March 22, 2016

A day in the life of Sade Salami, Director of Fresh Strawberry

We hear or read about all these amazing Bad Ass, Girl Boss women and some of us may think ‘I wonder what a day in the life of a modern day go getter is like?’ Well, we have got you covered! We are excited to introduce a brand new feature, ‘A day in the life of’ where we sit down and find out what our favourite women in business really get up to on a daily basis.

To kick things off we spend the day with Sade Salami, Director of Fresh Strawberry & Executive Producer of Status London.

At the helm of Fresh Strawberry, a growing events management company (providing services to one of the biggest companies in the world) and a new reality series under her belt, the 33 year old has put adversity behind her and is today steadily climbing the ranks in the business world.

Sade put herself through college and university where she gained a degree in Media Arts with Music & Sound Recording and supported herself working in market research, which helped her to move out from the hostel system at the age of 20. It was a little while after her 25th birthday that the then aspiring entrepreneur decided to set up an events company which she registered as Fresh Strawberry Management.

Fast forward eight years to today, and Sade’s company Fresh Strawberry has successfully worked alongside some reputable names within the media, fashion and entertainment industries, from London Fashion Week, to the MOBOs and Screen Nation awards. For the last three years, Fresh Strawberry has provided corporate event management services to Google, working in-house with the UK marketing team.

What time do you usually get up?

I generally wake up at 6am everyday.

What is the first thing you do when you get up?

The first thing I do when I get up is to have a glass of water, put on some music and then I’m straight onto my phone to check emails. Then I’ll go through my to do list and see what meetings I have for the day and start sending emails once I’m dressed.

If I have a personal training session that morning, I’ll do my to do list after my workout.

What do you eat for breakfast?

Oats with water.

Describe your commute to work:

To be honest it’s really fast. I’m a Tube girl, so it takes me 15 minutes to get into either office, whether it be Pop Brixton or Google.

What is your schedule like between 9:00-12:00pm?

My schedule changes from day to day. However typically from 9:00- 12:00pm I will check in with my staff by having one to one sessions with them. We may even have our team meeting if we are not running an event that morning.

I will also use this time to go over all the priorities for our other upcoming events.

However if it is a Monday morning, a lot of things have to wait as it’s back to back meetings with my clients, my staff and social activities.

Fridays are a little different too, as I tend to be more relaxed, and try to have a casual catch up with members of staff to see how our projects are coming along.

What time do you have lunch and where do you go?

Lunch is between the hours of 12-13:00pm. Where I go for lunch really does depend on what office I’m in. If I’m working from Google, then I’ll stay there, where all I have to do is go down one floor. But If I’m in Brixton I’ll pop into one of the local Caribbean shops.

What is your schedule like after lunch until 5pm?

After I have a quick lunch I catch up with my colleagues. I may have more meetings to attend. After this I’ll be busy with operational work, staying on top of HR, finance and all other business activities.

So by the time it’s 5pm, I would check my to do list, tick off all the tasks that I have done for the day and have a review of where I’m at. Doing this gives me a sense of joy.

What time do you usually leave the office?

I try to leave the office between 7pm and 11pm depending on how busy we are. It can be later especially if we have an event on.

What do you do after work?

I normally go straight home after work and occasionally I’ll go to an industry event.

What do you have for Dinner?

It varies but it has to be quick and easy!

How do you wind down/de-stress once you get home?

I like to catch up on Facebook and Instagram. I might watch some YouTube videos or even catch up on a show or two, as I’m loving House of Cards, Scandal, Game of Thrones and How to Get Away With Murder.

What time do you go to bed?

I’m in bed for 11pm but I don’t tend to sleep till 1am.

Who would you like us to feature next? Comment below and we will make it happen!