Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Scale Her Up: Female business stories and expert tips for business growth and success

Are you spending three hours a week on bookkeeping when you should be making sales? Dr. Brenda Hector is joined by Fiona Purves, owner of Defacto FD, to discuss why your business numbers are more than just a tax bill—they are the story of your success.

Fiona shares her transition from corporate industry to setting up a "pick and mix" finance department for small businesses. We dive into the importance of professional accreditation, why your bookkeeper might be feeling "professionally lonely," and how Fiona’s background as a yoga teacher brings a philosophy of "Karma Yoga" (selfless service) to her accounting practice.

Key Takeaways:

• The Defacto Model: Scaling your finance department up and down based on your current needs.
• The Novel in the Numbers: Learning to see the real story behind the profit and loss sheet.
• The Un-Photoshopped Version: Why your accountant is your most trusted, judgment-free sounding board.
• Dooking and Balance: Why wild dipping and walking are Fiona's "non-negotiables" for avoiding burnout.

Lisa Schoneville’s journey is a powerful case study in the difference between owning a job and owning a business. From counting out pennies to afford nappies to building two multi-staff companies that operate entirely without her, Lisa’s story is a masterclass in resilience and strategic systemisation.

What happens when your "flexible" business starts consuming 60 hours of your week? For serial entrepreneur Lisa Schoneville, it was the catalyst for a radical change in strategy. In this episode, Dr Brenda Hector talks with the founder of a thriving cleaning company and a specialised property management firm—both of which now operate with only 5% of her direct involvement.

Lisa shares her raw and inspiring journey, from leaving a secure bank management career to counting out £7 in copper jars just to buy nappies. We dive into the importance of "straight-talk" from your accountant, why she pays her staff above minimum wage, and the unique employee benefits (like 24/7 counselling) that have supercharged her team's loyalty.

Key Takeaways:

• The Entrepreneurial Shift: How to move from being a "busy fool" to building an income that doesn't rely on you.
• Staff as Assets: Why valuing staff with better pay and mental health support leads to higher retention and growth .
• The Power of "Yes": Jumping into opportunities (like serviced apartments) even when you don’t yet know the "how" .
• The Freedom of Choice: Why money isn't just about wealth—it's about the ability to choose how you spend your time .

This is a special re-release of the most-listened-to episode of Scale Her Up. Katie Watson’s story of transformation—from crippling childhood shyness to leading the BWC Futures group and excelling at the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce—is a masterclass in resilience and authentic career building.

How do you go from being too shy to leave your house to hosting major networking events for young professionals? In this special re-release of the Scale HER Up's most popular episode ever, Dr Brenda Hector talks with Katie Watson of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce.

Katie shares her journey through a childhood diagnosis of depression at age 12 to becoming the lead for BWC Futures, a group dedicated to supporting women aged 16–25 in their early careers. We discuss the "hunt as the feast," the power of vulnerability in leadership, and why reinventing yourself is sometimes the best career move you can make.

Key Takeaways:

• Reinventing the Self: How Katie used University as a "fresh chance" to move past her history with mental health .
• BWC Futures: Creating safe, drink-free spaces for young women to connect and grow.
• The "Why" and the "How": Navigating the critics who question your ambition before they ask for your secrets.
• Aberdeen’s Future: How the Chamber is helping businesses "fall back in love" with the region.

From war zones in Iraq to the boardrooms of the North Sea energy sector, Diana Muriel’s career is a masterclass in high-stakes communication. In this episode, she shares why she traded her blood-group-stamped vest for a role as a "Family Manager" and corporate consultant, proving that the most powerful tool in any business is the ability to tell a simple, truthful story .

Dr. Brenda Hector sits down with Diana Muriel, Communications Manager at Serica Energy and former CNN International war correspondent . Diana reveals how she navigated the transition from the frontlines to corporate "Issues Management" at Shell, where she became the "agony aunt" for engineers with buried skeletons . They discuss why CEOs are essentially just engineers who can communicate, the "cruel" reality of the workforce for mothers, and a breathtaking story from a Kabul washhouse that taught Diana the ultimate lesson: to earn trust, you must first display your own vulnerability .

The Hook: She reported on the collapse of economies and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, Diana Muriel is teaching the energy industry that telling the truth is the only way to scale .

Key Topics:

• The CNN Pivot: Why a 40-year-old war correspondent decided she couldn't go back to Baghdad after becoming a mother.
• Issues Management: Going into companies to find "skeletons in the cupboard" before the media does .
• The Engineering Gap: Why technical experts often fail to celebrate the "jeopardy and skill" of their own work .
• The "Family Manager" Rebrand: Why being "just a mom" is a professional scandal we need to fix.
• The Kabul Lesson: A legendary story of trust, vulnerability, and a Marks & Spencer bra in a Taliban-restricted washhouse.

Estimated Timestamps:

• [00:01:30] Trading CNN war assignments for a derelict farmhouse in Scotland .
• [00:04:00] Becoming the "Agony Aunt" of Shell: The world of corporate comms.
• [00:09:00] Why engineers struggle with storytelling and CEOs excel at it .
• [00:15:30] The hard lesson of client management vs. running a news bureau .
• [00:22:30] The "Comms Break": Navigating quiet spells and the return to employment.
• [00:27:00] Retiring ageism and the importance of the "Family Manager".
• [00:33:00] The Power of Vulnerability: An incredible story from Kabul

From a registered general nurse to the owner of three thriving skin clinics in North Kent, Emma Coleman is a testament to the power of the "side hustle" and the importance of clinical expertise in the beauty industry. In this episode, she gets honest about the "busy fool" stage of her early business, the reality of bootstrapping, and why she records her first podcast from a store cupboard.

Dr. Brenda Hector sits down with Emma Coleman, founder of Emma Coleman Skin, to discuss her transition from 20 years in the NHS to scaling a multi-clinic brand. Emma reveals how she managed three jobs and three small children while starting a clinic in her own home to save costs . They dive into the complexities of scaling through acquisition, the emotional connection people have with their skin, and why "done is better than perfect" is the only way to launch. This is an episode for anyone who needs a reminder that the path to success is rarely glamorous but always worthwhile.

The Hook: What do nursing on a hospital ward and running a business have in common? More than you think. Emma Coleman shares how she swapped the NHS for a skin clinic chain.

Key Topics:

• The Clinical Edge: Transitioning from an RGN in the NHS to a specialized dermatology nurse in private practice .
• The "Busy Fool" Stage: Managing three income streams and school runs while building a business foundation .
• Bootstrapping & Acquisition: The challenges of taking over an existing beauty salon and turning it into a medical-grade clinic.
• Team & Culture: Moving from a solo founder to a team of 10 and the "nerve-wracking" reality of recruitment.
• Founder Advice: Why perfection is the enemy of progress and the power of daily manifestation.

Estimated Timestamps:

• [00:01:00] Intro to Emma Coleman Skin: From facials to minor surgery.
• [00:03:00] Leaving the NHS: The 2015 decision to go "all in".
• [00:08:40] Scaling through acquisition: Inheriting staff and changing culture.
• [00:11:40] The Money Talk: Cash flow, bootstrapping, and daily monitoring.
• [00:16:10] The confidence of skin: Treating acne and boosting self-esteem.
• [00:22:20] "Done is better than perfect": Advice for the next generation of founders.
• [00:33:30] Real Talk: Recording from the store cupboard

In this episode of Scale Her Up, Dr. Brenda Hector talks with Sonia Schulenberg, CEO and founder of Level E Research. Sonia shares her journey from Mexico City to the University of Edinburgh, where she pioneered the use of autonomous AI agents in asset management. She breaks down why traditional AI fails in the "non-stationary" world of finance and how she built a digital twin of the global market to outperform multibillion-dollar funds . Beyond the tech, Sonia reveals the staggering level of commitment required to scale, including a legendary story of closing an investment round and paying salaries while in active labor .

The Hook: She was told her vision for AI in finance was a "trip to the moon." Sonia Schulenberg didn't just build the rocket; she’s now navigating the entire asset management industry toward a new frontier.

Key Topics:

• The Problem with Traditional AI: Why financial markets act like a "shifting giraffe" and require a unique continuous learning approach .
• The Operative System for Finance: How Level E Research provides a B2B SaaS platform that automates everything from decision-making to compliance.
• The Cost Crisis: Why active fund managers are underperforming and how AI can save the "eroding value" of our pensions.
• Explainable AI: Why AI is "nothing" if it cannot explain its own behaviours to regulators and stakeholders.
• Unstoppable Resilience: The reality of 100-hour work weeks and the drive to deliver "smarter, faster, and cheaper" solutions.

Estimated Timestamps:

• [00:01:00] Early career at Citi and the proposal that started it all.
• [00:06:00] Moving to Edinburgh: Choosing machine learning over an MBA.
• [00:10:00] Developing the first fully autonomous fund in the world.
• [00:17:00] Winning the Aberdeen Asset Managers & FinTech Scotland competition.
• [00:27:00] Overcoming the "fear" that AI will replace humans.
• [00:37:00] The Tuesday Deadline: Why Sonia fired 12 lawyers to get results.
• [00:39:00] The Birth Story: Fundraising, labor, and a Friday deadline for salaries.

In this milestone episode, Dr. Brenda Hector talks with Julie Moulsdale, who celebrates 20 years at the helm of her award-winning consultancy, Perceptive Communicators. Julie shares the "madness" of starting a niche business while one month pregnant at the start of a global credit crunch—and how she turned that risk into a 20-year success story with a world-class Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 93 . This conversation is essential listening for leaders who want to move from being "doers" to "conductors" and for those who believe that visibility in business is not just vanity—it's leadership.

Everyone told her that narrowing her focus was madness. 20 years later, Julie Moulsdale has a world-class reputation and a message for every woman in business: visibility is leadership.

Key Topics:

• The Power of Niche: Why Perceptive Communicators only works in four sectors: Built Environment, Science, Leisure, and Tech.
• The "A Player" Manifesto: How Julie moved beyond standard values to create a clear guide on "how we do things around here"
• The Conductor Analogy: Learning the hard way that a leader’s job is to ensure the orchestra plays perfectly, not to make the sound themselves.
• Walking the Talk: Why business leaders (especially women) must get comfortable with awards and visibility to demonstrate their impact.
• Moving the Needle: Julie’s mission with "Female Leaders in Construction" and "Senior Women in Science".

🎙️ In this episode of Scale Her Up, Dr Brenda Hector talks with Leah Athanassopoulos, the owner and managing director of Alpha Hospital Group. Leah shares her incredible journey of scaling a part-time plastic surgery clinic into a fully regulated private hospital, filling a critical gap in women’s health and fertility services in the North of Scotland.

Leah discusses how her background in counseling and psychotherapy has been her "secret weapon" for leadership, staff management, and building a patient-centered culture. We also dive into the reality of the "juggle"—balancing a business, a lecturing career, and a growing family (including a third child on the way!)—and why "starting small" is the safest way to take a big leap.

The Hook: From a counseling room to the operating theater—Leah Athanassopoulos is redefining private healthcare in Scotland.

