Episode Summary

As we wrap up 2023 with this final episode of the year, Neela Hummel and Mary Beth Storjohann discuss what it looks like as a day in the life of a CEO. They discuss their daily routines, challenges they face, and what about their roles as CEOs lights them up. They talk about the balances they try to find throughout their weeks and the importance of establishing and keeping boundaries. Join us today to wrap up 2023!

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• The daily routines for Mary Beth and Neela
• How each of their mornings look before even starting the workday
• The benefits of setting boundaries
• One of the big challenges they face as a CEO
• How they balance competing interests and still manage to put people first
• The importance of free space during your work week
• Why it’s critical to walk the talk, inspire change and create impact
• Two things that are critical for personal and company success

Resources Mentioned on the Show:

• Behind the Scenes of Co-Leadership
• Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
• B Corp
• What it Means to Be a B Corp

Stay Connected:

• Join the Abacus community by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on LinkedIn
• Connect with Mary Beth on Twitter, Instagram, and on LinkedIn
• Connect with Neela on Twitter, Instagram, and on LinkedIn

Transcript of the Episode

Neela [00:00:14]:

Hey there. Welcome to the If Money Were Easy podcast, the show where we teach you how to expand what’s possible with your money. We’re your hosts, Neela Hummel 

Mary Beth [00:00:23]:

and Mary Beth Storjohann, 

Neela [00:00:24]:

certified financial planners and co CEOs of Abacus Wealth Partners. Today on the show, we’re going to talk about a day in the life of a CEO. 

Mary Beth [00:00:35]:

Let’s jump in. 

Neela [00:00:36]:

Let’s do it. 

Mary Beth [00:00:37]:

Hi, Neela. 

Neela [00:00:38]:

Hi, Mary Beth. 

Mary Beth [00:00:40]:

Excited to be here with you. 

Neela [00:00:41]:

Likewise. A day in the life of a CEO or two CEOs.

Mary Beth [00:00:43]:

Two CEOs, but I will say a CEO for SEO purposes. 

Neela [00:00:50]:

Perfect. Office of the CEO.

Mary Beth [00:00:52]:

Office of the CEO. So Neela and I were chatting, and we were thinking about what would be a fun episode to do to end cap off our first season of the podcast. This will be our last episode for 2023, with more episodes coming in season two for 2024. But we were talking about our work lives, our personal lives, the intersection of such and all that we’ve shared on this podcast. And we thought it would be great to give a peek behind the curtain of what our days look like. I know we previously have done an episode on how we make co leadership work and how we’re balancing that out. But what does it truly take to be two female co CEOs of a mid to large size wealth management firm in 2023? What do our days look like? How do they overlap? How do they divide? And so we wanted to talk a bit about that to give some context of what goes into servicing our clients, what goes into taking care of our families, what goes into making sure our employees are well taken care of, et cetera. So, without further ado, Nee, let’s do it. Okay. What time do you wake up in the morning? 

Neela [00:01:54]:

The better question is, what time does my first waking child wake up? Which is also the time that I wake up. Currently, that is about 06:00 a.m. 

Mary Beth [00:02:05]:

Okay, so 06:00am. So you don’t have an alarm. They are your alarm.

Neela [00:02:07]:

They are a walking, talking alarm. 

Mary Beth [00:02:09]:

Got it. Okay, so 06:00 a.m. You are being woken up by a tiny human. 

Neela [00:02:14]:

Tiny human. Generally a human being, like, in my face, maybe getting screamed at, depending on what the cereal situation is in my house. And have I responded to the needs of what cereals we should be carrying? Of course, but mostly starts at six. And from there. I think, like every working parent, there’s a little bit of a whirlwind in terms of tornado. You do more before 08:00 a.m. than some people do all day. And so it’s basically a whirlwind. I have three kids under eight, and my husband and I are working on getting lunches together, getting people dressed, getting teeth brushed. We go to two different schools. So there’s an earlier drop off. There’s a later drop off. And typically I take the first drop off and then I head into the office. I still go into the office most days, and that kind of works for me. So I’m generally in the office by like 08:30. 

