Samuel Samhan is the Chief Financial Officer at Digital Wellness, a digital health platform powers brands such the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet in Australia and the Mayo Clinic Diet in the US.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I am the Chief Financial Officer at Digital Wellness, a Health Tech company that powers the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet and The Mayo Clinic Diet on its Digital Health Platform.
We empower people to live a healthier life by putting science into action. It’s super exciting to be part of the growth journey of an up and coming Australian company that is true to its mission. Focusing on growth and strategy, fostering talent, and empowerment are the drivers that I enjoy most about my role.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I am a get-up and go kind of guy. My alarm kicks in at 5:30am most days. I am not a snoozer; you’ll find me on my bike or out for a run about three days a week, and early behind my computer screen on the other days.
I’ll have a glass of water as soon as I wake up and have my coffee on the go. On office days with early starts, I like to dedicate 10-15 minutes of calm for a quick meditation session to start my busy day.
I kick off my day by listing the must-do and good to do tasks, check my calendar and what I have on, attend to important emails and then the fun starts with lots of meetings, 1 on 1s, projects status updates and the like.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
My current role is very flexible, work from the office or work from the moon. We have some strong company culture revolving around our values of care, inspiring hope and getting it done – we do get things done wherever we are. Personally I can work from anywhere, but I have to admit I prefer being an office man. I do like that segregation between home and workplace.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I like to think of myself as super efficient and aim for a good grip on my time allocation to family, my own health and wellbeing needs and work.
Getting the balance right can be challenging, and at times it’s not all balanced out perfectly. However, it evens out – when there is a deadline at work, some other things can wait, but also when I need time to myself or family I make work wait too.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
There is a personal, silver lining to the pandemic. In my previous role before joining Digital Wellness, I averaged 183 days a year of work travel.
In the past year or two I’ve been able to spend more time with my little ones, doing daycare pickups, preparing dinner together and a day off here and there to spend more time with them.
I treasure the time, and I am publicly very sorry for my wife for being away for that long in the three years pre-pandemic!
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
If you have a look at my books or audiobooks list, you’ll find a mix of Malcolm Gladwell, biographies or business and leadership books.
The last good book I read was Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson. When it comes to podcasts, I love listening toHow I Built This by Guy Raz or Lovable by Kelly Flanagan.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Wow, so many! My Garmin sports watch, my Trek road bike, my Blinkist App, Strava, Excel, and probably Dropbox.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Barack Obama, but I read his last book A Promised Land, already!
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Make it happen before it’s too late. Define what’s needed to give you that balance and make it non-negotiable. Think of your health and wellbeing, prioritise your family and health, and make time for the important things in life.
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