Maria Muñoz, founding partner, Maison Pyramide: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Maria Muñoz (LinkedIn), co-founder and partner at Maison Pyramide.

My name is Maria Munoz, founding partner at Maison Pyramide, or MP, as we call it. I focus very much on business development and ways to expand and grow our business. I have two other partners and co-founders who I’m lucky to work with. We have three offices in Beirut, Dubai, and Cairo — but I’m mostly active in Cairo.

The three of us together focus on how to deliver consistently good services and make sure our clients are satisfied and really feel the impact of what we do for them. We are constantly searching for better and more innovative practices, streamlining services, and trying to always be one step ahead to deliver real value.

A big part of the success of this goal comes from building the right systems, the right processes and most importantly, the best team to support and grow this system. My role as a partner includes much of this — growing the team to become the best at what they do within our field and practice.

MP was founded in 2016, when I met one of my partners in Cairo, and our conversation started out of us recognizing the talent and passion that we see in the MENA region, but also the lack of tools and access in the local fashion industry that could enable them to grow into businesses and compete head-to-head with global standards. We started thinking of how to address these challenges that business owners were facing to establish themselves as actual businesses.

The company has two main pillars: The showroom and the consultancy. Through the showroom, we represent and sell emerging talents, from Monot to Lama Jouni to L’atelier Nawbar. We have a roster of very interesting regional and international talent, and we sell them to the biggest global retailers like Net-a-Porter, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. The second pillar is the consultancy, through which we create innovative communications strategies and full on creative concepts for both emerging and established clients. We — the three partners — are always involved in all operations, but I’m much more involved with the consultancy.

I really respect my morning routine and I try to stick to it as much as I can. I’ve always been an early bird; I like waking up before anybody else, especially now with two kids. The early morning is the space in which I find the most peace and clarity of mind. I usually wake up between 5-6am, except for the days when I’m alone with the kids when it’s a bit more challenging.

I always find time to read in the morning. I read three to four books at the same time on very different topics, so I’m either reading a book on psychology or self-growth or a novel. I try to dedicate time to learning, and I always pray for a while. Then I try to move — not hardcore exercises of course because they don’t really work for me in the early morning — but I try to move a bit before the craziness of the day starts.

I usually take some time to get dressed and ready for the day, because looking good makes me feel good, so I always find time to get dressed properly and put some makeup on. Then I take my kids to school, and either go to the office or to a cafe to work from. When I feel like I’ve given everything I have for the day to work, I stop and try to unwind, usually around 3pm.

I’m a firm believer that working 9-5, five days a week is not necessarily the right thing for everybody. I find that I’m producing much better when I change locations, and as much as I feel that the office environment is necessary, I also feel it’s important to understand where and how you produce the most.

I like to create lists everyday where I prioritize my tasks, and I always start my day with the highest priority items, no matter how difficult they are. I like to write them down by hand — each list I have, whether on a professional level, or a personal or familial one is handwritten and I flag anything that gets carried over to the next day with a red flag. I’m not a very organized person, so I really need these tools to make sure I have the time for myself to be a person and not just a work machine.

One constant in my day is spending time with my kids. We work a lot, and we don’t really take holidays, but I feel like work is a part of my life; I can’t separate it. I’ve reached a level of work-life balance that I’m satisfied with, and I’m aware that this balance is not sustainable 100% of the time. But most of the time, I make sure to make time for myself, for my kids, and for traveling to see my family back in Spain.

When I finish my workday, I start my mom workday [laughs], so it’s not really a time for relaxing. But I do like to play sports later in the day, and I find moments of relaxation in that.

Our business is at a very interesting moment of growth and expansion, so I see myself doing this for a while. On a personal level, I would love to continue to build on my knowledge and give back to the community much more.

One novel that I read recently and really liked is The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. It’s a very interesting thriller that is impossible to put down, especially if you’re into mystery. The 5AM Club is another one that really touched me; I think it offers a lot of wisdom and personal tools, and is also written in a way that makes it very relatable to all kinds of people. I also love How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk; it gives you a lot of tools as a parent, and shows you how to put yourself in your kids’ shoes.

The best advice I’ve gotten was from my grandfather. He always told me, “don’t let anything take away your inner peace.” To me, this is very valid on many levels across my life, whether personally or professionally, so this is something that really resonates with me.