Mahdia spent her childhood in the beautiful city of Sylhet with her two sisters. She completed her O’level and A’level examinations from Anandaniketon School. Upon being asked how she remembered her school life, she replied, “I was never a genius and I had average results in my O’levels. Sometimes failure comes as a blessing, teaching you a thing or two. It taught me how to work hard and I ended up scoring excellently in my A levels.”
Even though she came from a very conservative family, her parents put in a lot of effort to keep her engaged in extracurricular activities like dance, art, singing, recitation and Arabic classes. Growing up, she participated and won a few awards in local and national cultural competitions. After A’levels, she moved to Dhaka for higher education and enrolled in North South University (NSU), majoring in Marketing. Tutoring students during her time in NSU earned her the privilege of being financially independent.
She did all of that, with one end-game in mind – getting into Unilever after graduating.
And she did.
A couple of years into their marriage, Mahdia and her husband decided to move to Canada and start a life on their own. It was a difficult decision for them – it meant leaving behind their friends and their secured jobs with some wonderful colleagues and seniors. The hardest part was leaving their family behind. After reaching Canada, she applied for jobs right-left and center. She was determined to join an organization where she would be able to learn and grow – an organization that would make a difference in the world.
“Honestly speaking, I did not choose Lego, but Lego chose me,” said Mahdia.
“My husband was more excited about my new job than I ever was. In hindsight, I think I made the right choice by sticking to Lego. Especially after seeing what this brand was doing for the future of the world. Lego is living the vision of inspiring the builders of tomorrow by establishing learning through play.” says Mahdia. The chance to work with children satisfies her and she is very proud of the work she’s doing for her company.
The social stigma that a woman cannot do what a man can drove her to become the person she is today. “We, as women, face a lot of difficulties and taboos in every facet of our lives around the world. I have been lucky to have had a lot of people to support me throughout my journey, but at the end of the day, the fight is within you. I have always tried to be outspoken and speak what I feel and do what I think is right, regardless of what others think,” stated Mahdia.
Mahdia has found great differences between the work culture in Bangladesh and Canada. Even though the work she does in Canada is pretty similar to what she did in Bangladesh, the experience is quite different – her colleagues are more laid back but direct in their opinion, the supervisors focus more on how you do things rather than what you do and no one bosses anybody around. The work culture in Canada promotes self-development and healthy competition. The level of discrimination and judgment that one faces in Canada are negligible compared to what they have to go through in Bangladesh. Upon arriving in Canada, she was quite surprised to observe how people’s opinions were heard and respected regardless of their age, sex, gender, and race.
Mahdia with her team
Moreover, she told us that she does not pay attention to any myths about women in the corporate world. In her opinion, women are more sincere, better at multitasking, and are faster at getting results compared to men. However, she also believes that as long as you are good at what you do, it does not matter which gender you belong to.
“This difference between the cultures is completely understandable. Our stories were different- so was our childhood upbringing – we followed different sports—told different jokes—laughed at different things—but our values and ethics are the same like it should be for all of humankind. What is wrong – is wrong everywhere!” Mahdia pointed out.
She sees a very bright future for Bangladesh and is very proud of the global recognition that Bangladesh is garnering. According to her, the Bangladeshi youth have the hunger to succeed – and they will with a little confidence and the right guidance.
In regards to her future, Mahdia doesn’t have anything in particular planned. Five years down the road, she just wants to see herself living in a better world compared to the one she’s currently living in and she would like to do what she can to be responsible for a few smiles along the way.
Mahdia Chowdhury’s golden rules are:
1. Be yourself.
2. Do not be afraid to speak out.
3. Learn to deal with failure
4. Don’t take work too seriously… there is a life at the end of it all!
5. Have fun and enjoy!
