This first-person essay emerges from an in-depth dialogue with Amelia Christie-Miller, a 32-year-old entrepreneur who founded and currently leads Bold Bean Co. as its CEO. Originally from the United Kingdom and now residing in Barcelona, Christie-Miller’s reflections have been carefully condensed and refined for both brevity and clarity.
When she established Bold Bean Co. in 2021, Amelia was simultaneously working for a sustainability-focused enterprise in London. During that time, she found herself captivated by a deceptively simple but transformative idea: that humble beans could represent a significant solution to numerous global challenges. For roughly twelve months, she balanced her demanding day job with nurturing the early stages of her company before fully committing to the startup later that year.
From her perspective, legumes play an essential role in revitalizing soil health and contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of net-zero emissions. Yet, despite their environmental and nutritional advantages, beans have been chronically undervalued in Western culinary culture. While popular discourse increasingly revolves around gut health, dietary fiber, and sources of high-quality protein, beans manage to excel in all these categories, embodying a nutritional and ecological powerhouse that has long been overlooked. Christie-Miller’s defining mission became clear: to foster widespread enthusiasm for beans by introducing consumers to products of truly exceptional quality, aiming to redefine perceptions and spark a new culinary obsession.
Bold Bean Co. now employs twenty people and operates under a remote-first model that supports flexibility and well-being. Though headquartered in the UK, Amelia resides primarily in Barcelona and frequently travels back to London—the birthplace of her business and the sole market where their products are currently sold. Her distributed team spans cities such as Valencia and Edinburgh, a structure intentionally designed to allow employees to live wherever they feel most inspired, productive, and content. Amelia usually works from her home office, except when she meets with one of the four Barcelona-based team members.
Currently on maternity leave, Christie-Miller reflects on a daily schedule that mirrors her practical yet mindful approach to work and life. She typically wakes around 7:45 a.m., admitting with candid humor that she does not fit the archetype of the hyper-disciplined founder who leaps out of bed for workouts at dawn. On the contrary, she cherishes her rest and confesses she relies heavily on sleep to function well. During pregnancy, her mornings begin with immediate hunger, so breakfast happens almost instantly—often centered around protein-rich dishes such as eggs. A cup of freshly ground coffee is a treasured ritual, elevating the ordinary routine into a small ceremony of comfort and focus. Occasionally, she and her partner linger in bed a bit longer, enjoying their coffee together while solving puzzles or crosswords, carving out a quiet moment before the demands of the day accelerate.
If time allows, she steps out for a brief walk to catch the first sunlight, finding that the touch of natural light resets her energy. However, on most days, the transition from home to the work desk happens quickly. By 9 a.m., she’s fully immersed in her business. The morning hours pass swiftly, filled with productive bursts and numerous meetings. She identifies this period as her most efficient window of concentration. Afternoons, however, pose more challenges; fatigue and occasional mental fog can derail momentum. Rather than forcing productivity, Amelia advocates short restorative breaks—whether taking a walk, meditating, or simply detaching from screens—so she can return to her projects with renewed clarity.
To invigorate her creativity and escape the monotony of her desk setup, she sometimes relocates to a café. Writing is a central part of her workflow, encompassing articles for media outlets and posts for her professional network on LinkedIn. The change in environment, away from her dual-monitor arrangement, encourages freer, more inventive thinking. Yet as her company expands, Amelia notes that much of her time now revolves around managing people and resolving operational issues—tasks that, while necessary, increasingly draw her attention away from strategic, forward-looking initiatives she once prioritized.
Starting her maternity leave marks a pivotal chapter in both her personal and professional life. She recently appointed a marketing director, a move symbolizing the company’s evolution toward greater autonomy. Stepping back, she hopes to empower her team to manage day-to-day functions independently while she redirects her attention toward broader goals—particularly acting as an advocate for beans, championing their role in sustainable diets and pushing for expanded retail opportunities.