Mary Beth [00:03:05]:

So kid time, family chaos, exiting the house between 6:00 and 8:30. Are you online at all? Have you done email? Do you do the phone in the morning or do you have solid boundaries? Be honest. 

Neela [00:03:16]:

Confessional. Yeah. So I definitely check my phone first thing. 

Mary Beth [00:03:19]:

Okay. 

Neela [00:03:19]:

And I think that’s to see, are there any emergencies? Is there anything that needs attention? First thing. And so if I need to crank out some emails or take a look at things, I may or may not call you and talk through certain things, but I’m not going to lie. I do check my phone pretty much first thing to just say, okay, anything that needs to happen.

Mary Beth [00:03:41]:

Got it. 

Neela [00:03:42]:

I was going to just turn it back to you and say, how similar? How different? What do you do? Teach me how to do it. 

Mary Beth [00:03:48]:

Oh, teach. I don’t know. There’s no teaching. There’s no teaching. I will say I am not a morning person. You are a morning person, I believe you are a morning person. 

Neela [00:03:53]:

Love mornings. 

Mary Beth [00:03:55]:

Exactly. I was like, there’s a singing situation that I fully expected. I am not a morning person. I am a grumpy morning person. But I love evenings. I can stay up and I’ll read a book until 02:00 a.m. because it just makes me happy. So anyways, mornings. Brian gets up about 6:20. So I’m usually like one eye up. I know he’s out of bed. He likes having the quiet time before the kids are kind of running around. So he gets like 30 minutes downstairs to himself doing his thing. And then about 6:45 to 6:50. Luca, my youngest, comes running in and it’s like Mommy snuggles. But it’s like the snuggles where they want to rip your face off or it’s like that. 

Neela [00:04:34]:

Aggressive snuggles. 

Mary Beth [00:04:34]:

Aggressive snuggles. First thing in the morning, which I love. The best way to wake up is snuggles. So I’m not typically being yelled at, but 6:45 to 7:00 is when I’m up. And then, same thing. Into the chaos of getting ready. I will say what I aim to do is get myself changed into workout clothes. Since I do work from home, I get myself changed into workout clothes at that point in time and not my clothes for the workday because if I put the clothes on, I am more likely to do a workout. So I’ll do that. But the same thing. It’s mostly get your shoes on, get dressed, making sure the kids have their backpacks, their homework, all of those things together. And then at 7:50, we leave and I walk the kids to school every morning so that we will say, that’s a fun time that I get with both of them. They’re always like, mommy, why are we walking? Have to talk about, it’s important to move your body, but I walk them to school, drop them off, and then I walk back. And that’s usually when you and I are on the phone. By the time I’m walking back from drop off, that’s like 8:15, 8:15. Yeah, those are my mornings. But oh, same thing on the phone. I too am guilty of checking my phone first thing in the morning. I am trying to be more aware of it and more aware of how do I feel after checking my phone first thing in the morning. Sometimes it’s not great. And honestly, I don’t know how to not do it, though, based on our role, I have to know I can be maybe push it to 08:00 but then I’m the kind of person who wants to know what I’m coming into my day with. And so I’ll do a quick skim and if there is anything, I’ll kind of be online too. If there’s any emergencies, if there’s things that need answers.

Neela [00:06:00]:

It’s almost like the emotional boundary set that would be great is actually incompatible with the role. And so you almost don’t have the luxury of doing that, which I think is an interesting read. And honestly, to your point on how you feel after it, science would actually support you on that because when you check your email, it’s an adrenaline hit, but it sends your body into like a stress mode and so that’s probably not a particularly helpful thing. First thing in the morning. 

Mary Beth [00:06:27]:

Yes. 

Neela [00:06:29]:

Welcome to our tell all. 

Mary Beth [00:06:30]:

So I’m aware of what’s going on, but I’m also mindful of if it’s making me later, if it’s taking time away from the kids on the walk, that is my 25 minutes of just my time with them that I really enjoy that because those are fun conversations I get with them in the morning where we’re not typically nagging unless we’re super late and then I’m telling them to walk faster. But otherwise, those are really enjoyable experiences. 

