THE BREAKFAST CLUB
5.45am every Wednesday morning the alarm goes off. I inwardly groan and drag myself off to the shower. A cup of coffee later i’m off to meet with a few dozen other souls all no doubt going through a similar routine. Why are we there? To network, guide, help, be there for each other. It’s an odd relationship really, disperate business people completely unrelated in any other way other than we sit every Wednesday eating something allegedly called breakfast and queue up in the hope that there’s some coffee left so we have the mental stamina to engage in small talk.
I sit there watching and I wonder who these people really are, not the professional exterior they present, but what makes them laugh and cry, what would they have been if they could, do they dream of an alter ego or a souped up version of their current reality…
WILL WONG | CHUNG YING | RESTAURANTEUR
The infamous Will Wong, well especially in the Birmingham business scene. He’s the owner, alongside his brother, of the magnificent and award winning Chung Ying restaurant in Birmingham’s China Town. The trouble is every time I sit down for breakfast with Will all I can see is him sneaking off for a dirty burger…
EMMA RAMSEY | HR CONSULTANT
Emma is the epitome of a professional. Knows her industry inside out, is frequently dealing with really serious matters and delivers her advice with real empathy. But i’m sure she has another side to her! Hard drinking and gambling, a real card shark in the after hours clubs or is that all in my imagination…
MATT MORGAN | TRAVEL COUNSELLOR
When its holiday time, this is the man you need in your corner. He says he likes nothing more than sitting around the pool on a cruise ship, but I suspect he’s the life and soul of the party…
ZACK FAIRBANKS | MINDFULNESS COACH
Calm, focused, considered are the words you would use to describe Zach, but even the most dedicated people to the cause of minding how you think, must have a little crazy in them, surely…
NEIL EDWARDS | MAGICIAN
Watching Neil work a room is a joy to behold. About as far away from those stage magicians as you can get, he sidles up to a group, smiles at them with that joyful boyish look he does so well and then you watch as they get sucked in to his act… I sat there wondering what his act would be like if he’d been born a few decades earlier, when magicians stood on a stage and took themselves so very seriously. Neil obliged and added the extra spark of a different kind of rabbit magically appearing out of his hat…
IAN VESEY | LAWYER
Ian loves to travel and see the world, especially to Asia, where he’s forged many friendships and business links but I couldn’t help wondering if Budda would really cast an appreciative eye over his love of more traditionally British pursuits…