Bangladeshi-American Mother Rebuilds Her Career After Sacrificing It for Two Children

For many women, family responsibilities can require them to step away from their professional careers. Raising children, caring for family members and dealing with special circumstances can sometimes make continuing a traditional career difficult. For Bangladeshi-American Kamrun Nahar Kanta, however, stepping away from work did not mean giving up on her professional aspirations.

Born in Dhaka in 1977, Kanta currently lives in Framingham, Massachusetts. She began her professional career in Bangladesh as an accounts officer before moving abroad after her marriage.

In 2005, Kanta moved to Kuwait with her husband. The couple later became parents to two sons with special needs. Because her children required additional care and regular support, she made the decision to leave her job and focus on raising them.

For nearly eight years, much of her life was centered around her children and family responsibilities. The period brought significant challenges, but it also motivated her to learn more about the needs of children with disabilities and learning difficulties.

Rather than remaining disconnected from professional development, Kanta began taking courses and attending training programs. She completed 16 courses at the American University of Kuwait and participated in approximately 10 to 12 training workshops through organizations including the Kuwait Association of Learning Disability and the Learning Disability Parent Association.

The knowledge and training she gained during that period eventually helped her return to professional work.

Toward the end of 2013, Kanta began volunteering. In June 2014, she started working professionally as an assistant teacher supporting children with special needs.

Her experience as a mother became an important part of her professional development. The challenges she faced while raising her own children helped her develop a deeper understanding of the needs of children requiring additional educational and behavioral support.

A new chapter began in 2015 when Kanta moved to the United States with her husband and two sons.

On July 1, 2015, the family arrived in America. Like many immigrants starting over in a new country, Kanta had to rebuild her professional life while adapting to a new environment.

During her first year in the United States, she worked at a restaurant in a front-of-house and payment-related position. At the same time, she continued working to improve her professional skills.

She completed six additional online courses related to early childhood development and early intervention. Her continued education eventually contributed to another professional opportunity.

Kanta later joined the Newton public school system, where she worked in a behavioral support role. She remained in that position from 2016 until September 2022.

Once again, family responsibilities eventually forced her to make a difficult career decision.

In 2022, Kanta left her job because she was unable to find reliable support for caring for her two sons. It was the second major time in her life that she had stepped away from formal employment because of family responsibilities.

Instead of considering the decision the end of her career, she began exploring ways to work while maintaining the flexibility required by her family situation.

In July 2022, she began a new journey as an online entrepreneur.

Since then, Kanta has remained involved in online business, consulting and training. According to information provided by her, she currently works as a consultant and certified trainer and leads her own online business community.

Her own experiences have strongly influenced the people she seeks to support.

Kanta says many qualified and capable people find themselves outside the traditional workforce because of family responsibilities. Parents caring for children with special needs, parents of young children, caregivers for elderly family members and people who cannot work outside the home may all face similar challenges.

Her work focuses on introducing people to online work and entrepreneurship as potential alternatives that can offer greater flexibility.

She also works with people who are interested in developing additional income alongside their existing employment, creating alternative income opportunities for the future, preparing for a transition away from full-time employment or gaining more control over their working schedules.

According to Kanta, her work includes areas such as online business systems, training, personal guidance, website setup, business email, communication with potential customers and other aspects of operating an online business.

She particularly emphasizes helping people who are unfamiliar with technology understand the process gradually and receive support according to their individual needs.

Kanta's professional journey has taken her through several very different stages of life. She began as an accounts officer in Bangladesh, became a full-time caregiver in Kuwait, developed specialized knowledge while raising her children, returned to professional work as an assistant teacher, moved to the United States, worked in the restaurant industry and later joined the Newton public school system.

When family responsibilities again required her to leave her job, she used her previous experience and skills to pursue entrepreneurship online.

Her story reflects the reality that career paths do not always follow a straight line. For some people, professional life may include periods of employment, caregiving, education, retraining and starting over.

For immigrant families, maintaining a balance between employment and family responsibilities can be particularly challenging. Those challenges can become even more complex when children require additional care and support.

Kanta's experience shows how a period away from traditional employment can also become a period of learning and skill development.

Her journey from Dhaka to Kuwait and eventually to the United States has been shaped by family responsibilities, education, professional transitions and entrepreneurship.

Today, she is using her experience to help others explore new ways of working and developing professional skills.

Her story is particularly relevant to people who have had to pause their careers because of family responsibilities but continue to look for ways to remain professionally active.

For Kanta, leaving a job did not mean abandoning her ambitions. Instead, each major transition became an opportunity to learn, adapt and explore a different direction.

She can be contacted through her website, www.kamrunnahar2.com, and the business email Kamrun@kamrunnahar2.com, according to the contact information she provided.