Getting Personal with Frank Newberry
Frank Newberry - we always had him down as a dead ringer for The Rock!
Who are you? Frank Newberry: Careers Coach, Sales and Management Trainer.
Family status? Married, three children and seven grandchildren.
Who's your hero and why? My customers and clients because they are trying to continuously improve.
What's been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Watching my clients go on to get top jobs they never dreamed they would get.
If your younger self saw you now, what would they think? Wow! You got a job you never dreamed you would get.
Which famous people wind you up? 'Professional' cockneys like Dom Littlewood and Danny Dyer. I lived in the East End of London for eleven years and these stereotypes are not helpful.
What job would you love, other than your own? Can't think of anything I have loved more than my present job.
What was the most embarrassing moment in your life? I am way too shameless to be embarrassed!
What is your favourite film? The Philadelphia Story (1940). Clever, cool and very funny.
What scares you? COVID 19.
What would your autobiography be called… and who would play you in the film? 'Fun with Frank' starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - who else?
What is your favourite sport? Grand Sumo. Catch it on NHK World (Sky Channel 507) every two months.
What would you cast into Room 101? Professional wrestling, homelessness, big tattoos on faces.
Which historical time and place would you most like to visit? The UK in 100 years' time.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? That anyone can help change things for the better - at any time of life.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Paternal grandfather who died in World War I in his twenties and any two people in history he cared to invite.
What's the best advice you have ever been given? Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
What's your favourite piece of trivia? Our memories are perfect - it is our recall systems that are crap.
What's your favourite smell? My wife.
Which three albums would you take to a desert island? Sergeant Pepper by The Beatles, Hotel California by the Eagles and Labour of Love by UB40.
What's the daftest work-related question you have ever been asked? At the end of the seminar will you tell the grounds and greens teams that we are switching to all-night working from next month? I didn't!
What's your favourite piece of kit? My slide projector.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Arrogant, Aggressive, Incorrigible - all words used by others to describe me at one time or another over the years.
What is the single most useful thing you could tell a 16-year-old groundsperson/greenkeeper? You're going to be great at your job!
What talent would you like to have? Speak other languages well - especially Japanese and Chinese.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Laws related to littering to be enforced with massive fines and community service - like litter picking for weeks on end.