Digital creator, consultant and podcaster Marvyn Harrison, 41, has a portfolio career that means no two days are the same. Staying present for his children used to be a struggle – until he found a rhythm to his working day and made Adobe Acrobat Studio his work companion.
I wear lots of different hats
As a founder and entrepreneur, every day is different, but it’s a real privilege to be working with some brilliant people on difficult challenges.
I run Belovd, a consultancy service that solves human problems within businesses, charities and governments. It could be anything from how a company markets its products to working on the culture and leadership inside organisations.
Under Belovd’s community arm, I’m the founder of Dope Black Dads, which is a global community and support group that’s on a mission to improve the outcomes of Black families.
I’ve written two children’s books, and am currently working on a non-fiction for adults that’s essentially a manual for masculinity. I’m also a broadcaster, appearing on television and radio to talk about family issues.
By far my most important job is being a dad to my son, Blake, 10, and daughter, Ocean, eight. It might not pay in money, but it’s my most valuable role – and it’s one I take very seriously. I’ve always wanted to build a career and a life that allows me to be a full-time dad, and that’s what I’ve achieved. It’s something I’m very proud of.
I give myself space to achieve the right balance
I share custody of my children, with one week on and one week off, and when they’re with me the hours before 9am and after 4pm are entirely focused on them. Because my business is global, there’s always some commitment or other that I’m beholden to, which makes the balance quite difficult, but I’ve worked out ways to manage it.
On a typical day, I get up at around 5am and have some time to myself – I could be working out, meditating, or cooking and cleaning to clear my head. Once the kids are up at about 7am I’ll be making breakfast, ironing uniforms and checking in with them about the day ahead. Then we’ll drive to school, while doing karaoke or a quiz – our way of easing into the day.
Those two hours are quite intense, so back at home I’ll take half an hour to decompress before getting into work mode. Then I’m diving into phone calls, meetings, interviews – whatever might be going on. Recently, that’s included speaking with Sir Keir Starmer about the impact of the new Employment Rights Act on Black families, and recording episodes of the Dope Black Dads podcast.
My partner Romantha works from home too, so we always find time to go for a walk. We live close to the river in east London, so we’ll go and sit by the water and stare at it for half an hour. It’s a nice way to reset.
I’ve found the tools I need to help me juggle
I think of Adobe Acrobat Studio as a work companion that helps me do all the things I need to do. When I’m working with a business to problem-solve, whether that’s by devising new strategies, helping them to communicate more effectively or by delivering education and training, it tends to be very document-heavy.
There are also processes such as costing, invoicing, contract signing, onboarding and reporting to go through, so it’s pretty labour-intensive. Adobe Acrobat Studio is invaluable when it comes to keeping on top of every task.
It understands the things I need to look out for in contracts and non-disclosure agreements, and summarises them for me using the AI Assistant feature. I use PDF Spaces to aggregate the forms and agreements I’ve created for my clients, and use the integration with Adobe Express and its Generate presentation features to help me personalise PDF presentations that are also editable and shareable with my team.
Because the software is so aligned with what I need, it makes life infinitely easier and means I can achieve a better balance in my working day.
Evenings are about friends and family
I finish work at about 4pm, then give myself an hour of calm before the kids finish school at 5pm. Earlier in my career, I found the transition between work, home and spending time with the children really difficult, so I allow myself those spaces in between to reflect and be present.
Before the kids head to bed, we’ll eat together, play card games and sort out their homework, while chatting about anything big that’s happened at school and preparing for the next day.
They go to bed at 8pm, then I focus on calling up friends and family and spending time with Romantha. We have a YouTube cooking show together called Come Nyam, which we really enjoy creating – we spend a lot of time laughing.
A couple of years ago, the evenings would have been spent on my laptop doing a hundred other work things, but with Adobe Acrobat Studio accelerating the amount of stuff I can do during the day, I don’t have to pick up my device in the evening.
Dope Black Dads came about because I was great at my job, but terrible at being present at home and connecting with my children. Adobe actually helps me do the thing I wanted to do the most, which is be around for them – and that’s a real gift.
Tools of the trade
Adobe Acrobat Studio’s smarter, faster PDF tools and new AI innovations allow entrepreneurs such as Harrison to create standout content and uncover insights within every project – however many hats they’re wearing.
Features including Generate presentation and Generate podcast can help turn static files into engaging, actionable content, while PDF Spaces allows you to bring all the files, documents and weblinks you need for one project together in one place. And, you can share those crucial files and notes, so your team can interact with them wherever they are.
Autogenerated insights give you a head start when it comes to dealing with piles of paperwork, while Adobe’s AI Assistant can support you while you work, generating summaries of documents, or even answering questions. An analyst, critical thinker and entertainer all in one, it can help you to shape your content and guide your responses exactly how you want it to.
Find out how Adobe Acrobat Studio can help you work smarter not harder
