Interview01

From a part-time to director, our office provides career progression opportunities for women.
COO Maho Umekawa

Please tell us how you started working for Info Cubic.

I came to Info Cubic about 9 years ago. At the time, I lived in Denver, Colorado, where Info Cubic America is located. I saw an ad online for "part-time web production", so I applied. I was applying for a permanent residency status, but any work, including part-time, was prohibited during the application for about half a year, so I remember being really happy when I finally got my permanent residency and realized, "I can finally work!"

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What kind of company is Info Cubic to you?

For me, work is "life itself". It's hard to describe with words, but it's something I can really get into. My husband calls me a work-a-holic often times. I think I'm getting a sort of "climber's high". And I am very grateful to Info Cubic for providing me with such an opportunity. Whenever I get stuck, I can always talk to someone and if I keep at it, there will always be a path. And when it's all done, I get a great sense of accomplishment. Info Cubic is a place where I can spend meaningful time and feel satisfaction.

What changed for you when you became "director"?

Being a director means you have to take responsibility for reveneue and budget for the company as a whole, so I feel it is necessary to be very careful with my actions. Emotinally, the one thing that changed the most, was that I realized sometimes I need to be hard on people to run a company. I still have a long way to go, but I hope to improve on that.

What kind of future do you have in mind for Info Cubic?

A company that not only influences their employees, but also their families, so my mission is to keep the company on its feet for as long as possible. We have a common phrase that we share among the CEO and staff, which is "Company that lasts for 100 years". We are not only talking about ourselves, as we have our clients and partners who we work with, so we need a WIN-WIN for all 3 parties. To accomplish that, I hope to continue fulfilling my duty to the company.

A word for women out there aiming for a career

I believe success means making your own choices. Many women face the dilemma of the possibility of leaving the company after 2, 3 years upon marriage, but perhaps some may want to continue working. You may not come to a conclusion at the time and let the time drag on while missing opportunities that come by. Either way, if you make the decision yourself, you won't regret it. But if you do take time to think about it, I would recommend pursuing your career. I faced this choice myself and now that I think about it, I think it was a bit wasteful spending all that time thinking about it. Even if I leave upon marriage, my experience here will still be invaluable to me when I start working once again. I've had to make many choices in my life, but I think the hardest was thinking about which path to take. Once I made the decision, it felt like a load was off my back and things got much easier. Info Cubic has a work environment that allows everyone to thrive, regardless of gender. I would like to work with those who have something to accomplish or take advantage of an opportunity.

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Entered Novemeber 2005Maho Umekawa

COO

Born on May 29th, 1976. Started working part-time at Info Cubic in 2005, and then became a director of Info Cubic in 2014.

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