Supporting Sales Activities with AI! A Day in the Life of a Behind-the-Scenes PR Professional | Member Spotlight

The coolness of the rainy season has given way to the full heat of summer. When accessing the office from Sendagaya Station, one can walk under the elevated Metropolitan Expressway, and we often hear that this is convenient for avoiding the strong sunlight and rain.

At SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP, which continues to create an “exciting buzz” on various occasions, the waves of busy and quiet periods vary depending on the department and the projects currently underway. Amidst this, the turn of the fiscal year always arrives at the same time every year. The sales departments and back office work together as one to close the books and welcome the new fiscal year.

In this installment of our “Member Spotlight” series, we follow a day in the life of Tatsuko Tanaka, a member of the SUNNY SIDE UP Business Affairs Department (hereafter referred to as the BA Dept.), who provides broad support for our members’ sales activities.

The BA Dept. handles a wide range of duties, from general daily administrative processing to the operation of internal systems using AI, making them the unsung heroes essential to the organization. Due to her wish to “remain behind the scenes precisely because of that role,” this report will not feature her face.

We bring you a look at the day-to-day life of a sales support member, which is surprisingly little-known!

A Typical Daily Schedule 🔍

| 10:00 AM: Arrival at the Office

She commutes while listening to the radio (podcasts), making use of the travel time. Like other SUNNY SIDE UP members who love creating an “exciting buzz,” she spares no time for the things she enjoys.

After arriving at the office, she first opens email and Slack to check the status of requests and applications from each department. While organizing priorities, she builds her work schedule for the day.

｜10:30 Business Trip Arrangements

She arranges transportation and accommodation for members’ business trips while checking and adjusting schedules and conditions. When inviting media, she arranges not only for SUNNY SIDE UP members but also for the invited media guests.

There are at least one or two business trip-related procedures per week, and depending on the season, they may occur daily. Since business trips can sometimes be sudden, a flexible response is required.

｜11:30 Project Verification and Registration

At SUNNY SIDE UP, where various PR and communication projects are constantly underway, managing newly launched projects daily is crucial!

Sales members apply via a dedicated form, and the BA Dept. checks for any deficiencies before registering the details into the internal system, which is then linked to administrative departments such as accounting. Since she handles multiple cases almost every day, she processes each one with a focus on accuracy.

｜12:30 Short Break

Our group operates under a super-flex time system with no core hours, and members are free to take breaks as long as it does not interfere with work. While there are days I go out for lunch with BA Dept. members, I often prefer taking several short breaks rather than one long one.

It is also a great perk that quick meals like egg-on-rice from the “TKG” system and cereal are provided! Taking a breather in between tasks resets my concentration and seems to improve work efficiency.

On this day, I had a lively conversation about nail art with members from other departments over a cup of tea!

｜13:30 Verification of Invoices and Vouchers, Closing Tasks

She checks the contents of invoices and vouchers and confirms with the person in charge if there are any discrepancies.

Because it is a fundamental task, she ensures that “the document meets the requirements” and “there are no missing attachments,” and makes a point of communicating via public Slack channels so that the history can be traced later.

By building workflows and turning them into tasks, she has achieved standardization, efficiency, and stable operations.

｜15:00 Monitoring Project Progress, Updating Management Documents

She updates management documents while checking project progress and the presence of any pending tasks, maintaining a state where the situation can always be accurately grasped.

Additionally, she actively raises issues for improvement regarding operational challenges felt while carrying out existing duties.

Beyond reviewing operations and building systems within the BA Dept., she also gathers information, researches optimal tools, considers operational methods, and conducts test runs as needed, working with other departments such as General Affairs and Accounting to improve operations. The operation of an AI chat that aggregates internal knowledge is one such initiative.

｜17:00 Handling Requests and Inquiries from Departments

The requests and inquiries that reach the BA Dept. daily are diverse.

She provides a wide range of support, from project-related matters to internal system tutorials, playing the role of the “first point of contact” for any question!

｜18:30 Progress Review, Preparation for the Next Day

She reviews the processing status of the cases handled that day and checks for any omissions. To ensure smooth operations the following day, she performs preliminary checks and preparations.

|19:00 Leaving Work

Leaving the office with a clear desk.

About twice a week, she gets off the train early to have dinner and then walks one station’s distance home for exercise. Her recent favorite is the fried horse mackerel at a set-meal restaurant that serves rice cooked in a clay pot!

There are also days when she uses the flex-time system to leave early after giving prior notice.

| Extra: Days Off

She devotes her time outside of work and sleep to entertainment content such as manga, anime, movies, dramas, and radio, and manga is her particular favorite.

She is overwhelmingly a fan of collected volumes and is always reading over a dozen series in parallel. She often feels proud as a member when she later discovers that SUNNY SIDE UP was actually involved in a work she loves.

“Ghost in the Shell” is one of my favorite works and one for which SUNNY SIDE UP handled the event PR and communications. I naturally visited the “Ghost in the Shell Exhibition,” which was held until April 2026!

SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP is able to continue creating numerous “exciting buzzes” because of the back-office professionals who support the members running on the front lines with reliable accuracy and flexibility.

An environment where everyone has different strengths and respects one another forms a solid foundation for the entire organization.

This series will continue to focus on our diverse members, so please stay tuned!