Neela [00:06:50]:

And benefits. There’s a lot of emotional benefits about getting the vitamin D first thing.

Mary Beth [00:06:55]:

Getting the sun, hitting your face first thing in the morning. So I do. I love that part of my mornings. Like, being able to walk them to school has been really great since now that they’re both in the same school, too, it’s wonderful. 

Neela [00:07:05]:

Yeah. Okay. So then we basically have gotten to work, and I’m really interested, especially as somebody who works from home 100%. You’re in San Diego. We have offices in Southern California, but not in San Diego. How do you successfully transition from home time to work time when you’re in the same space? 

Mary Beth [00:07:26]:

I’m still learning. No, I will say it’s hard, but having a separate office is huge. I’ve had a separate office for the whole time I’ve worked from home, which has been, I don’t know, since 2013 when I launched my old business. And it’s been a game changer, at least for me, to have that door to close. I come in here, the door is closed. It is work time. Also, contrary to people’s beliefs of putting on a sweatshirt and leggings, I feel much better when I’m dressed for the day, for work. Can I work in my workout clothes or my come comfy jammies? Yes, definitely. But I feel more productive. I feel like that boundary is set when I’m dressed in a professional way for the day. So putting on clothes that I would actually wear out into the community, or I don’t dress up, like, in a suit, obviously, but I still dress in a somewhat professional yet comfortable way, so that’s helpful as well. But I will say, especially that first hour of the morning when I get back from dropping off the kids, that’s still kind of like my downtime. If I haven’t finished the workout, my workout before I bring the kids, I’ll finish a workout after that. So it’s a little fluid in terms of doing another 30 minutes of movement, or maybe I’m journaling, or maybe I’m meditating before the day starts. And then depending on what’s happening there, I’m on my phone. I’m working from my phone for that 30 minutes, moving kind of around the house. So I am working in different rooms because I’m not sitting down in front of my computer yet for that first 30 minutes. So I’m definitely in front of the computer by, like, nineish. But I’m on my phone, like, working virtually throughout my house between then. How about you? 

Neela [00:08:49]:

It sounds like the value of the door shut. And it’s almost like it’s a routine, much in the same way somebody’s commute is a routine. It’s some sort of a transition that lets your brain know. 

Mary Beth [00:08:59]:

Yeah, the door shut. Yeah, exactly. And same thing, like end of the day transition, too. I actually learned this from one of our other colleagues at Abacus. End of the day transition is going back out, changing clothes, changing back in the comfy clothes at the end of the day. Kind of a signal to my body as well that the workday is done, because otherwise, I’m just, like, going from work straight into chaos outside of my door with the kids home being a little bit rambunctious. So having that little bit of a transition time or something to signal to my brain that work is done is very good as well.

Neela [00:09:26]:

Yeah, I love that. 

Mary Beth [00:09:27]:

How about you? How’s the boundary going into work? So you’re at the office, what’s happening? 

Neela [00:09:33]:

For the most part, pretty good boundaries, just because I’m in a physically different place, and so the boundary tends to work. I think it’s always hardest at the end of the day. You mentioned I am a morning person. I get my best work done in the morning. And so by the time, I don’t know, 3:30 or 4:00 rolls around, I feel like my best ideas are done. And so I’m either doing low energy tasks or I might step out and do a workout then. And then come back and get some things done to just get my energy back. But I try and really capitalize on the mornings because that’s when I think I’m at my best. And it’s always tricky because once I leave the office, that doesn’t necessarily mean things are done either. That same point. So for the most part, the rule that I’ve set in my house is once I’m home and my kids are home, I’m not doing work until my kids are in bed. 

Mary Beth [00:10:21]:

Right. 

Neela [00:10:21]:

And so I want to make sure that I’m not distracted during those couple of hours as much as possible. Again, based on our role, things do pop up and we do have to get pulled away. But I like that to be the exception versus the rule and also balance that working every single night is also just not good for my own brain power. And so I try to, again, have that be the exception versus the rule whenever possible. 

