From Parenting Group to Entrepreneurship, Changing the Way Women Work from Tama City
Life Suddenly Changed by Motherhood
Career Mam Co., Ltd. is a unique company that utilizes 100,000 women working from home to take on work outsourced by companies and government agencies, while helping women to start their own businesses and assisting companies to introduce teleworking. "Diverse work styles" has become a trendy phrase in recent years, but when Tsutsumi began her career in the late 1980s, things were completely different.
While studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Tsutsumi belonged to its announcement club and worked as an announcer and emcee. After graduation, she began working as a freelance announcer, but often encountered unfair situations and wondered if her dream was over. Then she found out she was pregnant and started to raise her child in Tama. She loved children, so motherhood was a great joy.
However, once she became a mother, she found that she could no longer do many of the things she had been able to do before. "My work was restricted, and they even asked me not to bring my child to the sign language class I was taking. At train stations, I didn't even know how to go down the stairs with my child in a stroller and large luggage."
Learning the Importance of Diversity through Child-Rearing
The only place she could go without stress was a baby swimming class. There she met a group of like-minded women who "wanted to do something exciting even though they had children." These women were the first generation of so-called "managerial-track women," and there was an unwritten rule that if they became pregnant, they had to quit. However, there were a number of women who wanted to remain active in society even after leaving the business world to raise their children in suburbia.
So Tsutsumi and other women founded a parenting support group called PAO. They collected ideas from members and organized various events one after another, such as eurhythmics classes and flea markets where members could open stalls with their children. "The activities expanded rapidly because, instead of asking ourselves 'Can we really do this?', we always asked 'How can we do this?'. We began to organize events supported by commercial facilities in Tama City, which were picked up by the media, and we made connections with many people."
Raising children also opened Tsutsumi's eyes to the problems that children with disabilities and their families face. "One night, I met a mother who was letting her child play in a park in the dark. She told me that she had no choice but to come at night because if they came to the park during the day, her child would be treated differently by other children and could not enjoy playing. I became painfully aware of my ignorance that night."
On another occasion, a mother who was ill and would soon lose her mobility came to one of the events. Through these experiences, Tsutsumi came to realize the importance of diversity. "There were many things I couldn't do because of child-rearing, but sometimes child-rearing expands your world," says Tsutsumi.
Tama as a Place for Business
However, one needs funds to materialize one's ideas. They began to struggle to raise funds, and as they started to rely on assistance from local governments and corporate sponsorships, their operations became more complex. Tsutsumi needed to create another parenting support group with new people. One day, the new group had a chance to work on a major project for a public organization. Since voluntary associations like her parenting groups could not be commissioned, Tsutsumi instead established a limited liability company as her first entrepreneurial venture.
Using this experience, she established Career Mam as a corporation in 2000 and set up its office in a building near Tama Center Station, within walking distance of her home. This coincided with the rapid rise of the Internet and societal changes that came with it. Tsutsumi was convinced that her business could thrive even though it was based in Tama.
"Tama's business rents are low and you can get a large space. Career Mam's co-working space is a model facility of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and an incubation facility certified by both the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tama City. People like the quality of its environment, with greenery outside the large windows. It also offers daycare."
"When you think about choosing a base for starting a business now, the 23 wards of central Tokyo probably have more potential customers."
Tsutsumi speaks from her own experience of starting a business in Tama. "But a company also needs people to run it. I think Tama has a rich talent pool. If someone offers good working conditions, many interesting people will come." That is why Tsutsumi has always said, "If you aim to be the number one company, you might want to choose the 23 wards. But if you want to create a one-of-a-kind company, the Tama area has a lot of potential."
Entrepreneurship is Possible while Taking Care of Family
"I love involving the people and the community around me to create a new culture and change society, and I have achieved this through entrepreneurship." Asked what entrepreneurship means to her, Tsutsumi gives an interesting answer. "It is when someone says, 'Group up!' So it is especially important for me to build a team through employment."
The goal for Career Mam was to bring together people who are taking care of their kids and families, or have illnesses or disabilities, ask "What do we need in order to start working?" and make it happen as a team.
Tsutsumi says that women should be encouraged to take on more challenges. "You can still start a business even if you are raising children or caring for a family member," she says. "In fact, it is not at all difficult to start a business, and you can even register your company online. Many people think that starting a business is impossible without know-how, but the know-how is acquired while running the business, and as you complete successive projects, you will gain credibility."
What Entrepreneurs Really Need
In recent years, local governments and companies have increasingly supported entrepreneurship. However, Tsutsumi says "I am concerned that many support programs focus only on starting a business. It is essential to provide continuing support so that new businesses can grow and reach profitability."
As a corporate support lecturer, Tsutsumi has seen many entrepreneurs, and 90 percents of them experience some kind of failure early on. "But if you do not fail, you do not learn what it takes to run a business. In fact, experiencing an early success can sometimes stop the business from growing further. It is necessary to always be interested in the changing times, and sometimes it is necessary to destroy what you have built. I would love to see entrepreneurs grow their businesses to a large scale."
What people look for in a job may differ from person to person. But for Tsutsumi, the joy of working is to make a difference in society through the business she and her team have created. And she hopes that more people will experience it.
Tsutsumi Kanae