Key Topics:

• Filling the Gap: Why Leah expanded Alpha Hospital Group into fertility and women's health to save patients from traveling to Glasgow.
• Clinic vs. Hospital: Understanding the massive regulatory shift and the technical challenges of building a hospital in a granite building.
• The Therapist’s Edge: How psychology training helps in navigating conflict resolution and understanding patient needs.
• Ruthless HR: Leah’s hard-won advice on why you shouldn't make staff decisions emotionally.
• Home Rules: The simple strategy Leah uses to ensure her children feel more important than her smartphone.

Estimated Timestamps:

• [00:01:00] The evolution from plastic surgery to a multi-service hospital.
• [00:04:30] The regulatory hurdles of moving to general anesthesia cases.
• [00:09:00] How a background in psychotherapy makes for a better MD.
• [00:15:30] Avoiding "emotional" business decisions regarding staff.
• [00:22:00] Navigating a business partnership with a spouse.
• [00:28:30] Advice for women: "Start small, but do it".
• [00:33:00] Future goals: Bringing fertility services to Inverness.

How do you transition from a decade in a research lab to leading a high-stakes biotech company? In this episode, Dr Brenda Hector talks with Soumya Palliyil, the CEO and co-founder of Brigid Bio, a brand-new spinout from the University of Aberdeen.

Soumya shares the journey of developing novel treatments for life-threatening invasive fungal infections—a field where mortality rates can reach a staggering 80%. We dive into the "long-haul flight" of drug development, the necessity of impact investors, and why your most valuable asset is the network you build over 20 years.

• The Mission of Brigid Bio: Developing monoclonal antibody therapies to treat deep-seated fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.
• The "3 Ps" of Scaling: Soumya’s formula for business success: Passion, Perseverance, and People .
• Authentic Leadership: Why Soumya rejected the stereotypical "CEO mold" to lead with her own approachable and genuine personality .
• The Funding Journey: Navigating the complex world of non-dilutive funding, grants, and specialist investors .
• Global Impact: Why Brigid Bio is focused on addressing health disparities in the global south.

Soumya Palliyil is the CEO of Brigid Bio and the head of the Scottish Biologics Facility at the University of Aberdeen. With over 20 years of experience in biotechnology, she has transitioned from a Commonwealth Scholar to a leading founder in the Scottish biotech ecosystem .

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Deborah O’Neill, CEO and founder of Novabiotics.

Deborah shares the story behind building a biotech company in Aberdeen, developing innovative healthcare products for both pharmaceutical and consumer health markets. From respiratory disease treatments to nail care products, everything Novabiotics creates is rooted in the same scientific foundation: understanding how the immune system protects and repairs the body.

We talk about the reality of founding and growing a biotech business, the marathon of product development, how innovation is funded, and why tenacity matters so much in a sector where success can take years.

This is a fascinating and inspiring conversation about science, business, resilience, leadership and the impact that women can have when they back themselves and build something meaningful.

• What Novabiotics does and the problems it is solving
• Deborah’s journey from immunology research to biotech founder
• The difference between academic and commercial science
• Why biotech is a marathon, not a sprint
• How biotech companies are funded before products reach market
• The importance of building the right team around you
• Supporting early-stage life science businesses in the North East
• Why Aberdeen is becoming an exciting place for biotech innovation
• What Deborah has learned about herself as a founder
• Why founders need tenacity, flexibility and sticking power
• Advice for women considering life sciences or starting a business

• Deborah’s reflections on spinning the business out rather than keeping it as a side project
• Her honesty about the long and uncertain road to market in biotech
• Why there is no such thing as a wrong answer in an experiment
• Her point that success is often not exactly the destination you first imagined
• “If there’s a little voice telling you to do it, listen to it.”
• “Throw the map away.”

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Donna Sutherland, founder and Head of Commercial at Veri Energy, Vice President of the Scottish Energy Forum, and a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University.

Donna shares her remarkable career journey through the energy sector, from starting on the trading floor at Scottish and Southern Energy to leading major commercial and project work in oil and gas, and now helping shape the future of the energy transition through Veri Energy.

We talk about leadership, communication, energy policy, innovation, determination and the importance of protecting jobs, skills and communities as the energy system evolves.

This is a powerful conversation about ambition, problem-solving, backing yourself and using your voice to influence change at the highest levels.

• What Veri Energy does and why it was created
• How existing energy infrastructure and skills can support the energy transition
• Donna’s journey through utilities, oil and gas and into transition leadership
• Why communication is critical in complex, high-stakes sectors
• The challenge of influencing government and key stakeholders
• Donna’s passion for renewable power and synthetic fuels
• Why she believes Scotland should be at the forefront of energy innovation
• The importance of protecting jobs and communities during transition
• Women in the energy sector and the barriers they still face
• Why women need to stop waiting to be asked and start taking space
• ADHD, focus and using your brain as a strength in leadership

• Donna’s determination to keep progressing an idea even when funding was not initially available
• Her reflections on communication as one of the most important skills in business
• Her honesty about women having to work harder to be heard
• Why she believes Scotland needs engineering-led solutions, not just policy-led ones
• “We don’t need to be asked. We need to just take it.”
• “We need to get back to what we are bloody good at.”

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Annie Kenyon, founder of Annie Kenyon Architects.

Annie shares the story behind building her architectural practice over the last 20 years, growing it from a sole practitioner business into a respected studio known for creativity, honesty and beautiful design.

We talk about what it means to grow a business without losing sight of your values, why being selective about the work you take on matters, and how Annie has balanced entrepreneurship, leadership, motherhood and creativity along the way.

This is an honest and thoughtful conversation about building a business that reflects who you are, surrounding yourself with the right people, and making sure success is defined on your own terms.

• How Annie started her business and why she came back to Aberdeenshire
• Her journey into architecture and the alternative route she took into university
• Why values have shaped every stage of the business
• The importance of saying no to the wrong work
• Building a team around creativity, trust and shared standards
• The reality of juggling business ownership and raising four children
• Why systems, support and coaching matter
• The challenges of cash flow, growth and leading a creative business
• What Annie has learned in 20 years of entrepreneurship
• Why women in business need to define success for themselves

• Why Annie said no to a project early on, even when she needed the work
• Her reflections on balancing creativity and the commercial side of business
• The role values play in building the right team
• Why support, coaching and mentors make such a difference
• “Be careful what you wish for”
• “If you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point?”

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Charlotte Nichols, founder of Harvey & Hugo.

Charlotte shares how her business helps clients amplify their voices through storytelling across PR, media, podcasts, video and social media, and why the stories people feel are the ones that truly drive action.

We talk about emotion in marketing, trust, credibility, confidence, communication and what it takes to build a business around your authentic self rather than the version you think the world expects.

Charlotte also shares the story behind the name Harvey & Hugo, why she stopped trying to fit a corporate mould, and what she has learned from 17 years of running a business, building a team and growing as a leader.

This is a thoughtful, honest and inspiring episode for women in business who want to build brands with more personality, more confidence and more connection.

• What Harvey & Hugo does and how storytelling supports business growth
• Why emotion matters so much in marketing and sales
• The difference between awareness and trust
• Charlotte’s idea of the emotional selling point
• The story behind Harvey and Hugo
• Why being more yourself in business creates stronger connections
• What Charlotte has learned about leadership and resilience
• The challenges of building the right team
• Why communication styles matter in leadership and recruitment
• The value of coaching, business networks and external support
• How personal experiences can shape the way we show up in business

• Why people buy on feeling first and logic second
• Charlotte’s reflections on trying to fit into a more corporate mould
• The role her dogs played in the early identity of the brand
• Why “your voice matters” is such an important message
• “Back yourself.”
• “What’s the best that can happen?”

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Lisa Ironside, owner of The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire and Bagamoyo Consulting Limited.

Lisa shares how Bagamoyo Consulting began as her first business after leaving the corporate world, creating a space for her passion around inclusion, culture, diversity and belonging. She then added The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire as a natural extension, bringing practical HR consultancy and employment law support to small and medium-sized businesses who need trusted advice but do not have in-house HR.

We talk about what small business owners really need when they start hiring, why getting proper contracts and advice in place matters, and how strong communication, clear business values and honest conversations can prevent people problems from escalating. Lisa also explains why the Employment Rights Bill does not need to be something business owners fear, as long as they lead fairly and communicate well.

Lisa is also very open about her own journey into business. She talks honestly about redundancy, illness, recovery, burnout, rebuilding at her own pace, and finding the courage to create a business that reflects her values. It is a thoughtful conversation about leadership, purpose, resilience and the freedom that comes from building something your own way.

• What Bagamoyo Consulting and The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire each do
• Why small businesses need proper HR and employment law support from the start
• The risks of copying contracts and policies from the internet
• What business owners should be clear about before they hire
• Why company purpose, values and story matter when attracting people
• The importance of honest conversations and tackling issues early
• Lisa’s transition from corporate life into entrepreneurship
• Building a business while managing illness, change and personal challenges
• Hiring her first team member and what that made possible
• Why heart-led leadership can still be commercially strong
• The role of music, inclusion and human connection in Lisa’s wider work
• Her advice to women in business about trusting themselves and taking space

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Alena Duncan, founder and Chief Executive and Operating Officer of NexEndo Healthcare.

Alena shares the story behind building a clinical services company that supports both NHS and private patients, helping to reduce waiting times in endoscopy and other specialist services while keeping patient safety and clinical governance at the heart of everything.

We talk about her journey from nursing into law, consultancy and then founding NexEndo Healthcare, as well as the realities of growing a business in a highly regulated and male-dominated industry.

This is a fascinating conversation about leadership, persistence, communication, problem-solving and what it really takes to build a purpose-led healthcare business.

• What NexEndo Healthcare does and how it supports NHS and private patients
• Why reducing waiting times in healthcare matters so much
• The challenge of marketing sensitive health services
• Alena’s journey from nursing to law to business ownership
• What she has learned about herself as a founder and leader
• Why communication has been a thread through her whole career
• The importance of trusted people around you in business
• Growing from a small team to a much larger operation
• The realities of regulation, policy and compliance in healthcare
• The barriers to entry for smaller providers in Scotland
• Why persistence and strong opinions can be an asset in business

• Why patients need services that feel accessible and easy to talk about
• Alena’s reflections on finding her voice in a male-dominated world
• Her honesty about having to be firm in order to be heard
• The challenge of selling services people only seek when they have a problem
• “Don’t be scared of being opinionated as a woman.”
• “If you don’t try, you never know whether you’re going to succeed.”

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Araminta Birse-Stewart, founder of Araminta Campbell, a Scottish luxury woven textile brand based just outside Edinburgh.

Araminta shares how her business creates beautifully crafted woven textiles in Scotland, from mill-woven collections sold around the world to one-off and limited-edition handwoven pieces made in-house. She also designs bespoke heritage textiles, including tweeds and tartans, for private clients, brands and organisations.

We talk about what luxury really means today, and why for Araminta it is about story, provenance, craftsmanship and longevity rather than just status or a label. Sustainability sits at the heart of the brand too, with timeless designs, carefully sourced fibres and a strong focus on creating pieces that are cherished for life.

