A Day in the Life of Catalina Crunch Founder, Krishna Kaliannan

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Krishna Kaliannan, the 35-year-old founder of Catalina Crunch, based in Austin. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m the founder of Catalina Crunch, a low-sugar, high-protein snack company. Inspired by my experience with type 1 diabetes, I started the company in 2017, a few years after leaving my career in finance.

As of 2024, I’m no longer the company’s CEO, but I’m still part of the team, working towards the company’s long-term vision.

Here’s what a day in my life looks like.

I wake up every day at 6:45 am

Consistency is the key to living a predictable life. The first thing I do every morning is shower, which gives me space to think about the coming day and what I want to accomplish.

From 7 am to 8 am, I’m with my two-year-old daughter and four-month-old son, making and eating breakfast. Every morning, I have plain Greek yogurt with Catalina Crunch cereal on top. I like having the same breakfast to minimize the number of decisions I make since I know I’m going to make a lot of other decisions throughout the day.

Recently, however, my daughter has decided to change what she eats for breakfast, which is a bit challenging for me since it’s different from what I’m used to. Depending on what she’s feeling, she sometimes has Catalina Crunch cereal with almond milk or oatmeal with the cereal on it.

I read the news and take a quick walk

During that time, I’ll also spend a few minutes reading the news to better understand what’s happening in the world. I usually like to read conflicting news stories to get different perspectives and cycle through some international news outlets as well.

I also try to spend 15 minutes outside in the sun, taking a quick walk around the block. It helps me reset my body and get ready for the day. I also find I sleep more easily at night when I do it.

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Since I have type 1 diabetes, walking after meals really helps to contain the amount my blood sugar rises, so it’s important to me to walk throughout the day.

Then, I get into my workday

When I’m not traveling, I work from home in a separate office. My daughter goes to preschool and spends afternoons with my parents, while my son spends the day with my wife, which allows me to focus in a quiet environment.

For me, getting a productive start begins the day before. Every day, I make a to-do list for the next day so that when I start working, I already know what I want to focus on and accomplish.

I also try to avoid morning meetings as much as possible so I have more time for deep work. When I don’t designate that time, it’s easy to get caught up in responding to emails, talking to people on the phone, and getting things from the refrigerator.

Around 10:15 am, I usually take another 15-minute walk. I also use this time to check my blood sugar and see if I need to take more insulin, since it’s about two hours after I finish breakfast.

I eat lunch while I work

From 12 pm to 12:30 pm I eat while I work, which helps me get more done in less time.

Like I do for breakfast, I almost always eat the same thing for lunch: four slices of turkey breast, baby carrots with hummus, and a little bit of Catalina Crunch snack mix.

I try to meet with people every week

In the afternoons, I try to focus more on creative work, brainstorming, and meetings. Since the brain gets a bit foggy as the day goes on, I find that this is the best use of my time.

One thing I like to do each week — usually on Friday afternoons — is to meet virtually with someone at the company I haven’t talked to in a while to see what’s going on with their role. It’s a good way to hear people’s great ideas and learn from them on what’s being done well, where we’re struggling, and if there are risks I might need to be aware of.

Around 3 pm, I check my blood sugar again. Since I typically have the same breakfast and lunch, it’s generally about the same — but I still like to check.

I usually wrap up work around 5 pm

I typically go for a three-mile run, and then do some sit-ups and push-ups before dinner.

Dinner is when my family and I will indulge and mix up our meals, so I don’t always have the same dinner. Sometimes, my amazing wife cooks dinner. Other times, we’ll walk to a food truck. We really like a Thai food truck that’s about a 30-minute walk from our house.

On the weekends, we spend as much time as we can with our parents. My dad grew up in India and really enjoys Southern Indian food, so we like to go to a restaurant called Sangam in the Austin area.

I sometimes continue working after dinner

Depending on the day, I might work another two to two-and-a-half hours after dinner. Other times, I’ll go on a walk.

After that, I set my alarm for the next day and don’t use my phone for the rest of the night. I’m a workaholic who likes to be productive all the time, so it’s helpful to physically separate myself from my phone so I don’t see emails and notifications coming in.

I then put our daughter to bed while my wife puts our baby to bed. I give my daughter her bath and brush her teeth, we read some books and sing some songs, and then she goes to sleep.

My wind-down routine includes brushing my teeth in the dark

My wife and I come back together and watch a show. I hardly watched any TV when I was growing up, so we’ve been enjoying watching a lot of older shows like Better Call Saul and The Office.

The other thing I do to prepare for sleep is to brush my teeth in the dark. About four years ago, there was a big freeze in Austin, and the power went out for several days. It was pitch black when I was brushing my teeth, and I realized how much easier it made getting a good night’s sleep, so I picked up the habit.

I make sure I’m asleep by 10 pm I need a full 8 ½ hours of sleep, which allows me to wake up the next day and start my routine again at 6:30 am