Sponsor Diary: Charla Serbent
Director of Sales, North America
PPG Industries
Director of Sales, North America
PPG Industries
Charla flies to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh, where she lives with her husband, Gary, and two children, Anna, age 7, and John, age 5. Her door-to-door commute time is roughly three and three quarter hours.
| Week One | |
|---|---|
| Sunday | |
| 7:15 a.m. | Back from school late last night. In-laws are in town. Wake Up. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Swim at club. Church at 10:00 a.m. Pick up bagels the on way home. |
| 12:00 p.m. | Off to swim meet with Anna (7). |
| 6:00 p.m. | Get home. We all watch the end of the Astros/Braves playoffs (18 innings!) and eat a late dinner. |
| 9:00 p.m. | Visit a bit and up to my room to read Economics until midnight. |
| Monday | |
| 5:00 a.m. | Wake up. Get to the office at 6:15 a.m. |
| 7:00 a.m. | Meetings back-to-back all day. Sales opportunities reviews, sales team development meetings. |
| 6:30 p.m. | Wrap up. Quick sandwich. |
| 7:00 p.m. | Meet the kids for ice cream. |
| 7:30 p.m. | Anna goes with me for a haircut. |
| 8:30 p.m. | Home. Read books with kids. |
| 9:30 p.m. | Too tired to pack. Go to bed. |
| Tuesday | |
| 4:20 a.m. | Wake up and pack. Head to airport. Flight cancelled. Take 7:05 a.m. to Milwaukee. |
| 8:30 a.m. | Cab to plant. Meet with part of my team, pre-announce several personnel changes. |
| 1:00 p.m. | Afternoon meetings with marketing, technical, GM, and others. |
| 6:00 p.m. | Wrap up and check into hotel. |
| 7:00 p.m. | Business dinner until 10:30 p.m. |
| 11:00 p.m. | E-mail until 12:30 a.m. |
| Wednesday | |
| 5:30 a.m. | Wake up and work on e-mail until 7:45 a.m. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Off-site meeting on organizational change. Strategic discussions on managing change and leading through change. |
| 6:30 p.m. | Business dinner. |
| 11:30 p.m. | Call home and then go to bed. |
| Thursday | |
| 5:00 a.m. | Wake up and head to airport. |
| 6:00 a.m. | E-mail in terminal until flight. Arrive at office at 11:00 a.m. (EST). |
| 11:00 a.m. | Meeting and working lunch on pricing. |
| 3:00 p.m. | Afternoon meetings on long-range plan run late. Review and wrap up. |
| 9:15 p.m. | Home. Read for OPIM class. In bed by 10:30 p.m. |
| Friday | |
| 5:30 a.m. | Wake up. In the office by 6:30 a.m. E-mails and meeting preparation. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Meetings until 4:00 p.m. Team conference call, claims reviews, pricing review, and acquisition review. Review and wrap up. Out by 5:15 p.m. |
| 5:45 p.m. | Stop at store for pumpkin carving kits. Neighborhood party at our house with kids. |
| 11:30 p.m. | Bed. |
| Saturday | |
| 6:00 a.m. | Wake up. Everyone is dressed and in the car by 6:35 a.m. for a swim meet. |
| 7:30 a.m. | Anna's warm ups. Lots of idle time. I plan to read and study in between events. |
| 9:00 a.m. | No chance to study. Jonathan (5) wants to play football, read stories, color, and practice math flash cards. We play together in between events. Anna has a great meet (three medals and one ribbon). |
| 12:30 p.m. | Lunch at home. Anna goes to a friend's house. Jonathan goes fishing with Gary. I study OPIM and Stats for six hours. |
| 8:00 p.m. | Pick up Chinese for late dinner and catch the end of the Astros game. Watch a movie with Spanish subtitles. |
| 11:00 p.m. | Bed. |
| Week Two | |
| Sunday | |
| 4:45 a.m. | Wake up, drive to the pool. |
| 7:15 a.m. | Wake up. Go to the club for a one-mile swim. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Study at a local coffee shop. |
| 12:30 p.m. | Finalize details of Mexico trip. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Study all afternoon. |
| 6:30 p.m. | Dinner. Catch the end of the Astros game. |
| 9:00 p.m. | Pack and review for trip. Watch a movie in Spanish. |
| 11:00 p.m. | Bed. |
| Monday | |
| 4:00 a.m. | Wake up. Head to airport for trip. Work on e-mails in terminal. |
| 12:30 p.m. | (CST) Arrive in Mexico City. Meet sales team. Visit customer. |
| 7:30 p.m. | Dinner with salesperson. Co-worker arrives from Brazil at 9:00 p.m. Driver takes us to Queretaro. |
| 12:00 a.m. | Check in and go to bed. |
| Tuesday | |
| 6:30 a.m. | Wake up. Breakfast and ride to plant. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Meetings until 7:00 p.m. |
| 7:30 p.m. | Driver arrives. Return to Mexico City. |
| 10:30 p.m. | Check in and go to bed. |
| Wednesday | |
| 4:30 a.m. | Wake-up. |
| 5:30 a.m. | Fly from Mexico to Houston to Pittsburgh. |
| 3:00 p.m. | Back home. Check in/review with admin. E-mails and conference call from home until 6:00 p.m. |
| 6:30 p.m. | Take Anna to swim team practice. Back home for late dinner. |
| 9:00 p.m. | Very tired, go to bed. |
| Thursday | |
| 5:00 a.m. | Wake-up. Drive to Euclid, OH. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Join inside sales meeting, provide business update and answer Q&A. |
| 12:00 p.m. | Web meeting. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Drive back to Pittsburgh. |
| 4:00 p.m. | Acquisition meeting. |
| 5:00 p.m. | Review and wrap up. |
| 7:00 p.m. | Meet family at club for dinner. |
| 8:30 p.m. | Pack for class and study Econ until 11:00 p.m. |
| Friday | |
| 4:30 a.m. | Wake-up. Head to airport. |
| 6:30 a.m. | Read OPIM on plane. |
| 7:45 a.m. | Taxi to campus. Download voicemails and leave weekly update for GM. |
| 9:30 a.m. | Economics Class. |
| 1:30 p.m. | OPIM Class. |
| 4:15 p.m. | Leadership Class. |
| 6:30 p.m. | Dinner and Casino Night. Finally NO TESTS this weekend. Go out with classmates. |
| Saturday | |
| 9:00 a.m. | OPIM Class. |
| 1:00 p.m. | Stats Class. |
| 3:55 p.m. | Class ends five minutes early. Taxi is waiting. Race to the airport. Home early! Relax with the family. |
| Sunday | |
| 7:00 a.m. | Wake up. Head to club for a one-mile swim. And here we go again… |