Meet our next Day In The Life guest writer, Gentry! She’s a wife, mom, full time skincare buyer, blogger and colorful content creator, living in St. Pete, Florida!
A Little About Gentry
Hey y’all! I’m Gentry Blackwood and I’m so excited to share a glimpse into my daily life with you! I’m a toddler mom to my sweet & spunky 3-year-old Eliza Ann and happily married to my wonderful husband Rob (we just celebrated 4 years!). I always joke that I have two jobs; in my 9-5 I am a skincare buyer for HSN and in my 5-9 side hustle I am a blogger & content creator sharing colorful fashion finds and a bit of my motherhood journey. Clearly I love to stay busy! My husband is a Palliative Care Chaplain at our local hospital.
You can come hang out with me anytime at the following: Instagram / LTK / Blog / Email: [emailprotected]
A Day in Gentry’s Life
Now, let’s get to all the fun stuff- a peek behind the curtains and a typical day in my life!
4:50 – 6:30am- Alarm goes off, My Morning Routine
I am 100% a morning person and find that I am most creative & motivated when I’m up bright and early, so I made it an important part of my daily routine to be up before my family and take time to be creative and set myself up for a successful day.
Once my alarm goes off I typically take 5-10 min to “wake up” and check my emails (personal and professional), IG, texts, etc. that may have come in overnight. Then I grab our sweet pug, Romy, and head downstairs. I let Romy out and then mix up my AG1. I started taking this almost 6 months ago and can not say enough wonderful things about how it’s changed my gut health and also helped my skin to radiate! I drink my green juice while I do my morning devotional (currently reading “Life” by Lisa Harper). Then I make a big cup of coffee (BLISS!) and settle in to work on content creation. I make graphics, work on blog posts, edit reels, create cover photos- every day is a little different but I love flexing those creative muscles!
Around 6:20 I make Eliza’s lunch for the day (she is currently in summer camp at her school). I’m most certainly not a Pinterest mom when it comes to lunch + snacks (haha). Uncrustable, avocado, fruit snacks, cheese sticks, and fresh strawberries and blueberries are lunch box staples for us!
6:30- 7:15am- Get ready for the day
Just like I need a little “me” time in the morning, I’ve also found that I have a more successful and motivated day when I’m able to get ready- so I build that time into my morning as well. I do a quick and easy makeup routine most days unless I’m headed into our actual office (primer + foundation + powder + blush + mascara) and then curl my hair. People at my office always tease me that I am never without my hair done, and that’s correct! I love that feeling of being pulled together.
7:15am- Get Eliza Up
Eliza is a great little sleeper (we sleep trained her when she was about 6 months old and it’s paid its dividends over and over again as she’s gotten older!) so most mornings we actually have to wake her up around 7:15. She can be a little slow to wake, so this gives her some time to stretch and warm up before we have to go.
Once she’s pottied and dressed she comes to our room where we play “beauty shop” and do her hair and she dresses up in my shoes while I get ready. I love this age a lot- she is always making up fun scenarios for us and different “parties” we need to get ready for. It’s adorable!
7:40am- Out the door for school/camp
We aim to be out the door by 7:40 most mornings because I take her to school/camp (Rob has to be at the hospital by 8). We love her school SO much- the only small downside is that it’s about 25 min away so definitely a commute.
However, it’s a part of my day that I look forward to so much! Eliza has breakfast (typically yogurt or a bar) and we put on a Disney soundtrack (Cars, Encanto & Frozen are her favorites) and sing along and talk about all the things! This age is simply magical and I adore getting to spend the time in the car with her and hearing her thoughts/ideas/discoveries. Pro Tip- she is obsessed with Imagine Ink coloring pads and always colors on the way to school. They are 0 mess pads that use a clear marker to reveal magic colors. She loves them!
8:45am- Home & start work for the day
After I drop Eliza off, I make the same commute home. I use the time in the car to post to IG (before leaving the parking lot!) and listen to podcasts or call a friend. Current favorite podcasts are More to Say, How I Built This, The Boutique Hub, and How’d She Do That. I can learn so much in 25 min! I usually get home around 8:45, fill up my Stanley, log into work, and start my day!
Romy is so happy when I get home because she knows that she gets to snuggle with me in my office all day!
9:00am – 5:30pm- WORK!
It sounds so cliche to say, but every day of my work is truly different- there is no normal when you work for a 24/7, 365 omnichannel retailer 🙂 So I thought it would be fun to share what a buyer actually is and some of the common things I do throughout the day at my job.
As a buyer (also referred to as a merchant) my job is to find and curate unique brands and product assortments for HSN to sell to our customers via TV and digital. Since I work on the skincare and tool team I specifically focus on scouring the market for the best of the best skincare brands and ingredient trends, as well as beauty tools, to bring to our customers! I’ve been with HSN for 12 years and worked in jewelry, apparel, accessories/intimates, and now beauty-skincare! I’ve been in my current role for about a year and a half and have absolutely fallen in love with all things skincare- and can talk your ear off about my favorite products! (Feel free to send me an email if you want a cheat sheet of my faves)!
