Balancing passions

Meet Razan Abdo

Finding a balance between a full time job and being a new mom, Razan feels empowered to pursue a career she is passionate about, while having the flexibility to take care of her child’s needs. This is how she’s managing her professional and personal commitments. 

Tell us more about your role

Working as a Creative Design Associate, I am responsible for developing design concepts, graphics and animations for our people’s proposals, publications, as well as campaigns across the Middle East. As a designer, I put emphasis on ensuring that my designs are consistently reflective of the PwC Middle East brand and in line with our clients’ requirements - It involves thinking out of the box to deliver exceptional outcomes for our people and our clients. Through this role, I am continuously learning - I’ve gained hands-on experience in applying digital tools to my design, ranging from 3D modeling, developing filters, to integrating Augmented Reality (AR) experiences. 

How has the firm supported you with maintaining your responsibilities?

When I first became a mother, I was worried about how I would be able to manage a full-time job and taking care of my son simultaneously -  but I quickly came to realise that family values sit at the very heart of the firm’s purpose, and with practices in place that support flexibility and hybrid work, balancing motherhood and work responsibilities became a pathway I can easily take. After the extended maternity leave, I was able to attend to my son’s care without having to take annual leave, instead I flexed my hours to work around my commitments - It also meant I was able to pick my son up from nursery early on occasions to spend that little extra time with him.

How are you building your unique value proposition?

Realising that the world is tech-driven and that our future is digital, I have decided to shift my focus on digitising our design service offerings. Accordingly, I took the initiative to leverage my experience in creating 3D Instagram filters, and apply them to the firm’s communications campaigns.

With the firm’s digital upskilling agenda, and personalised learning and development opportunities, I was able to introduce new and tech-powered ideas to my designs. I plan on creating my own unique brand within the design team, which will allow me to stand out, and this will inevitably advance my career and take me a step closer towards being a skilled designer in a competitive and digital world.