Araminta also shares the story of how the business began, almost accidentally, when people started wanting to buy the pieces she was making. Ten years on, the business has grown into a significant employer of handweavers and a respected Scottish design brand with an international customer base.

This is a thoughtful conversation about creativity, entrepreneurship, team building, motherhood, self-belief and the importance of trusting your instinct as a founder.

• What Araminta Campbell does as a Scottish luxury woven textile brand
• The difference between mill-woven, handwoven and bespoke heritage textile collections
• What luxury means beyond labels and price points
• Sustainability, longevity and creating heirloom pieces
• How the business began and grew over the last 10 years
• Why Araminta believes in building a team with strengths different from her own
• The challenges of people management and hiring the right fit
• Running a growing business alongside motherhood and family life
• Why trusting your gut matters so much in business
• Her advice for other women starting or scaling a business

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Elise MacDonald, Managing Director of Lux Events, an events company specialising in corporate events, conferences, award ceremonies, brand activations and communications. Lux works mainly across Scotland, while also delivering projects further afield in Europe, London and beyond.

Elise shares how Lux Events has grown over the last 14 years into a respected business with a wide mix of clients, particularly in tourism, food and drink, and the marketing sector. We talk about what makes a great event, from personalisation and delegate experience to the importance of people, planning and the team behind the scenes.

We also dive into Elise’s own journey in events, from her first role at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre to agency life, a short move into a slower-paced university role, and eventually launching Lux. She talks honestly about how the business started, how her co-MD Joanne Lynn joined her early on, and why that partnership has been such a huge part of the company’s growth and success.

This is a really warm and practical conversation about hospitality, leadership, working motherhood, resilience and building a business culture where people feel supported and want to stay.

• What Lux Events does and the different types of events they deliver
• What makes a successful event and why personalisation matters
• Elise’s career journey into events and why she knew she was in the right industry
• How Lux Events began and why the partnership with Joanne has been so important
• Why the team and company culture matter so much in service businesses
• Hospitality industry pressures and how they affect venues, suppliers and events
• How COVID impacted the events industry and what happened next
• Leadership, resilience and handling setbacks in business
• Building an all-female team with flexibility and family support at its core
• What Elise has learned about herself through running the business
• Advice she would give her younger self about confidence, voice and taking opportunities
• Why more women should consider starting businesses and creating portfolio careers

In this episode of Scale Her Up, I’m joined by Jen McLennan, Group Managing Director of Fifth Ring, a global B2B marketing communications agency with offices in Aberdeen, Houston and Singapore.

Jen shares her journey from journalism into agency life, and how she worked her way up through the business to become Group Managing Director. We talk about leadership, business growth, international culture, learning on the job, and the reality of juggling senior leadership with family life.

This is a really honest conversation about what it takes to step into bigger leadership roles, how to understand your own strengths and gaps, and why asking for help is not weakness, it is wisdom.

Jen also talks about the importance of data in marketing, the value of coaching, and why businesses need to think carefully about who they are trying to reach before jumping into activity for activity’s sake.

It is a thoughtful and practical episode for women in leadership, business owners, and anyone navigating growth, responsibility and ambition.

• What Fifth Ring does and the sectors it serves
• Why culture matters in global marketing and communications
• Jen’s career path from journalist to Group Managing Director
• What she has learned about herself through leadership
• The reality of stepping into a senior role after maternity leave
• Why self-awareness matters more as you progress
• The importance of support at home and at work
• How coaching has helped Jen reframe challenges and grow
• Why businesses need both data and clear messaging
• Advice for women considering senior leadership roles

• Why knowing yourself becomes more important the more senior you become
• The difference between activity and real business impact
• Jen’s reflections on the juggle of leadership and motherhood
• Her advice not to let fear make the decision for you
• “If you want to go far, go together”

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Jasmin Corbett, owner of Wealthy You Health Coach Business. Jasmin specialises in helping driven, ambitious women improve their gut health and overall wellbeing through a more holistic approach, looking at nutrition, movement, stress management, sleep and mindset. She shares how her coaching is designed to create real transformation, not just small improvements, and why she typically works with clients over a longer period to help them break habits, build new ones and feel genuinely well again.

Jasmin also shares the deeply personal story behind the business. Originally a chartered accountant, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 29 and told to expect pain management, medication and major lifestyle limitations in the future. Refusing to accept that prognosis without exploring what else was possible, she began researching what she could control and eventually got herself into remission, which completely changed the course of her life.

That journey led her to discover health coaching, retrain while still working in accountancy, and begin helping people in her spare time before the business became too busy to stay as a side hustle. She talks honestly about the loneliness of leaving a team environment, the steep learning curve of running a business and the support she found through joining a young entrepreneurs’ networking group.

This is an inspiring conversation about health, reinvention, ambition and building a business that fits the life you want.

1. How Jasmin helps women improve gut health and wellbeing through five key pillars
2. Why she takes a holistic approach rather than focusing on just one symptom
3. Her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis at 29 and why she refused to accept the prognosis as the full story
4. Getting herself into remission and how that changed her life
5. Retraining from chartered accountant to health coach
6. Starting the business as a side hustle before leaving employment
7. The loneliness of solo business ownership and the importance of finding your people
8. Skills Jasmin had to learn quickly as a founder, from content to sales to switching between roles
9. The importance of realistic expectations, long-term thinking and not measuring yourself only against the gap
10. Building a business that gives her location freedom and supports a more intentional life
11. Her advice to other women starting a business: be ambitious, but do not underestimate the time and energy it takes
12. Her long-term goal to make an impact on one million people through her work

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Lucy McNicoll, Managing Director of Exec Space Limited, a venue-finding agency that helps organisations book meetings, events, group accommodation and hospitality across the UK and beyond. Lucy shares how the business takes the time, hassle and risk out of event booking for clients who need expert support but do not organise events every day.

We talk about what makes a successful event, from understanding the brief and the budget to negotiating the right venue terms, flow, food, AV and delegate experience. Lucy explains why venue finding is about much more than choosing a room, and how experience can save clients money, time and stress.

Lucy also shares her own career journey, from training as a chef in London to building a long career in hospitality sales, operations and commercial leadership before stepping into the Managing Director role at Exec Space. She is honest about imposter syndrome, learning to understand the financial side of a smaller business, and the importance of collaboration, self-awareness and having the right people around you.

This is a great conversation about hospitality, leadership, growth and what it really takes to build a business that solves problems brilliantly for clients.

1. What Exec Space does and how venue-finding support works
2. The hidden pitfalls clients often miss when booking meetings and events
3. Why understanding the real objective of an event matters
4. Trends in hospitality, including sustainability and neurodiversity
5. Lucy’s path from chef to hospitality leader to Managing Director
6. What she has learned about responsibility, finance and growth in a smaller business
7. The value of collaboration, trust and support around a leader
8. Advice for women considering bigger roles or more senior leadership

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Rosie Fraser, founder of Rosie Fraser Real Estate, an estate agency, lettings and property management business based in Dundee. What started just over four years ago as a one-woman business launched during maternity leave has grown into the largest estate agency in the city, with a team of 13 and a record month of selling 76 properties.

Rosie shares how low expectations at the start quickly gave way to rapid word-of-mouth growth. She believes a huge part of that success came from bringing genuinely great service into an industry where, too often, people felt they had to accept poor communication and a lack of care. For Rosie, business is about people first: making clients feel supported, informed and looked after during one of the most emotional and stressful periods of their lives.

We talk honestly about what happens when a business grows faster than the founder can comfortably manage. Rosie admits that people management was the part she found hardest. As a perfectionist who cared deeply about the business, she struggled to balance high standards with being the kind of leader she wanted to be. Eventually, after a difficult period, she accepted that this was not her natural strength and hired a manager to take on that side of the business, allowing Rosie to focus on the areas where she adds most value.

A huge part of this conversation is Rosie’s experience of being diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin’s lymphomawhile running the business. She speaks powerfully about working through chemotherapy, stepping back out of necessity, and how that difficult period ultimately forced her to let go of control and build a business that could function without her doing everything. Although the business took a short-term hit, that experience changed the way she thinks about leadership, delegation and growth.

Rosie also reflects on criticism, mistakes and resilience. She cares deeply about service, so poor feedback hurts, but she has learned to separate unfair criticism from genuine lessons. When the business makes a mistake, she believes in owning it, apologising and putting it right. That honesty, she says, is one of the reasons clients stay loyal.

Beyond property, Rosie talks about entrepreneurship more broadly. She shares lessons from a previous children’s boutique that did not work out, why she no longer sees failure as something to be ashamed of, and how she now thinks much more strategically about what kinds of businesses are scalable, sustainable and rewarding. She also reveals her dream of eventually using her experience to work with girls in schools who are struggling academically, helping them see that school is not the only route to success and that some of the traits that get them into trouble in the classroom could make them exceptional entrepreneurs.

This is an emotional, honest and inspiring conversation about service, resilience, leadership and building a business against the odds. It is also a reminder that success does not have to start with a polished plan. Sometimes it begins with simply giving it a go.

In this episode, we cover:

1. How Rosie launched her estate agency during maternity leave with no huge expectations
2. Growing from one person to a team of 13 in just over four years
3. Becoming the largest estate agency in Dundee through service and word of mouth
4. Why great service matters so much in the property industry
5. The emotional reality of helping people through moves, separations and major life changes
6. The challenges of people management and recognising when to hire support
7. Why founders should focus on what they are good at and delegate the rest
8. Rosie’s diagnosis of stage three Hodgkin’s lymphoma and working through chemotherapy while running the business
9. How illness forced her to step back and build a business that could operate without her
10. Handling criticism, mistakes and public feedback as a service-led founder
11. Lessons learned from a previous children’s clothing boutique that did not scale
12. Why failure is not something to be ashamed of if it leads to better decisions later
13. Rosie’s wider entrepreneurial ambitions, including property development and opening a care home
14. Her passion for helping young girls see alternative routes to success beyond school
15. The importance of asking for help, asking “stupid” questions and learning from people ahead of you
16. Her advice to other women: do not be afraid to try, to fail or to start again

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Iona Crawford, founder of Iona Crawford Atelier, a Glasgow-based multidisciplinary design studio that began as a luxury womenswear brand and has evolved into a rich, design-led business spanning fashion, textiles, interiors and art. Nearly 19 years after launching straight out of art school, Iona is still driven by the same core passion: painting, storytelling and expressing ideas through beautiful design.

Iona shares how the business first grew from luxury fashion into printed garments and accessories, with collections sold in Japan, Europe and the US. Over time, as her artwork was printed onto heavier fabrics and collectors became interested in seeing her pieces interpreted in new forms, interiors became a natural next step. That shift opened up a whole new world of creative possibility, allowing her to translate her painted narratives into fabric, upholstery and interior spaces that influence how people feel, live and connect with their surroundings.

A big theme in this conversation is evolution — both personal and commercial. Iona talks about launching young, hungry and full of enthusiasm, expecting success to come quickly, and how 19 years of perspective have taught her that a more gradual progression was exactly what the business needed. She reflects honestly on early mistakes, taking bad advice, being too trusting at times, and how every setback became something to learn from rather than something to regret.