Mary Beth [00:10:45]:

Yeah, same. I think being offline, and I was not this good, especially during COVID I think I was just permanently online during the pandemic. But in the past, I’d say like year or so, being better boundaries in terms of the evenings and unplugging. So basically taking email off the phone, being offline completely until like 7:30-8:00 when the kids are in bed. And then if I need to jump back on, I will. But again, that’s the exception, not the rule. I’ll skim to see what’s going on, what’s coming into the day, but I’m trying not to work unless it’s something creative in terms of messaging or I’m writing. Those are the things that best work at nighttime. I love doing that creative stuff, so sometimes things will come out then. But for the most part, I try to model that boundary because we do try to model it for our employees as well. 

Neela [00:11:27]:

We hit our day to day. But I would love to kind of zoom out and ask you the question that an employee actually asked me at our recent holiday party, which is what is the hardest thing about your role as a CEO? If you look back on the past year as a time frame, what do you think is the hardest part? 

Mary Beth [00:11:48]:

I think the hardest part is knowing that for the most part, we have all the information and the context that we need to make decisions and others don’t. So how to communicate that we are the holders of all of the information when we’re making strategic decisions and we’re making changes and knowing that others don’t, and continuing to work to build the trust from our colleagues, from our clients, from employees, partners, board to know and trust us in that way. Because they might not have all of the information, all of the pieces. And so there’s a lot of, well, why are we doing it this way and not that way? Or how’d you come up with that decision? Or did you consider this? And so when you have an organization that is as large as ours, 70 employees, it can get a little tough. We talk about it doesn’t have to be lonely. Can still be lonely as two people who hold all the pieces, right. It can still be a little bit lonely. Maybe isolating. It’s a little isolating in that way. So maybe that’s the hardest part. You have to make tough decisions. So I think that is it. And maybe to frame it up, not, there’s a lack of understanding in that, but I think it’s just difficult as humans to, especially in our industry, have that kind of blind trust for superiors, for those that are in charge. And so we do question, but I think that’s probably the most difficult thing is you don’t want to over explain yourself and you don’t want to justify things. And just having that trust, like, this is the decision, this is how we’re going to handle it and leading through it, leading through the discomfort. 

Neela [00:13:21]:

Yeah. It’s funny, I saw some meme that was about phases of one’s career journey and about how at the first one you’re like, oh, I can’t wait to be in those meetings where those decisions are being made. And then the next one is, oh, my gosh, I feel so good to be in this room where decisions are being made. And then the next level is, oh, my God, how do I get out of the room where the decisions are being made? And you’re right, because at the end of the day, you are the last in line decision maker. And there are challenges that come with that because you do see a chessboard, and it’s not always perfect. We don’t have 100% perfect information, but we do tend to get that information. And I think isolating can be a good word because you can’t always share all of the pieces that go into decisions. 

Mary Beth [00:14:06]:

Right, exactly. And that’s the part being comfortable with that and having that trust. How about you? What was your answer? 

Neela [00:14:12]:

Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty similar. The answer that I gave the employee which came to me and I think still really rings true after thinking about that question even more is knowing that every decision you make, somebody’s not going to be happy with. You can’t make everybody happy all the time, and that at the end of the day, when you run an organization, you’ve got to think about the organization first. And the organization can only function with happy, well adjusted, engaged people, and so you have to put those people first. But we’re also in financial services, and we have a fiduciary standard, so we also have to meet the needs of our clients or we shouldn’t be in business. And then we have a boss, too. And so then we have to answer to the board of the directors. And so I think knowing that you’re balancing a bunch of competing shareholders and interested parties can be tricky. Can be really tricky.

Mary Beth [00:15:06]:

Yes, agree. Tell me about a typical day. So we have leadership meetings, we have board meetings, meet with all of our C suite and individual or group basis client meetings. We record podcasts, all of those things. Tell me about a typical day for you and what the structure looks like and what lights you up the most. 

