Leila Oliveira is a Startup Consultant and Senior Account Executive at leading global investment platform Wholesale Investor.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Hi there! I’m Leila, born and raised in Brazil but since 2019 Australia is home for me.
I’m super passionate about startups and capital raise, and post lots of free content on LinkedIn to help founders. Give me a follow here
Now I’m working as an Account Executive at Wholesale Investor, Australasia’s leading investment platform. At WI, we have software, promotions, education and network to help startups raise capital. We also organise big investors’ conferences in Sydney, London and Singapore to help facilitate the connections between companies and the 33K investors we have on the platform.
Back in Brazil, I have worked with startups since I was 18, from FinTechs and small e-commerces to Mercado Livre – the biggest marketplace in Latin America.
Currently, I’m learning more about community and events to bring even more value to the startups I engage with.
2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I normally wake up between 5:30 – 6:00 am. If I sleep more than this, I feel I’m missing out on life! hahaha
After that, I try to move my body – either going to yoga, gym or boxing; Then, while I get ready to work, I call my family (typical Brazilian haha).
Today I came to the office, but most of the days I work from home.
Normally I have around 4 to 5 meetings a day and when I’m in the office, I always have lunch with my colleagues. I feel so energised after that.
After work, I normally catch up with friends or have some me-time and normally ready/study a bit before sleep.
When working from home, I make sure to do something/get out of the house BEFORE and AFTER work to let my brain switch off work.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
It does! And it was one of the questions I asked during the interviews. For me, it’s super important to have this flexibility, and honestly I don’t understand why companies would say no to that.
If your employee is not being productive at home there’s either something wrong with their leader or the employee is simply not right for the role.
We are all adults, we know what we have to do and the goals we have to achieve – if I can do it in a way that allows me to enjoy my routine, go for a walk in the middle of the day or have lunch with friends occasionally, why not?
However, I do love going to the office a couple of times a week and seeing my colleagues, it’s always good fun.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I believe more in work-life integration. Work is part of my life (and a part that I love!) and whenever I feel inspired I just open my laptop or get some notes on Notion. In the same way, on weekdays that I’m not as inspired, it’s better to go for a walk or chat with a friend to clear up my mind before doing any work.
The secret sauce is to be 100% present in whatever you’re doing at the moment – on or off work.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
Yes! My team leader (hi Sam!) taught me to train my brain to do hard things. As an example, I REALLY DON’T LIKE RUNNING. People say after a while you start enjoying it.. oh well, it just didn’t happen for me yet haha. However, I’m still doing it because I feel it’s important to do something hard every day, instead of just focusing on what’s easy or more pleasant. So whenever I feel lazy, unfocused and can’t work – I do something hard.
Also for the last 5 years I have set annual goals and broken them down into small achievable weekly/monthly goals. Every Sunday I reflect on them and plan again the week ahead. It makes the process so exciting.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Books: Atomic Habits (changed my life), Contagious, The Lean Startup (classic) and the psychology of money.
Podcasts: My first million, She’s on the money, What the flux and The Huberman Lab
Newsletter: I love Justin Welsh’s (as I started posting on LinkedIn 5 times a week) and Lenny’s Newsletter (great tips for product managers and startups)
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Notion – every course I do, every book I read I add the notes there
Buffer – is making posting content every day much easier.
Trello – I use it every day to manage my Pipeline, and make notes related to each client or project I’m dealing with. You can also set reminders to when a task should be completed or when to follow up with that client.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Nubia Mota – Head of DX enterprise marketing at Adobe
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Life should be exciting. You should always feel excited to accomplish something, both in your career and personal life. If on Sunday you’re not looking forward to the week ahead, something has to change.
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