Paul Bacanu is the APAC Channel Marketing Manager at Dropbox, where he is responsible for building marketing campaigns targeting the Asia Pacific region.

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

I started on the agency side many years ago when I joined a boutique marketing agency in Sydney before I eventually moved to the client side.

I think this was a natural progression because I knew client side was going to allow me to build my career much further. After working for a few tech companies like Dell and Autodesk I got to align two of my life passions, technology and marketing.

Dropbox allows me to do just that, every day I build marketing campaigns for a technology company empowering millions across the Asia Pacific region.

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

My day starts with a coffee and a plan for the day, despite all the technology around me I still rely on my trusty pen and paper every time. After building my plan for the day I generally go into a few morning meetings separated by gaps where I do my actual work.

This includes planning, budgeting, analysing and creative work. I am one of those marketers that likes to get their hands dirty and actually build some of my own landing pages or emails myself.

I love that, it’s that pleasure of standing next to a sculpture that your hands build and admire it in its full splendour.

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

Yes, we’ve been working from home since the pandemic started, I like it because I get to have those micro breaks to check on my newborns instead of chit chatting by the coffee machine in the office.

I do miss going to the office, the socialising, the people and even the commute. The commute was my micro break where I could just disconnect for 30 min and watch the Harbour Bridge wizz by or do some mindless social media browsing.

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

Before having kids, the life part was all about adventure with my wife and motorbikes, 4×4, extreme sports, car build projects etc. but now my kids are my sunshine and I spend all the time I can with them.

It’s something beautiful about being a parent that words simply can’t describe. The work part is great because as mentioned earlier allows me to work from home meaning I get to steal a smile off my babies face more often.

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

Haha, all adventurous routines have stopped but at the same time my parenthood adventure started, which I think it’s even more rewarding and exciting.

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

A lot of people are surprised when I tell them this but I’m actually a massive astrophysics geek and I would definitely recommend following: Elon Musk, SpaceX, NASA, JPL on Twitter, Tim Dodd’s The Everyday Astronaut and Real Engineering on YouTube plus the audiobooks from The Great Courses collection found on Audible.

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

My Samsung smartphone and my wireless Sennheiser headphones are practically glued to me 24/7 as well as my Suunto 9 Baro watch which I love because it reminds me that one day when my kids are going to be old enough I will restart my adventure life once again.

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

I would love to hear more from Tony Robbins, is he still around? I remember listening to his first Personal Power tapes, yes, tapes. I literally realised I am THAT old haha!

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

Live fast, do what you are passionate about, no compromises and remember to not be afraid to fail. Equally important is to take care of yourself because in the end work or a business is just a mechanism of turning your priceless time into money and if you die tomorrow no amount of money will replace your mom’s son/daughter.

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