Meet Magali Depras: Towards Flawless Organization

Magali Depras is Chief Strategy Officer at TC Transcontinental. She is married with two children, a 17-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son.

What does a typical workday in your life look like?

I work mainly from our offices in Place Ville Marie, when I'm not on the road, and I like to start my days early when everything is quiet at the office. When I can and don’t have meetings, I try to use my lunch hour to maintain my network and meet with people I wouldn’t have time to see otherwise. It's interesting on a professional level. I like to be home for dinner because it's the family gathering place, but my schedule often leads me to participate in evening events.

What is the biggest professional and personal challenge you had to overcome when you became a mother? How did you solve it?

My son was born in 1996 and about two years later, I was asked to take over the leadership of the subsidiary of a group I worked for in France in the packaging sector. I had a little boy who was not even in school yet and I was traveling four out of five days per week. So it was a real challenge. Fortunately, my husband is a professor. In a way, he was my secret weapon. He was determined to fulfill his role as a father and didn’t have the same type of hours as I did. He was therefore much more reliable on that front.

At times, I would downplay certain situations by telling myself that things could get done without me. I would tell myself: "It's important to develop your career, that's why you did long studies and accepted the responsibilities you were given. In the end, I would say to any mother who moves into positions that come with responsibility: "There will be days or weeks when you will hardly see your children, but if over a month, a quarter or even a year, you create moments to counteract that, and if at the end your books are balanced, you should feel fulfilled."

So, I think you have to work at not blaming yourself. After that, it's all about being organized and – in my case – being able to rely on a partner who agrees to take on that role and whose availability is more flexible. Still, working and travelling mothers often receive requests related to children, which they end up managing remotely. I am speaking from experience.

Furthermore, the personal challenge I also had to overcome was the perception  of others, because people will challenge you somewhat as a working mother. It was in Germany that I heard the most surprising comments. It’s a place where there is a very conservative tradition that the mother mainly takes care of the children. Many German women stop working on their first or second child or have part-time jobs, and it is not well regarded socially to be a full-time working mother. What is interesting is that Germany is divided in two from a cultural standpoint. In the former East Germany, women used to study and work because the system in place provided them with free childcare facilities. Everything was organized so that they could work, while in the West, there was no organization of this sort and women were not working. That's where I was confronted with situations where I felt the somewhat critical view projected by some people, but I still loved my years in Germany!

Many women who have to travel for work choose to leave their jobs once they have children. Did you encounter any difficult situations while traveling?

First of all, my main strategy was flawless organization! Then it was to bring my partner and entourage into the equation. We were really working as a team. On my end, the number of trips increased when I had two children. The only example of situations that were a little more difficult to manage was when they were sick. I had to cancel and postpone my appointments and try to organize myself with neighbors and friends to find a solution. It still takes a whole infrastructure beyond the partner for whom last-minute absences are sometimes impossible as well.

Despite the fact that your job required much more time spent away than your husband's, it is interesting to note that there were still tasks that you took on by default.

Indeed, I was the one managing certain tasks when I came home on weekends. In the 1990s, we did not have smart phones as we have today. You used to call in the evenings when you were travelling and had arrived at your hotel, whereas nowadays we can be reached everywhere and at any time. When there was an emergency with the children, for example when they got sick and no childcare was available, I didn't go anywhere and worked from home.

 Have you ever felt like your children disapproved of your work or your absence?

Never of my traveling because they must not have felt the lack with their dad being there. I talked to them every day on the phone and left them little notes at home. On the other hand, what my children still tell me today is that I am always with my phone or computer nearby... Nobody’s perfect!

Have you ever noticed unconscious biases in society with respect to the traditional role of women?

Yes, on a regular basis. For example, a delivery or repair person calls you during the day while you’re at work and assumes that "Madam is at home in the daytime during the week". I've experienced a lot of situations where I didn't fit into the "full-time stay-at-home mom " box. We have to live with that too.

 If you had a magic wand, what would be the main thing you would have liked to change in your work environment to achieve a better balance?

It would have been to use "teleportation" to instantly be in another place, where we are needed. I would have loved that! Star Trek fans will appreciate it!

 What advice would you give to all mothers who are looking for a balance that their work environment does not enable them to achieve?

Again, for me, being organized is one of the key issues. Someone who is disorganized will have a very difficult time achieving a balance. That may be extreme in my case. I make lists and I can tell you exactly what I will do with my day, except in the case of an unexpected event.

It’s also essential to remember to practice self-care. Work is important, but if there is no balance in other areas of our lives, we will not do a good job; the same scenario applies if there is no mental well-being. You have to take care of yourself and try to sleep even if there are nights when parents sleep less well, when the children are small, sick, etc., and catch up on weekends. You have to eat properly, go out, see your friends or exercise, etc. No matter what we choose, we won't be able to solve this kind of issue if we're not doing well. Finally, you have to surround yourself with the right partner at home, family nearby, friends or neighbors who will help out.

 How do you maintain your sense of well-being? 

That's extremely important, because there are times when work is intense. And with a family and small children, we tend to forget ourselves quickly. For example, I had moments when I was not doing any exercise. After that, it's like a vicious circle: you don't exercise, you're irritable, you get tired faster, so you make mistakes, you get sick more easily, etc. Now I exercise every week. Over the years, we learn to take care of ourselves. No one will do it for us. That's how we're going to be able to handle everything at once.

 What advice would you give to a new parent returning to work?

I'm trying to think back to when I was a new parent, but I don’t think I'm a typical example, because I immediately started doing things that would seem extreme for some people. I would say, once again, to be careful not to let yourself be overwhelmed by work too quickly and to try to have a plan and be organized from the start in order to maintain a certain balance... even if you shouldn't be unrealistic. You will not achieve work-life balance every day, or even every week. We simply have to try over a quarter, over a year, to have balanced things as well as possible. In summary, my advice would be to have rock-solid organization, practice self-discipline and make time for yourself. If you are also passionate about your work, everything will be easier!