Bronwyn Karaoglu is the Global VP of Marketing at Practice Ignition, the world’s first client engagement and commerce platform for professional services

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

I spent the last decade or so establishing and driving global marketing competency for leading tech companies like Computacenter, SiteMinder and Genbook, and most recently joined Practice Ignition, the world’s first client engagement and commerce platform for professional services, to establish and lead marketing across the globe. 

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

My day starts with my calendar, both personal and work are synced to my devices. I make sure I’m fully scheduled so I know exactly how my day will plan out and what I’ll need to accomplish.

I’m then in “mum-mode”: I get my daughter ready for school, we do some rowing and exercise together, I down a few coffees before starting my day. My days do vary as my role varies.

Mornings are usually mixed with a few critical meetings cross functionally and in-team that coincide with global time zones like The Americas, followed by afternoon ‘focus blocks’ to get work done, speak to customers, or dive deep into our data. I am most productive and focussed after lunch so I make sure most critical work is scheduled for then. 

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

My last few roles have been very flexible and Practice Ignition is a remote friendly workplace. I work most of the week from home (of course, in cases when we have been in lockdown during the pandemic, working remotely has been full time).

A balance of remote working and the option to collaborate in person has worked best for the success of global marketing orgs in my experience and has absolutely impacted my ability to be a good leader, wife, mother, daughter and sister to my family. Just being able to put in a load of washing in between my busy schedule for example is critical in keeping balance.   

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

For me, work-life balance means being fully present at both work and at home. It means being able to spend quality time with my family without it impacting my doing great work and vica versa.

I make sure that is achieved through my tight scheduling. I make sure my time is scheduled as purposefully as possible, including time for self, and this gives me the confidence to perform at my very best (at work and at home).

My schedule includes daily goals and tasks that are prioritised using the Urgent / Important matrix framework and this keeps me on track. Of course there are unexpected important and urgent things that may come up that will rejig my schedule but nothing that 5 minutes of rescheduling can’t fix in my experience.

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

Yes, I adopted my calendar more. I used to have a to-do list and used the Urgent/Important matrix but I didn’t combine that with scheduling.

I think working for Genbook (a leading scheduling solution acquired by Booksy), opened my eyes to how important managing one’s time down to the minute can be. It can make you so more productive and centred.

So I adopted my calendar and added Calendly meeting scheduling so that people externally can schedule in time with me when required. 

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

I listen to the Saastr Founders podcast for business plays, State of Demand Gen, B2B Growth and FlipMyFunnel podcasts for marketing plays which I find really valuable, and really enjoy Morning Brew and Marketing Brew newsletters for a quick roundup of news (US focussed!) 

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

Can’t live without Calendly, my Google Calendar app (synced with both work and personal) and Geekbot (Slack assistant that helps automate updates and feedback) 

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

I’m always interested in learning from women in the C-suite with young families. Inga Latham, CPO at SiteMinder or Hannah Milborrow, Chief Technology officer at Local Measure for example.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

It’s ok to not have a perfect work-life balance all the time. There will be days/weeks/months that the scale tips. What I do here is acknowledge things are not in balance and get back on the horse. We’re all human.

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