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…

She’d like to share a car with The Queen, her first record was Take That’s ‘It Only Takes a Minute’ – which started a long teenage love affair with the group – she gets angry at inequality and chooses freshly made doughnuts as her favourite food.

Heather Brown, Food Writer and Owner of Dorset Foodie Feed, occupies the 20 Questions’ hot seat.

Question: What is your favourite TV show?

Answer: The Great British Sewing Bee. It’s creative and fun but so gentle and calm, too. The judges are kind and the clothes are often really inventive. I wish I could sew like that, too.

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

A: The Queen – and I’d be happy if she drove! To have reigned for so long and seen so much change, so many prime ministers come and go, deal with so much so publicly, meet all those other heads of states and to do it all as a woman through such  changing global landscapes – just incredible and an inspiration. I think I’d love a real chat though, about the things that matter to her.

Q: The best bit of my job is…?

A: Knowing that I am helping people. It makes all the rest worthwhile.

Q: And the worst…?

A: Doing my accounts. It’s so boring and I prefer to approximate numbers rather than be super accurate… which is a little awkward as my husband is a Finance Director!

Q: Who was your childhood hero?

A: I had to think about this one and I don’t think I had one person when I was a kid. I have always been drawn to people who have taken a small window of opportunity and blown that window off its hinges to do or create something incredible. When Gareth Southgate missed his penalty in 1996, I wrote a letter to him to send him some love as I could see how the media were tearing him apart. I was 14 and social media didn’t exist so it was just mainstream media, but it was so awful. It is so great to see him excelling now, overcoming that moment and carrying on. What he has achieved is incredible – he didn’t give up when it seemed like the whole world told him he should.

Q: What’s your favourite smell?

A: The smell in a room that lingers when there is often a wood fire burning in the hearth – sort of a deep, smokey, burnt wood smell.

Q: Where’s your favourite place in Dorset?

A: There is a beach in Bournemouth that is beyond the end of the prom which is often quite empty, even on a sunny day. It has grassy dunes and both soft sand and pebbles and just feels like I’m on holiday, away from the world. We go there with coffees and donuts or fish  and chips (depending on the time of day) and sit and watch the waves.

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

A: Just go for it, work hard, proactively look for ways to help others in your team and take  responsibility when you make a mistake.

Q: What was your first record/CD?

A: Take That – ‘It Only Takes a Minute’ (on cassette tape) when I was ten. That song was the beginning of a long love affair with Take That through my teenage years.

Q: What gets you angry?

A: Inequality. That’s obviously a systemic issue that is pretty constant so I’m careful not to be angry all the time, but I just don’t understand why humans feel the need to treat fellow humans negatively, based often on small differences. Every single human is unique, we all have many differences and we should be celebrating them

Q: Do you have a favourite piece of music?

A: Endless Love by Lionel Richie. My husband and I do a brilliant duet of this, normally in the car and at full volume. I am positive my teenage kids roll their eyes every time they hear the opening few bars. I met Andy when I was 16 and we are approaching our 20 year wedding anniversary. We just make the best team and I’m so thankful that I have spent over half my life with him, he is my favourite.

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

A: Honesty and positivity… it affects everything.

Q: What’s your favourite food or dish?

A: Doughnuts. Freshly made. Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Coated in lots of crunchy sugar and filled with homemade, sharp raspberry jam. Yum.

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

A: Steamed sponge pudding… perhaps with golden syrup, or maybe some raspberry jam? My mum used to make these when growing up and I loved them (top tip – you can also make these in the microwave).

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

A: The community. I think Dorset is the first place I have lived where people and businesses encourage collaboration and support. It was a breath of fresh air to move away from the constant competitiveness and ‘one-upmanship’ of other places where I have lived.

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

A: Apologise and take responsibility for all the things the government has done wrong. Then open a forum to listen to people.

Q: What are your biggest frustrations?

A: That I don’t always believe in myself.

Q:  Where’s your favourite holiday location?

A: New York City or Tuscany, Italy. Very different holidays so would depend on my mood, but I love them both!

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

A: Well my kids will be 24 and 26 so I definitely won’t be still tied to school runs and being their taxi after school everyday… what will I do with all that free time?! I’m a bit rubbish with having a long term plan, things change so much that I just tend to go with what feels right at the time. I would love to still be writing about food and helping people… but I don’t know
what form that will take.

Q: What would you like to be remembered for?

A: Being a kind person who listened to people and encouraged them.

• dorset.foodiefeed.co.uk