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Susanna Simpson on living in Limelight

My day

6:00am: Alarm goes off, shower, cup of tea and get ready whilst listening to Radio 4.

7:00am: Drive to the station in rural Buckinghamshire for the next stage of my morning ritual. Second cup of tea and a blissful hour in the quiet coach as the train trundles to Marylebone. This hour really sets up the day for me as I set up my mini office on my lap consisting of iPad mini, traditional moleskin notebook and more tea. During this time I clear outstanding emails, scan social media and speed read The Times Online (if that is possible) to check for key stories relevant to our clients. I also get through any reading or approving of work I need to do.

8:30am: Arrive at Limelight’s office on London’s Oxford Street and catch up and compare to do lists with my PA Georgia.

9:00am: “Crucial Results” Monday morning team meeting. We all quickly share three good things from the week prior (to eliminate any Monday-morning blues) and three priorities tasks for the week ahead. We all set our own targets for the week, me included. Sharing them in the meeting creates great team communication and helps us to support one another by knowing what is important.

9:20am: New Business pipeline meeting – meet with one of our senior consultants and my assistant to run through our hot new business pipeline and what’s been happening to decide what targets and actions need to happen for the week. I love the accountability of this; it really helps me get things done.

9:50am: Quick catch up on any emails and diary invites that have come in.

10:00am: Client brainstorm with Ian, Limelight’s head of client services. This is one of my favourite meetings as it has no limitations. We work together to come up with proactive new ideas to get our clients out there.

11:00am: Time at my desk diligently following up new business conversations that came out of the earlier meeting. My head is buzzing with ideas!

12:00pm: Enjoy an energising walk through busy Soho and pick up lunch at Itsu. I’m a religious follower of the 5:2 diet and now fast (500 calories only) for one 24-hour period a week as a lifestyle choice.

12:30pm: Eat my sushi whilst surfing the latest news or reading a couple of the mountains of articles I’m interested in.

1:00pm: Team brainstorm to generate final ideas and commercials for an exciting new prospect ahead of a meeting with them, from which we hope to secure the business.

2:00pm: Meet with senior consultant Matt to chat through how our new website design is coming on. We agree a great plan for getting things done. This project can drag so we make mountains into molehills and agree to do one task each every day for the rest of the week. Watch this space! 

2:30pm: Conference call with James, the managing director of our Dubai office; Limelight Middle East. During this we discuss the latest financial results, new business and clients, as well as my forthcoming trip out there and what the itinerary will be.

3:30pm: Party planning meeting with the marketing team. We love connecting people so throw a couple of parties at our London office each year. We plan out initial thoughts and actions for our summer party.

4:00pm: Enjoy a brisk stroll through Charlotte Street and Tottenham Court Road for another new business meeting with the partners of a company who are interested in Limelight raising their awareness and profile. This is a great meeting and we get on really well culminating in our meeting moving on to drinks at The Berners Tavern at The London Edition. I enjoy a Hendricks and Tonic as the fasting 24 hours is over now. What a nice way to do business.

6:00pm: Grab a copy of London Evening Standard to read whilst I take a cab over to Home House where I’m having dinner and a catch up with the CEO of one of our clients. I love this part of my role and the CEO shares all his expansion plans with me as we brainstorm ideas to make it happen.

9:00pm: Back to Marylebone for the train home. Clear down emails again and spend half an hour on LinkedIn, connecting and following up with people I have met. I then enjoy the first chapter of Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation. I’ve highlighted five things before the end of the first chapter. This is going to be a good one. I get so many ideas and inspiration from books like this and rarely read fiction.

10:30pm: Catch up with my husband about our days and then enjoy an episode of Breaking Bad together. Amazing series!

11:15pm: I upload pictures and record moments from my day that made me happy into my account on the app “Happier“. This guarantees a good night’s sleep and a life free from worry. A must for anyone!

Susanna Simpson, managing director, Limelight

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