How I Thrive takes an inside look at founders, entrepreneurs and leaders and the behind-the-scenes self-care work they do to in order to live balanced, happy lives. Today's edition is with Brightland Founder Aishwarya Iyer, who uses Alexa for nightly lullabies and has a self-care guilty pleasure we should all get on board with.
Name: Aishwarya Iyer
Age: 34
City: Los Angeles, CA
Company: Brightland, a modern pantry essentials brand that launched the California extra virgin olive oil in 2018.
Beyond the role: Wife, daughter, dog mother, dancer, singer, reader, dreamer, home cook, indoors enthusiast.
Morning routine:
I wake up, think about three things I'm grateful for, put on my glasses, and snuggle with the dogs. Then I change into workout clothes, take the dogs for a 15 minute walk while I do coconut pulling, come back, and do yoga or stretching for 25 minutes. After that, I shower.
The first thing I do after work:
I'll usually walk the dogs after I wrap up work, which is around 6:15. Afterward, I'll open the fridge to get a pre-diner snack.
Dinner ritual:
We eat around 7:30 every evening. We make dinner every night! Some of our favorite dinner options are shakshuka, grain bowls, different types of dal, enchiladas, and homemade pizza ... to name a few.
Nighttime routine:
I write in a journal for 10 minutes, spray lavender on my pillowcase, read for at least 45 minutes, listen to lullabies via Alexa, and pet my dogs.
Self-care guilty pleasure:
Not feeling guilty about things. If I don't feel like cooking, working out, or doing the dishes one evening, I'm not stressing out about it.
Workday self-care hack:
Hand exercises and putting my phone on airplane mode for hours at a time.
How I define self-care:
Being unapologetic about my needs and using blocks of time for myself without the external pressures of social media.
Favorite childhood hobby or toy:
Reading The Baby-Sitters Club, Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High!
State of your (email) inbox:
Hundreds of unread emails. I archive some and definitely use it as a task list.
Illustration by Megan Behrendt