This is Hamamoto from TIMEWELL Inc.
International Women's Day: Two Stories of Restarting
To mark International Women's Day (March 8), we sat down with two working mothers at TIMEWELL — Mariko Takeuchi and Anna Usui. Both took career breaks for childcare, both joined TIMEWELL with no corporate technology experience, and both have gone on to develop skills and roles they didn't expect.
Mariko Takeuchi: Originally from Aichi Prefecture. Studied education at university, then worked as a kindergarten teacher for five years before leaving the workforce after having children. Joined TIMEWELL in March 2024 as a pro assistant. Currently handles design work (flyers, thumbnails, key visuals, landing pages) and executive assistant services for clients.
Anna Usui: Originally from Kanagawa Prefecture. Registered dietitian. Worked for five years at hospitals and a nursing home after graduation, then a year in staffing company sales, then two more years as a dietitian at a company headquarters. Left the workforce after having children. Introduced to TIMEWELL through a colleague. Currently works as a sales assistant with additional responsibilities in article creation, sales support, and secretarial work.
Looking for AI training and consulting?
Learn about WARP training programs and consulting services in our materials.
"Computer? I'd Never Touched One": How They Started
— Can you each introduce yourselves and describe what you do?
Takeuchi: I'm Mariko Takeuchi, on the TIMEWELL operations team. I've been here about a year. My main work is design — flyers, thumbnails, key visuals, landing pages. I also handle secretarial and scheduling support for clients.
Usui: I'm Anna Usui. I've been at TIMEWELL about a year and a half. I do sales assistant work as my base — but honestly it's a bit of everything. Article writing, sales support, client communication. I tend to take on whatever comes my way.
— What were you doing before TIMEWELL, and what brought you here?
Takeuchi: After finishing my education degree, I taught kindergarten for five years. Then I became a full-time homemaker — raising kids, managing the household. I had almost no experience with computers. A colleague who was already working at TIMEWELL reached out and said it was fine to join with no tech background. I was nervous, but I decided to try.
Usui: After university I was a registered dietitian for five years — hospitals and a nursing home. Then a year in staffing sales. Then back to dietetics at a company headquarters for two years. I stopped working when I had children. The introduction came from someone already at TIMEWELL who said I could work at home, in the gaps in my day. I framed it as returning to the working world. It started smaller than what it's become.
Balancing Work with Kids: The Honest Concerns
— Was it scary to start working again while caring for young children?
Takeuchi: The realistic worry was access: I can only use the computer during nap time or after they're asleep at night. I was worried about being slow to respond or keeping people waiting. And whenever I need to stop what I'm doing mid-task to deal with something with the kids — that felt like I was letting people down.
But everyone — clients and team members — has been understanding. "Children first" is something they actually say, and mean. That made the anxiety manageable.
Usui: My worry was similar. My child is very attached to me, so evening work felt uncertain. But when my child got sick and I had to disappear for a few days, everyone covered for me and told me to come back when things were stable. No pressure, no resentment.
What I didn't expect: my child adapted. On nights when I have a meeting, my husband does bedtime now. Watching that shift happen — that was its own form of growth.
What Changed After Joining
— What's been the most meaningful thing about working at TIMEWELL?
Takeuchi: As a homemaker, your social world shrinks. TIMEWELL gave me new people to talk to, which matters more than I expected. And the skill development — I came in with no computer skills at all, and with real support, I've been learning continuously. That sense that I can still grow — I needed that.
Usui: Before I started working again, there wasn't much in my day that felt like recognition. The kids need you, but that's different from being appreciated for what you do. At TIMEWELL, the team acknowledges your work. You have adult conversations. Your contributions are noticed. That changed my sense of myself in a meaningful way.
The other thing: the team doesn't make children-related interruptions feel like a problem. That absence of judgment is genuinely freeing.
— What new skills have you developed?
Usui: I can now build basic apps. I never thought I'd write an article — I found writing genuinely difficult — and now I do it regularly. I've taken on client communication roles I would have avoided before. I keep discovering that I can do things I assumed weren't for me.
Takeuchi: Everything I do now is a new skill — I started from zero. Design rules and principles have been building up gradually. I use applications I'd never heard of before. Business communication, email writing, AI tools for client correspondence — all new. All mine now.
Why They Stay
— What keeps you at TIMEWELL?
Takeuchi: The schedule is not fixed, which means when something comes up with the kids — a fever, an injury — I can handle it without negotiating permission. That flexibility is rare. And the people are genuinely kind. In a work-from-home environment, it's easy to feel isolated, but the communication here makes that not the case.
Usui: The access to information. Even in areas where I have no prior knowledge, people share what they know in ways that make it usable. And I can say what I think — my suggestions get considered, sometimes adopted. That's motivating in a way that's hard to get in more structured environments.
— How do you see TIMEWELL's working culture showing up in its services?
Usui: TIMEWELL BASE is a product that helps people manage their time and schedules more easily. It benefits people who work and people who don't. The philosophy of thinking about life on a time axis — that's reflected in the product.
Takeuchi: The assistant service is built around the idea that people who are overwhelmed with work get support from people who have capacity. That match — supply and demand across different life situations — is what makes it work. The team is a mix: side-jobbers, full-time parents, different circumstances. That diversity is the asset.
What Made the First Step Possible
— Who or what gave you the push to start?
Usui: My family. My husband said he'd handle childcare so I could work. That foundation matters. And the colleague who said "let's try this together" — having someone you trust already inside the door makes it less abstract. But more than anything: I looked at the people and thought, "I could work with these people." That was the real deciding factor. For any full-time parent who has a bit of time opening up — this is worth trying.
Takeuchi: My family supported me. But TIMEWELL's team is what really gave me the push. I joined expecting to do simple administrative tasks. About two months in, someone asked if I wanted to try design work. Taking that on expanded my sense of what I'm capable of. Being recognized for something you made with your own hands — that does something to how you see yourself. I came in thinking I was someone who couldn't do these things. Now I know that's not true.
— Any last words for readers who might be in a similar situation?
Usui: If your current daily life feels a bit flat — challenge something. Expand your world. Self-motivation and self-respect both go up when you do.
Takeuchi: What I've done here would have seemed impossible to me two years ago. No skills, no computer experience — making design work and landing pages. It's not exceptional to me anymore, which means it's possible for anyone reading this. Give yourself permission to try.
What came through in both conversations was the same dynamic: the first step unlocked the next one, and the environment made the steps feel safe to take. That's what TIMEWELL's approach to flexible working actually looks like from the inside.
Learn more about working at TIMEWELL on our services page.