Action girl
For years I've woken up at 4am. Don't know why, it isn't something I planned but, because I work from home, I get up and start work.
Getting up at 4am is a wonderful way to keep paperwork under control. More people should try it. There are no phones ringing, no distractions.
First job every morning is to turn on the technology. Everything to do with my work for Arena and Hospitality Action is held on a friendly word processor, but each day I get a bit closer to buying a computer so I can get on the Internet and get e-mails.
Everyone wants to talk this way now, don't they? I think it's so sad that people are getting out of the habit of talking to each other. I love the human voice, especially when it has a smile in it. I suppose one benefit of becoming a "Netty" will be the ability to reply to e-mails while the people who sent them are still in bed.
Newspapers are really vital to me - four a day, delivered at 6.45am. I get the FT for the financial gubbins, The Times because it recognises the importance of this industry, the Telegraph because I always have done, and the Mail because it's a quick flickeroo.
Breakfast is not much - a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee, a banana if I feel like it. I start it at 8am and it's over by five past.
The post is a couple of inches thick every morning with letters and industry magazines. If Stan and I go away for a week, it's delivered the next week in a sack.
Hardly a day goes by without a meeting to go to, and so many at the moment are over the Millennium Appeal, the joint bid by the NSPCC and Hospitality Action to raise £2m. I've worked with the NSPCC for years and I thought it a great idea for our Hospitality Action charity to unite with the big brand name of the NSPCC and split the money raised.
The campaign peaks in September when we do Cuppa For A Kid. We want caterers to put just a few pence on every non-alcoholic drink they sell and give it to the appeal.
It's pushing an open door - we're getting masses of support from the industry. The Duke of York launched it and Garry Hawkes [president of Hospitality Action] is chairing the steering group. If we succeed in raising £2m, it'll be the most special thing I've ever been involved in.
Lunchtime is when I have my main meal. But it isn't much - a salad, a bit of pasta, or something I can put in a microwave.
I often do Arena chasing stuff in the afternoons, getting the speakers for our lunches. It's easier now we have a high profile in the industry. I can ring up Charles Allen and say: "Charles, this is Naomi. I've got something I want you to come to."
Everything stops at 5pm when Stan comes home from work and we have a cup of tea. Every day, we never miss. Unless I'm going out, I don't eat in the evening. I know people are going to think of my waistline and say "Naomi must eat" but, honestly, I don't. Stan eats, but he cooks it himself.
Evenings, I catch up on the papers, and maybe watch a bit of telly or read. But the cats always need looking after. I have 5,000 of them now. Beauty II is the live one and the others are thousands of cat ornaments and cat pictures. I just collect them all the time. I spent £5,000 on a wall fitting last year just to fit more cats into the lounge. I must be mad, mustn't I?
My eyes start shutting about 10pm and I go to bed. No food, no alcohol, just a glass of fruit juice in case I wake up in the night. That still gives me six hours of sleep.
I know it's a punishing routine, but it keeps me going. I sometimes think about retirement and winding down a bit, but not yet. There just too much to do.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 6-12 July 2000
Internet Link
