Each week we shine the spotlight on a member of Dorset’s business community and ask him, or her, for answers to our part fun/part serious questionnaire. This time…

Her favourite smell is frying garlic, she gets angry at being lied to, names the Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut as her childhood hero and sets a new 20 Questions’ record by mentioning Poole Harbour in no fewer than four separate answers!

Marianne Storey, CEO, Dorset Mind, takes the 20 Questions’ hot seat. 

Question: What is your favourite TV show?

Answer: Schitts Creek – I love how the characters develop and the way the small-town community accepts them all regardless of their ‘self-focused’ attitudes at the beginning. It was so clever the way the show portrayed the difference that acceptance made to those characters’ lives and who they turned into.

Q: Who would you like to share a car with?

A: Michelle Obama, Glennon Doyle, Brene Brown, Amanda Gorman – I can’t decide. They’re all incredibly wise women. I’d pick their brains for hours.

Q: The best bit of my job is…?

A: Seeing the endless compassion people have for other people. Staff, volunteers, for our participants, for each other, for our cause. It’s inspiring.

Q: And the worst…?

A: Worrying about where the money is going to come from to do what we do. It keeps me awake at night. There’s so much to do and not enough resource to do it.

Q: Who was your childhood hero?

A: Olga Korbut – I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast.

Q: What’s your favourite smell?

A: Frying garlic.

Q: Where’s your favourite place in Dorset?

A: Poole Harbour – for a multitude of reasons.

Q: What advice would you give to anyone starting out on a career?

A: Don’t let it consume you. Keep your sights on the people around you. It’ll turn out they were important. Prioritise your own self-care. Have clear boundaries. Set a BIG goal and work towards it one day at a time. Don’t compromise your values.

Q: What was your first record/CD?

A: She’s a Model by Kraftwerk

Q: What gets you angry?

A: Being lied to.

Q: Do you have a favourite piece of music?

A: Mozart’s Requiem, it gets me every time.

Q: What are the qualities you look for in a new employee?

A: Authenticity, integrity and not chewing gum in the interview.

Q: What’s your favourite food or dish?

A: Anything that’s spicy, vegetarian and involves frying garlic.

Q: Steamed sponge pudding and custard or a plate of melon?

A: Melon.

Q: Name the best thing about living/working in Dorset?

A: Poole Harbour – it does something to my soul.

Q: If you were Prime Minister for the day what would be the first thing you do?

A: Get a haircut. Then I’d make sure that I had a cabinet that reflected the diversity and spirit of our nation i.e. compassionate people from all manner of backgrounds, with aspiration and drive for innovation and equality and who had a sense of humour. Then we’d start talking.

Q: What’s your biggest frustration?

A: Myself usually.

Q:  Where’s your favourite holiday location?

A: Poole Harbour. But if forced elsewhere, then anywhere in the Mediterranean with a sea view. Mostly because of the garlic…

Q: Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?

A: Poole Harbour hopefully, round the back of Green Island, anchored (metaphorically and literally) and relaxing on a boat with a good friend and a nice cup of tea.

Q: What would you like to be remembered for?

A: For making other people feel like they could be more, achieve more or believe in themselves more than they did before we met.