Fedele D’Amico is the co-founder of Hey Bud Skincare, an Australian skincare brand based on hemp seed oil and launched in 2018.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Prior to Hey Bud Skincare, I was actually an auditor at a large corporate accounting firm. Working in such a professional environment alongside so many intelligent people proved to be one of the most amazing learning experiences of my life.
However, while I found the work interesting and absolutely loved who I worked with, I always knew I wanted to break the confines of a traditional accounting career.
Nowadays, I’m one of the co-founders at Hey Bud Skincare and lead our marketing and growth initiatives. Hey Bud Skincare is an exciting vegan and cruelty free skincare brand that is pushing the boundaries with it’s unique ingredients and proven results.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I’m usually up by 7am and start off by making myself a cup of coffee and reading between 30-45 mins. I then begin to get ready and have a cold shower for a few minutes before starting work at 8.30am.
My first task everyday is responding to all customer comments on all of our marketing material across all platforms. Yes me! Not customer service!
I spend between 4-5 hours a week responding to these comments and messages as it allows me to keep a pulse on the types of questions customers have and the feedback they are providing. People are taking the time out of their day to give you feedback, we need to respect that as brand leaders.
Working through until 4.30pm, I take a break and walk Luna, my 9-month-old English Staffy. At night, I dedicate 1-2 hours primarily to learning, whether that be a new skill, technique or just general knowledge.
As like most founders, my days are usually quite different and sometimes unpredictable, however the tasks mentioned above allow me to keep structure throughout my day.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Fortunately, being a founder of a startup allows the flexibility to work remotely. Our company is currently operating 50/50 split between working from home and together.
We’ve found this model to be very effective by ensuring we stay connected, but also providing each of us enough space for our own time and deep work.
These arrangements have also really helped me manage being a new father to Luna (My puppy) and allows me to be flexible and adapt my working day accordingly.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I think that work life balance means something different to everybody. For me, it’s the ability to do something I love everyday while staying connected with my family, friends and partner. It also involves maintaining a healthy balance of exercise and learning.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
This year I was able to increase the amount of reading and learning I do on a weekly and daily basis. I consider myself a visual learner, however I have been able to create a great rhythm of reading and am now really enjoying it.
The biggest habit I was able to cut out of my life was staying up late. Whether it be working late, searching the internet for ideas or procrastinating, I found myself staying up later than I would have liked. Nowadays, I’ve been able to create a great night routine that has allowed me to get better sleep, wake up earlier and be more productive throughout the day.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Podcasts and books have undoubtedly changed my life. More recently, I’ve really enjoyed the following.
Podcasts:
- The Sugatan Effect Podcast which is a holistic approach to ecommerce & entrepreneurship.
- How I Built This with Guy Raz is another great podcast that follows the journey, both successes and failures, of many different business owners and entrepreneurs.
Books:
- Atomic Habits by James Clear is an amazing book to help improve your productivity in a very practical manner.
- Principles by Ray Dalio, shares relatively unconventional life principles that can be adopted to help achieve your goals.
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a simple, yet emotional story beholding the truth about dreams and desires.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
At the moment, I’m enjoying the ‘downtime’ functionality on my phone that allows me to lock out apps for a period of time which would ordinarily cause some distraction.
I also can’t live without WhatsApp and Slack for running our business and managing my team.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
The list would be too long for your readers! However, I’d love to hear from the following people based on their life philosophies, attitudes and overall thought leadership.
- Melanie Perkins, Founder of Canva
- Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
- Moiz Ali, Founder of Native
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
It’s important to (as much as possible) do the things you love and that align with your purpose. Set goals and make progress wherever you can and remind yourself that productivity is a much better option than aimlessly overworking yourself. You’ll enjoy the process more too!
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