Neela [00:15:25]:

So a typical structure is trying to minimize the number, it’s funny to say this, minimize the number of meetings that you actually have to be at, but making sure that the meetings that you do have are very productive. So two years ago, we switched our structure to run on the EOS framework, which is the entrepreneurial operating system. One of those pieces that we have a 90 minutes leadership meeting every single week, and those tend to be very productive, healthy, great meetings. And so I think really protecting that while also having skip level meetings with the C suite members that report directly to me. We try and record podcasts weekly. Right? You’re listening to these weekly. So we’re trying to get them in and making sure that’s the right cadence. At the end of the day, one of the roles of the CEO is to look at the 5% biggest issues that an organization faces and also evaluate the 5% biggest opportunities. So you and I might be having strategic conversations with candidates who might want to merge in with us or issues that business is dealing with that we might have to report to our board on. And so we deal with all the biggest problems and also the biggest opportunities and what that can be like. So it’s a balance of meetings versus things that pop up. And I’d say also having blocks of time that are not scheduled for anything, because we need to be able to think and we need to be able to be proactive and not just reactive. And I think you and I have both come a long way in protecting that time, because we know what happens when we don’t have that time., but… 

Mary Beth [00:17:02]:

It’s not pretty. 

Neela [00:17:03]:

It’s not pretty. And it’s also hard to protect that. 

Mary Beth [00:17:06]:

Right. 

Neela [00:17:06]:

Because when you see big blocks of time, you’re like, oh, this person’s free. But they say the biggest issue for thought workers in general is context switching, is switching from different tasks to different tasks. And so giving yourself that chunk of dedicated time allows us to actually think creatively. Yeah. What do you think? How about you?

Mary Beth [00:17:26]:

Same. You said everything that was in my mind. We are becoming the same person. This is what’s happening. We are merging. 

Neela [00:17:35]:

Mary Beth taught me how to be. That’s it. 

Mary Beth [00:17:37]:

Yeah, I completely agree. So from the leadership meetings, the really important thing is undervalued at the beginning is the value in free space. In that free space not just to catch up on projects or to answer your emails, but the free space to actually dream and vision for the company. We did our welcome tour with employees and really made sure everybody feels loved and seen and heard and valued as an employee. And we spent a lot of time during that, the first year to the detriment of our calendars. We didn’t have a lot of free space on our calendars. I think this year, taking that space, and it is our job as CEOs to hold the vision of the company, to dream and vision out where we see it 5, 10 years from now, and allowing ourselves that space and time to think as individuals, and then to come together to think about, okay, what could this look like? How can this be? And then for us to bring that to our C suite and talk more about different things. So that free space is time for the dreaming, the visioning, the projects. But also, it’s okay to do nothing, because when you do nothing, that’s when a lot of your ideas come. There is that openness of not having that pressure as achievers. Both of us are achievers to not cross something off our to-do list, but to just be, as you said, there’s a lot of great stuff that comes from that. And so I think that’s the big thing that we’ve learned this year as CEOs. And the same thing when I ran my own business, that free space, that creativity is where the magic happens. It doesn’t happen when I’m unfortunately in a meeting with our CFO. It’s not necessarily as creative and strategic. There maybe isn’t that context, but driving our company forward, it’s going to be in that quiet time for ourselves. Yeah. So I think that’s it. And then day to day, same thing. The leadership meetings, skip level meetings, meeting with those that can help us to further our impact in other ways. So I do a lot of close work with our director of impact in terms of our messaging. That’s a big relationship that I meet with here at the firm in terms of what we’re driving forward. But, yeah, it’s spacing out things. And I think the other thing that we’ve learned, we lean heavily on our executive assistant. We’ve gone from accessible managing our own calendars to a little bit less accessible in terms of if you need to get on a calendar, you do have to go through her so that we can be protective of that time, so that we can do the best things for the organization. So we have pulled back a little bit in terms of accessibility. And if we do know somebody pops up on our calendar, Kayla will be right in there wanting to know what it’s about and…

Neela [00:19:55]:

Within, like minutes. 

Mary Beth [00:19:58]:

Minutes. She’ll hound you, she’ll hound the person, which is nice. It’s a little refreshing because it does take that off of our plates. And she spends a lot of time in the calendar management because we are busy. We travel a ton. That’s another part. I’m on the road because I do work remote. I’m on the road at least once a month, very likely in terms of going to LA or other conferences and things that we’ve committed to. So making sure that there is time and space for those things as well.

