Sharon Louie

7.00 AM

I usually wake up before my alarm, which is set at 7.15 am. I reply to my messages from the night before and watch TikTok in bed until 7.15 am. 

7.15 AM

I turn my alarm off, make my bed, get dressed for the day and say good morning to my dog. 

7.30 AM

Breakfast! which is usually two slices of toast with butter and two eggs. I also pack my lunch.

7.50 AM

I grab the bag I packed the night before, pet my dog goodbye (she is very clingy) and leave the house to catch the bus. 

8.45 AM

Arrive in the office, check my emails and Teams, say hi to my colleagues, check my calendar for the day and settle in for 8 hours of work. 

9.00 AM

I find a quiet meeting room and practice a presentation I will be giving to my team later in the afternoon. I practice until I feel confident. 

9.30 AM

First meeting of the day! I discuss my current project with the Head of Economics and Chief Economist. They provide more insight into my project and confirm that I was on the right path. 

10.00 AM

A back-to-back meeting but this one is with the rest of the Economics team. We discuss what is going on in the team, what projects we are all working on and any admin updates. 

11.00 AM

Team meeting is finished. I continue working on my current project. 

11.45 AM

Today I am having my lunch earlier than usual because I will be attending an online course during my regular lunch hours. 

12.00 PM

I am attending the Courageous Conversation course online. The host was lovely and made it a safe space to share any courageous conversations we have recently had or will be having soon. The two things I took away from this course are learning how to identify my triggers and when to leave a courageous conversation. 

1.30 PM

My proper break! I usually go for lunchtime walks if I am working in the office to get my steps in. I enjoy walking around the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter before returning to the office. 

2.30 PM

I give my presentation on competition economics to upskill the rest of the team. I go through the different market structures and the ways to measure market concentration. I linked it back to the KiwiSaver industry, which is something I have become familiar with ever since working at the FMA. The discussion at the end was insightful and helped me reflect on the topic. 

3.30 PM

I grab a coffee with my intern who is up from Wellington. As his mentor, we talk about his goals and aspirations for the future. 

4.00 PM

I continue working on my project.

5.00 PM

I log off for the day and grab the bus home. 

5.45 PM

Arrive home – the first thing I do is pet my dog, shower, do the laundry, and have dinner.

7.00 PM

I finish dinner and I spend some time on my social media and watching TikTok.

9.30 PM

Early bedtime because it is a WFH day tomorrow! Which means I wake up at 6.45 am to go to the gym and do strength training. 

Thinking of experiencing life as a Financial Markets Authority Graduate? Sign up to Prosple to receive job alerts.