Balancing the Grind with Kirk Reynoldson, Founder & Co-CEO of Eggy

Kirk Reynoldson is the founder and co-CEO of Eggy, an app that helps users manage all their life admin in the one place.

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

I’m a husband, father of three and founder and co-CEO of lifetech startup Eggy.

I grew up as a country boy and always had big dreams to play Rugby League. I went on to fulfil that dream, making my first grade debut for Melbourne Storm in round 7 of the 2002 NRL season against the New Zealand Warriors and going on to play for Newcastle Knights and St George Illawarra Dragons. 

When I was trying to break into the NRL everyone told me I “didn’t have what it took”, but I risked it all to play the game at the elite level. The same goes for growing a startup. My wife and I have been knocked back by venture capital firms for funding and told we didn’t have the experience or skills to get a product to market, let alone commercialise it.

We risked our life savings on a life admin app because we had the resilience to keep going until we instilled others with the confidence we already had in our idea. It seems simple when written on paper, but the courage and sacrifice needed to make your startup dream come true is something that requires hours of hustling and rejections.

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

Our three kids are up at crazy hours, so our mornings usually start very early.

Eggy work kicks off at about 6am. I try to get all my meetings done in the morning so I can have a few hours of deep work between lunch and school pick-up.

When the kids are home from school, it’s all about them for a little bit.

The good thing about working with my wife Kate is that we can talk through work issues at home and talk about family stuff during our lunch break, which means we can be pretty efficient.

Once the kids are down, I usually get a few more hours of work done before bed.

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

We’re in tech so remote work is part of our DNA. 

With three small kids, our life is pretty chaotic most of the time, so having the option to work from anywhere- doctor surgeries, the playground, or the backyard, is pretty neat.

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

For me, I know I’m maintaining work-life balance when I’m focusing on what’s most important. And what’s most important will be different at different points in your life and depending on what you want to achieve.

Having a young family and being as busy as I am, my ability to achieve balance is directly linked to my ability to ruthlessly prioritise. 

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

I’ve definitely practised more of this ruthless prioritisation which helps keep me focused on the most important things.

I’ve also given up being too hard on myself and focusing too much on what I might like to change about the past. Hindsight is a beautiful thing but there’s no point expending energy worrying about things you can’t control. 

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

One of the greatest books I’ve read that led to a huge paradigm shift for me is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I challenge everyone to read that book.

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

I’m a little bit biassed here, but I built the Eggy app around my needs so I absolutely could not live without it.

I also really like Slack and Notion for work. And of course, I couldn’t live without Netflix, Disney+, Stan and Kayo.

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

I’ve always really resonated with Bruce Sprinsteen and how he describes that he lives the life he always thought of as a little kid. I’d be super interested to hear his thoughts on work-life balance and how he achieves it.

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

Everyone is looking for advice. Everyone is looking for the next book, the next podcast, the magic bullet that’s going to be the answer to everything.

I found that not many people realise they hold most of the answers within and they lack the confidence in their ability to create the life they want.

I wish more people saw their own potential and had confidence in themselves that whatever they dream of is within reach.

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