The (slightly insane) morning routines of these top professionals 35 and under
Whether morning means 3:30 a.m. or 11:59 a.m., members of the 2016 Next Wave list know how to supercharge the start to their day, getting their minds and bodies ready to take on the world in sometimes unconventional ways.
We checked in with a dozen of the highest achievers 35 and under to learn more about their morning rituals. Some common themes stood out: the importance of meditation, consistency and—strangely enough—avocado toast.
“One of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever received is protect mornings as one’s own time,” said Jase Wilson, CEO of San Francisco-based Neighborly, aiming to reinvent municipal investing.
Learn more about his routine, and the frighteningly early rituals of several of the other Next Wavers, below.
Daniel Lippman, the co-author of Politico Playbook, wakes up at 3:30 a.m. to start writing. Then, it's breakfast, schmoozing and source-building at the Four Seasons.
The most surprising thing about Lippman’s morning routine is not that he gets up at 3:30 a.m., but that he can do it without setting an alarm clock or drinking coffee. The 26-year-old reporter said he doesn’t need either, since he has a lot of energy and loves what he does.
He spends the first three or four hours scouring the internet and top news sites for content for the free newsletter that goes out to all POLITICO subscribers at 7:30 a.m.
“The early mornings that I spend writing my part of Playbook are really fun, and it feels very good to produce a newsletter that our subscribers love,” Lippman said.
Lippman waits until after the newsletter publishes to get breakfast, which he often enjoys at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown while meeting a news source or a friend. His mornings also often include a TV interview about U.S. politics on MSNBC, CNN International or Canadian and Australian networks.
Scenes from his morning:
"Working on Playbook at 5:03 a.m."
"Doing a TV hit for Canadian news channel CTV; the interview was about post-VP debate reaction."
"Breakfast at the Four Seasons in Georgetown."
Dr. Loren Robinson, the deputy secretary for health promotion and disease prevention at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, puts up with a two-hour commute. Spicy banana peppers keep her going.
Robinson works two jobs — the state gig during the week and another in a hospital on weekends — so she allows herself at least one snooze on weekday mornings. Still, she’s up by 5:30 to dress and calls an Uber by 5:59 in order to catch the 6:25 train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Penn., the state capitol.
Once the 35-year-old gets on the train, she has two hours to herself to prepare for the day.
“On the train, I usually spend an hour doing work and catching up on emails, 30 minutes to read the news and check social media, and then 30 minutes of light dozing,” she said.
Getting a chance to jumpstart her work day on the train helps her smoothly transition into the workday, and the short nap helps make up for the fact that on the weekends, she works her second job in a hospital emergency department.
Scenes from her morning:
"Work phone, work bag, laptop case: Amtrak commute to Harrisburg."
"I usually have some type of speaking engagement in Harrisburg (this was for breast cancer awareness; they dyed the fountain pink!)."
"Banana peppers: morning snack."
Jessica Foust, the chef who helped launch round-the-clock breakfast at McDonald's, exercises and orders extra egg whites.
Next Wave 2016: Food & Leisure
As a chef and registered dietitian, Foust knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As director of culinary innovation at McDonald’s, she helped launch all-day breakfast, the No. 1 most-requested menu change at the fast-food giant.
Her mornings, which start at 5 a.m. with a workout, often include stopping by McDonald’s for an Egg White Delight with an extra egg white for more protein and a coffee, served black.
After working out, Foust wakes up her French bulldog, Coney, and checks her LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram while Coney does his business. On weekends, Foust makes up for not always being able to prepare a full breakfast by cooking an elaborate spread, with anything from whole-grain waffles or beer pancakes to frittatas and eggs benedict.
“I usually wake up on Saturday and Sunday mornings with a list of things I just have to cook,” Foust said. “I prep extra of items that store well in the freezer to ensure my husband and I have great wholesome options on hand to get us through the busiest of weeks.”
Scenes from her mornings:
"Coney (#Frenchie #ProfessionalSleeper & #MasterOfTheHouse) inspects the garden and guards it against the neighborhood critters."
"I get to prepare a more elaborate breakfast on weekends."
"I post pictures of my garden to my social media accounts in the mornings."
Grady Gamble, the COO and CFO for Adaptive Studios, listens to audiobooks and podcasts while trapped in Los Angeles gridlock. Then, it's a '$20,000 coffee' at the hipster joint next door.
Grady Gamble’s hour-long morning commute to his L.A.-area office means he sees a lot more brake lights than waves outside his South Bay home before work. But the 32-year-old said podcasts and audiobooks have been a game changer, making him now look forward to his drive.
