By Valeria Kalinova
Zuzana Kudelova, Czech Republic, VP New Business and Growth at GetApp
Zuz was born in the Czech Republic, but has lived and studied in several different countries. She joined GetApp in 2014 when it was a fresh startup. The company was acquired by American firm Gartner in 2015 and the journey since then has been quite incredible. Previously, Zuz worked in sales in the oil and gas industry in Norway and managed a small web and software development agency in London.
7.30AM I start every weekday morning with a short HIIT exercise followed by a few yoga stretches—this fuels my day. I attempt to have a cold shower to help build up my immune system but this is really hard for me; nothing that happens during my day can be quite as bad. I check my inbox and deal with anything urgent: the business spans across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but the extended team is in the US. I don’t eat because I am doing intermittent fasting, but I refill my water bottle and set off for the office. I drive there, so I’ll indulge in an hour of podcasts.
9.30AM I reach the office and go back to my inbox to set priorities, see if I need to pull any data, get tech resources or set any other tasks in motion so that I can have them ready for the afternoon. I have one-to-one meetings with my team and tackle any questions they might have or brainstorm solutions to clients’ problems.
1PM I break for lunch, run errands and walk as much as I can. I have a stand-up desk but I sit for several hours in meeting rooms during the day. I devour a delicious salad with some berries.
2PM I get through as many client-facing calls as I can so that I don’t lose touch with our customers and can keep providing valid advice to my team and input on our product. I run through a couple of strategic meetings with colleagues in the US, discussing backend developments, product improvements and sales. I check a few data points to make sure sales and current customers are on track. I review my priorities for this week and re-prioritise if necessary. I spend a few minutes browsing on LinkedIn looking for great talent to join us at GetApp.
7.30PM I buy some organic groceries and drive home. I catch up with family and friends spread over different time zones on the phone. Some nights, I pop out for dinner with a friend in the city centre.
8.30PM I go home and try to squeeze in a power walk, ideally with my partner. If it’s my partner’s turn to prepare dinner, I hang out and spend a few minutes practising piano and slowing down. We eat together and catch up on our ‘projects’. We recently relocated to a house that we’re renovating, and started a tiny farm with some chickens, so we are acquiring new skills and learning a lot about animals and permaculture.
11PM I browse through tech news and check my inbox one last time to see if anyone from the US team needs help, since they are still at work.
11.30PM Lights out. I run through a gratitude exercise in my head to finish the day.