With over 5 years specialising in digital media, social media, e-commerce coordination and B2C, Veronica Nguyen is currently working as the Head of Communications – Beauty at Market Australia.
In addition to her role at Market Australia, Veronica also launched her own beauty website, Beauty By Vee, offering tutorials, blogs and services focused on the makeup space.
Balance the Grind had the chance to catch up with Veronica about balancing her career with a side hustle, day in the life of a marketing gal, personal training, practicing mindfulness every single day and plenty more.
Fun fact: Veronica’s personal trainer is Daniel Gullo, who we interviewed a couple years back.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your background and career?
I was born and raised in the Western Suburbs of Sydney to immigrant parents from Vietnam.
From the age of 17, I knew I wanted to work in marketing and content creation – I loved the marketing aspect when studying business and even now, almost a decade later, the marketing industry still interests me despite the fact that the entire spectrum has changed dramatically.
Now, as a marketing professional with over 5 years experience, there’s no other field I rather work.
I’ve been dabbling in social media coordination, SEO, B2B and B2C marketing, video and photo content creation as well as teaching myself how to use marketing enhancing programs – Photoshop, Lightroom, Google Analytics, Google My Business and iMovie.
All these skills have also been fueled by my own side hustle – a beauty blog called Beauty By Vee. This is something that I enjoy and have passion for.
2) What is your current role and what does it entail on a day to day basis?
As the Head of Communications – Beauty for Market Australia, I’m constantly checking inventory reports to make sure product is always replenished, placing stock on sale and keeping up to date on all SKU’s in general.
I’m constantly updating myself on social media and beauty trends as these are changing every single day so being on Instagram and Facebook is a vital part of my job as well as reading a lot about the marketing industry and forecasting for future products.
I also prepare blog posts and product focuses, as someone with a Certificate III in Makeup, I’m also able to use my knowledge and educate my audience about the use of particular beauty products, especially new trending ones.
3) What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Wednesday is probably the busiest day of the week for me.
My day starts at 4:50am where I’m up and getting ready to hit the gym for my 2nd personal training session of the week.
I’m back home at about 6:15am where I prepare breakfast – usually scrambled eggs and kim chi followed by a protein shake (I get VERY hungry after a PT session).
7:30am I head out the door and start my work day at 8:00am where I have my coffee – this is essential! The first thing I do is go through all emails and flag the ones that need following up urgently.
I then check social media for any messages, enquiries, hashtags and tags that may have come through overnight.
I’ll then schedule all the posts across Facebook and Instagram for the day – making sure I take into account any upcoming events that may work with our posts (e.g. Valentine’s Day).
I tend to walk through to the warehouse and chat to the girls if I feel I’ve been looking at my screen for too long – this also gives me a chance to familiarise myself with any new beauty products that have arrived.
For the most part, I’m updating forecasts, daily/weekly reports and analysing what needs to be improved so revenue can be increased.
Work finishes at about 4pm and by 5pm, I’m home and starting on dinner or doing a little cleaning.
If I didn’t have a gym day, I’d switch on a 20 minute yoga YouTube video and do some home yoga to get my sweat on. After a little Netflix and working on my own beauty blog, I’m in bed by 8:30pm and asleep by 9:30pm.
4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you prioritise your workload?
Lists keep me accountable. 10 minutes before work finishes, I’ll write down a quick list of the things I need to do for the next day starting from most important/most urgent.
I find pen and paper work best for me and I’m able to see it in front of me whereas a list on a laptop can create ‘out of sight out of mind’.
5) In between your job, life and all your other responsibilities, how do you ensure you find some sort of balance in your life?
For me, I think it’s important to not bring any of your work home with you. Once I’ve stepped out of the office, everything about work will need to wait till tomorrow.
When I’m at home, I like to focus on quality time with my family or my fiancé and enjoy cooking dinner together – luckily for me, my fiancé and I are both home by 5pm the latest, we have plenty of time for each other for the most part.
6) What are some of the things you do to take time out and recharge?
One of my favourite things to do is film a makeup tutorial for my side hustle. Not only am I enjoying what I’m doing, I’m also creating content (win-win).
Other things include listening to my favourite podcasts and audiobooks, reading blogs and having dinner with friends or family.
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?
Having a personal trainer for the past 2 years has really held me accountable for my health and fitness.
I’ve always had a gym membership and when I went, I would be on the treadmill or wandering around, not really knowing what to do or what my goals were.
When I signed up for a personal trainer, we were able to really work out my fitness and body goals as well as see what type of training works for me – for example, I love strength and weight training but we figured out that HIIT and cardio works best for me.
Having a personal trainer also created this motivation and fire in me to strive for fitness success.
You’d never in a million years catch me out of bed until my alarm had snoozed at least 4 times. But now, with a routine in place, I’m usually awake before my alarm goes off.
8) Are there any books you’ve read that have helped you with work-life balance?
Do audiobooks count? It’s been a while since I’ve actually sat down and read a book – with technology these days, I find myself listening to audiobooks and podcasts more than anything.
My favourite audiobook that has truly inspired me to date is probably Aubrey Marcus’ Own the Day, Own Your Life – he offers really simple steps to bettering your everyday life.
Things like allowing yourself to sleep in sometimes, really simple advice but we often forget that we can allow ourselves to do these things without feeling guilty and without having to feel lazy.
9) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?
I try and practice mindfulness every single day.
Being aware of what’s going on around me, appreciating the simple things that I have that may seen grand to others and just putting a positive spin on everything – it sounds corny, but I’ve seen how having a positive mindset can create a sort of energy that I, myself would like to be around.
Oh and a bit of coffee doesn’t hurt either!
If you’d like to have a conversation with us about how you balance the grind, get in touch with us!