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Name: Tenesa Powell
Title: Deputy General Counsel
Company: The Siegel Group Nevada
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
6:20 am
Who needs an alarm clock when you have a mini-doxie whining for your attention? I’m convinced I will never again sleep past 8:00 am. My husband and I typically tag team the morning ritual. One of us takes care of Bruno and the other gets our 11-year-old’s lunch ready and makes coffee. If I’m being totally honest, most recently, I’ve been getting downstairs by the time everything is done. My husband is amazing.
6:45 am
It is still ridiculously hot in Las Vegas, even though it is mid-September. I make it downstairs to the iced coffee my hubby prepared for me. I do my morning digital ritual. Check my emails (both personal and work), check Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. I then spend some time playing Pokemon Go and Candy Crush.
7:15 am
Say goodbye to my son as he and my husband head off to school. Much to Bruno’s chagrin, I get ready for work instead of playing with him. While I get ready, I keep an eye on my work emails. Because we operate all over the country, issues can pop up at any time of the day or night. I exchange emails with our GC and CFO about leases for our Pinkbox Doughnuts brand, which is rapidly expanding in Utah and elsewhere.
8:00 am
Time for the commute. Las Vegas construction has made the drive change from a quick 15 minutes to 30 minutes or more. I’m grumpy about it every day. I try to ameliorate this by listening to audiobooks (biographies, autobiographies, or other non-fiction). It helps. I just finished Lena Dunham’s book. I love how unapologetically herself she is.
8:30 am
I dig into the rest of the emails that came in overnight. A handful of contracts are in my inbox. I review those and get them executed and off to the other side. I do a quick review of my ACC and law firm newsletters to see if there are any pertinent issues I should flag for the GC.
9:30 am
Teams meeting with the chief executive officer, chief business officer, vp of development, and our commercial asset manager to discuss accounts receivable, commercial tenant issues, and facilities issues. Our multi-brand company has a lot of different irons in the fire and this call is all about our role as a landlord to commercial tenants.
11:00 am
I pop over to HR to speak with our chief people officer who stopped by my office while I was on my Teams call. We discuss an employment issue and as we’re chatting, we have an impromptu meeting with the HR manager and vice president of security and risk to talk about revising some procedures to mitigate risks at our extended stay properties. One of the best things about our company is that we are constantly working to improve how we do things. I am all about streamlining and efficiency!
11:07 am
Time for a Teams call with a vendor to discuss contract redlines. Our call isn’t long and we resolve our differences quickly.
11:30 am
Review a notice from a government agency and prepare a response. Emails continue to come in and I handle them. I’m a zero inboxer, but the last few days have been bananas and I have 18 emails (and counting) to deal with.
1:00 pm
I think I missed lunch. I’m knee-deep drafting and revising a handful of policies and procedures. My email count is dwindling and I can finally breathe. Another call with HR about an employment issue. We have over 1,000 employees, so there is always something going on in HR. Legal and HR are working together on training and culture initiatives. Being multi-jurisdictional and multi-brand makes it very interesting! Juggling the nuances in hospitality and the food and beverage industries across the country means we are very dynamic.
2:00 pm
I finally get to lunch. I have the bad habit of eating at my desk, but I have so much to do and find more value in working than battling traffic (seriously, it is the bane of my existence) to grab something to eat. I work on drafting / revising contracts and dealing with emails while I eat.
3:00 pm
Our associate general counsel prepared a refresher training about guest issues for managers at our extended stay hotel properties. I review the presentation materials and let him know it looks good. I draft a response letter on a contract issue that involves construction permits.
3:30 pm
I continue drafting and revising contracts. We average about 100 contracts a month and they all come across my desk. I work some more on drafting policies and procedures. Things seem to be quieting down. I’m not going to question it.
4:30 pm
Time for my evening commute. I try to leave before rush hour is full-on in Vegas. Leaving just 15 minutes later can mean an hour drive home. I continue listening to my audiobook, which provides a nice distraction.
5:15 pm
I greet Bruno who thinks that any time I come means it is dinner time. He’s always disappointed when I tell him it isn’t time yet. I check my work emails and respond to the GC’s comments about the procedures I drafted. I change into comfy clothes.
5:30 pm
Yes, Bruno! It is time eat! I feed the dog and start my nightly detox procedures which are practically the same as the way I start my day: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pokemon Go, and Candy Crush. I’m on level 9,646 on Candy Crush. I’m working hard toward level 10,000. It is good to have goals!
6:00 pm
Hubby ordered dinner tonight, which is a nice treat. He handles dinner nearly every night. Did I mention how amazing he is? We eat and catch up on the day. We ask our son about his day, which goes something like this:
Me: “What did you do in Art today?”
Him: “Art.”
Ahh ... Tweens. I peek inside his homework folder and see a math worksheet that is premised on building permits. I snap a pic and send it to the GC, making a joke that’s tied to the letter I drafted earlier. I’m sure it is only funny to me, but the GC laughs anyway. I call my dad, as I do every day around this time.
7:00 pm
I hang out with my family, playing video games or chatting. I’m currently playing Astro Bot and Luigi’s Mansion 2. I take care of a few personal odds and ends, emails, etc.
8:00 pm
Screen free time. We have family reading time which is one of my favorite parts of the day. We all sit together and read our books. For my non-audiobook reading, I read a lot of contemporary fiction, though I’ve been on an Elin Hilderbrand kick recently.
9:00 pm
After we say goodnight to our son, hubby and I watch the final episode of Ripley on Netflix. So good! Highly recommend.
10:00 pm
I do some more reading and unwinding and am hopefully asleep by 11:00 pm.
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