These are some of the typical activities and meetings I will be involved in on any given day:
- Vendor meetings: we review current on-orders, discuss new products and innovations, create brand strategies, and ensure alignment on upcoming airtime & shows.
- I also meet with new brands to learn their backgrounds, the “why” behind the brand, and to test and try the products to see if our customer would like them.
- Present upcoming product assortments to senior leadership – this is done both via TEAMS and in-person .
- Meet with my team (I lead a team of 4) to review their brands, shows, and any issues they may need help with or projects we need to complete.
- Meet with my planning and finance partners to review our financial goals and where we are for each brand in tracking towards those goals.
- Meet with our TV partners to make sure upcoming shows have comprehensive support and each item will have compelling presentations.
- Present Today’s Special candidates (our biggest item driver each day) to a review committee for approval. I pull together sales history, the “story” behind the item, and all the key selling points on why I believe the item will be a big success.
- Since we are a 24/7 business I also spend a good portion of my day reading and reacting to current business and working with my planners and vendors to make changes each and every day.
- I am also currently planning a 2 day mini beauty show that will have a large influencer attendance and will help them learn more about HSN Beauty and why we love our beauty brands!
5:30-6:00pm- Eliza Activities + making dinner
I wrap up my day around 5:30 and then Rob and I divide and conquer who takes Eliza to an activity and who makes dinner.
Eliza is currently signed up for:
M- Gymnastics
T/TH- Swim Lessons
Sat AM- Dance
I love taking her to gymnastics because one of my BFFs is there as well so it gives us some time to catch up while the girls are in class!
I don’t love cooking, but I do love a meal plan, so I typically create our meal plans Sunday and then Rob takes the reins on cooking most nights unless I planned a crockpot dish or something really easy that I don’t mind making 🙂
If it’s a non-activity night, one of us will usually take her to the park to burn off some energy.
NOTE: my mom picks Eliza up from school at 3:00 and brings her to our house where they play upstairs until Rob gets home and I wrap up for the day. My mom watched Eliza since I got back from maternity leave and I’m so thankful that even w/ school they are still able to have quality time together!
Once Eliza gets home from her night-time activity we eat dinner as a family, usually around 6:15 or 6:30. While it can sometimes be challenging to eat with a little one, we all treasure the time together so much and it’s become a fun part of our day! We often have visitors for dinner too: my sister comes on Tuesdays and my FIL comes on Wednesdays. Eliza loves having her family over!
7:00-7:45pm- Eliza Bedtime Routine
Rob, Eliza and I head upstairs around 7:00 to start the bedtime routine. We prep Eliza’s room and then she takes a bath. Again, her imagination is so fun! After her bath she picks a bandaid (she’s obsessed… it’s literally how we potty trained her was band aids as a reward!), we put on PJs, brush hair, and then Eliza picks our book for the night. She is my little bookworm and I love story time! We’ve been reading together since she was born and I love how the time has evolved to reading more advanced books and seeing her joy for them!
Then we say our prayers, potty one more time, and sing “HIlls and Valleys” before tucking Eliza in. Lots of kisses and hugs before we say “goodnight!”
8:00-9:00pm – Workout and Shower
Once Eliza is down I get my workout in. We (like many people) got a Peloton during the pandemic but I’ve finally found my groove with ours in the last 6 months or so and I love it! I’ve been focusing on 30 min strength classes with a few rides sprinkled in and am seeing some nice results in time and with consistency. A few of my favorite instructors are: Callie, Rad, Jermaine, Adrien and Rebecca! Robyn is my absolute favorite on the bike.
After I workout I shower and do my nighttime skincare routine (of course!)
9:00-10:00pm – Rob & Gentry Time
I finally am ready to relax at 9! Rob and I try to have a show we watch together – although were currently in a summer rut – so we watch an episode of that. Otherwise we typically default to Shark Tank or House Hunters. I watched a lot of House Hunters during late-night nursing sessions so I always love turning this one on!
I also use this time to answer emails, post another IG or a few stories, edit photos, etc. My brain is typically shutting down at this time so I try to work on easy & achievable things!
Something Rob and I try to do 1-2 Friday’s a month is an at-home date night. We dont eat dinner w/ Eliza, we’ll just sit with her, and then once she’s down we will have a little dinner date. We love to order sushi in or make sous vide steaks and mushrooms. Both are such yummy treats and gives us some dedicated time to reconnect.
10:30pm- Bedtime
I blow dry my hair before bed and then it’s lights out for us! It doesn’t take much for me to fall asleep – my body knows it needs a lot of energy for our busy days 🙂 And that’s a wrap on our day!