Neela [00:20:21]:

Yeah, it’s funny as we’re talking through a day in the life and talking about protected project time, it’s this permission that anybody in leadership really should have is that you need to have time where you’re working on the business and not in the business. And it’s in a very important preposition because it can feel like, oh, I’m not getting anything done. But that spaciousness can actually do more for the business than anything that you might have checked off your to do list.

Mary Beth [00:20:49]:

100%. Any entrepreneur listening knows that, too. Working on it instead of in it because it’s very easy to get distracted in it and that keeps you head down. But if you don’t pull your head up and look to see where you’re going, that impacts employees, that impacts the future of the company. Because if we’re head down in the weeds all the time, we can’t see where we’re going and then nobody else behind us can see it either. So it’s important for us as leaders, as CEOs and then our C suite as well, any leaders to kind of pull their heads up, look around, dream a little bit and then pull everyone forward. We have to make sure that we’re not distracted that way. 

Neela [00:21:19]:

So we hit the hardest part. What is the part about this role that truly lights you up? What are the things that you might get to do? What are the environments that you’re in? Where’s the joy? 

Mary Beth [00:21:33]:

That’s a great question. So I love the communication aspect of our role. Talking to our employees, thinking through communication for our clients. I love our team in general. Just the energy, the culture, the empathy and caring that come from our group. That lights me up so much. Just seeing our people together. I don’t even have to be in the mix, but knowing how everybody treats each other is really cool and something really special that’s really great. And the things that really light me up in general, I love seeing the impact that we can make. I love dreaming about the impact that we can make, challenging us to push further in the impact, putting a container on those things too. So it’s one thing to dream and you can dream so big, but then actually being able to like, okay, this is the direction that we’re going. We want to create more diversity within our profession and our client base. How are we going to do that? Let’s allocate dollars here. Let’s make it measurable. Here we have our scholarship or partnering with the foundation for Financial Planning for Pro bono. There’s so many ways we can make an impact. And I love doing the work of getting our arms around it all because it’s really exciting. We want to change the world, right? Abacus in general, we are known for being out there with our voice, with our message, but being able to do it in a way that’s not just throwing dollars or time or resources at all these causes, because everything can impact and better the world, but refining that and honing that down and thinking about, okay, what’s the most important to us for Abacus, for our values, and being able to put that container on it, draft it and get a strategy going behind it. That drives a lot of our pro bono or charitable giving or dollars, but also some of our hiring, our internship, just like how we’re showing up at the industry that impacts our workforce, therefore that impacts clients as well. I love that aspect of it. I think it’s really inspiring. So obviously you can tell because I just went on a tangent. How about you Nee? 

Neela [00:23:22]:

I just love it. I just get chills, like hearing you talk about that because I think the impact at the end of the day is the most incredible part. And I think about how we work with 1500 different clients and I think about the impact that our team is making on their lives every single day. And I think about the ripple effects that has in those clients lives and just the peace and joy that our clients feel because of the team of empathetic and kind and passionate people that we get to surround ourselves with. So I think about that impact. I think about having a good place where employees enjoy working. I love being a company that stands for something. We were the first financial services firm that was a B Corp, and B Corps are a lot more known now. And I think you and I have talked about this a lot, where we’re a B Corp, not because we need the certification, but because B Corp continues to have a high standard that we want to continue to make ourselves better with. And I like being out there as a business that balances purpose and profit. And I feel really strongly about that. And I love being able to walk the talk. Like you said, we’re not just saying things in a performative way. I like being able to say, yeah, we do care about expanding diversity in the industry, and this is what we’ve done both internally, which can only go so far because we’re 70 employees, but also, these are the causes that we’re able to support. And this is the pro bono service that we’re able to offer. And basically putting the teeth behind our words is really exciting. 

