This week we talk to Carolyn Ball about how food became a trusted friend that 'spoke' when she couldn't. An ally during postnatal depression and an experience that has shaped her perspective on the foodservice industry, and on selling as a profession within it. We also cover B2B marketing and how businesses can leverage their food offering to reward and attract employees. LINKS: Recommended reads – a mix of science, spirit, sales and cultural inspiration. Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating by Prof Charles Spence https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241977746/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_L8DwCb0YA20EF GROW: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies by Jim Stengel https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0753540665/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_s8DwCbKZKFKAV Buffett's Bites: The Essential Investor's Guide to Warren Buffett's Shareholder Letters by LJ Rittenhouse https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/007182328X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Y7DwCbH67BHPS The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0735207151/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_o7DwCbCW4TX8N Subscribe to The Week, buy The Spectator regularly and really look forward to the FT Weekend - particularly for its 'Notes from a Digital Bunker' section. Recommended podcasts: TED Talks Daily The Guilty Feminist The GaryVee Audio Experience Live Brave with Margie Warrell I'd also highly recommend Mark Pitcher's Smash The Box You Tube channel and the 'Insight Timer' app. I *try* (!) to meditate daily with guided sessions, which you can listen to for free. There are some great courses available too - I've just finished an excellent one by Lisa Abramson (£4.99 for 10 days). CAROLYN BALL Carolyn, Sales Director at Gather & Gather, has become obsessed by finding out more about how food can 'speak' for us - to everyone we care about; how it can *really* contribute to our teams and our customers. Without whom the whole thing folds. Through listening, reading, researching, eating (!) and meeting, she's developed a hybrid and unorthodox sort of perspective - on the future of food as a different kind of 'heritage industry'....Her real passion is to hunt for yesterday's magic and explore tomorrow's theories; figuring out how we can translate them today. Having transcribed 15th Century recipes and interviewed many an interesting soul for a couple of news desks, Caroline has always seen food as one of the world's greatest vehicles for communication and revelation. FOLLOW US: Carolyn https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-ball-7969135a/ Mark / WE ARE Spectacular⠀ https://twitter.com/spectacularmark https://twitter.com/spectacularchat https://www.instagram.com/spectacularmark/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcculloch/ Do you want to be on the next Spectacular Marketing Podcast? Email gabby@wearespectacular.com