Features

24 hours With…ofo Singapore’s Selina Heng

In this 24 hours With, ofo's marketing manager takes readers behind the scenes at one of Asia's fastest-rising start-ups

7.30am: The first alarm rings.

I wake to the loudest, most annoying blaring of my iPhone speakers and reach for the snooze button. I repeat this cycle as I come to terms with facing one of my absolutely most hated thing to do in the world – waking up.

After so many years and so many fresh chances to tackle mornings, I’ve never really gotten better at this.

Nonetheless work excites me so that’s got me going.

9.00am: I do a quick search for promo codes and book a Grab ride as I catch up on the latest work chats and emails, snatch the last few things I need to look decent and off I go!

As they say, a creative and highly effective person is always late. The internet is hardly wrong.

10am: I stand over my seat, say my hellos, ask for updates from my team and then wish I had come in a little earlier to pop by my favourite cafe for my daily cup of flat white. Guess it will have to be after lunch today, as usual.

11am: The Singapore, SEA and APAC teams are based in Singapore so the mornings are when we have internal meetings with the various departments. In the highly competitive space of bike-sharing and tech start-ups on top of ofo’s globalisation, many teams from various departments move together to build a network of support and progress.

These discussions can range from operations updates on deployments to strategy in the region, Regulatory updates, partnership plans and recruitment.

1pm: Lunch. Life is good because there is food…

…and friends. Sometimes, I rally my co-workers, grab ourselves an ofo bike each and ride 1.4km down to Chinatown for our favourite local roasted duck. Through lunch, I indulge in my social media newsfeeds and catch up on the latest news ranging from some new funding via Tech In Asia all the way to Chiara Ferragni’s new baby boy!

2pm: I find a quiet corner in the office to respond to my emails and get to other reports as the post-lunch lull sets in.

4.30pm: Sitting down all day quickly makes me feel uninspired and sluggish so I try to arrange external meetings – meet up with either a potential partner or catch up with an agency or vendor over coffee (double shot, please!).

Other times, I hop onto conference calls with our various teams from HQ to iron out plans and align strategies on product and international marketing campaigns.

6pm: I take a breath and recount the happenings of the day. The office starts quieting down as my colleagues start finishing up. I regroup, refocus, and then actually start ‘doing some work’.

The peace helps me focus. I lose track of time for a bit as I tick off as many things as I can on the list and follow up on today’s meetings. Nothing makes me happier than this sense of accomplishment.

9pm: If it has been a particularly productive evening for me, I drag myself out of office to catch up with some friends over dinner or play my weekly leisure game of sports.

Perspiration and some laughter – best stress relievers.

11pm: Almost home. I am thrilled each time I find an ofo bike available at the train station. The perfect seamless completion for my commute home. At the end of a long day, the last thing I want is to have to walk my last mile home.

12am: I get home and take a steaming hot shower. My body rests but my mind still needs some time to get there. I plunged into the best bed in the world (in my opinion), reply all my personal group chats, read reports or articles that I had bookmarked earlier in the day, watch some cat videos on Facebook and then binge watch Netflix.

2am: Geez, okay it’s late enough. I take a quick calendar check on my morning meeting schedule, set my 10 alarm reminders again, and then darkness takes over.

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