There is something revealing about asking someone what they actually use. Beyond the beautifully arranged bathroom shelf or carefully styled desk are the things that earn their place through repetition: the foundation that makes getting ready easier, the handwritten list that keeps a business moving, the familiar morning coffee.
For this edition of What I Actually Use, we asked founders to share three essentials they return to in their own lives. Some chose products they created. Others pointed to everyday tools, small comforts, and rituals that help them move from work into the rest of the day.
Their answers offer an intimate look at what stays in rotation when someone is building a business and living a full life alongside it.
Seth Berge: Making Room for Life Beyond Work
For Seth Berge, founder and CEO of Regenerative Revival, the question of what earns a place in his routine starts with the demands on his time. In his original recommendations, he described running two companies, traveling frequently, and raising two sons involved in year-round sports.
His priorities extend beyond getting through a workday. He wants time and energy for his family, exercise, and the relationships that develop outside the office. His three essentials reflect that mix, combining his personal approach to medical care with a gym membership that has become part of his social life.
Physician-supervised testosterone replacement therapy
Berge named testosterone replacement therapy as one of his personal essentials, explaining that he receives it under a physician’s care with regular blood work. He connects that care to his experience of managing a demanding schedule while remaining present for his children.
This is a personal medical treatment, with suitability and monitoring determined by a qualified clinician. In Berge’s account, the ongoing medical oversight is a central part of the routine.
His personal peptide regimen
Berge also identified a peptide regimen associated with his approach to recovery, focus, and sleep. His interest in these treatments overlaps with his work at Regenerative Revival and his broader attention to health and longevity.
His inclusion here reflects what he says he personally uses. It does not establish the safety, effectiveness, or suitability of a particular treatment for someone else.
A Life Time membership
The most relatable part of Berge’s list may be the place he goes to work out. His Life Time membership gives him a regular setting for exercise, but its value has grown beyond the workout itself.
Some of his best conversations with other founders, he explained, have happened on a treadmill or in the sauna. The membership brings movement and informal connection into the same space, making it a recurring part of both his personal and professional life.
For anyone whose calendar fills quickly, that is an appealing idea: a familiar place where taking care of yourself also creates room to connect with other people.
Sharifah Hardie: Reminders, a Long Bath, and a Quiet Cup of Tea
Sharifah Hardie, founder of Ask Sharifah, knows how easily a busy workday can absorb her attention. Her essentials help her remember what needs doing, create a stopping point, and take a moment before the day gathers speed.
The Amazon Alexa app
Hardie’s loyalty to Alexa comes with a memorable kitchen story. After forgetting eggs on the stove, she became much more diligent about setting alarms and reminders.
For someone moving between businesses, clients, and ideas, having an audible prompt is a practical way to keep everyday tasks from getting lost.
Dr Teal’s bath products
A long bath with Dr Teal’s marks the end of Hardie’s workday. The ritual gives her a familiar way to step away from the stream of decisions and responsibilities.
The appeal is in returning to something that signals it is time to stop for the evening.
Morning tea
Hardie begins the day with hot tea and two boiled eggs. Sitting down to sip something warm gives her a chance to breathe and think about what is ahead before work takes over.
There is no particular tea brand behind this choice. The essential is making time to enjoy the cup.
Melanie Hönig: A Little Polish, a Beautiful Candle, and the Finishing Touch
Melanie Hönig, founder of SmithHönig, approaches everyday essentials with an eye for both ease and atmosphere. Her choices move naturally from getting dressed to enjoying the spaces around her.
No Makeup Makeup Foundation
Hönig likes a foundation that goes on smoothly, looks natural, and lets her get out the door without overthinking the process. No Makeup Makeup Foundation fills that role, giving her the polished finish she wants in a straightforward step.
It is the kind of beauty essential that earns loyalty by fitting comfortably into an ordinary morning.
Voluspa Crisp Champagne Candle
A good candle is one of the things Hönig is happy to splurge on. Her choice is Voluspa’s Crisp Champagne, which she loves for its fragrance and beautiful presentation.
The vessel matters to her as much as the ritual of lighting it. It becomes part of the room even before the match is struck.
SmithHönig Sweet Marie Decorative Matchbox
Her own Sweet Marie Decorative Matchbox completes the scene. The wooden box holds colorful matches and brings another layer of pattern to a tabletop or shelf.
Hönig also likes its usefulness beyond the original contents. Refilled with matches or repurposed to hold small treasures, it is a decorative detail with a life of its own.
Shelove Calixte: Giving the Evening a Clear Ending
Shelove Calixte, founder of Pure Rêve, chose three essentials connected to winding down. Her list offers a personal view of how she uses the products and digital tools she is building.
Pure Rêve Stillness Strips
Calixte described the brand’s melatonin oral strips as a regular part of her nighttime routine. For her, using one marks the moment she decides the day is over.
