Léa Bourgade, Senior Marketing Manager

8:10 a.m.  

I’m abruptly awakened by my morning alarm. Without hesitation, I hit the snooze button to squeeze in a few more precious minutes of sleep. Personally, I blame my genetics for my sleep habits – my mom and I regularly bond over the fact that we can sleep nine to ten hours a day without fail!

By the second or third alarm, I groggily unlock my phone and fill my eyeballs with blue light to snap myself out of my drowsy state. Is this the healthiest way to start my day? Nope. Am I working on it? Consider this blog my commitment that I will! 

8:40 a.m. 

Having checked on missed emails and social media notifications, I roll out of bed and trudge on over to my bathroom to perform my overly elaborate skincare routine and put on just enough makeup to un-zombify myself.

I throw on my comfiest (but publicly presentable) outfit and make the treacherous half-a-block trek to my favorite neighborhood coffee shop. I’m currently on an almond cappuccino kick, so I place my order at the counter, never forgetting to pick out one of their freshly-made pastries on display. They have my favorite today: blueberry muffins! 

Coffee and pastry in hand, I sit down at the nearest available table and open up my work laptop. I don’t have any meetings until eleven today, so I spend about an hour responding to new emails and Slack messages, as well as doing daily maintenance on our team’s project management board – our north star for tracking current tasks, prioritizing upcoming projects, and flagging items for discussion. As my team’s de facto project manager, it brings me (probably a little too much) joy to move tasks into our ‘Complete’ bucket! 

I also usually spend this time completing whatever tasks will require the most brain power for that day – for me, that usually involves tending to my social media guru duties, as I am the sole social media manager for Red Cell and all 13 of our incubations. 

10:30 a.m. 

I head home and get settled at my desk ahead of my first meeting of the day. My apartment is looking a little dreary these days as I am getting ready to move out of Brooklyn and back to California in about two months. It’s a bittersweet moment, but all the more reason to enjoy my neighborhood spots while I still can! 

11:00 a.m. 

I open up Teams and hop on today’s marketing sync, one of two we’ll have over the course of this week.  

Our syncs usually kick off with Katie, our Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, giving us high-level updates from Red Cell’s leadership that may impact our current or upcoming priorities. Once complete, we’ll open up our project management board and talk through tasks requiring discussion or projects where we may need to consider updating our self-imposed deadlines. 

These syncs typically last an hour – sometimes a little more – and are vital to ensuring we’re all aware of each other’s priorities and that we all have what we need to maximize our productivity in the days ahead. 

12:30 p.m.

My energy levels have dipped a little, which tells me it’s time to prepare a quick lunch. My mini kitchenette is not quite conducive to preparing elaborate meals, so I grab a premade Trader Joe’s wrap and pop that in the microwave for a couple of minutes before enjoying it at my desk and getting a few more tasks in before my next call.  

1:00 p.m. 

I promptly join today’s Keystone Forum (KSF), where the entire Red Cell team and all incubation leaders convene weekly to review important events and milestones on the horizon, as well as key updates from the past week. As the team continues to grow at an astounding rate since my start in August 2022, I always appreciate listening in on this weekly forum to ensure we are all aware of the current state of affairs across the Red Cell ecosystem. 

1:45 p.m. 

With a couple of hours until my next call, I dive into some other projects that need my attention. I see that on Friday, we are presenting potential names for a new incubation in our national security practice. As part of the Brand, Marketing, and Communications team, I help craft each of our incubations’ brand identity, from their name to their assigned fonts, colors, imagery, and down the road, their mission, vision, values, and more – one of my favorite responsibilities as our Senior Marketing Manager! 

While brainstorming some name ideas based on the materials this new company has provided, I get a Slack call from Nathan, a former Operations Director who has recently moved to work full-time at Trase, one of our healthcare incubations. He and I are working closely together on revamping Trase’s website to better reflect the work they’re currently doing, and he has some notes on changes he’d like to make to the new design that George, our Graphic Designer, built out. I take note of his feedback and forward his notes to George in order to implement these changes into his Figma designs before passing them along to our developer. 

As I continue working through some naming options, I am getting Slacked left and right by team members across our incubations, as they know to reach out to me when they have any quick questions for our team, including status updates on any projects we’re working on for them. 

Our Editorial Director, Genene, and I frequently joke that working at Red Cell is like being in a pinball machine – you are constantly bouncing between different tasks and trying to stay as up-to-date as possible on all of the developments across the ecosystem, all while trying to stay afloat and on top of your own priorities. But as someone who loves the thrill of working at startups and wearing multiple hats, I love that there is never a dull moment! 

3:30 p.m.

I join our weekly marketing sync with Hunted Labs, one of our cyber incubations, to touch base on the many projects we are tracking for them, including editing blog posts from their team, prepping materials for upcoming conferences, and making adjustments to their website. We typically meet with each of our incubations once every 1-2 weeks to keep them posted on our progress and allow them to discuss any new items they would like our help with or input on, which gives everyone involved peace of mind that we’re all working towards the same objectives. 

4:00 p.m.

I have a couple of hours to work on some additional projects before the evening, so I check our project management board to determine what I could tackle on my to-do list. 

I settle on watching a fireside chat that our Cyber Practice President, George Barnes, recently partook in, making note of any notable clips and quotes that could make for engaging content on Red Cell’s social channels. Our team has recently invested in some new AI-powered video-editing software that makes creating bite-sized video content a breeze, so I spend some time crafting a couple of different clips. While working, I regularly check Slack and Outlook to promptly respond to any messages that need my attention and, if necessary, update our project management board with any new assignments that come in or updates to existing projects. 

6:00 p.m. 

I feel like there’s a dozen other projects I could get to today, but alas, I close my laptop to quickly change into sweats, fill up my water bottle, and head out the door by 6:15pm to commute to my dance class in Manhattan.

I started dancing in the city when I first moved to New York in 2021. I’ve always loved the performing arts – I’ve also played the violin since age 3 – and I now regularly switch between taking dance classes throughout the week and performing with a couple of different orchestras. It’s sometimes a struggle to balance both hobbies, but I’m just grateful I get to do it in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world. 

7:00 p.m. 

I arrive in midtown Manhattan and walk into Ripley Grier Studios, just in time for my reggaeton class. For the next ninety minutes, I dance off any stresses from the day and clear my mind of work tasks awaiting me the next day as I focus on memorizing tonight’s choreography. By the end of class, the endorphins are coursing through me and any work fatigue I may have felt coming into class has magically vanished! 

9:30 p.m. 

I’m finally home from my commute back into Brooklyn. I freshen up and scarf down a quick dinner while watching an episode of a TV show and get ready for bed. Lately, I’ve been loving the show “From” and am eagerly awaiting a new season!

11:00 p.m. 

I crawl into bed for a little more phone time and to flip through a few pages of my current read. I’ve been strictly reading fiction for the last couple of years, with a particular penchant for sci-fi and fantasy; I recently picked up Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir at my local bookstore, which I’m excited to devour. 

12:00 a.m.

I shut off my bedside lamp and call it a night, ready to enjoy every minute of sleep I can get before the next alarm goes off.