We also explore the power of partnership and support. Iona credits her business partner Tracy as a major force in the growth of the interiors side of the business and speaks warmly about the trust, shared decision-making and respect that underpin their relationship. She is clear that they would not be where they are now without complete trust in one another, honest discussion and the ability to use each other as a sounding board when making important decisions.

There is also a fascinating conversation about international expansion, especially into the US. Iona explains how the brand was approached by multi-line showrooms in different territories and how entering America required serious investment, patience and research. Although it was a major commitment, it has become a hugely worthwhile market and one they now serve alongside the UK, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the early stages of Asia.

Iona also talks about building a small but mighty team, creating opportunities for emerging designers and working closely with art and design schools through internships and placements. Supporting the next generation matters deeply to her, especially because she remembers the people who gave her opportunities, advice and confidence when she was just starting out.

Above all, this episode is about authenticity, patience and asking questions. Iona’s advice is refreshingly grounded: do your homework, ask lots of questions, be hungry to learn, do not be too desperate for immediate success, and stay true to yourself in a world that can feel noisy and demanding. It is a thoughtful and inspiring conversation for anyone building a creative business with ambition, integrity and a long-term view.

In this episode, we cover:

1. How Iona Crawford Atelier began as a luxury womenswear brand and evolved into a multidisciplinary design studio
2. Why painting remains the creative core of the business and the source of its storytelling
3. The move from fashion into interiors, upholstery and textile-led spaces
4. Selling collections internationally in Japan, Europe, America and beyond
5. Entering the US market and why expansion takes patience, investment and research
6. The role of her business partner Tracy in growing the interiors side of the brand
7. The importance of trust, shared decision-making and having a strong sounding board in business
8. Learning from early mistakes, bad advice and setbacks rather than being defined by them
9. Why Iona no longer chases immediate success and now values slower, more intentional growth
10. Building a small but mighty team and supporting emerging designers through internships and placements
11. What it means to be a “new wave Scottish design” brand rather than a traditional tartan label
12. Her advice to founders: do your homework, ask questions, be authentic and do not rush the journey

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Emma Kirk of User Vision, a UX and accessibility consultancy that has been helping organisations create better digital experiences for 26 years. User Vision uses research-led insight to help clients understand real user needs and design services that work for everyone, including people with disabilities. Over the years, the team has worked with more than 350 clients globally, from major brands to public sector organisations, always with a focus on bringing humanity to design and making digital services both inclusive and commercially effective.

Emma explains why inclusive design is still being missed by so many organisations. Too often, businesses race to launch digital products based on internal assumptions, tight budgets or legacy systems, without asking how real people will actually use them. She shares why that is such a costly mistake, and why accessibility is not a niche issue but a commercial, practical and human one. Whether it is a website, an app, a kiosk or another digital touchpoint, Emma argues that businesses are leaving both people and revenue behind when they do not design with real users in mind from the start.

We also dive into the practical side of user research. Emma’s advice is simple and powerful: test early, speak to people and do not build until you know what your audience actually needs. She talks about lightweight ways small businesses can do this, from interviews and focus groups to low-cost sketches and simple concept testing, rather than wasting time and money “racing to the finish” with the wrong solution.

Emma’s own business story is fascinating too. User Vision was founded by Chris Rorke, but Emma joined just a year later after seeing the gap between what digital teams thought people wanted and what users actually needed. A major government project became the sliding-doors moment that pushed them from “helping out” into growing a real business together. Over time, they built a specialist team around usability, accessibility and insight, growing through long-term relationships, repeat work and word of mouth rather than a large sales machine. Today the business remains intentionally small, under 15 people, with a strong reputation and clients that have stayed with them for many years.

We also talk honestly about leadership, time management, stress and the loneliness that can come with running a business for more than two decades. Emma reflects on learning to manage people, navigate HR, stay calm under pressure and ask for help when needed. She shares what changed when she became a mother, the reality of trying to build a business and raise a child at the same time, and why support from both inside and outside the business has been fundamental to her sanity and success.

This is a thoughtful, practical and deeply honest conversation about accessibility, digital design, growth, resilience and the confidence it takes to stand in front of the room and say, “I know this will help.”

In this episode, we cover:

1. What User Vision does as a UX and accessibility consultancy and why that matters more than ever
2. Why inclusive digital design is a commercial issue, not just a compliance exercise
3. The cost of assuming your customers think like you do
4. Why businesses should test early, ask users and avoid building before they understand real needs
5. How neurodiversity, situational disability and human variability affect digital experiences
6. Emma’s journey into User Vision and the big government project that became the turning point for growth
7. Building a specialist team through thought leadership, research and long-term client relationships
8. Why User Vision has stayed intentionally small, under 15 people, and what Emma values about that size
9. The realities of time management, stress and staying calm as a business owner
10. The challenge of combining entrepreneurship and motherhood, and the “maternity leave” reality when it is your own business
11. How Emma has handled imposter syndrome, male-dominated rooms and confidence under pressure
12. Why every founder needs support, boundaries and an external voice they trust
13. Emma’s advice to women in business: be brave, be confident and believe in yourself

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Eve McCurrich, Managing Director of Whiteburn Projects Limited, an award-winning SME house builder based in Edinburgh and building across the southeast of Scotland.

Eve shares what it really means to build homes, not just houses. From the earliest stage of looking at a piece of land, through planning, design, construction and handing over the keys, she and her team are thinking about the lives that will be lived there. She talks passionately about quality, customer experience, placemaking and why home is so much more than a financial investment.

We talk about Whiteburn’s work on both brownfield and greenfield developments, the importance of building communities rather than just filling land, and the role SME house builders play in tackling Scotland’s housing emergency. Eve also explains why she is such a vocal advocate for smaller builders, local supply chains and greater support for the sector.

Eve’s own journey is fascinating. She started out with a summer job on the Sizewell B nuclear power station project, went on to train as a chartered quantity surveyor, worked across major infrastructure and housebuilding projects around the UK, spent time in Dubai building a climbing wall and aerial assault course, and eventually found her way to Whiteburn. Her career has not followed a neat straight line, but it has been shaped by relationships, curiosity, confidence and a willingness to say yes to new opportunities.

We also dive into the realities of leadership in construction: managing a small core team with a wide network of subcontractors and professional partners, creating a culture of pride and accountability on site, and helping young people see the huge range of careers that exist within the built environment.

This is a thoughtful, practical and passionate conversation about construction, leadership, resilience and why building homes well still matters deeply.

In this episode, we cover:

1. What Whiteburn Projects does as an award-winning SME house builder
2. Why home is about emotion, memory, family and safety, not just bricks and mortar
3. The difference between building developments and creating places where people want to live
4. Brownfield vs greenfield sites and why brownfield can be the most sustainable option
5. Designing homes for different life stages, including downsizers and older buyers
6. The realities of building net zero homes under current Scottish regulations
7. The challenge of balancing sustainability, affordability and profitability in housebuilding
8. Eve’s career journey from temporary document control job to chartered quantity surveyor to Managing Director
9. Working on infrastructure, major housebuilding projects and even a climbing wall build in Dubai
10. Taking Whiteburn from developer-led projects to full designer-builder-seller model
11. Managing a small team with many moving parts, subcontractors and specialist partners
12. Creating a site culture focused on quality, cleanliness, pride and customer care
13. Encouraging more young people to consider careers in construction and the built environment
14. The huge variety of professional roles involved in delivering a single new home
15. The decline of SME house builders and the barriers facing smaller firms today
16. Planning delays, legislative uncertainty and why certainty matters for housing delivery
17. Why resilience, relationships and asking for help are essential leadership skills
18. Eve’s advice to women stepping into senior roles: go for it, ask the question and trust yourself

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Nathalie Agnew, Managing Director of Muckle Media, a founder-led communications group delivering corporate and consumer PR, social media and influencer engagement, with specialist agencies in drinks and hospitality now part of the wider business. Nathalie started Muckle Media from her living room after leaving London and moving back to Scotland, and has since grown it into a 30-person agency group working with major brands and ambitious clients.

Nathalie shares the story behind that journey, from struggling to find the kind of PR role she wanted in the Highlands, to gaining experience on global campaigns in London, to returning home and deciding to build something of her own. What began as freelance work soon became something bigger, driven by a desire for team, structure and a business that could grow beyond one person.

We talk about what helps a founder-led agency win against much bigger competitors. Nathalie believes clients are looking for something more personal, more invested and less faceless than the big global networks can sometimes offer. She explains how important it is that clients meet the people who will actually work on their account, not just the senior team who pitch, and why that founder-led energy can still be a real advantage as the business scales.

A big focus of this episode is growth by acquisition. Nathalie has acquired three businesses, starting with an early deal that was creatively structured and paid over time from client income rather than upfront capital. She talks candidly about what she learned from that first acquisition, how later deals were different, and the real challenges of bringing together different cultures, teams and systems while keeping momentum and morale high.

We also get into people, leadership and scaling. Nathalie talks about the shift from being the person clients buy into, to building a business that can operate well without her being at the centre of everything. She shares the phrase her team uses a lot – delegate and elevate – and explains why growth depends on everyone having clarity, ownership and room to step up. She also reflects on becoming “top heavy” after promoting and retaining strong people, and why continued growth matters if you want to keep creating opportunity for the team.

There’s a strong conversation around team culture and flexibility too. With colleagues split across Edinburgh, Forres and remote locations, Nathalie has worked hard to create a culture that keeps talented people in the business, especially working parents who might otherwise leave the PR industry. She shares how flexible hours, remote roles and clearer progression frameworks have helped her build a more sustainable environment for the team.

Nathalie also talks about learning more about herself as a leader, using profiling tools to understand her own natural style, and recognising the importance of building a team with a wider mix of strengths and working styles rather than simply hiring people who feel familiar. She discusses the traction model she keeps coming back to, and how tools like accountability charts, 90-day rocks and competency frameworks are helping her build a stronger operating system for the business.

This is a smart, honest conversation about scaling a service business, staying founder-led without becoming the bottleneck, growing by acquisition and building a business in a way that works around real life, ambition and family.

In this episode, we cover:

1. How Nathalie built Muckle Media from a living room startup into a growing communications group
2. Why founder-led agencies can win against much larger competitors
3. The difference between earned media, PR, thought leadership and reputation management
4. Starting out as a freelancer and quickly realising she wanted team, structure and scale
5. Winning bigger clients and growing from SMEs to major established brands
6. Growth by acquisition and how Nathalie has acquired three businesses over time
7. Creative deal structures, staged payments and what she learned from her first acquisition
8. The challenges of integrating teams, systems and cultures after an acquisition
9. Why scaling means making sure you are not the business
10. The concept of delegate and elevate and how it supports team growth
11. Building competency frameworks, accountability charts and 90-day rocks into the business
12. Retaining talent, avoiding a top-heavy structure and continuing to create progression opportunities
13. Flexible working, remote teams and building a PR agency culture that works for parents
14. Insights profiling, self-awareness and why balanced teams perform better than “same type” teams
15. Nathalie’s advice to women in business: start where you are, make it manageable and just give it a shot

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Gillian Ogilvie, Managing Director of the Edinburgh practice of Will Rudd Davidson, a consulting civil and structural engineering firm that designs buildings, roads, drainage and the infrastructure that underpins everyday life. Gillian leads a 40+ person team in a still very male-dominated industry – and is determined to change not just the numbers, but the culture.

