School pick-ups, work deadlines, family dinners, and career milestones: working motherhood brings plenty of competing priorities, and no two families navigate them in quite the same way. For six mothers at Agoda, finding what works means setting boundaries, asking for help, and letting go of the pressure to get everything right.
Here, they share the lessons they’ve learned while growing their careers and raising their children—and how flexibility, thoughtful workplace support, and understanding colleagues help them make room for both.
Be intentional and set boundaries
Anna Suchopar
General Counsel
As part of Agoda’s community of working parents, I’m surrounded by brilliant colleagues who understand what it means to balance work and family. It always helps to know I’m in good company as I enjoy the ups and downs!
The juggle is real, and I rarely feel like I get the balance exactly right. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but I try to be intentional about the things that matter most to our family and set boundaries around them.
For me, that means planning ahead for school appointments and performances, blocking time in my diary so I can get home for dinner and bedtime, and making sure I prioritise the things I know are important to my daughter — and my husband! We also try to make the most of weekends and school holidays to spend proper family time together.
Inevitably, things don’t always work out as planned. I’m getting better at accepting that, rather than beating myself up about it. For me, it’s less about achieving perfect balance and more about being present and intentional about where I choose to spend my time.
When I joined Agoda’s leadership team, our family moved from the UK to begin a new chapter in Bangkok. It was incredibly exciting, but also an undeniably big transition. Agoda took care of the visa and relocation process for all of us, making the move much smoother.
You don’t need to pretend to have everything figured out
Jennifer Jones
Associate Director, Brand Creative
The balance between work and life seems to get harder as your kids get older, but I don’t believe in pretending to have everything figured out. Don’t be afraid to let your kids see you struggle with something and work through it. That’s often how the best things are achieved, and it shows them you’re human, not just their annoying parent.
I hope to model for my son that a difficult day doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Sometimes you need to adjust your plans, keep going, and find a way through. There’s a lot of value in that process.
Agoda’s flexible, hybrid working style has been very helpful for our family. The mix of work-from-home and in-office days gives me more room to handle the life admin that comes with being a parent.
As an American who moved to Bangkok, our 30-day remote work program has been an amazing benefit. It means I can take my son to visit our family in the US during the summer and stay longer than we otherwise could. We get more time to make memories together while I continue working and stay in sync with my team.
Trust that doing your best is enough
Akaporn (Looknum) Rodkong
Country Director
Give yourself grace, ask for help when you need it, and trust that doing your best is enough. Learn to accept that your best will look different from one day to the next. It may not always be perfect, and that’s okay.
We carry many different roles in life, and we cannot give everything 100% all the time. What matters is being present and doing what you can in each moment. Take care of your support system, and don’t be afraid to rely on it. You don’t have to do everything alone.
Agoda’s culture has helped me feel understood as a working parent. Being a parent means that some days I need to stay home with a sick child, and on other days I may need to step away to attend a school event. Having a workplace that respects these responsibilities makes balancing work and family feel much more manageable.
I also value the community of working parents here. We share advice, learn from one another, and remind each other that we are not alone in trying to do our best in both areas of our lives.
Build your village
Ragini Modi
Experience Programs Specialist
As a working mother of young kids, my advice is to let go of perfection. Constantly striving for it will only lead to burnout. Give yourself permission to lower the bar on the things that matter less. An occasionally messy house or a store-bought meal isn’t a failure; it’s a trade-off you’ve chosen on purpose.
Try your best to compartmentalize with intention. When I’m working, I focus on my team and projects. At home, I put the phone down and am fully present for my kids. Quality and mental presence matter far more than clock-watching.
Lastly, build your village. You can’t raise a family and manage a high-growth career in isolation. Lean on your partner, family, trusted childcare providers, and your colleagues, and support them in return.
Agoda has supported me as a working parent in ways that go well beyond a policy handbook. Thanks to our flexible work model, I never have to choose between a critical work milestone and an important moment in my children’s lives.
Along with that, our mental health resources, family-friendly policies, and flexible Agoda Choice benefits provide a real safety net when the demands of a fast-paced career and parenting collide. Agoda hosts lots of family-friendly events for employees, giving us a chance to bring that part of our lives into the workplace itself.
But the real superpower is the people: managers and colleagues who genuinely understand that family comes first, and who create a psychologically safe environment where working parents never have to hide their responsibilities.
Drop the ‘equal energy’ myth
Sylvie Cho
Associate Director
Drop the ‘equal energy’ myth! We often expect ourselves to give 100 percent to work and 100 percent to parenting. In reality, some days require more of my energy at the office. On others, my family naturally takes priority. I aim for balance across a month and decide which non-essential tasks can wait during high-stress weeks—it’s strategic energy preservation. Most importantly, I try to be kind to myself.
At Agoda, my team’s culture is built on trust and flexibility. Being assessed on my impact and outcomes—not simply the hours I spend online—has been monumental for me. I have an incredibly supportive manager and colleagues, and we all openly communicate with each other when priorities shift and change. That support has made it possible to keep growing and contributing effectively at work, while being present for my children.
Be present where you are
Nadine Saiful
Team Lead, Workplace Operations
Balancing work and family can be challenging, especially with young children. My mantra is to just be present where I am: giving my best to my work, then truly enjoying time with my family when the day ends.
Not every day goes as planned, and I embrace that. For our family, it’s also about sharing responsibilities and helping each other out when different priorities require our attention.
I’m grateful for Agoda’s childcare leave and the understanding from my colleagues when family needs come up. The genuine trust and open communication I have with my team makes it much easier to manage unforeseen family commitments while staying accountable for my work.
When it comes to creating a supportive workplace, small things can make a big difference, especially for new parents. In Agoda’s global offices, we have comfortable nursing rooms where mothers can pump and store their breast milk. There’s no need to worry about booking a meeting room or finding another private place to nurse, and that makes the day a little easier.
The hybrid work arrangement has also been very helpful. On work from home days, I have more flexibility around school drop-offs and pick-ups, which means less rushing and more time with my children.
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