Stephanie Hanks is the proprietor of Bride to Be, a Bridalwear shop in Reading. The shop has been in her family for 29 years, and Stephanie has run it for the past ten, having bought the business from her mother.

My Typical Morning…

I am a morning person – I’m up the with the lark. I wake up at 6.30am most mornings, and the first thing I do is check my phone.

My usual breakfast is a full-fat yoghurt with berries. I usually arrive at work at about 10.30am and the first thing I do is check that all of the staff are ok and that there aren’t any problems that need to be dealt with immediately.

A typical morning at work is quite mad! I get pulled in lots of different directions by different members of staff and departments, tending to admin duties, suppliers, trade association jobs, phone calls, social media etc.

Read more: Check out the diary entrance from the Editor of Bridal Buyer and Confetti here.

My Typical Afternoon…

For lunch, I tend to eat a homemade salad at my desk and occasionally I will pop out to the shops in Reading centre which are fab. My afternoons are usually quieter and I can really crack on with my admin.

Although I do still answer the phone if is everyone is busy and will work in the front of the shop if all the staff have appointments. I also tend to interact and ‘schmooze’ the customers and their mums as I am walking about! I leave work at about 7.30pm.

My Typical Evening…

I listen to LBC in the car on my drive home and I collapse after eating dinner and try to put my phone down (not always successfully!). Sometimes I will go out with friends on a ‘school night’ but not often! I try to watch some ‘easy TV’.

To switch off, a nice evening walk in the surrounding countryside is good, or even something simple like watering my garden.

I go to bed at around 11pm, and I’m a very light sleeper. I never remember dreams.

The Best Part of my Day…

My favourite part of the day is the morning. If I could change anything it’d be the evenings - I seem to be living to work at the moment. I have joined a gym and plan to start exercising in the evenings. Bridal is honestly the most draining and yet rewarding job – it takes stamina to keep going!

If you’d like to be featured in next week’s My Diary, get in touch with us at bridalbuyer@oceanmedia.co.uk.

Want more? Check out what a typical working day looks like for Sanyukta Shrestha, Founder of an ethical bridal brand, in her Wonder Woman Wednesday profile.