Gillian talks about diversity, patriarchy and the “imposter” label. She shares how her thinking has evolved from “we need more women in construction” to “we need more diversity in all its forms” – gender, background, personality, identity – because rigid stereotypes do not serve men or women. She dislikes the way imposter syndrome is framed as an individual female failing, and instead points to workplaces and wider systems that still treat anyone who doesn’t fit the traditional mould as an “outsider”.

Culture is a huge focus for her. With extremely low staff turnover and a management team that has “grown up together”, Will Rudd Edinburgh is a close-knit business – but that creates its own challenges. Gillian describes how they realised they were great at praise and terrible at honest feedback, and how a staff survey led to a cultural change group, four “pillars” of focus and training in non-violent communication to help leaders get more comfortable with difficult conversations.

We walk through Gillian’s career journey: from contractor on large building sites in London, working long days and Saturdays on hospitals and office blocks; to a multinational consultancy designing big infrastructure projects like tunnels at Heathrow Terminal 5; to moving north to Edinburgh and joining a smaller practice where she could see more of the whole picture and connect with people. Over 20 years she progressed from project engineer to director – and, in 2020, stepped into the MD role just as the pandemic hit.

She shares candidly what it was like to take over a healthy business in the middle of COVID, make early redundancy decisions under furlough uncertainty, and spend her first two years with one clear internal brief: “Don’t break it.” It took time, stress and a lot of self-doubt before she felt she had solid ground under her feet and could say, “I know what I’m doing – and I’m going to lead my way.”

We also talk about male allies and privilege. Gillian credits former MDs, especially Stuart Davidson, with seeing potential in her she couldn’t see herself and pushing her forward in her career. She reflects on the “inner core of steel” that came from a loving, stable upbringing and knowing she always had a safety net – and how that made it easier for her to call out inappropriate behaviour than it might be for someone on the breadline with no backup.

From there, we go big-picture: patriarchal norms that tell men they must always be the provider, never cry and carry everything; the impact of COVID on flexible working and how many men in her practice now request flexibility for childcare, training and life; mental health in construction, including the shocking statistic on male suicide; and why she believes changing work patterns and expectations for men will have a ripple effect for women and families too.

Gillian leaves us with a powerful decision-making lens: “every choice has a cost”. Instead of seeing options as right or wrong, she weighs the costs she is willing to pay – whether that’s missing a networking event to protect time with her husband, or choosing to speak up in a meeting when she knows it will drain emotional energy. It’s a tool that helps her lead authentically, without getting trapped in “good girl” thinking.

This is a thoughtful, energising conversation about engineering, leadership, culture change and what it really takes to be “the imposter who belongs” in a traditional industry.

In this episode, we cover:

1. What Will Rudd Davidson does as a consulting civil and structural engineering firm
2. Gillian’s role as Managing Director of the Edinburgh practice and how the wider group is structured
3. Why she now talks about diversity in all its forms, not just “more women in construction”
4. Her critique of traditional “imposter syndrome” narratives and why the environment, not the woman, is often the issue
5. Culture in a low-turnover business: a close-knit management team, strong relationships and the downside of avoiding tough feedback
6. Running a full staff survey, identifying four cultural “pillars” and creating a culture change group across all levels and roles
7. Training in non-violent communication to help leaders give clear, constructive feedback instead of just “great job”
8. Gillian’s career journey:
9. Contractor on site in London, building hospitals and offices with long hours and weekend work
10. Moving into a large consultancy designing major infrastructure like Heathrow Terminal 5 tunnels
11. Asking to relocate north and eventually joining a smaller Edinburgh practice for more people connection
12. Taking over as MD in 2020, navigating furlough and having to let people go in the early stages of the pandemic
13. The emotional load of leadership: self-doubt, trying not to “break” a healthy business and eventually growing into confidence
14. The importance of male allies and mentors, and how former leaders spotted and nurtured her potential
15. How upbringing, support networks and privilege affect your ability to push back or walk away from bad behaviour
16. Patriarchal norms and why they harm men too – from provider expectations to the pressure never to show vulnerability
17. Flexible working post-COVID: a big shift in how men as well as women ask for and use flexibility
18. Mental health in construction and why Gillian believes the industry urgently needs more diversity and openness
19. Her decision-making mantra: every choice has a cost – and how that reframes work, family and leadership decisions

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Jill Henry, co-founder of Meander Apparel and co-owner of Tens Sunglasses – two Scottish lifestyle brands inspired by travel, adventure and the outdoors.

Meander makes stylish, versatile outdoor clothing designed to take you from city streets to mountain trails – performance gear you can wear on the bike, on the hills and straight into a café or meeting without feeling like you’re in full technical kit. Tens is a sunglasses brand created by photographers, famous for its warm, photo-filter style lenses that make the world look brighter and better.

Jill shares how Meander started with a bike trip from London to Paris with friends, taking the long, meandering route via Mont-Saint-Michel, vineyards and beautiful backroads. On that trip she and her husband (and co-founder) Steve realised there was a gap for performance clothing that felt as good in a bar or city as it did on the bike – no loud logos, just well-cut, functional pieces you actually want to wear.

She talks through the reality of getting an apparel brand off the ground: spending a year finding the right technical, sustainable fabrics and performance factories, moving from London back to Scotland to build the business, and dealing with the long lead times in product development when you just want to launch. Jill also shares how important startup communities and cohorts were to her in those lonely early days – surrounding herself with other founders at a similar stage made a huge difference.

We discuss Meander’s decision to launch via crowdfunding, using a reward-based Indiegogo campaign to validate demand, fund the first production run and build a direct-to-consumer community from day one. The campaign over-funded, which gave them confidence to move ahead, sell online and then test physical retail with a tiny pop-up in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. That led to a rolling lease on a prime George Street store (initially for three months, eventually two years) and later a permanent home back in Stockbridge.

Jill then explains how the opportunity to acquire Tens Sunglasses came about. Meander had stocked Tens in their stores for years and loved the brand’s story and product. When the original founders moved on and the investors were looking for someone to take the reins, Meander – as a team already experienced in design, manufacturing and direct-to-consumer sales – were approached. Jill talks about integrating a second brand: running two distinct customer communities under one roof, aligning around shared values of travel and everyday adventure, and seeing strong traction already with Tens’ global audience.

We also explore Jill’s reflections on team and hiring. She talks about bringing on graduates during the pandemic, watching them grow into key marketing and retail roles, and why she believes in hiring slowly, checking for alignment with brand values and then investing in people once they’re on board. For her, getting the team right makes everything easier – and nurturing those relationships is crucial to growth.

Finally, we dive into co-founding with your partner, the importance of boundaries between home and work, and Jill’s honest reflections on confidence, learning on the job and finding “white space” in a crowded market. She encourages would-be founders to do the research, look for what’s missing or could be done better – then stop over-thinking and launch, knowing you’ll learn fastest once you’re actually in motion.

This is a thoughtful, uplifting conversation about building brands from Scotland with global ambition, combining style and performance, and sharing the entrepreneurial journey with the people closest to you.

In this episode, we cover:

1. What Meander Apparel is: stylish, technical clothing designed to go from city to mountains
2. What Tens Sunglasses are known for: warm, photographer-designed filter lenses and a global online community
3. How a bike trip from London to Paris inspired the idea for Meander
4. Jill’s fashion background in London and why she wanted to build something that aligned with her values
5. The long, messy reality of sourcing sustainable performance fabrics and technical factories
6. How startup communities and business school cohorts helped with motivation and support
7. Launching via a reward-based crowdfunding campaign to validate demand and fund first production
8. Moving from online only to pop-ups, then to a George Street store and a permanent base in Stockbridge
9. Balancing physical retail with a focus on growing online sales for both Meander and Tens
10. How the Tens acquisition came about and why the brands fit together so well
11. Running two brands under one small team and the operational efficiencies that brings
12. Hiring graduates during the pandemic and growing them into core team members
13. Jill’s approach to recruitment: clear values, hire slowly, invest in the right people
14. The pros and cons of building a business with your partner – shared adventures and shared stress
15. Her advice on finding “white space” in a crowded market and why you learn most after you launch

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Linda Hunt, founder of Some Solutions, corporate “dropout” and one of the early pioneers of remote accounting services. Linda left a demanding, travel-heavy corporate role in 1998 and built a business that started with outsourced accounting and evolved into two core arms: a done-for-you accounting services division and an educational arm helping service-based business owners fix their relationship with money, pricing and capacity.

Linda works with bookkeepers, accountants and a wide range of service businesses – from online providers to bricks-and-mortar locations like medical spas. She sees the same pattern again and again: smart, capable people who know their craft, but are undervaluing themselves, undercharging and burning out. Much of her work now focuses on pricing, offers, service delivery and nervous-system-safe ways to talk about money.

Linda shares her concept of MAP – the Minimum Aligned Price: a simple formula that starts with your desired salary and business expenses, then divides by your true delivery capacity, including holidays, sick days and time to work on the business. She explains why charging below that number means you’re effectively paying your client to work for them – and why “charge your worth” rhetoric is unhelpful and confusing.

We dive into the emotional side of pricing: fear of what people will think, imposter syndrome (“who am I to charge that?”), people-pleasing, discounting before anyone asks and filling the silence after stating your price. Linda talks about money stories from childhood, the pressure many women feel to make everyone comfortable, and why pricing is “not about math – it’s about what your nervous system can safely hold.” She shares practical ways to build a clear process, simple scripts and body-based tools so you can talk about money with more neutrality and confidence.

Linda also opens up about her own burnout story. On the outside, she looked like a successful accountant with a growing team. On the inside, her bank balance was unpredictable, she was overextended and exhausted. A breaking-point conversation with a friend led to a mini sabbatical, scaling the business back to bare bones and working half-time for several months while she rebuilt her pricing, capacity and boundaries. The MAP formula and much of her current work came directly out of that period.

We cover how she has since rebuilt Some Solutions with a small team model (a senior controller plus support for each client), moved herself into more of a systems architect and educator role, and written her upcoming book “The Money Conversation”, along with her Pricing Essentials workshop series. Both are designed to help service providers speak about money clearly, set standards for the value their services deliver and get paid without apology.

This is a grounding, reassuring conversation for anyone who feels shaky when they say their prices, worries about being “too expensive”, or is scared to slow down even when their body is screaming for a break.

