Christine Souffrant: A day in the life of an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, traveler

Christine Souffrant is a Haitian American on a Mission. She is the Founder of Vendedy and the Director of StartupGrind Dubai. This is a day in the life of an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, traveler. Enjoy!

What currently keeps you busy? Coding, speaking engagements, and business development.

Today I woke up at 6am.

The first thing I did was check my Dubai emails. I manage events remotely from NYC at times and had to make sure my team was set for our March International Women’s Day feature with editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine Middle East- Fida.

My morning ritual includes deep breathing for five minutes, stretch, drink a glass of water first then eat an hour later.

I started working at 7am.

What I love most about my work is the random surprises. As someone managing multiple companies and projects, there is never a dull moment.

My favorite part of the day was hearing that my event in Dubai had a great attendee turn out. Now on to my projects with my company. Everyday I operate across three time zones – Middle East with Dubai, east coast with New York, and west coast with Silicon Valley.

I wish I had an AI secretary to help me coordinate my tasks, meetings and schedules.

Did you have a plan for your day? Did it go as planned? Yes. And it is going as planned

How do you commute? I do a lot of my meetings over the phone and in skype. I limit in person meetings because it takes time and coordination. Why meet in person when we can test the waters over the phone. I save in person meetings for family, friends and serious follow up clients and peers. Sorry but I crave efficiency. 

For lunch I cooked so I ate black rice and oxtail – made Haitian style.

A personal activity I do just for myself is watch my series TV shows – Scandal, House of Cards, The 100, Once a Week, and read my Game of Thrones book at night.

I most enjoyed spending time with my partner Einstein, and my family – mom and baby brother – they keep me grounded and motivated.

For dinner I cooked and usually similar to my lunch meals – Caribbeans eat a lot of cooked food such as rice, meats and pastas.

My favorite technology that I used today is my cell phone! But I must admit I can’t function without a pen and paper – I don’t always like typing. Sometimes I need to mind map and chart my ideas on the good old paper.

I am inspired by my faith, my past (resilience to challenges) and my family.

Did you meditate? Did you exercise? I do. For a few minutes a day and do yoga or stretches to stay firm.

One strategy I use to make my time more effective is schedule mentor calls or random request calls for 7am-9am M-W only that way I don’t have to feel overwhelmed with other obligations that can’t be moved. Also I bulk compress assignments together. One day can be all coding and development another day will be all meetings and errands. I don’t mix it up. That way I know I am getting things done quickly and effectively.

I am passionate about traveling, story telling, history and street markets.

A dream I am currently focused on fulfilling is scaling Vendedy.

I can’t live without Caribbean or ethnic foods of the African and Asian diaspora. I don’t do sandwiches and fast foods- ewwww.

Today I felt happy. I got some great updates on upcoming awards and partners.

I went to sleep at… Usually at midnight.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to the site soft launch for Vendedy.

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A globally recognized speaker, Christine Souffrant is a Haitian American entrepreneur with 7 years of business management experience across 30+ countries. She was selected for the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30, and has spoken on leadership, disruptive entrepreneurship and social impact innovation at the United Nations, TEDx and conferences located in Trinidad, Haiti, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, New York, San Francisco, Russia, Romania, LA, Miami, and more.

As the founder of Vendedy (a mobile network connecting global travelers to street vendors of developing countries), she has been featured with IBM, Microsoft, Fast Company, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Master Card Priceless Pitch, Chivas Venture Million Dollar Prize, SOCAP Gratitude Network and Manatt Ventures etc. She is also the Managing Director of Startup Grind Dubai, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs - interviewing leading CEO’s and startup influencers in the Middle East & Silicon Valley.

Read more by Christine on her blog: Csouffrant.com. Follow her on Twitter.

Hobbies: Film Making; Scrap booking; Skydiving; Blogging; Writing; Traveling