Successful women shared their morning routines with us. Lemon water, dance parties, and phone time are key.

Business Insider

2 days ago

A professional dancer prioritizes hydration and exercise in the mornings.
Ashley Everett, 36, has spent her career dancing, modeling, creating content, and even serving as captain of Beyoncé's dance team.
Years of touring and "living a late-night life" have made Everett the opposite of a morning person, but she pushes herself to wake up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. most days.
"I sleep with a big water jug next to me and try to drink it first thing in the morning," she told BI. "And I try not to look at my phone immediately. I don't want to start feeding myself all of that anxiety."
She usually grabs a quick breakfast — like a bagel and yogurt — before weight training around 7 a.m., which she does three days a week alongside her boyfriend, a personal trainer and "accountability partner."
If they don't have a session planned, she likes to do yoga or some form of cardio, like cycling, followed by recovering in her home sauna. But she doesn't work out every day.
"It's unrealistic," she said, adding that she sometimes prioritizes herself in other ways, like completing a skincare regimen.
A makeup mogul scrolls Instagram before heading to a hip-hop class.
Bobbi Brown, 68, is a legend in the beauty industry. She founded her namesake makeup line in 1991 and returned in 2020 as the CEO of a new cosmetics brand, Jones Road.
She told BI that most days, she wakes up around 6:30 a.m., lets her dogs outside, and then has her first of three morning drinks: 16 ounces of water mixed with either AG1 powder, fresh lemon juice, or electrolytes.
As soon as she's finished, she enjoys a double espresso in bed while scrolling through the news, social media, and Substack on her iPad.
"Sometimes, I go down a rabbit hole on Instagram," Brown said. "I do that, scare myself silly, then jump up and exercise before I do anything else."
Brown likes to weight train or attend hip-hop classes taught by instructor Lloyd Pearson. Most mornings, though, she takes long walks and calls her friends.
"It's the time I find myself the most peaceful to talk, and not rushed or distracted," she said. "I usually call someone in the UK, or I have a couple of girlfriends I know are up early and could talk. Then I get my business calls out of the way. I usually walk for about an hour and fifteen minutes."
Another healthy staple of her routine is a protein shake made with almond milk, chocolate Vital Proteins powder, a scoop of natural peanut butter, Greek yogurt, ice, and occasionally, a frozen banana.
"I try to make the best choices as much as possible, but not beat myself up when I do something that doesn't make me feel great," she said. "If I wake up in the morning feeling inflamed or puffy or tired, I stop and say, 'OK, what did I do yesterday? Did I not drink enough water?' I guess it would be called intuitive wellness. Listen to yourself."
A healthtech advisor relies on iced coffee and Amazon Alexa to start her day.
Stephanie Davis, 38, was named a BI rising star in equity research for her work at banks including JPMorgan and Citi. Now, she's on advisory boards across the healthtech industry.
Davis said her mornings rarely start at the same time.
"Having a very set morning routine is a luxury for a lot of women," she told BI. "So generally, I wake up around 7 a.m., but there are days when it has to be a lot earlier. Other days, I'm so burned out from the week that I try to sleep in a little bit more."
She's not a fan of alarm clocks and says waking up to loud noises sets a bad tone for the day, so she uses a $3,000 mattress pad from Eight Sleep, which warms to wake her up more naturally.
She then likes to take her dog Lucky for a walk — preferably before checking her email as a reminder that she "gets to be human" before starting work — and drinks an iced coffee "for survival."
Davis also relies on technology in her home, and says Amazon Alexa handles a chunk of her routine.
"It opens the blinds, tells me the weather, runs through my schedule," she said. "Sometimes, I play a mindfulness minute while I'm brushing my teeth. Alexa allows me to do a lot of things for myself and be educated on what I need for the day, without having to seek that information myself."
What's really key to Davis' productive start is knowing that "the morning starts the night before."
"Being a woman in business, it's chaos. You're the CEO of your franchise and the COO of your family," she said. "So I look at my calendar the night before and say, 'All right, these are the things that need to get done tomorrow in my finite 24 hours. Let me figure out how to fit it all in there.'"
A managing director likes to get a head start on work right after waking up.
Fatima Boolani, 38, is a managing director of software equity research at Citi, where she also serves as cohead of the company's US software team.
She's also a mom of two, so she wakes up between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. each day to check work emails, news, research reports, and more.
"My priority is to get a head start on the day such that, while I'm shifting gears momentarily for personal and family reasons, I have a solid footing before I jump back into work around 8 a.m. or so," Boolani said.
Her drink of choice is a "hot, strong cup of coffee," and Larabars are her go-to morning snack before breakfast.
While exercise is a key ingredient to her success, Boolani said she prefers midday workouts.
