For the past ten years, I’ve been juggling running The Style Spy and freelancing on and off. I quit my 9-5 job and made the jump into running a small business with no experience and little knowledge. Sounds scary right?

Luckily, I managed to figure it out, and when I didn’t, I learned from my mistakes and just kept going. As someone who runs an online community like The Style Spy and as a freelance Writer and Social Media Strategist, it’s important for me to constantly stay connected during the week. No day is typical, but I do have some routines that keep me moving forward and motivated.

My Morning Podcasts

Mornings always start with a Podcast on my iPhone 7 Plus played through my UE Boom wireless speaker – I take this speaker everywhere! My favourite podcasts auto-download as soon as they’re made available, a fast connection means I get the new episode in seconds. I recently discovered a podcast called Dear Sugars from the New York Times and have been listening to it non-stop for the past two weeks – it’s a “radically empathic advice column”. Hosts Cheryl and Steve answer questions from listeners on topics like infidelity, career vs love and love in a digital age. They’ll also call up an expert on the topic to get their advice, like their friend Oprah! This is my morning get ready podcast.

When I’m looking for a podcast to inspire me on the business-side, I’ll listen to Know Your Audience, The Marie Forleo Podcast and The Tony Robbins Podcast. Listening to a good business-oriented podcast helps me put things in perspective or gives me that inspiration I might be lacking for the day.

If I’m not listening to the podcast through my UE Boom, then it’s with my Beats Solo 2 Wireless Headphones. Not only do these headphones have amazing sound, but there’s a pretty cool story behind them – you’ll have to watch the 4-part HBO docu-series called The Defiant Ones that follows Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine, the founder of Beats by Dre. Optik TV is still a must with my steady stream of HBO series including Game of Thrones and Insecure (obsessed – if you don’t know who Issa Rae is, you’re missing out).

Keeping Files Organized

I must confess, I have the messiest desktop on my laptop! But when I’m sharing electronic files with my clients, it’s important for me to keep everything super organized. Uploading high resolution photos and 60+ page presentations are always done with TELUS PureFibre‘s blazing fast Internet which can upload and download at 150mbps. If you’re thinking about downloading a music album, it’ll take about 10 seconds! I especially notice the difference in Internet speeds when there are so many devices on the network in the evening including Netflix on TV, two smartphones, two laptops and a tablet or two! I can multi-task, browse and check my Instagram speed without worrying about slow load times.

Planning My Travels

I’m trying to power through the rest of summer for a well-deserved New York vacation. There’s some serious planning happening on my mini-workday breaks – I use to just go with the flow, but now realized itineraries are a must. I need to know where the best New York slice of pizza is and where to find the best Matcha (Cha Cha Matcha – thanks for the tip Jan)! Going without US data isn’t an option. For only $7/day, I get TELUS US Easy Roam. I use my phone – text, call and data as if I were in Canada. This means I can still check my work email (just for peace of mind) and use Google Maps, Yelp and Instagram stories without fear.

As a TELUS Advocate this year I’ll be sharing stories in partnership with TELUS. All opinions are my own.