Claire Brill is the marketing director of Industry Beans – Australia’s fastest growing coffee company in the last five years with cafes across the eastern seaboard, along with a brilliant at-home The Espresso Clubcoffee service, ready-to-drink coffees, cold brew coffee concentrates and more!
So, it’s safe to say that Claire has experience juggling all aspects of life as a busy businesswoman. Here are the top apps that she uses from day-to-day, that she simply can’t live without!
Keeper
This app, or any password management app, is for everyone.
Password security is no joke – and if you’re still using something like ‘Clairelovescoffee123’ as your main password, it’s time to level up. Keeper allows you to create random, one-off passwords and store them in a secure vault which you can summon on your browser or phone whenever you need it. By having unique passwords, if you do get hacked, damage is minimised, and it’s great for secure password sharing too, between families and work teams.
This app is the best social media for professionals.
I’m not much of a personal social media user, but LinkedIn is a happy exception. Practically, I find it the fastest way to get up to date on business news each morning, and the best way to stay ahead of the news about your companies and colleagues. Beyond that, it’s a real democratiser for recruitment and outreach. If you’re building your career towards a particular industry or goal, it’s the best place to invest your energy both in terms of engagement with the platform, and personal content creation.
Tiktok
This app is an absolute necessity for marketers, and a beautiful window into social trends.
Tiktok has had such a huge impact in social media and I would challenge any marketer who isn’t spending time scrolling. It’s been fascinating to see which brands have jumped onto the platform, and how far they’ve taken it, and it’s completely redefined the way both brands and consumers engage with influencers. There are so many trends that a brand can take opportunity to harness if they’re fast enough – so you’ve got to be in it to win it. From a personal angle, I find the platform incredibly relaxing – there’s a rawness to the content that makes you feel at ease and included, rather than like an outsider peering in. I’ve even learned a thing or two about video editing, home cleaning and pilates – and at the end of the day, I’m always up for 10 seconds of golden retriever puppy content.
NYT Crossword
This app is perfect for anyone who loves a good word puzzle.
I love word games, and I LOVE the New York Times Crossword. The app has a great interface for phone and tablet, and the challenge builds throughout the week – so on Monday, you might complete the puzzle in 8 minutes, but by Sunday you’re (happily) throwing in the towel after 1:45. In that way it’s quite a grounding routine throughout the week, and I treat it as a bit of a meditational practise – one of the few times I’m able to truly zone out at the end of the evening. Plus, it’s one of the rare instances in which the digital version is as enjoyable as the analogue.
Woolworths
This app is perfect for anyone who runs out of time to go grocery shopping.
This app isn’t glamorous, but it’s a life saver when things get busy. After one-too-many occasions of coming home after a long day and staring at an empty fridge, I now get a set of staple groceries delivered on my dedicated WFH day every week. I don’t like ordering food delivery (if I’m going to eat restaurant food, I want the full experience!) so never having to worry about having fresh ingredients on hand to make an omelette or a fresh pasta keeps me happy, and keeps my weekly food budget in check, too.
Microsoft Teams
This app, similar to Slack, is essential for anyone with a work team.
Our team works across multiple sites and on many competing projects, and the one thing that makes it all work is excellent communication. Having open access to touch base with anyone in the company you need to, along with systems and routines to share information and check in with your team, has been one of the best things we got used to out of the past two years. Plus, communicating through a chat interface that links to every working document or app used across the team is incredibly efficient. I do however place a big emphasis on everyone in the team using the ‘Quiet Times’ feature of the app, to reinforce workplace separation at the end of the day – there is, after all, such a thing as too much connectivity.
The Industry Beans App
This app is the best way to order your daily coffee!
Now I might be a little biased on this one, but I use this app every day to order my first coffee of the day. It’s got every coffee and every option you could ever want, although mostly I just order a batch brew or flat white with an occasional croissant. It takes less than 10 seconds to place an order, and my coffee is always ready in less than 5 minutes. On top of the obvious convenience benefits, there are some great loyalty benefits too, with increasing discounts applied to every orders as you progress through membership tiers.
