Ronan Finnegan is the co-founder at SpaceBands, a global market leader in workplace safety wearable technology.

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

 I’m an entrepreneur with a varied business background:

• Sectors – electronics, software, wearable tech, wearable products
• Media: BBC, Sky, ITV, Daily Mirror, The Sun, Hello! Magazine, Apple News
• Achievements: TEDx Speaker, TalkTalk’s Digital Fundraising Hero, TopTrumps Inventor Card
• Focus: marketing (digital: social/PPC/SEO), product development, software development, operations

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

 To be honest, now that the business is up and running, I spend most of my days on video calls, managing our internal teams, working through business development contacts and speaking with investors. If we go back in time, my hours used to be spent completing all of the work myself, however, now my time seems to be spent on calls!

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

 We have always had a remote working focus at SpaceBands. As we were born in the pandemic, we never had a formal office. We have office space that we can use, within our incubator, but nevertheless, we spend most of our days on our laptops at home. Working for a startup often means that days are 12-14 hours frequently, and we are no different, but I always try to go out for a walk at least once a day!

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

 For me, my work ethic means that work-life balance is hard to achieve sometimes, it’s hard to switch off when there are so many moving parts whilst growing a business. I work 7 days a week, but still ensure that I get some sort of exercise each day to keep my mind sane!

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

 I’ve started ensuring that I’m always asking for help. I used to back myself and my ability until I would succeed, the past 12 months have taught me the value of asking others who have been in the space before you – it’s enabled me to find many shortcuts and efficiencies within business.

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

 My favourite book is How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Podcast: Limitless by Josh Patterson. Newsletters: Bad Unicorn (for inspiring bad ideas)

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

 eBay. If I can buy something second hand, I always will!

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

 Elon Musk – the man is always managing more than one company at once.

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

Defining key working hours is a hugely beneficial task but increasingly hard to stick to once workload increases.

I think it’s important to surround yourself with people who work as hard as you and can help with your tasks when it all gets too much. Without the support of the SpaceBands team I would have lost the ability to sleep by now – working 20 hours days would not be fun!

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