with my values. So never compromise your authenticity, your values and who you are. That’s really key, and by the way, it isn’t easy to do.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Adel Rashid. STYLING: Nour Bou Ezz. MAKE-UP: Jazmin Rodriguez. With Thanks To Soul Interior Studio – Dubai Design District