Sarah Ali, Managing Director, FCB Bitopi

MBR: Please tell us about your journey from the beginning till becoming the Managing Director of FCB Bitopi.
Sarah Ali: I finished my education in America and then I came back to work here. My father was actively involved in advertising at that time so I wanted to get into the business while he was still working full-time. So I started in 2001 as an account executive. I grew through the ranks and I became the  managing director in 2008. Since then I have been looking after the agency and that’s how my journey started.
MBR: Why does the advertising sector fascinate you? Was the sector women friendly when you started your career?
Sarah Ali: Advertising sector is a really fun sector to me because I don’t think it’s fully corporate. It fits somewhere between corporate and creative and it’s also a place or a line of work where you really can’t work alone so you have to work in groups or you have to work in a team to come up with ideas or stories that we can create for brands. There is a lot of fun aspect to it as you actually bring life into a brand, nurture it and constantly work on it to make it grow and stay relevant to people.

Advertising industry is a new change in our country, so it’s not easy to attract women into this sector. We also have very late working hours which make it difficult for women. I have seen that as women graduate and get into advertising, they do the job for a couple of years and then once they get married or start a family, they move out of advertising because they need to give more time to their family or sometimes because
of family pressure. So it’s still difficult to get women into advertising and for the same reason we don’t get enough women on the creative side of the business. In my creative team, we have two people who are women and also we have noticed that not too many women even apply in the creative side, even though I believe women have greater sensitivity and empathy and can actually bring in a lot of their natural creative strengths into the job.

MBR: Being a woman what obstacles and disadvantages did you face to reach the top position?

Sarah Ali: I had an advantage over here. I started working here at the bottom but I grew up in my position. So, if my father didn’t feel that I was capable of this position, he wouldn’t have given me this role. In that case, my growth wasn’t stopped but I think the obstacles that are there, are probably the societal conditioning that women have. It’s just that we have this conditioning that our first responsibility is at home. Thus, women prefer to take a back seat when it comes to their career. But I feel if you want, it is possible to manage time and balance both the parts of your life.

MBR: What are the problems do you think are mitigated already and women aspiring to build career in this sector do not face anymore?Sarah Ali: One thing would be the flexible working hours. Apart from that most companies offer travel allowances or office transport which ensures security for women.

Back then there was a broad misconception regarding the advertising sector that you have to be involved in “entertaining clients” in client servicing in order to be in this sector. But now things are seen in a more professional way. Now women are more aware of the fact that their security is being ensured in this sector. We are establishing code of conduct for people and also trying to make it a much more professional working place so that women feel secure in this industry.

MBR:  According to you what are the main reasons most women fail to make it to the top leadership positions?

Sarah Ali: I happen to think that women who have stayed in this advertising industry are better than the men because they seem more sincere and committed. Moreover, it seems that in this patriarchal society, women have a point to prove. So they have the urge to perform better than the man. I believe it is mostly because of the family issues or the sacrificing mentality that our women have, which prevents them from striving to the top.

MBR: Can you suggest a few ways to overcome the barriers that women face in developing their career across their working life?

Sarah Ali: One way is to have a different mind-set that this is more than just a career and it is important to take work seriously and fight for it. Also, women need to understand that flexibility of time and workplace is possible and also organizations should have certain arrangements like Crèche where women can bring their child to work. If these facilities are provided, then women will feel more comfortable to work. We need more female role models that are in leadership positions so that other people can be inspired by them.

MBR: Even though women executives are ambitious like men, why do gender diversity at the top still remains a challenge for most of the organization?

Sarah Ali: This is the challenge faced by most organizations because they don’t have enough women who stuck to the job and are naturally capable of going to the top. The pool of men is higher than the pool of women, which is why they have more men going to the top. Hence, the challenge is to have equal representation of male and female in all organizations in order to have more women going to the top.

They can create a more favorable workplace and we can ensure the security because a lot of women are subject to harassment at workplace. So without proper security at work, women don’t feel comfortable.

MBR: What is your opinion regarding the participation of women in the advertising sector of Bangladesh?

Sarah Ali: As I have mentioned earlier, there are a lot of women coming to one aspect of advertising that is client servicing but we don’t get enough women in the creative side of the business. Probably we need to create better atmosphere for our female employees and encourage more participation.

MBR: What problems do the women mainly face while working in this sector? And How to mitigate those?

Sarah Ali: In order to be in the advertising industry, you have to work with many different kinds of people, and this can be a bit uncomfortable to deal with. For example, we work with producers, actors, film makers photographers, BTL agencies, printers and the list goes on. But recently, this is changing in the sense that more women are coming in the media world that advertising agencies deal with. Despite that, we do not have equal gender representation in the industry and this can get uncomfortable at times to deal with. Sometimes, as a woman you might not be given enough importance or respect, and might get judged for your gender, with your male counterpart getting more preference. But I do believe these obstacles can be dealt with if the work atmosphere is friendly and inclusive. The problems and obstacles will always be there so you need to learn from your co-workers or take help from the seniors to overcome the problems.

MBR: How does Bitopi provide adequate job opportunities and pleasant environment for the women?

Sarah Ali: We have a code of conduct, we have behavior policies that everyone has to follow. We have transport facilities for women, we have a women HR with whom it is easier for women to discuss issues with. I personally have zero tolerance policies for any kind of unpleasant or wrong behavior.

I do believe all women employers out there are trying to create a better atmosphere for their women employees.

Often times, women feel insecured, and this usually stems from physical insecurity and unacceptable behavior and misogyny at the work-place. In order to mitigate that and to ensure that the women at Bitopi feel strong and confident, I sponsored 5 women from Bitopi to take Krav Ma Ga classes, so that they at least feel physically secured and confident. I also make sure women and men know their rights very well in the organization, so that they can raise their voice if their rights are getting misused in any way.

MBR: What other initiatives can Bitopi or any other advertising company take to increase female participation?

Sarah Ali:Well, we already go to universities and other career fairs, and try and recruit from there. But at the end of the day, we get maximum people on board through word of mouth. I think if you have a good working environment, people will discuss it on social

media, and the same goes for a hostile work environment, which also gets discussed on social media. It’s still challenging to get enough female employees and overall the ratio of our female and male employees is 20:80. When we release recruitment ads, we cannot specify that we would like female applicants, but once we do get female CVs, we do try and interview any prospective and recruit them. I suppose we just need to get more words out there that we are a woman friendly work place that can be considered for jobs.

MBR: In our society where women are constantly exposed to negativity how did you manage to boost your self-esteem?

Sarah Ali: I have two brothers and I have always been treated as one of the children, not as a girl. Women often have to stick to all the archaic societal standards but thankfully my parents never imposed any of these on me. I think the patriarchy that we live in makes men think they are intellectually and physically superior to women. So with regards to that, I have made sure that my education has been extensive as I finished my Masters degree and then started work in the agency. And as for physical strength, I have done karate, so I know I can defend myself. I also like to challenge myself with intensive physical training as I think a fit body contributes to confidence and improvement of the mind as well. I regularly do yoga and meditation as I believe it gives inner strength, determination and courage. I do not believe I am lagging behind a man in any way and I set my own bar for self-esteem by challenging stereotypes that exist about women.