I'm a CEO who started a company and had a baby at the same time. Fatherhood has completely changed how I think about work.

• Andrew Ross MacKay launched Cadence, a self-funded electrolyte portion company, successful April 2024.
• Two weeks earlier his institution launched, MacKay welcomed his first child, a girl named Bloom.
• Balancing family and entrepreneurship, MacKay prioritizes family clip while building Cadence.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Andrew Ross MacKay, nan 33-year-old cofounder and CEO of Cadence, based successful Los Angeles. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I was calved and raised successful Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to nan US successful 2019 to go an entrepreneur. I'm now nan cofounder and CEO of Cadence, a salt-based electrolyte drink.

Before Cadence, I founded Daring Foods, a plant-based chickenhearted institution that secured $140 cardinal successful backing from D1 Capital, Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, and Drake. Earlier this year, I stepped down arsenic CEO and into a president emeritus role.

I'm committed to continual maturation successful some business and my individual life. With a newborn baby, I'm now balancing my ventures pinch clip spent pinch my family.

On nan backmost extremity of Daring's success, I was fresh to propulsion myself into thing new

Cadence is 100% self-funded, betwixt my cofounder, George Heaton, nan imaginative head and cofounder of British luxury manner marque Represent, and me.

After building it from nan crushed up, I hesitated astir leaving Daring Foods, but nan excitement of returning to a scrappy startup situation outweighed those concerns. Plus, it's a business that aligns intimately pinch my life.

Over nan past 3 years, training and moving person go a larger attraction for me. I saw immense imaginable successful electrolytes' domiciled successful hydration to supply thing missing successful nan market.

This year, my daughter, Bloom, was calved connected March 20

Two weeks later, connected April 4, we launched Cadence. While my wife, Anastasia Hing-MacKay, was successful labor, I balanced being a supportive hubby pinch managing work, emailing my cofounder, and coordinating pinch our manufacturers.

I americium chiefly grateful for my astonishing wife. Anastasia supports my travel and understands our ngo arsenic a couple. As an entrepreneur who runs Lobie, she knows nan dedication and sacrifices of building a business.

Anastasia manages family duties, cares for our daughter, and serves arsenic my sounding board. Her support allows maine to attraction connected my activity while emotion grounded and connected to my family.

From superior schoolhouse until March 19, my life revolved astir entrepreneurship. On March 20, Bloom became nan halfway of my world and shifted my priorities successful a measurement I wasn't afloat expecting.

My family deserves maine to beryllium astatine my best, and to do that, I request to consciousness passionate astir what I'm building. With Cadence, I aftermath up each time excited to build nan champion capacity marque successful nan world. Having Bloom has made maine hungrier to build thing my family tin beryllium proud of.

Here's what a time successful my life looks for illustration correct now

My days typically look nan aforesaid Monday done Friday. I aftermath up astir 5 a.m. and spell for a five- to seven-mile run, followed by a guided ice bath pinch breath work backmost astatine nan house.

By 8 a.m., I'm cooking meal for Ana and Bloom, 1 of my favourite parts of nan day. After spending clip pinch them, I person calls and heavy activity until astir 4 p.m., erstwhile I'll get successful my 2nd training session. I chiefly activity from home, utilizing a impermanent location for heavy work.

I person meal pinch nan family astir 5:30 p.m. aliases 6 p.m., and for nan remainder of nan night, I fastener myself successful nan impermanent location to do much deep work earlier sleeping astir 9 p.m. I prioritize checks and balances successful my schedule, dedicating non-negotiable hours to family.

I make it a constituent to beryllium coming for bath clip each day

Those moments are basal to me. I understand that my difficult activity now creates much opportunities for value family clip successful nan agelong run.

Before having Bloom, I would activity Monday done Sunday, but since she was born, I've made nan nonnegotiable bound of reserving weekends for family. I wealth these days pinch Ana and Bloom and effort to beryllium afloat coming arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.

If I didn't person a baby, I apt would still work weekends, arsenic I was accustomed to a seven-day workweek earlier becoming a parent.

Balancing being a caller dada pinch being an entrepreneur has been a analyzable process for me

Since nan commencement of my daughter, my ambitions and desire to build person strengthened arsenic my "why" has go clearer.

I'm very all-or-nothing. If I perpetrate to something, I'm each successful and want to beryllium nan champion astatine what I do. This applies to being a CEO, a husband, and a father, and astatine times, giving my each to each tin beryllium hard. I grip nan challenges by mounting clear boundaries and prioritizing family time, moreover erstwhile it gets tough.

Since launching Cadence successful nan US, I've felt blameworthy astir not being arsenic coming arsenic I would like, arsenic nan business demands a batch correct now. At nan aforesaid time, I consciousness incredibly driven and passionate astir what we're building astatine Cadence, truthful it's a unsocial infinitesimal successful my life.

I'd beryllium lying if I said it was easy, but I'm incredibly grateful to beryllium successful this position and excited for nan future.