76: Linda Pike

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Linda Pike who works at BT HQ as a Project Manager and graduated from Lampeter in French in 1995. Linda reveals why Lampeter was like a pleasure dome, and how it wasn’t a judgemental place and how she embraced the ‘away from home’ experience. We talk about the ‘melting pot’ of people and how she would get paid to socialise by working down the bar. We find out about how she had access to the reject button on the jukebox, and when and how she would use it, and Linda likens Lampeter to Neapolitan ice cream.

Linda was born in Essex but grew up in South Devon, and we learn that her earliest memories involve her cuddly lion called Leo. We discover that Linda is a kinaesthetic person and she talks about how she would go swimming on Sundays and that, today, her happiest state involves being at the seaside. When she was young she would record programmes off the radio and we find out that the first album she was given was Duran Duran’s 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger'. We find out why Linda prefers not to order cards through Moonpig and why the ‘wrong’ lyrics in a song are often better than the original.

She was once the second youngest licensee in the country and we discover how she moved into business development and then into her present job at BT. We learn about how Linda is very people-focused within a technical environment and why the analogy of a conductor is appropriate.

Linda reveals that she is passionate about scuba diving and how it is a counterpoint to work and the tendency to live life through a screen. She talks about being very collaborative and inclusive and about how people are multifaceted rather than one dimensional, and we discuss the things we learn about people outside of, say, their work environment.

The conversation then moves on to our love of film and how one can be transported somewhere and even have a kind of out of body experience. The first film she and her husband went to was a Muppets film and Linda talks about her favourite films including 'Jaws' and ‘Pulp Fiction’ (the latter came out during her final year at university).

In the final part of the interview we learn why Linda is a ‘glass is half full’ person, and we find out what she would do if she had her time again – Linda would like to do a degree in marine biology – and at the very end Linda reveals whether she is a looking back or a looking forward type of person.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Linda Pike and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.