When you have the opportunity to ask some of the most interesting people in the world about their lives, sometimes the most fascinating answers come from the simplest questions. The Thrive Questionnaire is an ongoing series that gives an intimate look inside the lives of some of the world’s most successful people.
Thrive Global: What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed?
Charlie Javice: I check my Whatsapp for urgent needs from our Israeli office and investor. I then check the weather and have my first big dilemma of the day – will my hair behave and be tame or do I need to wash it? Then I hop in the shower and get ready.
TG: What gives you energy?
CJ: Our customers. Knowing you wake up every morning with the opportunity to connect with a complete stranger at an intimate level and make a difference in their life is truly special. The families we help get financial aid make me smile and push me every day to do things with purpose.
TG: Name a book that changed your life.
CJ: “The Goal: A Process of On-Going Improvement.” It’s an old school management book that highlights resilience, and how process and measurement can flip your traditional notions of success. Success is journey.
TG: Tell us about your relationship with your phone. Does it sleep with you?
CJ: My phone and I have a very trusting relationship. I know it’s always there for me and I’m happy to leave it at home or in the bottom of my bag when I’m out with friends and family or working out. At the end of the night, my phone sleeps under my bed out of reach. Having answered all my emails and created a mental work plan for the next day, I don’t see why I would go to sleep with my baby.
TG: How do you deal with email?
CJ: Monday through Friday, I’m practically on 24/7 aside from one hour of exercise each day and of course those hours I’m sleeping and the phone is in its trusted place. I will answer every email almost immediately with either a full thought-out response or by when you can expect a response from me. On Friday night toSaturday sundown I won’t touch my work email. This gives me an opportunity to recharge and take a step back to realize that the wheels keep turning without me running the show.
TG: You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do with it?
CJ: I’ll hop on customer support to help out our families. This keeps my finger on the pulse and truly energizes me.
TG: When was the last time you felt burned out and why?
CJ: I don’t. I feel extremely lucky to be in a position to have an impact. This drives to me to work harder. My guess is that if I ever were to feel burned out, it would be because I couldn’t affect change and that would start frustrating me.
TG: Share a quote that you love and that gives you strength or peace.
CJ: The best way to predict the future is to create it. – Peter Drucker
Charlie Javice is the 25-year-old female founder and CEO of FRANK, an online platform that helps make college more affordable, enabling millions of students to access billions in free financial aid. Javice’s non-profit work started at 19 when she founded PoverUP, an online platform designed to help interested students learn more about starting microfinance clubs, getting social-enterprise internships, and supporting microfinance organizations.