A Day in the Life of Marianna Hewitt of Summer Fridays

Image Source: Courtesy of Marianna Hewitt and Photo Illustration: Aly Lim

Marianna Hewitt juggles a lot. She’s an influencer, cofounder of Summer Fridays (along with fellow influencer and friend Lauren Ireland), and host of the “Life With Marianna” podcast. She’s used to working multiple jobs at once. Before she became an influencer full-time, she worked as a TV host and created content for YouTube on the weekends. She posted her first video to YouTube in 2012, and after juggling both professions for two years, she quit her day job to pursue content creation full-time.

“I’m just so grateful that I’m able to do all of the things that I love,” Hewitt tells POPSUGAR.

Fast forward 10 years later, and Hewitt is one of the most prominent influencers in the beauty and lifestyle space. Her brand, which launched in 2018, reached cult status almost immediately with its famous baby-blue Jet Lag Mask ($49), and her podcast puts out new episodes weekly on Tuesdays with a stacked list of impressive guests.

“In the beginning days when Summer Fridays launched, that definitely took priority over content creation and influencer work,” Hewitt says. “Over time, once [Lauren and I] really started to hire more people, we were able to relinquish some of our Summer Fridays responsibilities.”

Hewitt considers herself very blessed, but it’s a lot of work. She’s managed to develop systems that help her tackle it all and still have time for herself — something she considers to be of the utmost importance.

Image Source: Courtesy of Marianna Hewitt

Below, she gives us a look into her daily schedule:

6:30 a.m.: Wake Up

Hewitt is a natural morning person — she tries to wake up every day between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., after getting seven or eight hours of sleep. This allows her to have a few hours to herself before starting work.

The first thing Hewitt does when she opens her eyes is check her Oura Ring ($449) for her sleep score. “I get really proud of myself if I slept really well.” Then, she makes her bed, which isn’t something she’s always done but now can’t imagine skipping.

7 a.m.: Morning Routine

Despite now being the queen of morning and nighttime routines, she didn’t always follow one. “I just woke up and jumped right into my day,” she says. After interviewing countless successful people on her podcast who swore by their daily routines, she changed her mind. “I was like, ‘OK, if all of these people that I admire have this morning routine, there must be something to it.'” It took some trial and error to figure out exactly how she wanted to start her day. “Just because someone else does certain things in their morning, it doesn’t mean you have to do them either.”

After her bed is made, she writes in her gratitude journal — it’s nothing fancy, just a blank spiral-bound notebook from Target. “I’m so grateful for these opportunities that I have, and I like to start my day with that mindset,” Hewitt says. It helps her reframe her massive to-do list by thinking she gets to do all of these things rather than she has to do them.

If she has time, she likes to multitask by reading or listening to a podcast or audiobook while she eats breakfast. And as a last step in her morning routine, before getting dressed and officially starting her day, she meditates. “I’m busy all day long, so it’s just 10 or 15 minutes for me to not be thinking of anything. . . before I am doing stuff for everybody else all day long.”

9 a.m. to 1: p.m.: Work

Even though she’s self-employed, Hewitt tries to work normal office hours beginning at 9 a.m. To manage everything on her plate — Summer Fridays, content creation, podcasting — she time-blocks her days. Two days a week, she focuses on Summer Fridays; two days, she’s working on her podcast; and one day is dedicated to content creation. On the two Summer Fridays days, she works from the office with Ireland and their team; the other days, she stays home and works remotely.

1 p.m.: Lunch

Hewitt tries to have lunch at the same time every day and marks it in her calendar just as she does external meetings. “I saw on TikTok someone said to create your ideal calendar on Google,” she says. During that time, she tries not to look at emails or social media. “I’m actually eating my lunch and enjoying a great meal and just taking a break.”

1 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Back to Work

After lunch, Hewitt goes back to work until 5 p.m. She tries to stack her workload accordingly. The days spent working on Summer Fridays are filled with team, product development, and marketing meetings. When she’s working on her podcast, she’s prepping for episode interviews, confirming guests, and recording. The remaining day in her week dedicated to being an influencer is when she bulk-films new content.

“Then, of course, every day I’m answering emails or creating content and posting,” she says.

5:30 p.m.: Events

A big aspect of being an influencer and brand founder is attending events, which usually take place after work. If she’s in the office, she’ll go back home and get ready before heading out. “I know how important it is when we put on an event to have the support of our friends and fellow founders and creators,” Hewitt says. She tries to only commit to one to two events a week, though, because they are a big time commitment and can interrupt her sleep schedule. “On the nights that I don’t have an event, I’ll use those times to really have time for myself.”

7 p.m.: Closing Routine

Having worked in a restaurant in high school and college, Hewitt implemented the concept of a closing-time shift into her nighttime routine where she tidies up her home and preps for the next day. “I get so much PR and gifting and incoming things,” she says. “I give myself a half hour just to clean.”

8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Dinner and TV Time

Hewitt eats dinner a few hours before bed, then dims the lights and unwinds. “I love my TV time and just [to] sit on my couch with my dog,” she says. Right now, she’s watching “Drive to Survive” (a show she started during the pandemic), “The Mandalorian,” and “Ted Lasso,” while waiting for the new season of “Succession” to come out.

Afterward, she does her skin-care routine and is ready to get into bed.

10 p.m. to 11 p.m.: Read and Go to Bed

Hewitt makes herself a cup of peppermint tea, then gets into bed to read a fiction book before falling asleep. “I really want to turn off and escape into another world,” she says. “I just finished reading ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ ($18), which I really liked.” Then she goes to sleep.

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