‘I’m A Cranky Bitch Until I’ve Had A Cup Of Tea’: A Day In The Life Of Cocoa Brown CEO Marissa Carter

First things first…

I’m usually up between 6.30am and 7am depending on what time my two-year-old little girl, ‘BB’ wakes up at! My five-year-old little man, Charlie, and herself usually jump into our bed for cuddles for ten minutes before we all get up and at ‘em.

The first thing I do in the morning is change BB’s nappy and then stick cartoons on for the monkeys while I jump in the shower. There are usually major rows over Peppa or Spiderman so I do a bit of negotiating, bargaining and good old bribery all before 8am – it sets me up for the day.

I’m not a morning person. In fact, I’d go as far to say that I’m a cranky bitch until I’ve had a cup of tea.

A post shared by marissacarter (@marissacarter) on Sep 1, 2017 at 4:47am PDT

Getting there…

I drive to work and it usually takes me about ten minutes to get in. I love living so close to the office. I travel a lot to other countries with work so when I am in the office, it’s a real perk. We have a child minder who comes to the house in the morning to take care of Belle and then my husband Ronan or I drop Charlie to school. I haven’t been to the gym in over a year. Maybe it’s time to get my act together!

The working day

I’m in work by 9am and will usually spend my morning reviewing projects and performance in key areas of the business such as sales, PR and business development. I don’t usually check my emails until just before lunch because I find if I check them first thing, I end up spending my morning reacting to demands as opposed to fulfilling my own agenda. I drink copious amounts of tea at my desk! I never skip lunch, I get hangry too easily! Lunch is usually a wrap or a salad. About once a week we’ll go out for a team lunch to the new noodle bar in Dun Laoghaire.

A post shared by marissacarter (@marissacarter) on Jul 13, 2017 at 1:59pm PDT

After lunch

I’m usually out at meetings in the afternoon so I don’t feel the slump. I’d say if I was at my desk all day I might be tempted to snack more on sugary treats. My afternoons can vary a lot. One day a week I film a beauty segment for TV3’s Xposé. The rest of my time is split then between meeting retailers to review sales performance/introduce upcoming new products and developing new products. A portion of my day will also be spent doing planning press and doing interviews or photo shoots in Ireland but also for our international markets. I’m usually home by 6pm. Even if I’m in London for the day, I’ll be home by 7.30pm.

Post work

I always go straight home to my babies. Ronan and I take turns cooking but if I’m honest, the last few years my cooking hasn’t been the best. I love to bake and the kids love doing it with me so if I get home early enough we’ll make cakes or treats together but when it comes to dinner, I haven’t been very adventurous of late. After dinner we’ll usually do a forest walk or do a lap around the park with the kids and Cherry, our little dog.

A post shared by marissacarter (@marissacarter) on Aug 28, 2017 at 8:27am PDT

Bed time

I’m usually in bed super early, 9.30pm most nights. We don’t have WI-FI in the house so there’s no Netflix and chill for me! I’ll usually read in bed for an hour or more before falling asleep. I leave my phone charging downstairs so I’m not tempted to be glued to it. I reckon I get a good eight hours sleep a night. I love my sleep!

This article first appeared in STELLAR’s October issue. Our November issue is on shelves now!