For her, mornings are about using a limited amount of time to her advantage and "filling that space and time with more intention."
"I used to think waking up at 6 a.m. was so early," she said. "But now, how much power can be packed in that punch of an hour — especially with two children — is really awesome."
A CEO of a beauty brand tests her new products while working out each morning.
Wende Zomnir, 57, has spent decades in the beauty industry. She co-founded Urban Decay in 1996, led the brand until 2022, and then launched her beauty line Caliray.
At this point in her career, she wakes up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. each day and instantly drinks 20 ounces of water. Her second morning drink is coffee or coconut water with some protein powder.
She chooses the latter on days that she exercises, one of the most vital aspects of her routine.
"I lift, practice yoga, play tennis, or go rucking in the soft sand most mornings," she told BI. "I love playing beach volleyball, surfing, snowboarding, riding my bike — I like to move! And I test out makeup formulas I'm working on while I do it all."
Zomnir said waking up early and jumping into physical activities helps her focus on her role as CEO and as a leader of her family.
"I don't have to be thinking about when I'm going to squeeze my workout in later in the day," she said. "Physical activity is my drug of choice, so I work better when I've worked out."
"As my kids got older, they needed me less in the morning, so I was able to shift from afternoon workouts to the morning," she added. "Making adjustments that sync with the life stages of my family and being willing to optimize my routine has made the biggest impact."
A fintech communications CEO says dance breaks are essential.
Grace Keith Rodriguez, 40, is the CEO of Caliber Corporate Advisers, a fintech communications agency.
She gets the most done when she wakes up around 5:30 a.m. That gives her time to shower, get dressed, brew a cup of coffee (from Little Seed Coffee Roasters, a company founded by her sister and brother-in-law), and read the news from her front porch.
Then, she can enjoy one of the most special parts of her mornings: a dance party with her two children.
"It shakes the sillies out and gets you through the day," she told BI. "It's no cold plunge, but it sort of has the same effect."
Keith Rodriguez's job also involves a lot of travel, so her routine changes slightly when she's on the road. Namely, she likes to take long walks around the city she's visiting.
"I'd rather do that than sit in the hotel gym," she said. "I like to get out and see the city, because you usually don't get an opportunity to do that at conferences."
No matter where she is, though, she says her children have changed how she starts her days.
"Kids have made me realize how important routine is," Keith Rodriguez said. "I've always known that, but it just makes it so obvious that you can't ignore it. When you start the day on the right foot, it's really important for them, too."
A chief marketing and impact officer listens to inspirational audio clips.
Sadé Muhammad, 34, is Time Magazine's CMO. She usually checks her phone first thing in the morning, but doesn't scroll on social media. Instead, she opens her Notes app.
"I have a bunch of affirmations for different categories," she told BI. "Based on what I'm feeling that day, whether it's personal, career, fitness, etc., I'll lean into what I need to fill me up."
Muhammad also reviews a list of personal goals to monitor her progress and listens to 10-minute inspirational audios on the entrepreneur-focused app Alux.
Her breakfast changes day-to-day, though she usually drinks water with lemon in the mornings. Her early workouts also vary, but she particularly enjoys strength training and morning walks.
"Walking is my favorite physical activity," she said. "I like to go for a long walk in the park or through my neighborhood, and I'm either listening to an audiobook, some music, or I'm on a call."
According to Muhammad, this flexible routine not only sets her day at a good pace but also allows her to focus on herself and her toddler.
"If I want the chance to be present with him when he wakes up, but also to be present with myself and have some me time, I need to be up between 5 and 7 a.m.," she said.
A skincare brand founder says lemon water and her personal trainer are her two constants.
Erin Piper, 43, is a therapist, mother of two, and the founder of the skincare brand Saint Crewe.
Throughout most of the year, she gets up around 6:15 a.m. to wake her 8-year-old and 11-year-old children and get them to school.
"They are certainly old enough for an alarm clock, but somehow, that alarm clock is always me," Piper said. "Since it's summer, though, I usually have a few minutes to myself before all the chaos starts."
Most days, she picks up her phone, checks beauty-industry news, and engages in "some mindless scrolling."
"I'm on my phone entirely too much in the mornings," Piper said. "While I would love to get the recommended 30 minutes of sunlight before checking my phone, that rarely — OK, never — happens."
Rather than having a big breakfast, Piper usually prefers to sip lemon water and eat a protein bar ahead of her morning workout with a "dear friend" and trainer.
Most important to Piper, though, is embracing the chaos and unpredictability of her mornings.
"Between having a family and launching a skincare brand, I've had to skip all sorts of things over the past few years, and no morning looks the same," she said. "But I do know that I'm a nicer person with coffee and exercise, so I try to keep that consistent."