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Balancing the Grind with Rami Loutfi, Chief Corporate Development Officer for GhostDrive

Rami Loutfi is the Chief Corporate Development Officer for GhostDrive, a company decentralising data storage, enabling secure collaboration, and ensuring data privacy with Web3.0 blockchain solutions.

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Let’s start with your background! Can you share with us your career journey and what you’re currently up to?

I’m the Chief Corporate Development Officer for GhostDrive. We innovate on disruptive technology to bridge the gap between the data storage industry and digital assets tokenization. We provide a secure and decentralised way of storing and transferring data, as well as a system for creating and managing data on Web3. Your Data. Your Rules. Your Privacy.

Today, we operate out of UAE and USA with plans to expand operations to Singapore and other parts of the world in the very near future

My background is 16+ years of experience in Human Resources, Operations and Corporate Development where I’ve managed multiple business set-ups, mergers & acquisitions and helped startups put the right structure in place

We’d love to know what a typical day is like for you. Could you describe a recent workday?

I usually wake up around 6:30 am and have my coffee before anything else. I then spend about 20 minutes doing some home exercises and stretches before getting into my emails, telegram and WhatsApp messages as I work with different time zones from Miami, Dubai and Bali, so a lot of emails and messages come in while I’m sleeping.

Around 8 am the grind starts and I get to my meetings. For me, work doesn’t really stop but I aim to not attend anymore meetings after 7 pm unless it’s an investor meeting. After that I take my girlfriend out for a nice dinner or I catch up with friends. Bedtime for me is usually around midnight as I don’t need more than 6 hours of sleep.

Can you define work-life balance for yourself and share with us your approach in maintaining it?

Since GhostDrive is currently in start-up mode, sometimes finding the balance can be quite difficult especially when you work with different time zones, however I need to remind myself that I need the energy to manage the next day – easier said than done! I learned to train my brain to switch off occasionally and surround myself with positivity. 

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Change is constant, and it’s essential for growth. Have you made any lifestyle changes in the past year to improve your work-life balance?

I’ve made the decision to eliminate anything around me that produces negativity, I made sure I never skip the 20 minutes exercise and I stopped checking my phone as soon as I woke up.

We’re always on the lookout for new resources! Can you recommend any books, podcasts, or newsletters that have helped you in your journey towards balance?

I’m honestly not a big fan of podcasts and newsletters, I’m a bit old school when it comes to that. My favourite book is The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. This book helps you explore the principles and strategies of power and manipulation (in a good way).

Before we wrap up, do you have any final words of wisdom or insights on work, life, or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

Honestly, you’re in charge of your own time! No one else is. If you want to achieve greatness, and are capable of balancing your work with life – then you’ve cracked the code. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error and learning when to say no. It’s not a one size fits all – figure out what works for you and do it. Oh! And don’t burn out!

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About Author

Hey there! I'm Hao, the Editor-in-Chief at Balance the Grind. We’re on a mission to showcase healthy work-life balance through interesting stories from people all over the world, in different careers and lifestyles.