Pure Rêve Stillness Night Capsules
She also named Stillness Night Capsules among her personal selections for evenings when she wants additional support. Both products belong to her own supplement routine, rather than a suggested regimen for readers.
The Pure Rêve app
The digital side of Calixte’s routine includes a mood check-in and Reframe Journal. She described the app as being in private beta when she shared her recommendations.
Building it helped her recognize how much she valued having a place to reflect at the end of the day. It brings a moment of attention to her evening alongside the physical products.
Ammby Lee: Comfort Underneath, Clarity on the Desk
Ammby Lee, founder of Qinelle, spends much of her working day thinking through product details, fit questions, and the small decisions that keep a brand running. Her essentials share a practical purpose: making those days easier to navigate.
A comfortable shaping base layer
Lee chooses her shapewear around the outfit she plans to wear. Comfort over several hours matters, along with the details that can make or break a piece: seams, leg openings, and how it feels once the day is underway.
Her work at Qinelle has made her particularly attentive to those details. A smooth foundation under clothing should let her get on with everything else she has planned.
ChatGPT
Lee uses ChatGPT to organize information and work toward a decision. Comparing product options, sorting research, building checklists, and finding gaps in a plan are among the tasks she brings to it.
She makes the final call herself. What she values is having a way to turn scattered material into something she can act on.
Plain notes and checklists
Her third essential is refreshingly simple: written lists of what is open, what has been checked, and what still needs a decision.
Small businesses generate plenty of loose ends. For Lee, a visible checklist is a working tool she can maintain consistently, which makes it useful long after the appeal of a more complicated system might wear off.
Kjeld Schigt: Surf, Coffee, and Time to Recover
At Kalon Surf in Dominical, Costa Rica, founder Kjeld Schigt’s essentials are closely connected to the experience he and his wife, co-owner Silene Vega Delgado, create for guests.
A daily surf session
Getting into the water helps Schigt clear his head and stay connected to the activity at the heart of his business. It is also a regular reminder of why they built Kalon Surf.
His day begins with participation in the experience he offers, giving him a firsthand connection to the rhythm of the resort.
Specialty Costa Rican coffee
Coffee is another part of that rhythm. Schigt described small morning tastings featuring Boleto Gourmet, with the first proper cup setting the tone before a busy day.
It is a personal pleasure and part of welcoming guests into Costa Rica, shared through something as familiar as a morning drink.
A midweek recovery massage
Schigt’s third essential is a recovery massage, alongside stretching and a scheduled pause from the week’s activity. At Kalon, Wednesday is a rest day with massage available on-site.
His routine gives recovery a place on the calendar. For a founder whose work centers on an active experience, that pause is part of keeping the week enjoyable.
Irina Duisimbekova: Familiar Rituals Through a Busy Schedule
For Irina Duisimbekova, founder of SympathiQ, a digital wellbeing platform, a full schedule and travel make familiar routines especially valuable.
A Joovv red light therapy panel
Duisimbekova includes time with a Joovv panel in her morning routine. She particularly values maintaining that familiar practice while navigating changes in her schedule and time zones.
A Bearaby weighted blanket
Her Bearaby weighted blanket is a favorite way to settle down after days filled with meetings and negotiations. She described its comforting weight as part of what makes it an enduring personal favorite.
The Five Minute Journal
Each evening, Duisimbekova writes down three things that went well in her five minute journal. The practice gives her a brief opportunity to reflect and keep perspective while managing business decisions.
It is a small, repeatable way to close the day with attention to what worked.
Ricardo and Katheryn: Keeping the Morning Familiar
Ricardo and Katheryn, founders of DAY BY DAY, keep their selections straightforward. Their list centers on familiar products they can easily work into an existing routine.
Starbucks Pike Place Roast
Pike Place Roast is their regular morning coffee. They appreciate having something consistent to start the day, particularly when they know the hours ahead will be busy.
Nature Made Vitamin D3
The founders named Nature Made Vitamin D3 as part of their personal supplement routine. They favor a simple approach they can keep up with, rather than adding a long list of steps to remember.
DAY BY DAY Energy Strips
Their own DAY BY DAY Energy Strips stay close at hand when they are out and about. Portability and convenience were part of their thinking when they built the brand around a strip format.
That connection between their daily habits and product development runs through the entire list: familiar choices, easy to carry, easy to work into the day.
The Things That Earn Their Place
A beautifully designed object can make an everyday moment more pleasurable. A handwritten list can make a complicated afternoon easier to manage. A morning coffee or familiar workout can give the week a rhythm.
Across these founders’ answers, the most compelling essentials are the ones tied to a specific moment in a real day. They have a purpose, a story, and a reason someone keeps reaching for them.
What are the three things that have earned that place in your own life?
