60 Fairlady/September 2019
WOMAN OF
THE FUTURE
P
hillipa Geard
understands the
challenges that face
mothers who want to
return to work after
putting their careers on hold.
Having left her successful
corporate job to focus on her
family, Phillipa decided to return
to work after her second child – but
she wasn’t looking for a full time,
in-office role. Although she found
work as a part-time consultant, she
discovered that not every woman
was as fortunate.
‘I started engaging with other
moms who wanted to find skilled
work, but something more flexible.
Recruitment agencies weren’t even
interested in accepting their CVs
if they weren’t looking at full-
time employment.’ Phillipa felt
that she could fill this gap in the
recruitment industry by linking
mothers with employers that were
offering flexible or part-time work.
‘And that’s exactly what I did.
RecruitMyMom was born in 2012.’
RecruitMyMom is a South
African-born online recruitment
agency that meets the needs of
skilled women looking to integrate
their careers with their family lives.
‘We require employers to offer
jobs that have a level of flexibility
or offer part-time work.’ The
online platform targets small and
medium-sized enterprises, andplaces permanent and contract
employees in both office and virtual
home-based roles. Seven years later,
Phillipa can see the change in the
way employers think about flexible
and part-time employees.
‘It’s been great to see
RecruitMyMom become a success
in the sense that there are enough
employers out there that are
willing to offer skilled women this
way of working.’ In 2018, Phillipa
was named Job Creator of the Year
at the Entrepreneur of the Year
Awards for creating a platform that
has enabled more women to be able
to find work in South Africa.
‘This spurred me to launch
RecruitAGraduate in 2019 to help
the youth unemployment crisis in
South Africa.’
For Phillipa,
winning the
Woman of
the Future
Award is the
acknowledgement
that she and her
team are making
a difference in the
lives of thousands
of women (and
now also the youth)bycreating
employment opportunities. It’s
also a chance to take stock. ‘As an
entrepreneur, you seldom stop and
take note of how far you’ve come or
what you have achieved.’PHILLIPA GEARD
RECRUITMYMOM
recruitmymom.co.za❛We require
employers
to offer jobs
that have
a level of
flexibility or
offer part-
time work.
❜