{"id":31125,"date":"2021-09-20T14:07:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T04:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-328533-4778250.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=31125"},"modified":"2021-09-20T14:07:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T04:07:40","slug":"jennifer-mumford-people-culture-us-and-new-markets-at-zip-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balancethegrind.co\/interviews\/jennifer-mumford-people-culture-us-and-new-markets-at-zip-co\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing the Grind with Jennifer Mumford, Director, People & Culture, US and New Markets at Zip Co"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jennifer Mumford is the Chief of Staff to the CHRO at Zip Co, a leading global Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company providing fair and seamless solutions that simplify how people pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Interested in talking about how you balance the grind? Get in touch with us <\/em>here<\/a>!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I am currently the Chief of Staff to our CHRO at Zip Co, a high growth, $6B+ ASX-listed fintech (ASX:Z1P), and lead the People & Culture teams across US and our New Markets (Canada, Mexico, UK, UAE). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to this, I led and built the foundations of the People & Culture teams at Data Republic (acquired) and SafetyCulture, a unicorn ($2B) venture capital funded tech scale-up, growing the team three-fold in <2 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in my career, I was a Senior Consultant in Deloitte’s management consulting practice, solving crunchy people problems across a diverse range of industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My typical \u2018day in the life\u2019 has changed up this year since I started leading our People & Culture teams for our US and New Markets at Zip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m up around 4.00 am. I am guilty of checking Slacks and emails when I wake, but timeboxed for 15-20 minutes before doing ~30 mins of stretches and yoga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to capitalise on the 4 hour overlap with our New York executives (5.00 – 9.00 am) then my AU day starts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where possible I try to take AU meetings as walking sessions and always have a break around midday for some more heavy duty HIIT exercise. I used to love going to a gym class, but now during lock down it\u2019s all at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afternoons are for team 1:1s at the start of the week and deep work at the back end of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evenings are for hanging out with my partner. He\u2019s a very good cook, but I try to cook a few nights a week. We\u2019ll then chill out over Netflix, Amazon, AppleTV and on the best nights a bath to decompress before an early bedtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes to both. My ideal state is a mix of 1-2 days of deep work at home and the rest in the office with our people and leaders. At the moment given I\u2019m in SYD supporting US, UK, Canada and Mexico teams I guess I\u2019m fully remote, but that will be changing soon as I\u2019m relocating to NYC at the end of September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never worked flexibly before COVID, but now I can\u2019t see a world without it. Flex better builds work into the flow of people\u2019s lives. It\u2019s the next normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a fan of the term \u2018work-life balance\u2019 as it suggests we should all be striving for a perfect equilibrium. I like to think of it more in the context of energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you managing your energy? What drains and what refills? I strive to be hyper aware of what drains me and where possible avoiding, teaming up with someone who does not find it draining or coupling it shortly after with things that re-energise me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a big fan of running hard at something (working 12+ hour days) but then regularly taking an extra long weekend, to recover and get time back. This used to be going to a different country, but more recently has been taking it easy, sleep-ins and spending time outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n