Other Women's Jobs // A Day In The Life & Career Of Kathrine Tinggaard Nicolaisen

NAME: Kathrine Tinggaard Nicolaisen

AGE: 33

INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @KTNicolaisen

JOB TITLE: Founder & CEO of Olives & Heather

LOCATION: Palestine - Moved there in January 2020

Kathrine is an MBA, a marketing professional with more 10+ years experience, and the founder of Olives & Heather – a social impact marketing agency devoted to create meaningful job opportunities for the next generation of Palestinian marketeers and designers.

With clients all across the US, Europe, and MENA, Kathrine's key focus is offering brand-centric ROI optimisation to tech startups and social impact businesses.

Today Kathrine shares a day in her life & world:

6AM: Morning Routine

I’m an early riser and usually get up at 6AM sharp. I don’t necessarily start work super early, but I have a pretty long (and slooow) morning routine. It’s truly my favourite time of the day and I value morning alone time more than any other moment of the day.

The first hour of my day is pretty routine: Drinking 1 litre of water (the first of my daily four), reading for 15 minutes, (gratitude) journalling, and cuddling with my cat, Pushkin, on the sofa while enjoying my “Palestinian pre-workout” - a small, strong coffee and a medjool date. I swear by it.

I usually hit the gym around 7AM. I usually work out every day, but not always at the gym. I’ll do strength training 4-5x times per week, running 2-3x per week, and occasional HIIT and boxercise workouts. However, as my husband and I are currently on day 39 of the 75 Hard (the infamous mental toughness challenge), my morning workout is only one of two daily workouts. Every day, we must complete a list of tasks, including two workouts of 45 minutes, and at least one of them must be outdoors.

Around 8AM, I’ll wrap up at the gym and start getting ready for work, which usually entails an eggy-brekkie and a protein shake. I’m lucky enough to live within a 10-minute walking distance from my office (which is at a brand new coworking space), so I don’t have to worry about morning traffic. It’s all just one smooth continuation of my morning ritual, which allows me to start the day off in a very peaceful, relaxed way.

9:30AM: Workday Begins

My workday usually starts around 9:30AM, which we in Denmark consider a luxury reserved for the C-Suite. However, as I value my morning routine, and have the ability to design my schedule according to my own preferences, I’m more than happy to start a bit later and work into the evening.

Every workday usually starts the same: with one hour blocked for clearing inboxes: email, WhatsApp, LinkedIn etc. Knowing that it’s the first thing I’ll do in the morning takes the top off the temptation to randomly check my email at inconvenient times at night or super early in the morning.

Mornings (until lunchtime) is usually reserved for deep work. It’s my best time for thinking and being focused, so I don’t want to “waste” it on meetings. It’s easy for me to jump on a call or to be focused during a meeting at 5pm, but there’s no way I’d want to work on precision or creative tasks in the afternoon, if it can be avoided.

1PM: Lunch & Afternoon

I’m quite big on planned breaks throughout the day to control the chaos that may unfold. In order to make time for a second 30-minute break around 4:30PM, I limit my lunch break to just half an hour instead of the usual local one hour. I usually have my lunch HOURS before the other members at the coworking space, so the temptation of prolonged lunchtime socialising is limited. Factoring in the limited takeout options and surrounding lunch options being limited to shawarma, I’ve had to become the meal prep princess, making lunch a pretty efficient break for me.

After lunch is done and dusted, the rest of my workday will be a mix of meetings with clients, partners, and team members, with smaller tasks sprinkled in-between.

As Olives & Heather is a remote-first company, pretty much all meetings are online, so it’s not uncommon for me to be in back2back meetings from 2pm to 6pm. I’m not convinced it’s the most pleasurable way of working, but by reserving time for deep work in the morning and wind down routine at the end of the day it works. It’s planned chaos, so to speak. 

6PM: Winddown Routine

Being a business owner there’s no fixed time for when my day finishes, but I aim to start winding down around 6PM. The exception to this is evening meetings with our lovely US-based clients, or evening events or trainings with our tech hub and accelerator partners. This happens maybe 1-2 per week, but I try to keep it to a minimum.

My wind down routine includes a few things including a minimum of 30 minutes for end-of-day reflections. This time is dedicated to checking inboxes, updating my weekly priorities, and adjusting my calendar. I’m big on having dedicated time for checking inboxes to avoid distraction so it’s crucial for me to have this little break at the end of the day.

Thanks to the previously-mentioned 75 Hard, my winddown routine now includes a second workout. Either in the form of yoga, pilates, or a walk. Thanks to the mountainous terrain in Ramallah all walks are guaranteed Zone 2 Cardio.

8PM: Dinner

Although my Nordic culture dictates that dinner should be at 5:30PM, I’m well-adjusted to my Palestinian surroundings. Dinner is one my favourite time of the day as it’s quality time spent with my husband – most of the time. As a football coach his work schedule is even crazier than mine, so whenever we get to enjoy dinner together, it’s a good day. We’re one of those couples that text and call throughout the day, but having that dedicated, phone-free mealtime is such a treasured moment.

10PM: Evening Routine

On this front, my Nordic roots are die-hard. After a long day it’s so-so tempting to spend a lazy evening on the sofa or go out socialising with friends, but I’m one of those grannies who not only value and prioritise sleep, but naturally start entering zombie-mode around 9:30PM.

After keeping my Duolingo streak alive for one more day, I take a moment to go over next day’s calendar activities. I find it super helpful to “visualise” my day, so that I can start the day off right. The remainder of my routine is pretty standard: pull out tomorrow’s gym clothes, do my million-step Korean skincare routine – and put the cat to bed – before hitting the sheets around 10:30PM.