In this episode, we cover:

1. How Linda went from corporate road warrior to founding Some Solutions in 1998
2. Building one of the first remote accounting services businesses long before remote work was normal
3. Evolving from pure accounting into two arms: done-for-you accounting services and an educational/pricing arm
4. Why so many service-based business owners – especially women – undervalue and underprice themselves
5. How “charge your worth” can be damaging, and why it’s better to focus on the transformation and result you deliver
6. Linda’s MAP concept – Minimum Aligned Price – and how it helps you stop paying to work for your clients
7. Why pricing is not just math: nervous system regulation, safety, and the ability to be seen
8. Practical ways to talk about price: simple processes, broad-strokes explanations of how you work and clear language like “your investment is…”
9. The pull to over-explain, over-deliver and discount – and how to resist filling the silence after quoting a fee
10. Feminine and masculine energy in business: structure, process and container alongside intuition, alignment and discernment
11. Linda’s burnout story: hitting the wall, taking a week off, scaling back the business and rebuilding in a more sustainable way
12. Creating healthier capacity: building holidays, sick time and strategy time into your model instead of hustling 24/7
13. Why traditional “hustle for three years” advice often doesn’t work for women juggling caring responsibilities and complex lives
14. The importance of mentors and supporters who are further ahead in business, not just peers at the same stage
15. Linda’s advice to her 18-year-old self: trust your intuition, your body knows the truth, and combine logic with a gut check before making big decisions

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Emma Bohan, Managing Director of IMS Heat Pumps, a specialist renewable heating company installing air source, ground source and water source heat pumps, plus solar PV and batteries, from bases in Scotland and Sheffield. Emma and her team help homeowners and small commercial clients move away from gas boilers towards low-carbon, electricity-based systems that can be powered by renewables.

Emma explains, in plain English, how heat pumps work, who they’re right for and why combining a heat pump with solar panels and a battery – the “holy trinity” – can both cut carbon and reduce fuel bills. She shares examples from self-builds, major renovations and “grand designs” style projects, as well as small commercial jobs like tractor showrooms and warehouses.

We then dive into her unexpected career journey. Emma started out in hotel and catering management, working her way up to operations in a hotel group before realising that never seeing her family over Christmas and New Year wasn’t the life she wanted. After a stint in the civil service, she joined a business development consultancy, helping manufacturing companies and early renewables innovators tackle bottlenecks, explore new markets and commercialise technology. That’s where she first encountered heat pumps and the founder of a pioneering UK heat pump company.

Years later, that same founder brought several installers together with a big vision: to grow a national heat pump business and develop “heat as a service” – a mobile-phone-style model where customers would pay a monthly fee that covered both their heat and the equipment. Emma joined as operations manager, using her hospitality-honed process and people skills to run the installation business day to day. But the company over-invested in the new service model, funding ran out and the business went into administration.

At that point, Emma could have walked away. Instead, she stayed up crunching numbers and pitched a bold plan to the Scottish and Sheffield installation teams: buy the viable installation part back from the administrators and rebuild. In 2019 they relaunched together as the current IMS Heat Pumps. Since then, they’ve grown year on year in revenue, profit and headcount, focusing on quality installations, tight geographic areas and a strong service ethos: sell it right, design it right, install it right, support it well – and make life easier for everyone.

Emma also talks about the practical realities of running an installer business: limiting the operating radius so they can look after customers properly, the joys and pains of vans and engineer logistics, and why their internal mantra is “have an easy life” – not in the sense of coasting, but in doing things properly first time so Christmas shutdowns really can be a shutdown, with only the occasional emergency call-out.

We also explore what it’s like to be a woman leading in a male-dominated sector. Emma shares how she has found the renewables and heat pump world welcoming and supportive, with several male mentors championing her, and a growing number of women running the “back office” and, increasingly, leading businesses. She talks about how regulation and admin have created real opportunities for women who are strong on organisation, compliance and customer communication, and how women in the sector tend to gravitate towards and support each other.

Finally, Emma offers grounded advice for anyone thinking about starting or scaling a business in a technical sector: stay curious, learn the technology, track what’s happening in your industry and policy environment, build a strong “frenemies” network of other installers, and don’t be afraid to be corrected. For her, every day is a school day – and thick skin, hospitality-grade work ethic and a willingness to learn have been key ingredients in her success.

This is a fast-paced, story-packed conversation about renewables, resilience, restarting after failure and designing a business that works for customers and the people who run it.

In this episode, we cover:

1. What IMS Heat Pumps does and the technologies they install: air source, ground source, water source heat pumps plus solar PV and batteries
2. The benefits of the “holy trinity” – heat pump, solar and battery working together
3. Domestic vs small commercial projects, from self-builds and major renovations to tractor showrooms and warehouses
4. Emma’s early career in hotel and catering management and what hospitality taught her about process, logistics and customer service
5. Moving into business development consulting and working with early renewable energy and energy efficiency innovators
6. The “heat as a service” concept and why the original business failed despite a strong idea
7. How Emma, the Scottish and Sheffield teams bought the viable installation side out of administration and relaunched as IMS Heat Pumps in 2019
8. Growing each year in revenue, profit and staff by focusing on quality, service and realistic geography
9. Why they limit their operating radius to around two hours from base to protect customer service and engineer sanity
10. The internal motto “have an easy life” and what that looks like in practice for sales, design, installation and aftercare
11. The not-so-glamorous reality of vans, breakdowns and keeping engineers on the road
12. Emma’s experience as a woman leading in a male-dominated industry – mentors, allies and the growing community of women in renewables
13. Opportunities for women in the sector, especially on the regulated, administrative and leadership side
14. Her advice for future founders and leaders: be open to learning, track industry and policy with tools like alerts and newsletters, build a network and don’t be afraid to be corrected

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Susie Cresswell, founder of White Wall Marketing, a Glasgow-based marketing and comms agency specialising in the built environment – think shopping centres, retail parks, office blocks and high-end residential.

Susie shares how she went from a demanding, male-dominated corporate role in property to launching her own agency after realising there was “more to life” than never having time to post a birthday card to her niece. With no savings, a loan from her parents to cover the mortgage and a determination to do great work rather than chase titles, she started freelancing from her spare room and grew from there.

We talk about the power of a niche – how her specialist experience in property and the built environment led to a client base that has stayed loyal for 20 years – and why she spent years trying to “get away” from that niche before fully embracing it. She explains how White Wall started with associate collaborations, then shifted to building an in-house team, at one point reaching 22 people before right-sizing to a core team supported by long-term freelancers.

Susie also shares how her view of marketing channels has evolved: digital and “traditional” are all just tools in the same toolbox. What matters is the research, the planning and understanding where your audience actually is – whether that’s TikTok and Instagram for younger customers, or websites, search and even handwritten notes and direct mail for others.

A big part of the conversation focuses on team, culture and flexibility. White Wall now runs with a blend of employees and freelance specialists, some of whom have worked with Susie since day one and even sit in the office as part of the team. She talks about adapting to changed expectations around work, creating a culture where people are encouraged not to work late by default, and recognising that different working patterns suit different people and life stages.

We then dive into a huge milestone: moving White Wall Marketing into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) and appointing a new Managing Director. Susie explains why she chose employee ownership instead of a trade sale or management buy-out, why she transferred 100% of her shares, and how she now sees herself in a founder role supporting the new leadership team through an earn-out period.

Throughout, Susie is very honest about imposter syndrome, burnout and learning to be calmer. She talks about making pricing mistakes, managing redundancies after losing a major contract and during COVID, and how HR has gone from “I’ll just handle it” to bringing in external support to protect both the company and the team. She has learned what she is good at – and not good at – and is unapologetic about building a business that reflects that.

This is a relatable, down-to-earth conversation about building an agency over 20 years, embracing niche expertise, looking after your team and planning succession so the business can thrive without you.

1. What White Wall Marketing does, and why it focuses on the built environment
2. How Susie’s career in property and managing agents led naturally into that niche
3. Starting the business with no savings, a loan from her parents and a year of working from home
4. Her early “associate model” and why she eventually moved to building an in-house team
5. Growing to 22 people at the company’s height and then right-sizing to a smaller team with trusted freelancers
6. Why digital vs “traditional” is a false divide – it all starts with research, planning and understanding where your audience is
7. Examples of standout tactics, including handwritten notes and direct mail in a digital-heavy world
8. The realities of HR in a small agency: pricing, tough conversations, hiring, retention and the emotional weight of redundancies
9. Blending employees and freelancers, including long-term freelance team members who sit in the office
10. How expectations around work have changed since “we never had lunch and worked every hour”
11. Moving to an Employee Ownership Trust and appointing a new MD to lead the next phase
12. Why she believes she’s not necessarily the right person to lead the next digital chapter – and why that’s okay
13. What she’s learned about herself: being calmer, solution-focused and recognising that different perspectives make the work better
14. Her message to other founders: there is always a solution, you only get one life, and you don’t want to look back and regret not going for it

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Kerry Black, Director at Firstcall Trade Services, an all-trades contractor based in Edinburgh. Firstcall employs joiners, plumbers, electricians, decorators and more – around 46 operatives plus an office team – providing a one-stop shop for repairs and maintenance for housing associations, councils, insurers and letting agents.

Kerry shares how she joined Firstcall in 2015 as a part-time administrator while studying criminology at university, discovered she loved construction and working with trades, and steadily grew into operations manager and then director. She talks about what hooked her early on: transforming people’s homes, building relationships with clients and being part of a well-run, people-focused business.

We dive into Firstcall’s decision to have the majority of their workforce directly employed rather than relying heavily on subcontractors. Kerry explains why control, accountability and service quality matter so much to them, how strong client relationships have been built over years, and how a small pool of trusted subcontractors is used carefully without compromising standards.

Kerry is very open about being a woman in the trades. She describes walking onto building sites early on and feeling the unspoken “what’s that wee girl doing here?” reaction, and the satisfaction of then winning tenders and delivering contracts. She shares how the business has shifted from having no tradeswomen to now employing women on site as well as in the office, and why she’s proud Firstcall is becoming more female-represented – not just because she is there, but because they deliberately hire and develop talented women.

We also talk about career, motherhood and support. Kerry fell pregnant with her first child in her third year at university, at 21, while working part-time at Firstcall. She describes the fear and uncertainty of becoming a mum at that stage, juggling assignments and a newborn (including submitting coursework with her waters broken and taking her baby to lectures), and how she now looks back with pride at what she achieved.

She pays tribute to the support around her: a very hands-on, encouraging boss in Firstcall’s MD Paul; a husband with his own demanding career as a professional boxer; and a close, hardworking family, including a mum who raised three children alone and grandparents who were always in her corner. Kerry talks about how that foundation of belief and encouragement has shaped the way she now leads and supports her own team.

We finish by exploring how she thinks about growth, culture and recruitment. Firstcall wants to keep growing but not at the expense of quality or atmosphere. Kerry shares how they focus on staff retention, regular appraisals, honest conversations and a family feel in the office. She is realistic about recruitment – not everyone is a fit, you only really know once someone is in the business – and explains how past hiring mistakes have helped her develop red flags and non-negotiables.

Kerry’s message to other women is clear: don’t be scared – just do it. If you are being offered a senior role, it’s because people already see your capability. Take the opportunity, back yourself, and remember that you can always adjust later – but you will never know what you’re capable of if you don’t try.

