Day in the Life: Community Marketing Associate + Writer + Healthy Chick

Hi everyone, and big thank you to Cara for featuring me on the blog today for her new “Day in the Life” series!

So I guess I should introduce myself first, huh? My name is Rachel Chemerynski, and I work for sweetgreen as their Community Marketing Associate in Boston. This entails planning events, coordinating the fitness classes for the sweetgreen passport program, sampling seasonal bites (local blue cheese anyone?), making new friends, and sharing the brand with our customers and the Boston Community. I am grateful to have found a job that so perfectly aligns with my passions, and every day I remind myself how lucky I am. It truly is my “dream job” as corny as that sounds.

Oh, and then there’s the other part of Rachel. On the side, I am also a Certified Health Coach, writer & the gal behind health + wellness blog for women, Healthy Chicks. While health coaching has taken a bit of a standstill since I started working full-time for sweetgreen, I still try to keep up with my blog as often as I can and am currently working on writing a feel-good inspirational book for women about food, body image, self-care, and all the juicy stuff in between – stay tuned!

Here’s a peak into what my schedule looks like – it’s definitely not your traditional 9-to-5…

WAKE UP CALL (7-8 a.m.): Unlike Cara, I’m sadly not the morning person that I used to be in college! (Just ask my roommates, I was always THAT girl who would stomp out of bed and want to seize the day & go outside at the crack of dawn!). Not anymore. I often wake up to my alarm around 7 or 8 a.m. That is, unless I’m taking Cara’s 7 a.m. yoga class at BBY – I will get out of bed at 6 for her! That said, I still prefer getting out of bed by 7:30 so I can get a start to my day and avoid feeling “lazy.”

MORNING RITUAL (7:30 – 8ish): I always like to start the day with a little “me time,” to avoid getting overwhelmed. I once attended a wellness workshop, where they discussed how most women sleep with their phones these days, and then the FIRST thing they do upon waking is check their inbox or texts, spiraling into a big mess of overwhelm before even getting out of bed. I won’t lie, I’ve done that before, but I now aim to get some “Rachel time” in before anything. Currently my morning wellness ritual includes:

• Essential oils – whatever I’m feeling that particular day!
• A quick meditation to prepare for the day & let go of any fear or anxiety that may be coming up
• Lemon water – I LOVE starting the day with a cup of warm water with the juice of half a lemon to improve digestion, increase energy and detox the body. Lately, I’ve been drinking room temp water with lemon juice as I’ve been craving something cool. However, the warm water ritual is one of my faves!
• To-dos –when I have extra time I like to sort through my to-do list, prioritizing the things that are most important (and making sure I’m squeezing in some me time!)

EMAIL CATCH-UP (8 – 9:30 or 10): Working in marketing is a lot of fun, but it also comes with A LOT of emails, meetings, phone calls and planning. So one of the first things I do in the morning is catch up on sweetgreen emails, as I don’t like to keep people waiting. I have this crazy need to respond RIGHT AWAY, but I am working on understanding people can wait, and so can I. Cara and I have discussed before, the both of us just love to get sh*t done! Then again, I truly do enjoy responding to emails, especially when cooking up something exciting for the community!

BREAKFAST (around 9:30 – 10ish): I always, always eat breakfast. It’s non-negotiable. Currently my favorite healthy & simple meals include scrambled eggs with leafy greens sautéed in coconut oil, avocado toast with a green smoothie, or my man’s famous “Western” frittatas. I don’t really have a sweet tooth, so I usually go for something hearty, savory and filling in the morning. I also love a cup of organic fresh-brewed coffee in the a.m…nothin’ like it.

IN-STORE AT SWEETGREEN (11 – 2ish): After I shower up and get dressed for the day (which is always in workout attire and a sweetgreen tee or zip-up) I typically head over to sweetgreen’s Back Bay location unless I have morning meetings. When we first opened in Boston, I’d spend my entire days in the store sampling food, greeting customers, etc. but now that we’re gearing up to open Fort Point and Chestnut Hill (yay!) most of my time has been spent on growing those communities.

I still like to go to the store for a few hours a day to check in with the staff, engage customers, hold meetings, and even just get some back-end work done on my laptop when we’re not crazy busy. Oh, and I also eat lunch of course – currently my favorite salad is a custom rice bowl (which I change every day) or the good ol’ Kale Caesar (add avocado!)

FITNESS + MEETINGS + CALLS + ADMIN (2 p.m to 6 p.m.): I know it’s a LOT of stuff crammed into these next 4 hours, but the thing with field marketing is, you just never know and every day is completely different. I typically squeeze in some fitness late afternoon or early evening (I’m a sucker for checking out new studios and lately am totally obsessed with yoga, barre and spin). I then reserve the rest of the afternoon for any meetings, phone calls or admin work I need to get done.

For example, right now I’m working on the launch of Fort Point so have been focusing heavily on the Fort Point community (planning for our launch, gearing up for events, meeting with local fitness teachers and business owners, coordinating fitness classes, etc.). By being so involved in the community, I’ve met so many wonderful people through sweetgreen, including Cara!

During this time, I also squeeze in some writing our journaling if my schedule allows for it.

EVENTS + FITNESS PASSPORT (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) Most of the time, I have some sort of event to attend at night for sweetgreen, be it a networking event, happy hour, or one of our Fitness Passport classes. So far this week, I hosted an incredible passport class with Flywheel Boston on Tuesday night, and attended a “Welcome Wednesday” networking event at District Hall in the innovation district. But every week is different, and it definitely keeps me on my toes! This means I’m typically not home until 8, 9 or sometimes after 10 p.m.

DINNER + CUDDLE TIME (varies but typically 7 or 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.): On the evening’s I’m home at a reasonable hour (i.e. before 7 or 8), my fiancé and I will cook dinner for each other. Some of our favorite dishes include tacos, stir-fried veggies with chicken sausage, sweet potatoes with almond crusted “fried” chicken, soups, and my famous “Bowl of Goodness.” On Fridays, we recently started a new tradition where every week we alternate treating each other to a surprise date. When it’s a late night, I’ll usually grab dinner out (like a second salad from sweetgreen J) or we’ll order takeout sushi or pad thai. This is also the time we catch up on our days, snuggle and watch some of our favorite TV shows like Shark Tank and Modern Family.

BEAUTY SLEEP (11 p.m.) I like to get a good night’s sleep, and aim to be in bed by 11 p.m. most nights. In an ideal world, I’d be in bed closer to 9 p.m. sipping a cup of tea like the inner-grandma I am. But it’s usually closer to 11 p.m. Lately, we’ve been heading to bed a little earlier to read for at least a half-hour before we shut the lights off, and if I’m feeling inspired I’ll do some writing. Currently I’m readingGone Girl by Gillian Flynn and I literally can’t put the book down. Such a page-turner. Sometimes I use “sweet dreams” or lavender essential oils to calm down my always-thinking mind for a more peaceful sleep.