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As the father of four children, James Segil finds that his start to the day begins somewhat abruptly. “Normally my wife kicks me out of bed at about five in the morning, telling me it is my turn to deal with our crying one-year-old twins” he says.
With this complete, Segil will bravely attempt to read his emails before his two older children, boys aged five and a half and three and a half, wake up.
It is then a juggling act as he and his wife take it in turns to care for the kids while each gets ready for the day ahead.
As soon as the children’s nanny has arrived, Segil will begin his 45-minute ride to work, taking his older son to school on the way.
With his son dropped off, Segil will then make his first call of the day to his team in Europe, followed by his staff in Asia.
“I live in LA so as you might imagine I have a Prius, because I have to offset the fact that my wife has a massive truck that she carts our four kids around in,” he jokes.
Arriving at the office, Segil will walk through Edgecast’s sales area, greeting staff along the way. As the company is presently engaged in a recruitment drive, he often encounters some sort of construction work going on, be it adding more desks or putting in more phone lines.
It is then back-to-back meetings for much of the day, with calls to clients and analysts, as well as touching base with his team and conducting interviews with potential new staff.
Segil insists the trick to interviewing is staying excited about the company and the job opportunity, describing himself as the “cheerleader” of Edgecast.
The Edgecast kitchen houses a ping pong table and at least once a day Segil likes to challenge a co-worker to a game in order to take a short break. He will also typically go out and grab lunch with a colleague.
Segil enjoys attending Edgecast’s social events, which include a summer picnic, the ‘Edgecast Olympics’ and a dance contest. The company’s staff quarterly updates are also a fun affair, the most recent taking place in a bowling alley.
Segil also spends approximately 40% of the year travelling to various industry events or visiting clients across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. On these trips, he counts his noise cancelling headphones and neck cushion among his most prized possessions.
Edgecast employees typically work long hours, and Segil is no exception, ending his working day at 10pm. On his way out of the office he will always walk through the company’s Network Operations Centre (NOC) to make sure everything is running smoothly.
Segil’s work ethic is driven by the enjoyment of his role: “I love what I do, and despite the lack of free time, I couldn’t think of a better job.”
