A day in the life of Nikki Ogunnaike: How Marie Claire’s EIC balances meetings, media and mornings

To capture a glimpse into Ogunnaike’s day, the Digiday Podcast is trying a new format – a “Day in the Life” feature that explores how Ogunnaike and other industry leaders move through their days and how they strike a balance between work life and personal life. 

In this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Tim Peterson, Digiday’s executive editor of video and audio, and senior marketing reporter Kimeko McCoy, catch up with Ogunnaike to learn about the EIC’s TikTok-free doomscrolling, what she listens to on her morning commute and how she’s made peace with the fact that “my job is now meetings.”

Also on this episode: The New York Times has agreed to license its editorial content to none other than Amazon just two years after suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement; Business Insider slashes its workforce by 21% to go all in on AI; and Meta is getting more brazen in its AI ad offering in hopes advertisers will use Meta AI to create and target ads by end of 2026.

Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Ogunnaike, which have been edited for length and clarity.

Navigating the news in the morning

I can avoid it a little bit in the morning while I’m trying to get ready to face the day. But when I do, it really is The New York Times. While I really love Apple News, it does feel like an assault. Every morning is some terrible Trump headline, some terrible RFK Jr. headline and I don’t want to see that. I try my best to avoid it and really focus on what I can control, which is me reading The New York Times style section and learning about some weird new tech doctrine that is actually applicable to my life right now. 

Meetings, meetings and more meetings

I really had to make peace with the fact that my job now is meetings. Actually, when I was the deputy fashion director at GQ in 2019, I was like, “Why are there so many meetings?” My friend and boss at the time, was like, “Dude, this is what we do. This is where we are in our career now. We do meetings.” I try to block off a little bit of time within the day, but there really is a time where I can be in meetings from like 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. easily. 

I learned as an assistant that I really liked – especially when we had brainstorms for people to be prepared – to be prepped. So we send out what we’re going to be talking about or what we’re expecting to discuss in the meeting a couple of days before, or a week before, to prep people. I don’t love a freewheeling brainstorm. Unfortunately, in my Capricorn nature, I find that to be a waste of time. I like to be prepared for brainstorms.

Finding personal time

The wind down does include some reality TV. It’s like a car wash for the brain. I can wipe by day clean. I like some reality [TV], and then one last [email] sweet. Then, hopefully I’m in bed by 10 p.m. Lights out, knocked out by 10:15 p.m. I don’t have trouble sleeping usually, I fall asleep pretty quickly. I always say I have to wear myself out like a baby and then I can sleep well.