Cynthia Bar
Managing Counsel — Argentina, Uruguay & Paraguay
Coca-Cola
Buenos Aires, Argentina
6:30 am
Wake up and prepare yoghurt, toast, and some fruit for my daughters — a good breakfast to start the day with a lot of energy.
7:00 am
Dress and then prepare lunches before getting in the car to drop them off at school.
7:25 am
We use the 15-minute ride to talk about the upcoming day, what they will learn at school, and how field hockey practice will go. They train during the week and play in tournaments on Saturdays.
7:40 am
After I drop them off, I head to the office. On the ride, I listen to the news on the radio, which keeps me informed about political and economic issues.
8:00 am
I make a coffee and sip it while I read emails, answering the most important ones.
9:00 am
I start to review issues we are facing prior to our weekly meeting. This meeting is when we analyze the results of the week (e.g., profit, revenues, share, volume, etc.) and different actions to be taken (e.g., launch of a new product, marketing campaigns, etc.).
10:00 am
Commercial, marketing, public affairs, finance, and legal all participate in this meeting. One of my favorites aspects of my role is to interact with the different areas of the company. This allows me to understand different visions, needs, and points of view. The meeting is long but very interesting. We discuss a new product launch that will take place the following month. Legal's role is very important: We have to review trademark issues related to the new product, different marketing campaigns, regulatory issues regarding the registration of the new product, agreements with key accounts, and other aspects in a short timeframe.
12:30 pm
The weekly meeting concludes. I come back to my desk and answer a few new emails. I do some trademark research regarding the issues discussed in the weekly meeting.
1:00 pm
I have a salad for lunch in the office. We moved to a new building that has a big dining room. There we meet with coworkers from the different areas of the company and sit at a big table and talk to each other. We love this new building. We also have a ping pong table, a pool table, a massage chair, and a gym.
1:45 pm
I review the new version of a sales and purchase agreement for an M&A transaction that we are trying to close. M&A transactions are one of the things I enjoy doing most.
2:30 pm
We have the meeting with our counterpart in the M&A transaction. We discuss different aspects of the SPA agreement, especially regarding the limitation of liability and covenants. It is a hard negotiation, but I am optimistic that we will close the deal soon.
4:00 pm
Video conference with our bottlers to discuss some issues of the M&A transaction. We analyze the Gantt chart of the transaction, which shows the dependency between the parties, and distribute work and responsibilities.
5:00 pm
The day's meetings are done. I usually sit down for one or two hours to tackle email queries that have come back in over the course of the day. I also review and approve different contracts that will be signed in the following days.
6:30 pm
I go to the gym in our office, which offers different classes. Today, I take a spinning class.
7:30 pm
I take a quick shower after spinning and drive back home, listening again to the news, which keeps me informed if I did not have a chance to read the news during the day.
8:00 pm
I arrive home. My husband and I prepare dinner and talk about our day.
8:30 pm
We have dinner all together. We very much enjoy this moment. No phones and no TV — no technology at all. Everybody has something to share.
10:00 pm
The girls go to bed, and my husband and I watch one episode of Billions on Netflix.
11:00 pm
I check my phone before going to sleep to be sure there are no urgent matters to be resolved.
11:30 pm
My daily facial routine is the last thing I do before I go to sleep. A long day but very fruitful and amusing.
