Balancing the Grind with Ale Catania, Director of Operations at Zitcha

Ale Catania is the Director of Operations at Zitcha, an all-channel retail and commerce media technology platform.

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I’ve had a rather unusual career path (like many people working in Tech). I studied Psychology at Uni and worked in recruitment for a few years back in Argentina (where I’m originally from). After migrating to Australia, I discovered the world of opportunity that are tech start-ups. I currently work as Director of Operations at Zitcha – Retail Media SaaS platform.

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

We have a super flexible model at Zitcha. I mostly work from home and go to the office at least once a week. When working from home, I try running walking meetings or working from a cafe if I need to switch things up. When I’m at the office, I use this time mostly for meetings; try catching up in person when I can.

I like to start the day with “my morning pages” – writing three pages of everything that comes to mind to clear my head. I try having a structure and stay within the 8:30 to 5 PM schedule, then pilates or go for a walk. Having a structure is something I picked up Covid to avoid never-ending work days. 

3) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

Setting healthy boundaries and being clear when you’re available (and when you’re not) really helps. It also helps finding a workplace with a culture that allows people to respect those boundaries. It is also about mutual respect and understanding what’s important to other people in my team – I can’t expect them to understand boundaries if I don’t respect theirs!

4) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

Writing morning pages has been great! And also helped strengthen my writing skills as a by-product.

5) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

Maybe not saying anything new here but NPR’s podcasts are great. I love How I Built This and Life Kit. Great to go for a walk while listening to those!

6) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

Indra Nooyi.

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