1. What Firstcall Trade Services does as an all-trades contractor in Edinburgh
2. Why they employ most trades directly instead of relying heavily on subcontractors
3. The importance of control, accountability and long-term client relationships
4. Kerry’s journey from part-time admin while studying criminology to operations manager and director
5. Becoming pregnant in her third year at university, juggling studies, work and a newborn
6. Taking her baby to lectures, finishing her degree and seeing her son at her graduation
7. Growing confidence by learning on the job – including pricing, quantities and tendering
8. Walking onto male-dominated sites and proving her capability through results
9. How Firstcall has increased the number of women in both office and operational roles
10. The “family feel” at work: strong bonds, banter and people she sees as friends for life
11. The role of mentorship from her MD and the impact of a supportive male leader
12. Recruitment realities: people who come and go, red flags and what a good team fit looks like
13. Balancing business growth with service quality and reputation
14. Kerry’s advice to women considering senior roles or leadership: don’t be scared, say yes, and trust that you can grow into it

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Rosie Berridge, founder of Accountability Edinburgh – an accounting practice that doesn’t do personal tax returns or year-end accounts. Instead, Rosie and her team act as a virtual finance department for growing businesses: bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, management accounts and in-year support so owners actually understand their numbers and can sleep at night.

Rosie talks about the huge mismatch in expectations between many business owners and traditional accountants. Business owners often think they’re getting an ongoing partner who knows the numbers and can answer quick questions; accountants may assume they’re just being paid to keep you compliant once a year. Rosie uses a brilliant medical analogy: you wouldn’t ask a dermatologist to do your hip replacement – so why expect every accountant to do everything, from complex tax to day-to-day finance support?

We dig into the reality of messy accounts – years of unreconciled bank transactions, broken till integrations, double-posted invoices and paper-heavy systems – and how Accountability Edinburgh specialises in untangling the chaos, rebuilding clean data and putting practical processes in place. Often those “fix-it” projects turn into long-term partnerships, because once clients see what’s possible, they don’t want to go back.

Rosie also shares her own story: moving from a marketing career into working in her husband’s business, retraining with AAT, and then starting out as a part-time bookkeeper when she had three children under three and was paying more in childcare than she was earning. What began as a flexible way to bring in some income has grown, over 14 years, into a 17-strong team and a specialist practice known for fixing problems, preventing nasty surprises and acting as a genuine partner to clients.

We talk about growth, values and impact. During COVID, with five staff and a business that was “bobbing along”, Rosie worked with a business coach, wrote a five-year plan and was encouraged to be far more ambitious. The result: significant growth in revenue and profit, a clear niche, and a values framework – good humans, beyond ordinary, courageous common sense – that underpins everything they do. Accountability Edinburgh is now a B Corp applicant, with staff panels focused on environment, community and team, and plans to add carbon reporting as a service so they can help clients move towards net zero as well as tidy their books.

Throughout, Rosie is honest about the reality behind the scenes: starting a business while caring for three very young children and a mum going in and out of hospital, moments when she nearly gave it all up, and the difference it made once she had advisors and a coach in her corner. She talks about stubbornness, resilience, being calm in a crisis – and how accountants can and should be sleep aids, not stress triggers, helping owners feel safe, supported and proud of what they’re building.

This is a reassuring, practical conversation for anyone who feels embarrassed about “messy” accounts, wants more from their accountant than a once-a-year meeting, or needs a reminder that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.

1. What Accountability Edinburgh actually does – and why they do not handle year-end accounts or personal tax
2. The gap between what business owners think they’re buying from an accountant and what many firms actually provide
3. The medical analogy for accountancy specialisms – and why expecting one firm to do everything rarely works well
4. Real examples of messy accounts and how they get cleaned up
5. Years of unreconciled bank transactions due to broken integrations
6. Double-posted bank entries that overstated both income and costs
7. Highly manual, paper-heavy processes that hide issues and waste time
8. How Rosie’s team rebuilds clean data and designs simple, sustainable finance processes for the future
9. The business model: one-off “clean-up” projects leading into ongoing support such as bookkeeping checks, management accounts and virtual finance team services
10. Rosie’s founder journey: marketing background, working in her husband’s business, retraining with AAT and starting part-time with three children under three
11. Growing from a one-woman flexible job to a 17-strong specialist team over 14 years
12. What changed during COVID: working with a coach, writing a five-year growth plan and stepping into a more ambitious vision
13. Awards and recognition for the team and why that matters internally as well as externally
14. Values in action: good humans, beyond ordinary, courageous common sense
15. Panels for environment, community and staff, and the decision to apply for B Corp status
16. Plans for carbon reporting and why accountants are uniquely placed to help businesses measure and reduce emissions
17. Rosie’s personal traits as a founder: stubbornness, resilience, love of big projects, calm in crisis and solutions focus
18. Her message to women in business: believe in your own power, be proud that you started, and don’t be afraid to ask for support or walk away when something no longer works

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Deborah Creamer, Managing Director of Optimat, a strategy and innovation consultancy based in Glasgow.

Optimat helps public sector bodies, universities and technology-based SMEs make better decisions about markets, technology and investment. The team all come from technical backgrounds – materials engineering, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, sustainability and environmental science – and they combine that expertise with rigorous research, stakeholder engagement and analysis to answer clients’ most important “what next?” questions.

Deborah explains how Optimat’s work ranges from sector-wide strategies and market opportunity studies to supporting spinouts and start-ups with business plans and market entry strategies. She shares examples from across digital health, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and net zero – including a favourite project evaluating an innovative medical device for thrombectomy after stroke, where she could really geek out on materials.

We then trace Deborah’s own journey: from materials engineer in an electronics company, to consultant at Optimat, to senior consultant and director, and now managing director after 27 years with the business. She talks about being made redundant from a US-headquartered company that decided to service Europe from America, and how a professional connection through her chartered engineer application opened the door to Optimat.

A big part of the conversation centres on employee ownership. Deborah explains why the founders chose to move Optimat into employee ownership rather than a traditional management buy-out or trade sale, and how the Optimat Trust bought the company from the directors as part of a long-term succession plan. She shares what it looks like in practice: transparent finances, shared decision-making on big strategic issues, a deliberately flat structure and a culture where everyone is encouraged to bring ideas, spot opportunities and shape the future.

We also talk about retaining great people. Optimat has remarkably low turnover – several team members have been there 15–20+ years – and Deborah puts that down to three things: genuinely interesting, varied work; hiring carefully for culture fit; and creating a supportive environment where graduates work alongside senior people and learn fast. She is honest about the one time it didn’t work out, and how both sides agreed the type of work just wasn’t the right fit.

Deborah then looks ahead at the business challenges and opportunities she sees as MD: pressure on public sector budgets, the need to diversify the client base across the UK and Europe, the shift from nanotechnology to digital, data and net zero, and the importance of continually updating skills and services.

We finish with a thoughtful discussion on AI and women in leadership. Deborah shares how Optimat uses AI tools internally to summarise long reports and speed up analysis, while being very cautious about hallucinations and always keeping human judgment at the centre. She also talks about a new service they’re developing to help clients understand what AI means for their business, where the risks are and where the opportunities lie.

For women considering leadership or entrepreneurship, Deborah’s message is clear: don’t assume you can’t do it, ask for help when you need it, and remember that imposter feelings are common – but they don’t mean you’re not capable.

1. What Optimat does as a strategy and innovation consultancy for public sector, research organisations and technology SMEs
2. The team’s strong technical background and how they use research, market analysis and stakeholder engagement to build evidence for decisions
3. Deborah’s journey from materials engineer to consultant, director and ultimately managing director
4. How and why Optimat became employee owned, and what that means for succession and culture
5. The benefits of a flat structure, transparency and involving everyone in big decisions
6. Attracting and retaining talent: interesting work, careful recruitment and a genuinely supportive culture
7. The company’s evolution over time: from materials consultancy to wider economic development, sector strategies and technology roadmapping
8. Shifts in technology focus – from nanotechnology to digital, data and net zero – and how Optimat has adapted
9. Current business challenges: public sector budget constraints and the need to diversify into more UK-wide, European and private sector work
10. How Optimat uses AI internally for efficiency, and why client-facing outputs are still very much human-crafted
11. A new service helping clients understand the risks and opportunities of AI in their own organisations
12. Deborah’s advice for women considering leadership or starting a business:
13. Don’t assume it’s beyond you – you probably can do it
14. You can’t know or do everything, so don’t be afraid to ask for help
15. What she’s learned about herself: moving through imposter syndrome to the realisation that she is good at what she does and is as capable as anyone else
16. Her advice to her 18-year-old self: don’t get hung up on a rigid career plan – go with the flow and stay open to opportunities

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Laura Chapman, Managing Director of Chapmans Property Lettings and Management in Edinburgh. Laura runs a high-service, values-led letting and management agency looking after properties almost entirely within the Edinburgh bypass, navigating complex legislation, political change and the emotional realities of being a landlord and a tenant.

Laura shares how she became a landlord in her early twenties while recovering from ME/post-viral fatigue, buying her first flat as a student and renting it out because she couldn’t afford to live there. As a chartered banker, she saw the banking crisis from the inside and realised she wanted to build a different kind of business – one where customers came first, culture mattered and values like honesty and integrity weren’t optional extras. That combination of financial acumen, hands-on property experience and a stint fitting kitchens and bathrooms with her then husband led to the birth of Chapmans.

She talks about the reality of building a recurring-revenue, relationship-based business from six clients in year one to a trusted Edinburgh brand 15 years on, growing steadily while refusing to join a race to the bottom on fees. Laura explains why she chose lettings over estate agency, how legislation has transformed professionalism in the sector, and why she believes good safety-led regulation is essential – but politically driven changes can ultimately hurt tenants as well as landlords.

We also dive into the personal side: raising two children with no nearby family support, working through illness, intensive care, COVID and constant “on call” responsibility. Laura is honest about the juggle, the lack of real maternity leave, the postnatal doula and patchwork childcare, and the toll it takes when the system isn’t designed for working parents – especially mothers running businesses.

Finally, we explore team and leadership. Laura describes recruitment and retention as the hardest part of the journey: attracting values-aligned people, developing “homegrown talent”, dealing with poaching attempts, and creating a culture where there’s nowhere to hide but a lot of support. She shares how coaching and an accelerator programme helped her step into the Managing Director role, the loneliness that can come with leadership, and her reflections on being a woman in business – from higher expectations and empathy load to the importance of women actively supporting other women.

1. What Chapmans does: full-service letting and management for private landlords across Edinburgh
2. How Laura became a landlord while still at university and started self-managing her first rental
3. Leaving a chartered banking career after the financial crisis to build a business where customers, values and culture came first
4. Choosing a recurring-income lettings model over more transactional estate agency work
5. 15 years of constant change in Scottish housing legislation – the good (safety and professionalism) and the challenging (politically driven changes and rent freezes)
6. Building a recurring-revenue business from six clients in year one to steady 20% annual growth
7. What she’d do differently: introductory offers, systemising processes sooner and leveraging networking earlier
8. Why she has never worked for another letting agent and how that’s helped her build Chapmans’ own way of doing things
9. The pros and cons of hiring from within the industry versus developing “homegrown” team members
10. Balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood with no local family – intensive care, no real maternity leave, postnatal doula and childcare challenges
11. Why our systems still don’t properly support working parents and business owners
12. The hardest part of scaling: recruiting, developing and retaining a high-performing, values-led team in a competitive market
13. Staff being courted by competitors, expectations on younger employees to move frequently and how she keeps Chapmans an attractive place to stay
14. How coaching and an accelerator programme helped her find peers, language and support as a founder and MD
15. Laura’s reflections on being a woman in business: higher standards, empathy load, and the call for women to actively support other women in leadership

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, whose business journey started not in a boardroom, but in a student flat baking flapjacks. What began as a way to fund her accountancy studies became a deli, then a catering company that grew over 16 years to a £7 million turnover and Scotland’s largest independent caterer – serving everything from racecourses and football stadia to Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Liz MacAreavy

Liz shares how recession forced her to stop waiting for customers and start taking a basket of sandwiches into local offices, accidentally discovering networking, relationship-building and word-of-mouth growth. She talks candidly about scaling from five staff to 150, learning to build systems and structure, putting on 2,000-cover events to immovable deadlines, and why people, trust and culture were always at the heart of the business.