Mary Beth [00:24:55]:

Yeah, I agree. I think walking the talk is the most important thing. And I’d say the other part that I love about it, that is a byproduct of the work that we do is inspiring others in the industry and in their careers. It’s my favorite to receive emails or notes from other advisors or other women or other firms who are recognizing the work that we are doing, that you’re doing, or that I’ve done in the industry, in our careers, and knowing that we are creating change and inspiring just by doing what we’re doing at Abacus, we don’t know best. We don’t assume to know best. We’re on our own journey and we just happen to share transparently and we’ll share our failures in addition to wins in this area. But by us sharing our story, we hope to create more change in the industry and create more sustainable change. And it is nice to know that we’ve created some impact in other people’s lives just as individuals in our leadership roles as well. I think it’s really nice. Just nice. I think it’s not why I do it, but it’s nice byproduct of what we do to know that there’s women in the industry because of us. And I think that’s really something. That’s what we hope, right? That’s our hope is by us being in this role, is that more women join the C suite, they’re taking leadership roles, firms are making it more accessible. I think that’s pretty cool also. Heck, yeah. 

Neela [00:26:11]:

Heck, yeah. This is a good one to end the year on. I just feel good. 

Mary Beth [00:26:19]:

So just in a wrap up, we can talk about our individual meetings with our CFO, our CCO, our COO. We could tell you all of those details, but we’ll spare you to know that there’s a lot of business that happens behind the scenes with each one. But for our wrap up, when you’re thinking holistically about your day or your week and how you manage your time, how you manage your time in general, what’s one takeaway that you would want somebody to consider implementing in their lives? 

Neela [00:26:49]:

The first thing that comes up for me is being open to the rebalance and the rebalance that can go in either direction, that there are going to be times where you feel like you’re pushed and you’re working harder than ever. So last week, you and I both had back-to-back 14 hour days, right. We had full day leadership meetings and then meetings with clients, meeting with our team, and there were like three big back-to-back meetings and knowing that you’re only as good as what you can actually show up for and that you got to make sure that you’re filling your cup. And so I think both of us took Friday to do less. And if that means not going into the office, getting a workout in, and taking your space back so that you don’t burn yourself out. And I think if you are in the achiever category, where your natural inclination is more and better and harder, that is a really hard lesson to take and implement. But I feel like it’s been probably the most successful thing to do, and I think you’ve done a really good job of calling that out, and I think you’ve made that better for me. So thank you. 

Mary Beth [00:28:01]:

Thank you. 

Neela [00:28:02]:

How about you? 

Mary Beth [00:28:03]:

That what you said. That’s my lesson. Yeah. 

Neela [00:28:08]:

Rebalance. 

Mary Beth [00:28:09]:

Rebalance. I say rebalance, but there’s also an element of proactivity in it. And so I am a bit unapologetic in that Fridays are my creative time. I’m in meetings all day, Monday through Thursday. I need Fridays, and that is my open space dreaming. I’m on the floor with my giant Post-Its and some markers and thinking about things, and that is my recharge going into the weekends. And that was how I was solo before coming into Abacus, making sure I calendar blocked off that time. It’s hard coming into corporation, though, when there’s expectations on calendars and trying to meet meetings and the demands of others. But I have become unapologetic in that time and just having that boundary of saying, no, I don’t meet during this time. This is my project time. It’s open has been really good and really rewarding, and I view it as it’s best for Abacus, it’s best for the business that I have that time. It’s easy because then it’s consistent that way, too. I just don’t do meetings on Fridays. For the most part, you and I meet, and there’s some that pop up. But having that boundary is freeing because even if I have meetings all week long, knowing I have that space to recharge as needed, but also to just do open space, visioning and dreaming is really good.

Neela [00:29:19]:

I love it. 

Mary Beth [00:29:21]:

All right. Well, thank you everyone for tuning into our first season. We have loved having you here and we will be back in 2024. 

Neela [00:29:30]:

Have a good New Year and looking forward to seeing you in 2024. 

Mary Beth [00:29:35]:

Bye. 

Neela [00:29:37]:

Most people have formed helpful and harmful habits around spending, giving and investing. Head to abacuswealth.com/Quiz to take our financial archetype Quiz and learn your three dominant money types. You’ll receive personalized guidance that helps you have a healthier, more balanced relationship to money. 

Neela [00:30:18]:

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