Beyond business, cooking remains one of her deepest passions. Around 12:30 p.m., Amelia pauses for lunch, deliberately carving out space in her schedule for a homemade meal. She believes this ritual enhances her mental well-being, providing a creative interlude amidst the demands of leadership. Her midday break, lasting between 20 and 40 minutes, is relatively brief, as she prefers to finish her workday earlier in the evening. Her culinary process is intuitive: surveying the contents of her refrigerator, she improvises vibrant dishes from available ingredients. Recently, for example, she prepared a colorful hummus bowl—combining her company’s chickpeas with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, fresh herbs, and a portion of cooked chicken.
Amelia’s love for cooking is largely self-taught and rooted in early curiosity. She learned by experimenting at home, studying cookbooks, and collaborating with professional chefs during a previous role. At the age of eighteen, she completed an intensive monthlong cooking course that deepened her passion and even led to a brief stint as a private chef. On hectic days, practicality prevails: she simply opens a jar of Bold Bean Co.’s baked beans—white beans simmered in tomato sauce—and enjoys them on toast, a satisfying and comforting quick meal.
In anticipation of motherhood, Amelia now operates on a flexible schedule. She has largely stepped away from constant communication platforms such as Slack, email, and team calls, focusing instead on wrapping up essential conversations with investors and other stakeholders. Once her baby arrives, she intends to take a complete break for at least two months before gradually reintegrating into selective, project-based work that allows for greater adaptability. In her view, one of the most valuable strengths a founder can develop is the ability to ensure that their business can thrive independently of their daily presence. This transition, therefore, fills her with optimism rather than apprehension. She also recognizes the symbolic importance of this decision for her predominantly female team, many of whom do not yet have children. By openly prioritizing family and recovery, she hopes to model that taking time off does not diminish one’s professional impact or long-term potential.
Typically, Amelia concludes her workday by 6 p.m., recognizing that her mental energy dwindles by then. She considers it vital to create a definitive boundary between work and rest—through a walk, a short errand, or the mindful act of preparing dinner—to help her mind unwind. Occasionally, if she finds herself in a deep state of flow, she may continue working, though she acknowledges it often comes at the expense of restorative activities like yoga or a leisurely meal. She avoids eating in front of the television, valuing, instead, the opportunity to connect meaningfully with her husband during dinner. Beans often appear on the menu, yet she ensures variety in her evening meals to maintain balance and enjoyment.
After work, Amelia turns to practices that promote calm and reconnection. Yoga and meditation are integral components of her wellness routine, serving as grounding rituals that quiet the mind after demanding days. She regularly attends yoga classes and immersive sound baths, which she describes as profoundly rejuvenating experiences. Her favorite session, held on the beach each Sunday morning, once concluded with a refreshing swim—a practice she considers almost sacred, a weekly renewal that unfortunately must wait until after her pregnancy.
Her evenings follow a pattern of intentional unwinding. Around 9:30 p.m., she uses an app called Opal that automatically blocks access to Instagram, email, LinkedIn, and similar digital distractions. This tool, she explains, has dramatically improved her ability to decompress before bed. Lately, she has developed an evening ritual of bathing—an indulgent, almost meditative practice. Into warm water she sprinkles magnesium salts and adds a personalized blend of essential oils, selected according to mood—some calming, others gently energizing. This nightly bath has become a symbolic act of self-care, washing away the day’s tension.
Afterward, she and her husband read in bed, sharing a peaceful transition into rest. Amelia gravitates toward contemporary fiction exploring the intricacies of modern life—she admits with a laugh that she often reaches for novels by Sally Rooney, whose writing she finds both relatable and absorbing. Typically, she reads until she drifts to sleep around 9:30 or 10 p.m.—a schedule that used to be later before pregnancy reshaped her rhythms.
Weekends unfold gently and intentionally. Mornings begin with leisurely breakfasts shared with her husband, followed by long walks and, when time permits, creative cooking projects. Activities like yoga or swimming punctuate these days, allowing her to reset mentally and physically before the workweek resumes. Through this balanced way of life, Amelia Christie-Miller exemplifies an evolving form of leadership—one that values sustainability, empathy, and self-awareness as much as innovation and discipline.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-of-bold-bean-co-day-in-my-life-2025-11
