I’m a CEO who started a company and had a baby at the same time. Fatherhood has completely changed how I think about work.

Andrew Ross MacKay is the founder of Cadence.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Ross MacKay, the 33-year-old cofounder and CEO of Cadence, based in Los Angeles. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to the US in 2019 to become an entrepreneur. I’m now the cofounder and CEO of Cadence, a salt-based electrolyte drink.

Before Cadence, I founded Daring Foods, a plant-based chicken company that secured $140 million in funding from D1 Capital, Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, and Drake. Earlier this year, I stepped down as CEO and into a chairman emeritus role.

I’m committed to continual growth in both business and my personal life. With a newborn baby, I’m now balancing my ventures with time spent with my family.

On the back end of Daring’s success, I was ready to throw myself into something new

Cadence is 100% self-funded, between my cofounder, George Heaton, the creative director and cofounder of British luxury fashion brand Represent, and me.

After building it from the ground up, I hesitated about leaving Daring Foods, but the excitement of returning to a scrappy startup environment outweighed those concerns. Plus, it’s a business that aligns closely with my life.

Over the last three years, training and running have become a larger focus for me. I saw huge potential in electrolytes’ role in hydration to provide something missing in the market.

This year, my daughter, Bloom, was born on March 20

Mackay and his family. 

Two weeks later, on April 4, we launched Cadence. While my wife, Anastasia Hing-MacKay, was in labor, I balanced being a supportive husband with managing work, emailing my cofounder, and coordinating with our manufacturers.

I am mainly grateful for my amazing wife. Anastasia supports my journey and understands our mission as a couple. As an entrepreneur who runs Lobie, she knows the dedication and sacrifices of building a business.

Anastasia manages household duties, cares for our daughter, and serves as my sounding board. Her support allows me to focus on my work while feeling grounded and connected to my family.

From primary school until March 19, my life revolved around entrepreneurship. On March 20, Bloom became the center of my world and shifted my priorities in a way I wasn’t fully expecting.

My family deserves me to be at my best, and to do that, I need to feel passionate about what I’m building. With Cadence, I wake up every day excited to build the best performance brand in the world. Having Bloom has made me hungrier to build something my family can be proud of.

Here’s what a day in my life looks like right now

My days typically look the same Monday through Friday. I wake up around 5 a.m. and go for a five- to seven-mile run, followed by a guided ice bath with breath work back at the house.

By 8 a.m., I’m cooking breakfast for Ana and Bloom, one of my favorite parts of the day. After spending time with them, I have calls and deep work until around 4 p.m., when I’ll get in my second training session. I primarily work from home, using a guest house for deep work.

I have dinner with the family around 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m., and for the rest of the night, I lock myself in the guest house to do more deep work before sleeping around 9 p.m. I prioritize checks and balances in my schedule, dedicating non-negotiable hours to family.

I make it a point to be present for bath time every day

Those moments are essential to me. I understand that my hard work now creates more opportunities for quality family time in the long run.

Before having Bloom, I would work Monday through Sunday, but since she was born, I’ve made the nonnegotiable boundary of reserving weekends for family. I treasure these days with Ana and Bloom and try to be fully present as much as possible.

If I didn’t have a baby, I likely would still work weekends, as I was accustomed to a seven-day workweek before becoming a parent.

Balancing being a new dad with being an entrepreneur has been a complex process for me

Since the birth of my daughter, my ambitions and desire to build have strengthened as my “why” has become clearer.

I’m very all-or-nothing. If I commit to something, I’m all in and want to be the best at what I do. This applies to being a CEO, a husband, and a father, and at times, giving my all to each can be hard. I handle the challenges by setting clear boundaries and prioritizing family time, even when it gets tough.

Since launching Cadence in the US, I’ve felt guilty about not being as present as I would like, as the business demands a lot right now. At the same time, I feel incredibly driven and passionate about what we’re building at Cadence, so it’s a unique moment in my life.

I’d be lying if I said it was easy, but I’m incredibly grateful to be in this position and excited for the future.