We’ve never been interrupted by a toucan before—until Tata Harper called us from Colombia. As pandemia set in, the skincare mogul moved from New England to her hometown of Barranquilla, where locals can also spot anteaters, humpback whales, and over 1000 different butterflies. “My home country is the most beautiful place,” she says after the birds outside quiet down. “But even in paradise, I know I still have to work really hard to make my dreams a reality. We all do, no matter where we are.”

Here’s how Tata Harper spends her mornings… when she’s not chasing the Froot Loops mascot around her front porch.

6 A.M. My wake-up alarm is the main song from the Pride and Prejudice movie! The volume goes up every few seconds until I get up and turn it off. I usually wake up super easy, but having music I love really helps set my mood.

6:30 A.M. I check all my messages from my bed—first text messages, then WhatsApp, emails, the news, and then I reply to anything that needs an urgent answer or an easy yes-or-no answer. If someone needs anything from me to start their day, I make it a priority to get it to them ASAP. And I know you’re not supposed to work from bed, technically, but if you worry about what you’re “supposed” to do, you’ll never be an entrepreneur, right?

7 A.M. I make breakfast for my kids and help them get ready for school. I’m not the hugest breakfast person myself, but I take so many supplements that I divide them into 3 sets. I also drink a combination of buckwheat tea and butterfly pea tea—it’s made from a plant that butterflies like, not actual butterflies! I try to drink 2 gallons of water every day, and the tea helps.

8 A.M. I put my Hydrating Floral Essence and Water-Lock Moisturizer on my skin before I exercise. Some products actually work well with the heat and sweat from your skin, and if you can work out your skin and your body at the same time, do it!

8:30 A.M. Exercising in the morning can be hard, but I like doing dance routines for cardio, which makes it really fun. I’m into reggaeton right now, and I just learned some new choreography from a Shakira song! I’ll do weights and stretching, too—whatever I’m in the mood for—and even though I try to make it an hour, if I’ve only got 30 minutes, that’s fine. I just want to get moving before I get to work.

9 A.M. I exfoliate every morning—and yes, you should, too. You want to get rid of the dead skin cells that accumulate after you sleep so that your products absorb better… Then I use our serum and eye cream, and our Concentrated Brightening Serum on my neck and jawline, and then moisturizer. But listen, I’m in my mid-40s and I still love my skin! Taking care of it doesn’t feel like work to me. It feels like a ritual to set my tone for the whole day.

9:30 A.M. I put on a hoodie and go right into my first meeting of the day. I call it my “Zoom Life.” I “go to the office,” which is a table in my living room… I have a standing desk, too, and I put a treadmill under there so I can literally walk and talk. The other day, I did almost 15 miles!

10 A.M. I ask a lot of questions in the mornings, like, “Is this product making our lives better? Have we sourced it properly? Is it the highest possible quality?” And I do that because so much [venture capital] cash has entered the beauty space, and we’re seeing this rise of “fast beauty,” like fast fashion. The problem is that a lot of those products are wasteful, and they can harm your skin and the planet. I believe in the future, everything will be “clean beauty.” But right now, you’ve still got to be very educated about what’s in your products. I do, too! That’s why we have our own farm, our own manufacturing—we make stuff from scratch so we know exactly how it’s made and what it’s made from. Right now, that’s the only way “clean beauty” can be real.

11 A.M. I’ve always loved to work. My mom had a liquor distributorship and a construction company, and she made us help her in the office! She was like, “Oh, Tata, you want cool clothes? This is how you buy them—you get a job.” I always loved fashion, but in Latin American culture, you grow up with a different kind of appreciation for beauty. Your pampering rituals are very social—you do skincare with your friends! It’s a bonding experience. But my skin was so sensitive, I couldn’t put anything on it, or else it would freak out. And that’s when I got obsessed with beauty ingredients… and yeah, I’m still obsessed!

11:30 A.M. I bounce new ideas off my whole team. As a CEO, you can’t be afraid to listen to your customers, and you also can’t be afraid to listen to your team—success is a collective effort. It’s never about just what I want, and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have answers all the time. All good leaders work that way, but sometimes women are a little more shy about sharing their ideas. You know how sometimes, you’ll murmur something in a work meeting, like you’re not sure if it’s a good idea or not? Please speak up! You deserve to be heard, and we want to hear from you!

Noon. The birds start making a lot of noise again, but that’s great. Hearing them keeps me sane. I can’t work when it’s too quiet. I need to know I’m part of a bigger world.