What does your usual day look like?

The morning sun wakes me naturally around 7am, and I start my day by tending to my garden, letting the fresh air and bird song clear my mind for the day ahead. In the summer, we take our breakfast outside in the morning sun and discuss current events over a cup of coffee while reading the FT [Financial Times]. It’s a small habit that keeps us in sync with the wider world while we work from home, and also helps inform any investments or travel plans. 

A little before nine, we usually go to our separate home offices to start our work days. My office is a calm and bright space, with a large window that lets in plenty of natural light while I work. To stay on top of how the business is performing, I start each day by reviewing sales dashboards. Once a week I do a deeper dive into our marketing campaigns, and make changes to the campaigns or our ad strategy based on the data. Sometimes, the data reveals unexpected business opportunities. 

The rest of my day is shaped by where I am in the publishing cycle. When I’m writing an Italian book, I hit play on my Italian instrumental Spotify playlist and the room fills with classics as I get into focus mode and spend the rest of the day writing. As the book gets closer to the finish line, I shift into launch mode. The cover design gets finalised, and proofreaders review and edit the manuscript. The sales and marketing hat goes on, and I cross-check any marketing copy against what people actually search for, so the book is easy for them to find. After the cover and marketing copy is ready, I reach out to bookshops to tell them about the upcoming launch, or to let them know the book is now available for order and who the expected audience is.

Taking a break is important for mental and physical health, so I always find time for this. Often, the best ideas come when I’m out for a walk or at the gym – that’s how I got the idea for our in-house book formatting software for instance! I always do a proper sit-down lunch away from my desk, regardless of how busy a day might be, as the mental break leads to higher productivity in the afternoon.

Meals are always a highlight in our household, as my husband is a passionate hobby chef who loves trying out new techniques and cuisines. If we’re not out with friends in the evening, he usually cooks us a delicious meal, and I do the dishes. Over dinner, we’ll discuss our days, swap good ideas, and plan any upcoming trips. After dinner, we go for a walk, or watch Netflix while I knit.My days are a balance of freedom and structure to ensure things get done. Running your own business means wearing a lot of hats in the beginning, but it also allows you to design the life you want to live. 

What are the things you like the most about your job?

Running your own company truly has unlimited upside. If done right, the blend of innovation and work that is put in directly creates growth for the business. It’s extremely rewarding to see the month on month growth.

What are some of the skills you utilise the most in your day-to-day?

My days are a blend of creative writing and tech-enabled business tasks. With my experience from tech and entrepreneurship, running ad campaigns for our target countries comes as easy as doing the face-to-face sales some bookshops require. My tech and design background also come in handy when creating our publisher and author websites, and building our proprietary, in-house book formatting software.

What was one of your happiest days in your career and why?

Seeing my debut novel stocked in Daunt Books in Marylebone, which is an iconic London bookshop, was a dream come true. Having my second book stocked there as well, was beyond my wildest imaginations (and being a writer, my imagination is pretty wild!) Second to this was my debut novel selling out in Norway before the book even hit the shelves!

What has been your greatest challenge on your career path and how did you overcome it?

In the modern career world, our imagination and can-do attitude really is the only thing standing between ourselves and whatever dream job we desire. At no other point in history have we been as free to choose what we want to do, but this double edged sword can also easily lead us to question if we are working on the right thing, or are on the right career path – especially those more entrepreneurially inclined. I’ve tried many different sectors and flavours of tech roles in my career, and the most important takeaway is to persist through the phases where it feels like you’re plateauing or you’re hitting a wall; it’s when we break through these that we unlock the next level of personal growth.

What is something you had to learn to become better at your job?

No job is a solitary island, they all require a village to succeed. This is as true for working in large corporations, as when you’re writing a book. A book requires input from great designers, editors, quality proofreaders, people with marketing know-how, and relationships with bookshops who want to stock your book. The most successful authors also create a community for their fans, and connect with them on social media and through signing events. By coming together to create something, we achieve greater results than we would on our own.

How did you get to become an author?

I had the inspiration for my debut novel, Seconda Casa, when I was relaxing in my holiday home in Italy after leaving my job at Amazon Rufus. I started playing around with some early ideas, but didn’t truly start writing until a few months later when I got stuck on the couch with an ankle injury. It felt like the universe was telling me I better start writing that book, so I found my laptop and finished my first book by the time my ankle was healed enough to get up and start moving around again a couple of months later. My second book, Easy Holiday Italian, really came from my product management habit of talking to customers and using their feedback to improve products. I had several people tell me their Italian wasn’t good enough to understand the full Seconda Casa story, so I wrote Easy Holiday Italian especially for them – a story that anyone could enjoy and learn some Italian from, written specifically for people who are going on holiday to Italy.

What are the top three pieces of advice you would give to other women aiming to achieve long-term success in their careers?

Often I have women say “Oh I wish I was creative like you and bold enough to do my own thing”. To you I say, you are! If there is something that interests you, follow that passion and do a little bit every day. Just a 1% improvement compounds to a meaningful change over time, even if it is just for your side project. Starting with a problem you have yourself is a good way to fix an issue at least one person has, but do ensure your speak to others to validate that more people have this issue, so you’re addressing a big enough market. Everyone is happy to speak to someone who is friendly, so being helpful and nice will take you far.

Professional networking for women matters because…

When women support women, we can lift each other to the heights where we run companies and fill leadership positions. We need to come together for fun social events outside of work to network and spend our time talking shop, like men are.