We caught up with Yu Mei's Brand Manager Kirsten Nagel to see how she spends a day in her life planning retail activations, content writing and preparing for events.

6:15AM I’m up and out the door to make my 6:30am workout class. On the agenda today is a high intensity strength class and although it’s just 30 minutes, it clears my mind for the day. 

7.30AM Back home to get ready before setting off to work with my dog, Alfie. I live in Wellington, so it's a short walking commute through Parliament and to the Yu Mei studio on Victoria Street. 

8:30AM I arrive at my desk and plan out the day. Today we’re preparing for our annual Archive Event, which means I’m creating content, finalising the communications strategy and attending a team meeting to work through the finer details.

11.00AM We’re also in a big planning phase and while working on brand strategy and our marketing calendar, we receive a delivery of samples from our manufacturer. This is always an exciting time and everyone in the studio stops what they’re doing to have a try on. It’s especially exciting for me, as next season my namesake bag will be released. Each of our bags are named after the people who inspired their design, from a lens of functionality first and foremost. The Kirsten Bag can carry a laptop as I travel a lot for work, without being too bulky. I’m in awe at what Adrian and Jessie have designed — the details and construction are immaculate.

2.00PM After lunch I have a Zoom call with our PR contractor from Australia. It can be challenging growing the brand in a new market without being able to physically be there, but we have someone incredible flying the Yu Mei flag for us there. We plan an upcoming activation and she passes on some great feedback. 

2.30PM Comms and content is a fun part of my role and I return to a piece I’m writing for our Club Journal. We’re lucky to have some talented writers in our retail team so I often put together briefs and assign writing tasks. I especially enjoy working in our team where there’s plenty of scope to collaborate.

4.00PM Back to planning, this time for retail activations in New Zealand. We have three stores in Wellington, Commercial Bay and Newmarket. I spend the rest of the day replying to emails and chatting with the team, all while Alfie sleeps in his bed under my desk.

5.30PM We arrive home to my favourite part of the day: making dinner. On the menu tonight is salmon and summer vegetables cooked en papillote, which sounds fancy but is really the most efficient (read: lazy) way to prepare it. Everything is sealed in a parchment pouch and into the oven for 13 minutes. I sit down to eat dinner with my family and we chat about our day. 

9.00PM After dinner I wind down with a bath, resist the temptation to check my emails, and aim for lights out by 10.30pm. I’m currently reading Modern Manners — a book of short essays and musings by The Gentlewoman magazine — and I try to read for a few minutes, but feel my eyes become heavy.