Catherine Warrilow is the UK Managing Director at daysout.com, an Altrincham-based ticket platform which is set to launch this month.
She has previously held a number of senior roles in PR including as Head of PR and Content at Mecca Bingo and Head of PR and Brand at family attractions website Day Out With The Kids.
We found out how a recent week in her life went…
Monday
I walk the kids to school at about 8.30 – I never leave the house without a cup of tea in my travel mug – and then I walk the long way home through the park and past the nicest houses in town, admiring their gardens. I get home at about 9.15, try not to be distracted by the weeds popping up in my own garden, and set out my list of ‘top frogs’ for the week. Today I’ve got a load of first interviews booked in for a partnerships manager over Teams – it’s proving a tricky role to fill as we want someone with a lot of different skills.
In the afternoon I’ve got a session with my coach, I see her every month and she helps me hugely with work/life purpose and the balance between work and family life – I have two boys aged 14 and nine. This week we talk about setting personal KPIs and also future proofing my current plans at work, as well as how I can continue to look after my mental health properly – I definitely learnt the hard way over lockdown and through home schooling that I need to pay constant attention to my brain and protect it at all costs! Monday evenings are also a bit chaotic, we have an extra child over from school, quick tea and then shuttle runs to Cubs and Scouts. Usually there’s time to squeeze in an episode of Stranger Things before bed.
Tuesday
Today I’m using a co-working space as I commute to our Altrincham office and sometimes can’t juggle that with family commitments or other meetings. The day starts with a workshop on goals which I find interesting, and I meet someone in person for the first time who recently interviewed me about my wonky career for her podcast! I whizz out to B&M and B&Q at lunchtime – I’m currently obsessed with adding bedding plants and herbs to the garden!
Then I head to the college I went to as a teenager and do a talk to 17 year olds on how my wonky career took off after education and the decisions I made and lessons learned along the way. They asked such incredible questions, I was blown away. I do the school run – our youngest son has a friend over to play – they disappear off to play in the garden so I carry on working – I hide out in the bedroom! My husband is due home at a decent time so I do a really nice summery buffet tea with cold meats, cheeses, a great bottle of red wine and a game of backgammon.
Wednesday
Today is set to be manic because I’m in the office tomorrow for two days and staying over as we have our work summer do at Chester Races on Friday! I’ve got meetings in the South East to fit in after a breakfast meeting and at 4.30pm I do some filming with ITV about the rail strikes preventing me from getting up to the office earlier in the week.
As soon as that’s finished I scoot into town and get my nails done ready for Friday. We also have family coming to stay at the weekend, and being tied up the next two days I blitz the kitchen and bathrooms so that the house is semi-presentable when they come! I reluctantly agreed to do the cleaning if my husband did the food shop!
Thursday
I’m in the office and I’ve bought a Diet Coke fridge off eBay which arrives! Everyone is very excited – we have a few Diet Coke addicts in the office, including me! I’ve got a big morning as we’re starting to attract a lot of attention for daysout.com even though we’re not live yet so I’m presenting our proposition. I whizz out to grab a sandwich and try and find some shoes for the races – and fail.
I also remember that my teenage son has a school trip next week and needs a backpack, so I browse Amazon and Decathlon whilst eating a pretty nice tandoori chicken baguette and a Diet Coke, of course. I stay with a friend in Knutsford and we wander into town for food and drinks – the weather is incredible. I phone home and check in on the kids who are staying over with my parents for the night – they love it there, largely because they get to whittle sticks, do dangerous things and eat sweets.
Friday
We’re putting in a hotdesking area at work so people can move around and sit next different people so I’ve been to the charity shop and got a load of books to create a book nook too – everything from cookery to art, fact books and self development. I could have bought dozens – I stopped at 11….
I’ve got a couple of meetings with local Manchester partners this morning and then I’m being interviewed for a podcast about how to overcome imposter syndrome, something I’ve had to work hard at myself, so I feel I have a few tips to share. At lunchtime I head off to the B&B we’re staying at tonight and we head to the races. I’m not good at placing bets so I suck up the atmosphere, enjoy the fizz, weather and time with the team to socialise. Tomorrow morning, the inlaws descend, so I need to stop after one, or two…..!
