Andrea Ingham is the VP of Business Partnerships at BuzzFeed Australia. Prior to Buzzfeed, Andrea was the Head of Sales ANZ at Spotify and has also led sales teams at companies such as Nine and Souther Cross Austereo for the past 10 years.

Balance the Grind had the pleasure of talking to Andrea about her sales background, a day in her life at Buzzfeed, balancing her career with her family, favourite podcasts and more.

This conversation is brought to you by Freelancer.com, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace.

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

I’ve worked in sales and revenue generating roles for the majority of my career across TV, Radio and Digital.

I started as a sales rep at 5AA in Adelaide many years ago and in the last 10 years have lead sales teams at Nine, Southern Cross Austereo and more recently local teams for global digital businesses including Spotify and BuzzFeed.

2) What is your current role?

I am currently Vice President of Business Partnerships at BuzzFeed ANZ.

3) What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

8am – call with my boss US

9am – call with AU Head of Content US

9.45am – client meetings

11am – catch up with one of my team

12.30pm – quick lunch with a client

2.30pm – interview a candidate

3.45pm – emails and planning for tomorrow and rest of week

5.45pm – calls whilst commuting

6.45pm – home

I fit in emails and calls whilst moving between meetings.

I aim to work one day every 3 weeks ‘from home’ which in reality is ‘the local library’ to spend time on proactive work and planning.

4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you prioritise your workload?

• Have a plan
• Sense check requests from others for your time against that plan
• If they don’t align say no or don’t over invest
• Don’t be a slave to email
• Own your diary
• Get time away from computer/desk/office to look forward and get out of the reactive

I attempt to not look at emails until 9am or have planned out my priorities for the day but usually fail.

5) In between your job, life and all your other responsibilities, how do you ensure you find some sort of balance in your life?

I make time for what I enjoy and need. I’m not sure anyone working full time with 2 children has balance but I try to ensure that I look after myself, my husband, family and friends.

The older I get the more energy I put into health and fitness and sleep. It really does help keep everything else on track. Hire great people and trust and empower them to help out both at work and home

6) What are some of the things you do to take time out and recharge?

• Weekend away somewhere relaxing with my husband
• Going to the gym
• Going for a walk
• Little things like breakfast out on the weekends
• Holidays where I go offline

7) What do you think are some of the best habits you’ve developed over the years to help you strive for success and balance?

What I used to think success was has changed a lot over the years and has way less to do with work and career and more to do with overall health and well being, family, friends and creating great memories.

I don’t think about balance more about what is taking up my time and how aligned that is to my plan, goals and values

8) Are there any books you’ve read that have helped you with work-life balance?

I’m listening to more podcasts these days and enjoy:

• You Beauty
• The School of Greatness
• Goop
• Dave Asprey
• Crappy to Happy
• Sleep Whispers (if I’m having trouble sleeping)

9) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?

A good nights sleep. I find lack of sleep really does play havoc with everything and I prioritise things that help me achieve this.

Also:

• meditation
• screens down 1.5 hours before bed
• exercise
• not drinking alcohol too often
• mindfulness