His mornings usually start around 5:30 a.m. so that he can spend a few minutes with his 2-year-old daughter before getting into work to spend an hour catching up on news and emails before the rest of the team arrives. He has learned to prioritize his limited morning time to focus on what matters, allowing room for one guilty pleasure.
“I used to run or swim in the morning, but now prefer to spend the time with my wife and kid, which is great because I hate running anyway,” he said. “My real guilty pleasure is the twenty thousand dollar coffee (I'm being facetious, but still) I get from the super hipster coffee bar that just opened directly next to my office. It's impossible to not partake when it's that close.”
Scenes from his mornings:
"This is where I plan to go on a run/swim every morning but never actually do it."
"Instead, I sit in this for an hour."
"And then I get coffee at the place next door which is way too hip for me but its f&$^ing delicious."
Mark Luckie, the head of media and journalism at Reddit, spends up to 30 minutes deciding what to wear. It's worth it, he says.
Luckie, 33, makes sure to leave time for two priorities in his morning routine: a 32-minute meditation session and time to pick out the outfit of the day.
“I take what I wear very seriously, so sometimes it takes up to an additional 20 to 30 minutes to put together an outfit,” Luckie said. “How I dress dictates my mood and vice versa so the time is totally worth it.”
Luckie said his meditation practice helps him plan for the day and solve problems he may be facing. It also provides great ideas, so he keeps a notebook by his bed to jot them down.
While drinking a glass of juice — he rarely eats breakfast — Luckie catches up on the morning news by scanning Twitter, Reddit and trending bot sites like Latest.is and Nieman Lab Fuego.
Scenes from his morning:
Meditating for 32 minutes. ("Because of scheduling, I tend to live my life in 30 minute increments; 32 minutes reminds me to shake things up a little and squeeze in an extra idea or two.")
"Ideas often come to me while meditating, so I keep a notepad nearby."
"Drinking juice with my morning news. "
Kevin Lavelle runs the men's fashion company Mizzen + Main with his wife (and dogs). So, yes, they also all start the day together.
Lavelle eats the same thing for breakfast every day — scrambled eggs with veggies, bacon, fruit, orange juice and coffee — to simplify the start of his day with one less decision.
Since he and wife, Jen, run the company together, they usually cook breakfast together and watch MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Kevin, 30, typically gets up at 5:30 a.m. in order to make it to his CrossFit gym by 6 a.m. Jen typically joins him, but is taking a hiatus from morning workouts for the duration of her pregnancy.
Not only do the Lavelles get to work together, they also load up their dogs and bring them to work.
Scenes from his morning:
"Making breakfast with 'Morning Joe' on."
"Getting the dogs in the car on the way to work."
"The dogs often join us for a morning meeting."
Christine Mi, the Snapchat artist and star, gets her best work done overnight. So, during the east coast morning, she's still in bed.
Next Wave 2016: Marketing & Social
A stickler for semantics might find fault with Mi’s description of her typical morning, since it doesn’t start until around noon. The 22-year-old night owl finds that her most productive hours are after midnight, and often goes to bed just before sunrise.
She said she’s lucky to live on the east coast but work for mostly west coast clients, who are often just getting to work when she’s waking up.
After feeding her cat, she cobbles together a brunch that usually features poached eggs and avocados, then she sets out in search of a new office for the day where she helps her clients tell fun and artistic stories on Snapchat through her company, Miologie. She uses an app called CUPS to prepay for coffee and find a coffee shop with an environment conducive to a long day of productivity.
“Most of the coffeeshops on the app are small and local, and it's a really great tool for finding new spots that I would otherwise overlook,” Mi said.
Scenes from her morning:
"As a Snapchat artist, I illustrated my morning routine, including feeding Muji the Cat."
"Breakfast usually involves avocados and poached eggs."
"Then I set out on the hunt for a new coffee shop."
Emily Miller, the co-founder of Rumi Spice, needs to connect with her team in Afghanistan. That can mean early Chicago mornings.
Miller, 30, starts her workday around 7:30 a.m. in a small food business incubator in the Back of the Yards district in Chicago. The business she co-founded and runs, Rumi Spice, connects Afghan saffron farmers directly to chefs in the U.S. and around the world.
Since that means working with farmers on the other side of the world, Miller’s mornings usually involve a quick call with the manager on the ground in Afghanistan, Shakoor Ehrarri, as he wraps up his workday. Miller said she also usually checks in with Mohammad, a team member and a refugee from central Afghanistan, who performs the final quality check before the saffron moves into testing and then packaging.
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, mostly because it's so labor-intensive to harvest and purify. Even after the saffron is shipped to the plant in Chicago, it requires someone like Mohammad to sift through thousands of precious threads to remove impurities or remaining particles from the flower.
