Andres Modak

Andres is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Snowe, an e-commerce home brand that is bridging the gap between mass-market and traditional luxury retail. After graduating from Wharton, Andres moved back to NYC where he experienced a common issue in the home space. He discovered that products in the category felt either disposable or exorbitantly priced; no home brand existed that really spoke to him.

On the first hour of his day.

I'm not a morning person per se. I'm not someone that’s up at the crack of dawn, and I tend to work quite late most evenings.

I'm typically up around 6:30 or 7 and meditate for about 20 to 30 minutes — that’s the first thing I do.

Meditation has been incredibly powerful in helping to ground my day and clear my head from the first moment I'm out of bed. 

Sometimes I'll combine meditation with some stretching and yoga to get the body moving.

At this point, I’ll make a cup of coffee and break out the computer, hit a few high priority emails, and map out my day.

Then I’ll hit the shower and make a quick healthy smoothie.

On his meditation habit.

In the early days, I used apps to help guide my meditations, such as Calm or Buddhify.

Lately, I've been trying to take my learnings and apply them solo wherever possible. Depending on how tired I am, I find different ways to jumpstart my meditation.

On days when I am unable to meditate before going to the office, it is more difficult to stay focused and hyper-efficient and I'll sometimes need to peel off and find a moment to do so. 

Our office is tightly packed and quite dynamic, with meetings and breakouts all over, so finding a calm, quiet place is not usually possible.

I’ve found that when I need a mid-day reset, Ill do a walking meditation. By taking a walk around the block and simply focusing on the sights and sounds around me, the heightened awareness is and clarity helps me tremendously.

I’ll come back and hit whatever’s next with focused determination.

On the savvy consumer.

We as consumers are constantly inundated with information and are always making decisions on what to purchase.

Whether we are consuming content or products we have made decisions to make, many of them. The Paradox of Choice is real.

It often feels like the prevalence of so many amazing choices out there is actually detractive and detrimental to us.Because of this, we need to be thoughtful.

The savvy consumer will put a lot of importance on things that put thoughtfulness, simplicity, quality, longevity, health, and wellness at the forefront.

In interior design and the home, this is potentially even more important than other verticals.

I recently had a conversation with some very close friends about the major shifts they made when they were moving in together as a couple and designing the first space they would share together.

They made a conscious effort not to design their living space around a TV as they had both previously done, but instead design a space that really focused on conversation, on bringing people together to share moments, meals, drinks and memories.

It felt like they were heading in the right direction, and they weren’t alone. 

We live in a time where the spaces we live in are going to become more important to us as a refuge from the hustle and bustle around us.

By consciously creating spaces that counteract these effects, we can prioritize our well being and protect intimate moments while finding separation from our busy lives. 

On avoiding stagnation.

Though some similarities exist when it comes to protecting and fomenting creativity, it requires a slightly more proactive and recurring approach.

For the last year, I've been carving out (some) time to build on my own creative repertoire. With what little time we have off, we try to weave creative experiences into them.

This includes experimenting and learning in cooking, which I love to do, or learning and continuously being in inspired in art and design.

This can mean visiting exhibitions and galleries, or simply reading or listening to podcasts. 

It's so important to avoid becoming stagnant or falling into a rut creatively, both personally and for the brand. The creative and aesthetic manifestations of a brand should continue to evolve and stay ahead of the game, trends, copycats.

In order to stay ahead and push boundaries, I like to think we need to be constantly learning and absorbing.

You just have to keep moving, exercising that muscle, to ensure you stay as excited and passionate as you were on the very first day or when an idea was sparked from nothing.

On fragmenting focus.

I think it's really hard to go from on to off in one fell swoop. Your brain doesn't function like that, or at least my brain doesn't.

It's kind of jarring, I think, to the mind and body. I found that what's most effective for me is actually a gradual wind up or wind down. 

Every day I work with different team members in different capacities within our company.

I work particularly closely with the marketing, creative, and tech development teams on a whole host of different projects, initiatives, and tasks.

You are pulled into on meetings or urgent asks on a daily (or hourly) basis.

Between that and calls with outside partners, investors or otherwise, your mind ends up so fragmented by the end of the day that to just go from on to off feels virtually impossible or even unhealthy.

On winding down.

I found that the best way for me to disconnect is to do so gradually and deliberately, where possible.

Typically, if it’s not too late, I try to go to the gym or do some kind of physical activity, like running or going to a cycling class after I leave the office (if time allows).

I use that as a sort of breakpoint to clear the deck a little.

At that point, Rachel and I head back home and make dinner or order in before knocking out a few remaining work items that we need to get done. 

I try to focus on things that I can do with a little bit more of a clear head or things that require a little bit less intensity, if possible, to ease myself into the evening.

After I have attended to those last work items, I can put away my computer and my phone and really shut off.

At that point, it's time to step away from screens and technology and prep my body and mind for bed.

Sometimes that involves chatting with Rachel and catching up or reading something that is completely unrelated to work — a book, The Economist, The New Yorker or something that allows me to take my mind elsewhere, something that lets my thoughts start to go in a different direction and eases the fragmentation.

It feels like a nightcap.