Phil Lam: “I had dreams of turning out in the old Lansdowne Road in the emerald green.”

What did you want to be when you were growing up? 

Like most rugby playing youngsters I had dreams of turning out in the old Lansdowne Road [Aviva Stadium] in the emerald green. A youthful photoshoot in P7 with Neil McMillan in Ravenhill was the closest I got.

Social media platform of choice? 

Tough decision, but I think Instagram pips it in terms of the weekly iPhone insights report!  About a year ago our Head of Branded Content Paul mentioned he only followed brands on Instagram, which led to a massive cull in my following section. I have to say it is a great idea, but I’m still partial to a meme, some of the content being created out of lockdown is superb. 

Favourite writer? 

I am a big fan of Will Storr. He wrote a great book ‘Selfie - How the West became self-obsessed’.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought (excluding property)?

My Car.

Most overused word or phrase

Potentially – a word I use to politely say “no!”

What do you consider your greatest achievement to date? 

I think leaving Northern Ireland at 18 years old and going to a city where I didn’t know anybody and getting to grips with independent living.  I think there is a lot to be said for that.

Hidden talent? 

If I’m even half decent at something, chances are you already know.  

Who would your fantasy dinner guest be and why?

I think sitting down beside James Haskell would be a barrel of laughs and also fascinating to see how much food he can put away!

Who or what inspires you the most?

I have a few slogans/thoughts that inspire me…

“If a man can set foot on the moon, surely I can do XYZ” or “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.”

Name the film you’d watch again tonight? 

I’m not famed for having a great taste in movies, but I recently discovered ‘Whiplash’ which had me mesmerised.

Biggest life lesson to date? 

Never buy coffee from the supermarket…it will leave you bitter in more ways than one.

What would your superpower be? 

It would be pretty great to be able to teleport yourself to different locations instantly.

If you could go back in time, where would you go? 

I’d head back to 2009 and invest in Bitcoin.

What is the worst job you’ve done? 

I was living in Scotland at the time, a local rugby club helped all the students get employment over summer.  We got separated into groups and distributed amongst local farms in the area.  People were driving tractors, ploughing fields….I on the other hand got landed with picking raspberries.  It was a really tough gig, separating them by colour and making sure the punnets weighed the right weight. We were up at 5am picking for hours. To this day I can’t look at a raspberry.

What is top of your bucket list? 

I’d love to break 80 at the Old Course in St. Andrews, a long way to go at the moment.

What would you never leave the house without?

I usually do what I call the triple pat…phone…keys…wallet.

Currently reading?

I'm currently making my way through ‘Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst’ by Robert Sapolsky. The book aims to explain why we act the way we do starting off with the specific onset of a behaviour, before taking a journey throughout stages of your life and beyond to our evolutionary history.  I'll warn you, it is pretty heavy duty. 

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