My day typically starts around 06.30am with my 2 little boys coming into my bedroom and climbing up on to my bed.  It’s the perfect start to the day.  They’ll usually ask me to answer questions that must have been troubling them through the night.  Like “who is strongest – Iron Man or The Hulk?” or “who would win in a fight – a T-Rex or a Megalodon?”.  I answer these questions convincingly and then I’ll get the boys organised with a drink and some breakfast.  If I’m feeling particularly energetic, I’ll try to do a 30 min work out…more often than not however I usually just head into the kitchen for my first (of several) coffees of the day.

I’ll boot my laptop up and see what has arrived in my Inbox since the previous evening and mentally start preparing for the day ahead .

Pre Covid-19, I would have taken my little boys to school and arrived in the office around 9am.  Currently we are working from home and so I occupy the dining room whilst my little boys play in another room.  (my husband got in first with the home office).  I have to say the kids have been quite remarkable at how they have readily adapted to their new environment and to not seeing their school friends every day.  I think we can learn from their resilience.  I think YouTube also helps!  ?

My days are typically filled with a series of Management Meetings, customer engagements, responding to emails and ‘reflection time’.  I am aware of how it easy it is to get consumed with operational matters every day so I try to schedule time regularly to think strategically – even if is just over a sandwich at lunchtime.  MSIP is a very fast-paced environment – we’re essentially a start-up company (with heavy-weight shareholders!) and so my ToDo list, like the rest of the Management Team’s, is usually very long – but thrilling.  I love being part of an eclectic Team – one that has been formed with members from Michelin, one of the world’s most successful manufacturing companies of 130+ years, Scottish Enterprise – a large, government agency and Dundee City Council, a forward-thinking Local Authority.  I love how we are ‘taking’ the best parts of each of our respective organisations to create our own ‘MSIP culture’.

I try to log off by 5pm (it’s a long day for the kids as well as me) but like so many of us, it’s difficult to always do that.  I do try to avoid working in to the evenings to protect ‘family time’ but sometimes, some things simply can’t wait until tomorrow.

I wander into the kitchen and try to think of what I can make for dinner that’s relatively straightforward, at least semi-nutritious and that I have all the ingredients for.  I often find this the biggest challenge of my day!

After dinner, boys’ bedtime routine and some chill time with my husband, I’ll drift off into sleep thinking….I hope I got the Iron Man v The Hulk question right.