In a metropolis like Mumbai, traveling to and from work is no less a travail, resulting in a compromised work-life balance. The physical & mental burnout faced due to travel adversely affects and limits professional’s productivity and creativity. While companies are contriving new perks to equalize work-life balance, but in reality working women, specially working moms, bear the double burden of justifying conventional social roles as mothers and equally thrive-in workplace. Amidst this struggle, many talented women take long career breaks or even quit forever, unlike Safaque Kagdi Afzal(Founder& Director, Pressmate PR) who choose to chase her entrepreneurial dreams without compromising with motherhood and fabricated a unique business model of ‘remote working’ to continue pitching ideas for nonpareil public relations and communication solutions.

Incepting Pressmate PR in 2016, Safaque models quintessence of managing work-life balance and successfully amalgamates industry insights with her PR expertise to offer remote working opportunities, cost-effective, and time-efficient corollary. Pinning focusing towards Pressmate’s eccentric modus operandi, Safaque claims, “Pressmate PR is bootstrapped! The very idea of having a work-from-home business model was to cut-down initial capital required and maintain a work-life balance”. The company’s cost-competitive services and extraordinary results delivered with no delays not only burgeons Pressmate’s scale, but also derives client and employee satisfaction. Unlike corporate conferences and daily meetings, Safaque's creativity-driven army meets only twice a month, once for discussing status & planning, and once for lunch & learn session, which eventually turns into a brainstorming, fun meet-up.

Creative Poise,BusinessInstincts
Safaque ventured a sea change experience, while on the voyage of becoming an entrepreneur. An MBA graduate from ICFAI institute,

she stepped into the professional world with AdFactors PR where she learnt the nitty-gritties of public relations, communication and cultivated expertise in content writing, branding, corporate& stakeholder communications and media relations. “Servicing global clients in the BFSI segment in Indian-subcontinent and GCC countries gave me the required exposure to learn how PR works across sectors and countries,” she proclaims. Safaque played a major role in winning PR Case Studies for her agency at prestigious international awards like SABRE Awards, PR Week Awards, Abbys at Goa Fest and E4M Awards.

While expanding her learning curve, Safaque decided to upscale her career choices while balancing mommy responsibilities and kick-started Pressmate to provide remote PR services

Plunging-in the world of entrepreneurship and quitting a well-paid job was indeed a tough transition. However, it took her just four years to walk upon as a skilled leader with excellent knack of time-management and communication competence. While expanding her learning curve, Safaque decided to upscale her career choices while balancing mommy responsibilities and kick-started Pressmate to provide remote PR services. Though tough times ambushed, while pitching and took time to build client trust, but the team ensured that no deal is left undone. Today, the company caters to reputed clients from across varied industries including lifestyle, cryptocurrency, technology, entertainment and periodically performs industry agnostic research for them. These clients have retained Pressmate PR as their partner for next year as well.

Not only does Safaque break the stereotypical mindset of motherhood being a roadblock, but also emerges as a stellar 'mompreneur'. “With time, I figured-out that when you are thrown into a sea without knowing how to swim, you will certainly figure-out how to float and finally reach the shore as a great swimmer,” exclaims the mom-boss, who has expansion plans streamlined for opening office in New York (early 2019).

Balancing Work-Life Like a Pro
Enjoying flexibility and freedom since childhood, Safaque credits

her inspiring parents and supporting in-laws for facilitating her progress. Though she inherited entrepreneurial dexterity from her father, it was her husband who seeded the idea, conferred exceptional support at every footstep and became the wind beneath of her wings. Further, Safaque believes that a person is the product of all their experiences and so is she–a tenacious, ultra-careful mompreneur running the show independently and evolving as the decisive element for Press mate and associated employees.

Inspired by Annabel Crabb philosophy – ‘the obligation for working mothers is a very precise one: the feeling that one ought to work as if one did not have children, while raising one’s children as if one did not have a job’, Safaque schedules each day via to-do lists, finishes work before 6 PM to avoid hampering family time and accepts that paternal-professional duties is no less a superwoman job. She adds, “I wish I had a pair of cyborg arms to help me with chores and an alternate brain to deal with the ‘thinking’. I do feel stretched and under tremendous pressure at times, but I manage my energies wisely”.

While cooking is a big stress buster, running behind her daughter is all it takes to keep her in shape. A Kindle reader and Paris-lover, Safaque loves entrepreneurial freedom that paves way for self-timed work, brainstorming creative ideas, writing witty press, web content and secretly enjoys her financial independence. Advising budding entrepreneurs to challenge themselves, Safaque concludes, “The competition is gruesome out there, so you have to be at the top of your game. If you have a vision, then believe-in yourself and take the risk as no success tastes sweet if served on a plate”.

Key Management:
Safaque Kagdi Afzal, Founder & Director
A strong-willed PR professional, Safaque seamlessly integrates market dynamics with effective strategies to escalate Pressmate PR’s growth graph. Her positive attitude motivates teamwork while creative master plans solidifies clientele trust.

Office: Mumbai
Offerings:Corporate Reputation Management, Media Relationship Management, Digital & Social Media, Stakeholder Management, Advertising& Branding, Content Curation