A day in the life of Sotheby's International Realty's CMO, who wakes up at 5:30 a.m., commutes from New York to New Jersey every day, and has chickens named after 'Real Housewives' characters
Kevin Thompson is the chief marketing officer at Sotheby's International Realty.
Thompson lives in a farmhouse on 3.5 acres in Stony Point, New York, about 40 miles north of New York City. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m. so he has time to check on his vegetable garden before work.
"I'm a vegetable gardener, so during the summer months I walk around my property to ensure the deer and wild turkeys didn't eat my vegetables or flowers," Thompson said. "This morning I saw a family of turkeys in my backyard."
The CMO is currently growing tomatoes, zucchini, squash, kale, basil, rosemary, and cilantro, as well as some banana plants as an experiment.
After checking on the garden, Thompson feeds his koi fish.
He has about 40 koi fish in his pond.
His next stop is to feed his chickens in the chicken coop, who are all named after "Real Housewives" from the Bravo TV series.
His chickens are Theresa, Nene, Porsha, and The Countess.
Thompson is not a breakfast person, so after getting ready in his newly renovated master bathroom, it's time for his commute to the office.
He starts his drive at 6:45 a.m. to make it to the Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC corporate office in Madison, New Jersey, by 8:00 a.m.
On the way, he stops at Starbucks for an iced mocha with coconut milk, and a protein box.
During his commute, Thompson listens to podcasts.
"I'm recently hooked on listening to Ad Week's 'CMO Moves,' 'The Moth,' 'The Big Listen,' and 'Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness,'" Thompson said. "This morning I listened to 'The Moth.' I enjoy hearing how people in other industries discuss their brands and how they tell their stories. I love the storytelling of it all and I'm inspired listening to them."
Thompson says he also spends his car rides thinking about the "big picture" for Sotheby's International Realty and how to take their marketing efforts to the next level.
He gets to the office at about 8:00 a.m, where he finishes his coffee and eats his Starbucks breakfast.
"I treasure my morning quiet time to get focused for the day," he said.
Then it's time to dive into emails at his standing desk.
At about 9:00 a.m., Thompson makes it a priority to step out of his office and say "good morning" to his colleagues before his back-to-back meetings and phone calls start.
Thompson's first meeting of the day is with Stacy Levy, the senior director of global events for Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC, during which they discuss event planning and budgeting for 2020 and 2021.
The brand hosts event across the globe, including their largest, the Global Networking Event, which is held every 18 to 24 months and attracts more than 2,500 attendees.
At 11:00 a.m., Thompson heads to a marketing budget meeting with the Sotheby's International Realty president and CEO Philip White.
At noon, Thompson attends yet another meeting, this one with the CMO Council, a network of senior marketing executives.
"I sit on the CMO Council with all the franchise brands under Realogy," Thompson said.
Realogy is the parent company of Sotheby's International Realty, as well as real-estate brands like Citi Habitats, Corcoran Group, and Coldwell Banker.
"We meet about once a month to brainstorm and share marketing ideas," he said.
After that meeting, it's lunchtime. Thompson grabs a tuna poke bowl from the food truck parked outside his office building.
He eats at his desk while reading and responding to emails.
After lunch, Thompsons meet with Isadora Badi, the vice president of global marketing, and Kristin Rowe, the senior manager of signature media for Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC to discuss the next issue of Reside Magazine.
Sotheby's International Realty has a custom publishing relationship with Dow Jones Media Group to produce Reside, a luxury lifestyle magazine.
For the rest of the afternoon, Thompson meets with his team to review branding artwork and the human resources department to discuss ways to elevate, recognize, and reward team members.
"My afternoon is spent on more corporate, bigger picture tasks," he said.
Touching base with his team is Thompson's favorite part of the day.
"I travel a lot for my job, so I really enjoy it when I'm in the corporate office and get to spend time with my team," he said. "We have such a creative and cohesive marketing team that it's fun to discuss the innovative ways we are marketing the brand."
At about 5:00 p.m., Thompson leaves the office for the day. He takes calls in the car during his hour-long commute back to Stony Point.
By 6:00 p.m., Thompson has made it back to his garden.
In the summertime, he typically spends about 45 minutes after work every day watering the flowers and plants around the house and checking on the tomatoes.
Thompson then goes for a seven-mile bike ride, followed by a quick swim in his pool.
"During the summer, I swim in my pool every day," he said.
For dinner, Thompson cooks a Hello Fresh delivery meal.
"Tonight, I'm making Persian marinated chicken and jeweled pistachio rice," he said. "My first jobs were in restaurants, so I love to cook."
He gets a monthly wine delivery from Martha Stewart Wine Co., so he also opens a bottle of white wine to enjoy with dinner.
At 10:00 p.m., Thompson checks his email one last time.
"Since the brand has affiliates in every time zone across the globe, I briefly check my email to ensure there is nothing urgent that needs to be addressed," he said. "I try not to spend more than 30 minutes looking at email in the evening. I think it's important to disconnect and recharge, so that I'm refreshed and ready to go in the morning."
By 10:30, he's in bed with lights out.
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