“It's a tedious job that requires patience and a careful eye,” Miller said.
After her morning check-ins, Miller said the rest of the day is varied.
“The thing I love about being an entrepreneur is that no day looks the same,” Miller said. “It's always a new adventure and challenge when I wake up.”
Scenes from her morning:
"Rumi Spice operates out of a small food business incubator in the Back of the Yards district in Chicago, where companies used to process and pack most of the country’s meat supply."
"Team member Mohammad sifts through saffron looking for any impurities."
"Packaged saffron sits ready for distribution."
Benita Singh, the CEO and co-founder of Le Souk, runs 5 miles around Central Park — all while pushing a stroller.
Benita Singh’s alarm clock is a 1-year-old girl named Alina who loves early morning Michael Jackson dance parties. Singh said Alina wakes up at 5:30 a.m. on the dot each morning, and Singh treasures the two-and-a-half hours she gets to spend with her before the workday begins. Around 7 a.m., she takes Alina for a mind-clarifying walk or run in Central Park.
“Running 5 miles around the park while pushing a jogging stroller really makes you feel like you can do anything,” Singh said.
After her run, 34-year-old Singh transforms into a multi-tasking maven: buying a matcha latte from a vendor in the park so she can sip it while pushing Alina on the swings and often fielding a work call from team members in Europe or a supplier in India. When her nanny arrives around 8 a.m., Singh jumps onto a few more calls to maximize the overlap between her work day and her overseas suppliers while she eats a breakfast of avocado toast and a hard-boiled egg.
“The days can get busy, and sometimes lunch might not happen ‘til 3 or later, so I do enjoy my breakfasts,” she said.
Then around 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m., Singh finally heads into the office after a productive morning.
Scenes from her morning:
"Central Park in the morning."
"Taking our baby out for a morning walk / run."
"My 'home office' where I do some calls with our suppliers in Europe before heading into the office."
Jase Wilson, the CEO of Neighborly, wakes at 4 a.m. and lets a guided meditation lull him back to sleep.
Wilson’s morning routine involves a mindful variation on the snooze button.
At 4 a.m. on weekdays, he wakes up using a guided meditation and lets himself fall asleep listening to the words. Then as he wakes up for real, he turns his attention to making a series of affirmations — listing the things he is thankful for and the things he plans to manifest that day.
That routine helps calm, center and set his intention for the day, Wilson said. Add in a morning workout by 5 a.m., usually Insanity or a run, and Wilson gets to his office at Neighborly at 7 a.m.
The 34-year-old CEO eats avocado toast with his girlfriend, and then enjoys a few hours of clear, focused mental energy thanks to his disciplined morning.
Scenes from his morning:
"A typical sunrise from my rooftop."
"Avocado toast for breakfast."
"Enjoying breakfast with Thea, my girlfriend."
Sarah Guo, an investor at Greylock Partners, gets up at 4:30 a.m.— packing plenty in before she even reaches the office.
Sarah Guo packs in two and a half hours of mental and physical exercise before she gets to work at 7 a.m.
As an investor at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, Guo relies on her morning routine to get her mind and body warmed up for the day. She wakes up by 4:30 a.m., drinks coffee and hits the gym by 5 a.m., alternating between biking, boxing and crossfit.
After working out, the 27-year-old showers and eats breakfast and gets caught up on all of her social media, checking Twitter, Snapchat, email, texts and Slack.
Then, the rest of her day begins.
See more of LinkedIn's Next Wave list here.
Broadcast Media Professional
8 年the top picture were it shows a dog sitting next to a man eating its breckfast, untill it stops to look at its picture being taken. how did it manage to use the fork?the coffee would not have been good for its health www.energyfiend.com can fill you on the harmfull effects of caffeine.
Award-Winning Talent Acquisition Director & Executive Recruiter ?? 954-612-0567 (C) | 25+ Years in Elevating Career Paths | Resume Writer, Career Consultant & Columnist | K's of Testimonials
8 年I would love to know what time they go to bed! Inspirational!
Consultant | Executive Coach | Wellness Strategist | Mindset Mastery Expert | Empowering High-Achieving Professionals to Optimize Health, Boost Performance & Drive Productivity Without Burnout
8 年Rituals are important .... it keeps some level of sanity...
Group Account Director & Marketers Best Friend at Right on the Line (She/Her)
8 年I love how early they all get up but what time are they heading to bed? I'm so curious!
Hoarding Specialist| Clinical Social Worker | Owner| Entrepreneur| Presenter| Trainer|
8 年I loved this piece. It was concise and the visuals from each person was really engaging.