Friday Friend: @BigRedTomato #FollowFriday

Welcome to another Friday. Hooray! The weekend is almost here As many of you know already, I’m off to France with my lovely family in the wee small hours of tomorrow morning but before I go, it is my delight to introduce another Friday Friend. (As an aside, we’ll still have lots of wonderful news and posts over the next three weeks. A couple of wonderful people have community posts coming up, there are some videos and a brilliant piece about the best marketing strategy in the world!)

But I digress. I’m not the most organised of people (but shhh! Don’t tell anyone!) I usually schedule these Friday interviews on an ad hoc basis. However, this week I actually engaged my brain a little, not just once but twice! Matthew’s interview was due to go out in the middle of next month. However, he has an exciting new product out right now which, by the time his interview would have gone out, would have gone off sale. Seeing as it’s available for a special pre-launch price, I decided it might be wise to shuffle things around a little

Similarly, Matthew is soon to be a daddy for the very first time. Babies have a long documented history of arriving at not quite the exact time planned. Erring on the side of caution, at least now you’ll be able to ask Matthew all the questions I may have forgotten to ask without fear of him being up to his neck in nappies and new dad type stuff

So, without further ado, it’s over to Matthew …

What’s your name and where do you come from? (Tell us about you!) I’m Matthew Needham, I’m married, live in Nottingham (UK), have 2 cats and 4 fish with a baby boy due on June 19th.

Why Give A Brick? Loved the simple idea and inspiring (and entertaining stories). I admire the fact that a small local charity has big ambitions and has approached fund raising in a very innovative way. (Hopefully my suggestion of adding the Paypal button made a big increase in contributions).

Personal dreams/ambitions? It’s quite an interesting question to ask right now. My wife is due to give birth to our first child in June (less than a month to go now) so it’s quite a life changing moment. So obviously I’m planning on being the best dad in the world (ever). In the short term I’m hoping that I can have a month or two off work when he’s born, so I’m hoping my new ebook sells enough copies for that to happen!!

Who would be your ideal dinner guest? JFK (John F Kennedy)

What would be on the menu? Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, fresh vegatables and red wine gravy!

One thing that might surprise people about you? I’m a qualified Holistic and Lifestyle coach

Anything I’ve missed that you’d like people to know? Well, I’m an interim manager which a lot of people don’t understand what it means, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to explain that if that’s ok? An interim manager is someone who works with organisations for a short period of time (usually 3-6 months but occasionally longer) during periods of change or upheaval. Specifically I work with organisations to help them reduce costs and improve business processes. I’m a qualified accountant and have worked with organisations such as Rolls-Royce, Experian and BT. I also write at www.bigredtomatocompany.co.uk which is a website aimed at those entrepreneurs whether working for themselves or working for others who want to make a difference. It’s packed full of advice on how to grow your business whether that’s online or offline, together with hints and tips around geting results and making more money.

And finally, our quick fire round:

Tea or coffee? coffee

Favourite colour? Blue

Favourite season? Spring

Chocolate, cake or icecream? cake

Favourite holiday destination? Grenada, West Indies – where I got married

Favourite musician/artist? Coldplay and New Order but quite partial to dance music.

Favourite breakfast? Organic Bacon, Sausage, poached eggs and rocket.

And now it’s your turn. What didn’t I ask? Now is your chance to get to know our Matthew even better. And don’t forget to check out his new workbook when you’re over at his place later. It would be nice to give him a little time off work with his new son