Day In The Life Of A Remote Executive: From Video Calls To Being Her Teenagers’ Uber
Denise Fernandez is the Head of Marketing for PowerToFly. With a diverse range of experience that includes leading teams and spearheading campaigns for Nokia, T-Mobile, and Sabre, she brings a depth of knowledge and innovation to her current role. Here’s a glimpse into her daily life as a remote executive and mom to two teenagers, based in Seattle, Washington.
5:30 a.m.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy! Except not. I have a love/hate relationship with my Android phone. I love that I can quickly scan emails, Slack, and Skype, but I hate that the alarm on it doesn’t have a snooze button. I dress in my pre-picked outfit of sweats and various hoodies, unless I escape for the day — then I wear real clothes, the kind that you can’t wait to get out of when you come home. I’ve forgotten how to apply daytime make-up, as I’ve been make-up free since July.
5:35 a.m.
My two dogs, Blaze and Abby, CAN’T EVEN. So I bribe them to get up and go downstairs to do their business. I’m guided by my phone, which acts as a trusty flashlight for these dark, rainy Seattle mornings. They want no part of the rain so I bribe, plead, and eventually grovel by example. I stand outside in the rain until they join me. I’ve convinced myself that this doubles as my morning shower.
5:45 a.m.
Fire up the laptop, check in with my European based team, further scan hot items. Dry dogs off. Feed dogs. Watch dogs go back to sleep. Quick peek at online news, looking for carpool conversation zingers.
6:00 a.m.
Final kids breakfast prep before conference calls begin. (1 of 2 last helicopter parent habits to break. I tell them it’s escrow for when I come back to live with them). Earbuds in, my nemesis Google docs open — I’m ready to roll on the first of many video conference calls of the day.
6:20 a.m.
Remove right earbud and patiently listen for any teenage movement — none. never. nope.
6:45 a.m.
Warm up car. Issue final wake up call to kids. Repeat myself twice when they don’t answer. Place lunches in backpacks (2 of 2 remaining helicopter parent habits trying to break).
7:00 a.m.
Conference call ends. Carpool time. 30 minutes of glorious teenage/mother interaction. The best part of my days are the morning school drop off. Once the (teenager-mandated) quiet time is complete, we engage in the most interesting (aka: they can’t escape) conversations.
7:30 a.m.
Grrr… that middle school drop off traffic blocks the Starbucks drive-thru entry. Back to the home office, possibly still on a conference call. Starbucks noise level blocking me from setting up shop for the day. I’m a mute button goddess, but can’t pull off 5 straight hours of calls with dual espresso and Frappuccino blenders humming along with loudly misread names on cups.
11:00 a.m.
Desktop now also fired up, for a total of 29 open windows and dual Skype sessions. PowerToFly Twitter notifications are buzzing. Did I forget to eat breakfast again? I’ll just make lunch. On hectic days it’s cheese, crackers, and Oreos. ALL. THE. CHEESE! 5 hours of calls, multitasking on Slack, Skype, and email, I’m slowly crossing off my to-do list. “Mom, I NEED those concert tickets today” text comes in. Ignoring is futile.
1:00 p.m.
My hips hurt when I get up after 6 straight hours of calls in the chair. Need to get a standing desk. No, a treadmill desk. OK, let’s just move the laptop to the kitchen counter for a bit and call it a win. Let the dogs out, get serious side eye if it’s raining. Not going outside with the laptop. It’s a game.
2:00 p.m.
Head out to pick up kids from school. I’m directed where to take them and very specifically, what time they will be picked up. I’m the teenage Uber — minus the fare, tip, or gas money.
3:00 p.m.
Back to the office for a few afternoon calls with my West Coast buds. Attack my to-do list from our morning calls. Down to 21 windows and 1 Skype session. Progress.
5:00 p.m.
Oh crap, did I forget to eat lunch again? I’ll just make dinner, and by dinner I mean cheese, crackers, and Oreos. Momma’s dinner needs to be basic because I’ve got a vegan and a carnivore — you do the math.
Enjoy dinner time with the kids. Their desks are within eyeshot of the table, so I can still be with them if they’ve migrated their plates to sit in front of the computer. The Fairy Godmother didn’t come again, so I quickly wash a load of clothes and load the dishwasher. I really need to fire her, she’s useless.
8:00 p.m.
Monday through Wednesdays are mother/son bonding time over DC Comics dramas, while daughter escapes after homework into Netflix-land. Make and pack kids’ lunches (see 6:45 a.m. reference on bad habits). Set the kitchen table for kids’ breakfast (ditto).
9:00 p.m.
Back online to work my to-do list and follow-ups. I suck at having a zero inbox. I’ve accepted that flaw. But I do rock a highlighted notebook list like nobody’s business. Kids are winding down from hours of homework and studying. Some weeks it’s a midnight wind down and those are the worst.
10:30 p.m.
Bedtime convos with the kids — laughs and pop culture reviews from social media.
11:00 p.m.
Check in with my European team members, hit send on some team mails with early morning action items. Dogs still want no part of the rain, so again I bribe, plead, and eventually grovel by example, while standing outside in the rain, waiting for them to join me. This doubles as my evening shower.
12:00 a.m.
Quick round of solitaire on my phone (or until I win), set the no-snooze phone alarm, last scan of email, Slack and Skype.
1:00–5:30 a.m.
All the brilliant ideas hit. Bedside notebook gets a workout. Which reminds me, I haven’t been to the gym in months. Add that to my schedule on Monday (always Monday).
Denise Fernandez is the Head of Marketing for PowerToFly. You can connect with her on Twitter or LinkedIn to talk tech, remote work, and changing the ratio. PowerToFly is where companies find and hire women in tech and across digital who work from anywhere. Sign up and start a trial today.
