How a toddler turned this CEO’s wellness routine upside down | Canada Voices

In this new series Morning Moves, we explore the daily rituals that help Canadian leaders excel. Here, Robbie Bent, CEO of Othership, about how fatherhood has transformed his morning routine and continues to inspire his approach to each day.

Robbie Bent used to start his day with four hours of meditation, breathwork, exercise, journaling and a cold plunge, but after his son was born two years ago his schedule – and priorities – have changed.

“Since becoming a dad I’ve had to let that go,” says the CEO of Toronto-based sauna and ice bath wellness brand Othership. “Once he came, things were completely different.”

Now, Bent’s two-year-old acts as an unpredictable alarm clock, occasionally letting Bent and his co-founder-slash-wife Emily sleep until 7 a.m., but more often than not getting their day started between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

“I set no meetings prior to 10 a.m. – as a founder, I control my own schedule – and before that, my wife and I just hang out,” he says.

On an ideal morning, when the weather co-operates, the three go on a long walk from their home near Dundas and Ossington, stopping for a coffee and croissant on their way to Trinity Bellwoods Park or, as of more recently, dropping their son off at daycare.

“Because I don’t work out that much any more, I bought this weighted vest, and if I get a half-hour, 45-minute walk in, it’s kind of like a mini-workout,” he says. “It looks pretty crazy – like you’ll see me on Ossington wearing what looks like a bomber vest – but I don’t care.”

On colder and rainier days, Bent says that time between waking up and work is instead spent “puttering around the house,” playing with his son or listening to a podcast and tidying the kitchen while he busies himself with toys.

Before his morning coffee Bent says he first indulges in a glass of spring water, elevated with a few natural ingredients.

“I order Cedar Springs water to my house, I have a machine that cools it, and one of my favourite things is getting super high-quality water,” he says. “I’ll put some lemon in it, some chlorophyll, some electrolytes and it’s like this big healthy water to get hydrated first thing before my coffee.”

Bent says leading any organization is demanding, even one dedicated to emotional wellness, which is why he feels it’s important to start his day off on the right foot.

“At the end of the day, we’re still working hard and it’s also stressful,” he says. “If I can get outside and go for a walk and have fresh light in my eyes it makes a huge difference for relaxation – and starting my day with something that’s joyful, which for me is just a good cup of coffee.”

Though it’s not necessarily the morning routine he’d choose under different circumstances, or was accustomed to prior to becoming a father, Bent says he’s grateful for the one that he’s got.

“It’s just very different from what my morning routine was,” he says, “If I could share one thing with people, it’s ‘choose the morning routine that’s available to you based on your lifestyle, and don’t think too much of it.’”