The daily routine of a Ford executive who's up at 5:30 a.m., listens to a 'hype song' on the way to work, and ends the day with wine, TV, and a 'golden hour'

• Sondra Sutton Phung, the marketing general manager of EVs at Ford, shared her daily routine.
• She starts with a walk with her dog, then commutes to Ford's Corktown office for meetings.
• She ends the day with "Rose, Thorn, Bud" with her daughter and wine and a TV show with her husband.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sondra Sutton Phung, the marketing general manager of electric vehicles at Ford Motor Company, from Novi, Michigan, about her daily work routine. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I start my mornings at 5:30 a.m. by taking a 30-minute walk through my neighborhood with Lexie, our family Aussiedoodle.

While walking with her, I usually check email on my phone for anything urgent or that can be answered quickly.

I typically skip breakfast during the workweek and instead enjoy a cup of Chinese tea, a habit I picked up from living in Asia for 10 years.

I attend a meeting with my US, UK, Germany, and China-based colleagues at least twice a week from my home office to understand customer wants and needs in relation to our worldwide EV portfolio.

At 7 a.m., I make a cup of coffee for my husband, and we typically take 15 minutes to coordinate schedules before we wake up our daughter for school.

On the days I don't have a 6:30 a.m. meeting, I wake up my 9-year-old daughter for school. As every mom in America can probably relate, I verbally follow up at least three times to ensure she's completed her morning routine.

I next check sales for the Mustang Mach-E to see where extra marketing efforts may help, review reports for competitive news, and respond to emails and Webex messages. Taking handwritten notes in a Live Life spiral notebook helps me stay on task.

If it's my day to do school drop-off, I transition my 8 a.m. meeting to my car. During this seven-minute drive, my daughter and I listen to our hype song, Beyonce's "Brown Skin Girl."

My commute takes 35 minutes. Some days I drive to the EV-marketing office in Corktown, Detroit, while other days I go to the EV product-development office in Dearborn. I'm currently listening to "The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama on audiobook.

Once I reach work, I plug my Mustang into one of our on-site EV-charging stations. There's nothing quite like living the EV life — I haven't been to a gas station in five months and have no regrets.

I love our Corktown office. We have no assigned seating, it's open design, has natural lighting, brick walls, and a rooftop seating area that provide a perfect backdrop to ignite creativity.

I take two 30-minute one-on-ones a week to mentor young female and minority employees. I call this my "give back" hour. I advise everyone to secure a mentor, create a five-year plan, and know their worth.

At least once a quarter, I participate in an activity at my daughter's school at lunchtime. I recently participated in STEAM Career Day and did a presentation on EVs with a Mustang Mach-E "show and tell." I felt like the cool parent — at least for that day.

Every Monday at 1 p.m., I connect with my global team for a state-of-the-business update. This is my favorite meeting because I get to understand everything happening, track priorities, and course correct. I always start meetings with an agenda.

The main portion of my workday ends around 6:30 p.m. I then switch to my mom hat and take my daughter to one of her many activities, like karate class.

I sit on the board of Jack and Jill of America in Oakland County. In this role, I spend at least one hour a week, often in the evening, on board business. I recently organized a cruise to celebrate moms.

At 8 p.m., I switch to my wife hat and dedicate an hour to enjoying time with my husband. With wine in hand, we watch a show together. We're "Star Wars" junkies, so we're currently watching "Andor."

I tuck my daughter into bed at 9 p.m, but not before we play "Rose, Thorn, Bud" to recap our days. It keeps me connected to her thoughts and gives her insights into me as a mom, woman, and leader of people.

My "golden hour" is 9:30 p.m., because it's when I get caught up on work emails from the day, solve a few issues with my direct manager, and review my calendar for the next day. I get around 150 emails a day that I prioritize as urgent, not urgent, information only, and junk.

I set aside time for reflection and gratitude at 10:30 p.m, reading reflections from "For I Know the Plans." After a tough day, I remind myself what Michelle Obama's mother told her: "You can't expect to be liked at work or in public, but come home — we will always like you here."