Each week Bristol Business News gives a prominent member of the city’s business community the last word on its weekly e-bulletin. This week HR director and director of Bristol Women in Business Charter, Kristal McNamara, answers our 10 questions.
What was the LAST: 
Film you watched? School of Rock. My daughter has just started secondary school and has been cast in the School of Rock musical, so we had to rewatch the film. Jack Black is hilarious, but I sat there wondering how he got away with teaching those kids nothing but rock music for months! Did the parents never ask the kids how their maths and English classes were?
Book you read? I’m an avid Kindle reader, with something always on the go, I recently read Yellow Face by Rebecca F. Kuang. It’s an award-winning book about cultural appropriation. It’s so interesting how it all gets so out of control so quickly and how the lies can grow so huge. I heard recently it’s being made into a film, so I’m keen to see that when it comes out.
Music you bought/downloaded? I’m a Spotify listener so I don’t download or buy music, but for new music I love CMAT – her album Crazymad, For me is on repeat on my playlist. I love a retro playlist, too, you’ll hear me listening to 90’s RnB or Prince or some reggae while I cook and embarrassingly dance around the kitchen!
Concert or play you went to? I have seen CMAT live a couple of times, once at a tiny gig at Rough Trade records in Bristol earlier this year with my 10-year-old, we squeezed to the front, and I think she was the only kid there! She’s a great performer, really engaging with the crowd. We queued for what felt like hours afterwards to get a photo and signed album and give her a bracelet my daughter had made. A real core memory!
Sporting event you attended? I’m not a massive sports fan, but I drag my kids up to our local cricket club, Golden Hill, to watch my husband play a few times a season! They just had their annual Party in the Park event which is a huge festival that about a thousand people attend in the heart of Henleaze. It’s such good fun with live music, great food and a real family vibe.
Restaurant you ate in? We recently went to Kibou, a Japanese restaurant in Clifton Village. Their small plates of street food were really good and there was a great atmosphere there. We kept ordering more as it was all super tasty.
Holiday you went on? We recently travelled around the north of Croatia. It was very Italian in scenery, we loved the coast near Pula, amazing boat trips and snorkelling in clear blue water. Opatija is beautiful and a must visit, with the lovely lido to chill out in the day and lots of great shops, bars and restaurants. The historic buildings are amazing and not at all what you expect.
Thing that annoyed you? Cars parked up on pavements across Bristol (including Amazon delivery vans!) so you can’t get past, or you have to cross the road. It’s really infuriating. I can’t imagine how wheelchair users cope.
Thing that made you laugh out loud? We have a family WhatsApp group that is full of stupid memes and silly songs that make me laugh all day long. There was one shared last week where Donald Trump’s comments about people eating cats and dogs had been sampled and made into a song!
Piece of good advice you were given? I’m Bristol born and bred and went to St Brendan’s Sixth Form college. The friends I made there are my rock bed for advice. We used to get together every Thursday night to watch new episodes of Friends, hence we are called the Thursday Club. Whatever the issue, the Thursday club WhatsApp group has your back. We all love Matt Haig’s words of wisdom, when I’m having a bad day I like to remember this: “There will be times when you fail. There will be bad days and there will be struggle, especially if you pursue a dream, but you need the bad days to make the good days seem good and sometimes we actually need to be knocked off track.”
