A Day in the Life of Ella & Jo's Charlene Flanagan
You no doubt love the products, but have you met one of the women behind them? For Charlene Flanagan, co-founder of award-winning beauty brand Ella & Jo, the work day is never truly done. However, finding work-life balance joy in all parts of your life is key. Here, she shares all.
Charlene’s morning toutine: fuel, family and skincare
Three mornings a week I get up with my online personal trainer at 6:30 a.m., and other mornings I’m usually up at 7-7:30 a.m. I’m a morning person. It’s when I have the most energy, and I love to get a good start to my day.
The first thing I do is make a cup of tea. It’s always my favourite one. Breakfast is usually simple on weekdays. I stick with the same breakfast, which is porridge, cinnamon, banana and honey with loads of seeds. On weekends we will have pancakes or french toast.
No morning is complete without moments with Micheal and the kids. That could be just a cuddle or it could be sitting down for breakfast together. Those little moments matter more than anything.
Without a doubt, my morning skincare routine includes, our Hydrating Hyaluronic Serum, Plump & Protect Day Cream with SPF 30 and Wide Awake Eye Gel.
I like to look feminine and smart casual. If I don't feel like myself in something, I won't wear it. I love investing in timeless pieces that work across multiple outfits. I've always loved Holly Willoughby's style. It's understated, elegant and never feels like it's trying too hard.
Clocking in: ‘no hour is ever the same’
One minute I'm in the middle of new product development, helping customers in my Instagram DMs, the next I'm reviewing brand campaigns, meeting our team, recording content or I’m speaking at events across the country or online. No hour is ever the same. I love the variety of my work.
What I love most about what I do is the conversations I have everyday with women in my Instagram DMs.
For lunch, I usually take some time away from my desk to make something delicious. In summer, I love anything bread related or a salad, so something quick like boiled eggs, smoked salmon on sourdough or a tuna salad wrap.
What I love most about what I do is the conversations I have everyday with women in my Instagram DMs, and when I get the chance to get out from behind my desk at events and meet people face-to-face. The behind-the-scenes unsexy stuff that people don’t see is brand. I’m obsessed with brand and love getting stuck into bringing ideas and campaigns to life.
Some of my favourite work tools include Google Keep on my phone for taking down notes and making to-do lists and Fyxer, which is an AI tool that helps organise my emails and takes notes for me in meetings.
My own home village of Enniscrone is my absolute favourite place in the West of Ireland. Being beside the ocean is such a dream. My favourite thing to do by myself, or with friends, is a sauna and sea swim or pilates on the beach on the weekends.
Finding balance and being present
I usually wrap for the day around 3 p.m. if I can.
"Owning a business means work is never really "finished,” but I've become much more intentional about being present when I'm with my family."
For dinner, I love to cook so I love coming up with new dinner ideas for all of us. Our family favourites are prawn risotto, stew, salmon and rice or chicken fajitas.
It’s all about family in the evenings, so it’s usually spending time together, kids football, homework and dinner. I don’t like to make too many plans in the evenings, and I love nothing more than taking off my makeup, getting into my pyjamas nice and early and reading my book.
I read all of time and by the time this is published I’ll have moved on to another. My current read is Anywhere But Here by Vicki Notaro. It’s really good.
I’m enjoying listening to Gerry Hussey’s A New Day podcast. It’s absolutely phenomenal. I think every single person should listen to it. It’s a 10-minute recording per day but every week has a theme, some homework and a meditation/reflection. It’s so powerful.
This is where I really slow down. My evening skincare routine includes Melt the Day Away cleansing balm followed by a serum, eye gel and our retinol face oil. I also have a CurrentBody LED Mask that I use almost every evening.
Myself and Micheál always have a cup of tea together when the kids are in bed and chat or catch up on a series we might be watching. We just finished Dutton Ranch on Paramount+ and loved it.