Splitting his time between Switzerland and the UK, Keil Stewart, 37, leads global people strategy at brand management platform Frontify. As VP of People, he oversees teams across talent acquisition, operations and employee experience, helping the fast-growing company scale while staying true to its culture.
Living in Wales with his partner and two children, Keil works remotely most of the time, making regular trips to the firm’s St Gallen headquarters and monthly visits to its London office. His days begin early with school runs, and his approach to leadership is grounded in flexibility, energy management and what he calls “learning by doing”.
In this edition of A Day in the Life of an HR Professional, Keil shares how he structures his time for deep work, the importance of readiness in a leadership role and why the future of HR lies in personalisation, not process.
My day normally kicks off around 6-7am, when one of my kids decides it’s time for everyone to be awake. The first order of business is getting everyone ready for school, and then I can think about starting my own day.
I work remotely most of the time, which is great. I’m based in Wales but travel a fair bit for work — regular trips to our HQ in St Gallen in Switzerland and New York City. Plus, I’m in London once a month for a couple of days. Working from home gives me the freedom and flexibility I need with family life.
Since I work from home 90% of the time, my commute is basically just walking to my home office. When I do travel for work, that time is usually spent catching up on emails or preparing for meetings.
When I begin my workday, the first thing I check is my calendar, to understand what lies ahead. I deliberately avoid Slack and emails initially, as they can quickly become distracting rabbit holes. I’ve started wearing an Oura ring, which gives me a daily readiness score based on sleep, stress and exercise. It’s pretty eye-opening to see how those metrics affect my performance. Some days I’m firing on all cylinders, and other days… well, let’s just say we all have our off-days. I think it’s important to acknowledge that we’re all human and no two days are the same.
My mornings at the start of the week follow a pretty clear rhythm. I use this time to dive into meetings, connecting with my team and key stakeholders. I intentionally front-load my schedule, as I find I have more energy and focus during these early hours. The rest of the week I block off for deep work, giving myself the space to think, strategise and create without distractions.
On days when I’m not in back-to-back meetings, I try to hit the gym for some strength training during lunch. Food-wise, I keep it simple but nutritious on rest days. The midday workout really helps clear my head and gives me energy for the afternoon.
When people ask me about the future of HR, sorry, but it’s impossible not to mention AI. It’s going to be crucial for everything from onboarding to performance management. It’s about embracing it with urgency to stay with the pace of change and development. But if we put AI aside for a moment, I truly believe that coaching and personalised learning will be the key drivers in transforming the HR landscape over the next five years. Working at Frontify, I’ve gained a unique perspective on this.
For those who don’t know, Frontify is a brand management platform that helps companies maintain brand consistency across all touchpoints. We help teams collaborate on brand assets, guidelines and digital experiences, essentially bringing order to what can be chaotic brand management processes. And this experience has shown me how important systems and tools are for empowering and connecting people. I think we’re going to see a similar revolution in HR tech that focuses on empowering individuals through a personalised journey and development.
The one-size-fits-all approach to employee development is dying a quick death. Companies are recognising that each employee has unique strengths, growth areas and career aspirations. In the coming years, I expect we’ll see sophisticated platforms that combine skills assessment, career pathing and personalised learning opportunities, all tailored to individual employees. These systems will help HR teams scale personalised development in ways that have been impossible until now.
My advice for anyone wanting to advance in HR is that theory is great, but learning by doing is often more valuable. Modern HR is incredibly dynamic. You need problem-solving skills, communication ability, flexibility and adaptability. The textbook approach doesn’t cut it anymore, especially in fast-growing startups and scale-ups.
People come to HR with all kinds of challenges, good and bad ones, and there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. You have to be comfortable with uncertainty and willing to experiment with approaches that might not work. That’s something they don’t teach you in HR school.
I try to block my meetings strategically. I bunch them together so I have solid chunks of focus time. Afternoons often fill up with meetings, but I’ve learned that my brain works best with important meetings earlier in the day. After lunch, I might be in meeting mode, but I’m mindful about protecting some blocks for focused work.
One hack I’ve started using is sending voice notes instead of scheduling full meetings when possible. It’s amazing how many “quick questions” don’t actually need a 30-minute calendar hold. I’m intentional about managing my energy, and I have no hesitation in rescheduling meetings when necessary. I believe we should all be more deliberate with our time, showing up in the best possible way.
Just because something’s on your calendar doesn’t mean you have to attend, especially if you’re not prepared. I never walk into a meeting unprepared; that would waste everyone’s time. Flexibility doesn’t equate to disorganisation; it’s about being strategic about where you focus your energy and the output.
No days are exactly the same for me. Some days I have optimum energy and some days I don’t. That Oura ring I mentioned gives me a readiness score based on sleep, stress and exercise levels, which helps me gauge what kind of day I’m likely to have.
I think we have a reputation problem in HR. It could be so much cooler and more fun. We’re dealing with people and culture, the heart of any organisation, so HR professionals should be the most people-oriented, hard-working folks around. I’d love to see HR embrace its strengths and become more prominent and, frankly, more cool.
If I’m being honest, I do work beyond my scheduled hours occasionally. Being in a leadership role means setting an example, so I try to be thoughtful about when I’m sending emails or messages to my team outside of working hours.
The end of my workday usually flows straight into family dinner and the kids’ bedtime routines; there’s not much of a buffer there. I have to be intentional about switching modes quickly. Evenings are all about family time with the kids and dinner together. That’s the priority.
For unwinding, I’m not above some quality screen time on my phone. When it’s sunny, I love being outside in the garden. Sometimes, I’ll go out for coffee or an evening drink or meet friends for a game of padel. I probably manage social or sporty activities two to three evenings a week.
I rarely go to bed before 11:30pm, and I’ve learned to trust my body about when it’s ready for sleep. I pay attention to both sleep quality and actual time in bed to find my optimum rest. And yes, I’ll usually watch something on my phone before drifting off.
Often, just as I’m about to fall asleep, my brain decides it’s the perfect time to remember something important for tomorrow. I’ll get this sudden burst of mental energy and clarity, both helpful and annoying when you’re trying to sleep.