We then explore her exit journey – selling the company, navigating earn-out and culture clash with the acquirer, and what she’d do differently to maximise value and protect her team. Liz explains why you should always think about your exit well ahead of time, strengthen your balance sheet and get proper corporate advice rather than “making it up as you go”.

Today, as CEO of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Liz uses everything she learned as an entrepreneur, business developer at Deloitte and market leadership strategist at EY to champion businesses and the city. She breaks down what chambers actually do – from helping micro and SME members find clients, connections and confidence, to lobbying on infrastructure, skills, housing, transport and tax so the business environment supports sustainable growth.

We also dive into women in business and exports. Liz talks about the success of the Chamber’s Women in Business lunches, the Pathways programme that helped women scale (before funding was cut), and her mission to increase the number of women-led businesses exporting. She shares ideas for women-only trade missions, the real barriers female founders face (from risk and complexity to caring responsibilities) and the support she wants to see from government.

Throughout the conversation, Liz comes back to relationships, resilience and self-compassion – from building “a world-class team, not world-class individuals” to being more forgiving of yourself as a leader and remembering that you don’t have to get everything right first time.

1. How a student side-hustle baking flapjacks turned into a deli and then a multi-site catering business
2. Growing to £7 million turnover and 150 staff, serving major venues like Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and the Royal Yacht Britannia
3. Learning to stop “making it up” and start building systems, controls, financial discipline and a proper management structure
4. Using catering to learn planning, logistics and hard deadlines – when lunch is at 1pm, it’s at 1pm
5. Finding and developing people: spotting attitude and culture fit, nurturing talent and helping staff grow into new roles and careers
6. The power of challenging “that’s how it’s done” – moving from silver service to restaurant-quality plated food at scale
7. Deciding to sell: identifying contracts and value, choosing a buyer, protect­ing staff and what Liz would do differently about timing and preparation
8. Why cultural due diligence matters just as much as financial and legal due diligence in any acquisition
9. Moving into professional services: using her network to drive business development at Deloitte and later leading market leadership strategy at EY
10. Choosing impact over status – leaving big firms to become CEO of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and “be a big fish in a small pond”
11. What a chamber of commerce really does for micro, SME and corporate members – connection, profile, insight and policy voice
12. The importance of local supply chains and keeping wealth in the region
13. Women in business: the success of women-only events, the Pathways to scale programme and plans to support women exporters
14. Why more women don’t currently export and what needs to change to support them
15. Collaboration between chambers across Scotland and the UK, and why Edinburgh needs to “tell its story” and attract more strategic investment
16. Liz’s advice for women founders: keep going, get a mentor, be kind to yourself, and remember you don’t need to be perfect to build something amazing

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Angela Mathis, co-founder and Managing Director of Think Tank Maths, a specialist mathematical-modelling company working at the sharp end of energy transition and sustainable space.

Angela explains, in wonderfully human terms, what her team actually does: building advanced models that help maximise every gust of wind in places like Shetland for hydrogen production, and creating space situational awareness tools that track thousands of satellites zooming around Earth at eight kilometres per second so they don’t smash into each other.

We talk about why she cares so deeply about sovereign capability – developing critical technology here rather than simply importing it – and how that led her from a global corporate career commercialising the internet to founding Think Tank Maths in Edinburgh, with a subsidiary in Norway and strong Franco-German partnerships.

Angela shares stories from across her career: working on CFC-free insulation materials long before “sustainability” was a buzzword, commercialising early data-storage tech, helping roll out the commercial internet in Europe, and now sitting on the Norwegian Space Cluster board while serving as President of the Scottish Energy Forum. Through it all runs a consistent thread: curiosity, courage and a refusal to accept “that’s just how it’s done”.

We also dive into Angela’s personal journey as a woman in high-tech industries. She talks about being nicknamed “Little Miss Trouble”, why that’s become a compliment in hindsight, how she deals with people who don’t trust or value women in leadership, and why she believes this is the moment for all of us to “act with agency” and create the world we want rather than waiting for others to fix it.

This is a fascinating, big-picture conversation about science, space, energy, diplomacy and entrepreneurship – grounded in very practical lessons about resilience, relationships and purpose-led leadership.

1. What Think Tank Maths does in practice:
2. Advanced modelling for energy transition projects, including using intermittent wind optimally for hydrogen production
3. Space situational awareness algorithms for tracking satellites in low Earth orbit and supporting sustainable, safe use of space
4. Why accurate modelling matters for both climate goals and national security
5. Angela’s international career journey:
6. Studying French and German and deliberately building a cross-border career
7. Early work at ICI on polyurethane foams and the transition away from CFCs
8. Commercialising the zip drive and data-storage tech across Europe
9. Helping roll out commercial internet services with PSI Net
10. The origin story of Think Tank Maths: a “Dragons’ Den”-style university spin-out panel that led her to co-found the company
11. Sovereign capability and why she chose to stop building value solely for US corporations and instead develop technology in the UK and Europe
12. Working across borders today: Norwegian subsidiary, Norwegian Space Cluster, Franco-German collaborations and space/energy diplomacy
13. Being a woman in high-tech sectors over several decades – what has changed and what still hasn’t
14. The nickname “Little Miss Trouble”, thinking beyond convention and why that mindset is a superpower in innovation and entrepreneurship
15. Choosing your battles, knowing when to walk away from cultures that don’t trust you, and preserving your energy for places where you can have impact
16. The importance of languages, curiosity and staying close to science even if you’re not the mathematician yourself
17. Angela’s call to other women: surround yourself with energising peers, move on from roles that drain you and act with purpose and agency in 2026 and beyond

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Lynne Reeves, Managing Director of Motion Software, an Aberdeen-based company that provides inspection and compliance software to clients in oil and gas, renewables, construction, insurance and even live events and entertainment. If a piece of kit needs a safety certificate – from lifting gear on an offshore platform to rigging and lighting at a major event – there’s a good chance an inspector is using Motion’s software to do it. Lynne Reeves

Lynne shares her career journey from trainer at leisure software company Gladstone, to project manager, head of operations and ultimately MD of Motion Software after both businesses were acquired by Canadian group Jonas Software. She talks honestly about what Jonas got right in their acquisition approach – especially investing in peoplethrough leadership programmes, coaching and a strong “people are our greatest asset” culture – and how that opened doors she never imagined.

We dig into what it’s like to lead a hybrid, geographically spread team of 17 people across Aberdeen, Wales, Birmingham and offshore in Pakistan, and how she keeps connection and culture alive when not everyone is in the office. Lynne explains how she approaches hiring for culture fit, why she tests candidates in mixed in-person/online scenarios, and how important it is to trust your gut and wait for “the right bum on the right seat” instead of rushing to fill a vacancy.

Lynne also reflects on her own growth as a leader – from being very focused on her own department to taking the 10,000-foot view across sales, R&D, operations and finance. She shares how external coaching helped her unpick imposter syndrome, build confidence and become an advocate for neurodiversity in the workplace, including bringing in training for the whole Motion team.

Throughout the conversation, there are powerful messages about self-belief, taking opportunities even when they feel uncomfortable, and building support networks so leadership doesn’t feel so lonely at the top. Lynne’s mantra is simple: get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and don’t try to do it all alone.

1. What Motion Software does and how its inspection and compliance tools are used across heavy industry, insurance and entertainment
2. Lynne’s journey from software trainer to project manager, head of operations and finally Managing Director
3. How acquisition by Jonas Software created new opportunities through leadership programmes, mentoring and investment in people
4. What “people are our greatest asset” looks like in practice, not just as a slogan
5. Leading a hybrid team spread across Aberdeen, the rest of the UK and offshore, and why face-to-face time still matters
6. Hiring for culture fit: staged interviews, mixing in-person and online panels and trusting your gut
7. The importance of saying no to the wrong hire and waiting for the right person
8. How Lynne shifted from focusing on her own function to seeing the whole business system and trade-offs between departments
9. Spinning plates, deciding which “plates” can be allowed to drop and which really can’t
10. Working with an external coach to tackle imposter syndrome and shift perspective on her own capabilities
11. Why neurodiversity in the workplace matters to Lynne and how she’s raising awareness in Motion Software
12. Empowering people to make decisions, delegating without abdicating and backing her team even when head office pushes back
13. The value of peer support: learning from other MDs across the group, sharing experiences and avoiding “lonely at the top” leadership
14. Lynne’s advice to her younger self and to other women in business: take the opportunities, even when they scare you, and believe you can grow into them

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Gael Simpson, personal trainer, menopause movement coach and former senior education leader. After more than 20 years as a teacher, head teacher and local authority leader for health and wellbeing, Gael has completely redesigned her career around movement, resilience and workplace wellbeing.

Gael shares her journey from primary teaching to headship, then into a strategic quality improvement role where she led health and wellbeing, physical activity and mental health initiatives across Aberdeen schools – including introducing the Daily Mile and helping create the city’s Mental Health Collaborative. She talks honestly about a later move into the NHS as lead specialist for wellbeing and development, why the culture wasn’t right for her, and the big decision to resign without another job lined up.

Alongside her education career, Gael and her partner were quietly running Tunnel Training Fitness, offering free outdoor fitness sessions to build community and remove cost barriers. After formalising her qualifications as a personal trainer and gym instructor, she decided to “take the bull by the horns” and launch her own business focused on personal training, outdoor classes and corporate wellbeing – with the mantra “healthy body, healthy mind, healthy business.”

Gael now works with individuals and organisations on fitness, lifestyle, resilience and menopause. She runs one-to-one and small group training, outdoor classes and two corporate programmes: one focused on individual wellbeing, and “Vibe with Your Tribe”, which helps teams build collective resilience, shared values and healthier everyday habits at work.

We also dive into menopause at work and for business owners. Gael explains the difference between perimenopause and menopause, the impact of symptoms like brain fog, poor sleep and low motivation, and why strength training, nutrition, rest and digital detoxes can make such a difference. She shares how leaders can support menopausal staff and talks about her six-session menopause movement programme and her free Resilience Alphabet resource for adults and young people.

This is an uplifting, practical conversation about listening to your values, backing yourself through big career change and finding your strength – whether that’s getting out of bed on a tough day, leading a team or running a marathon.

1. Gael’s 20+ year career in education: teacher, head teacher and local authority quality improvement manager
2. Leading health and wellbeing in schools: Daily Mile, physical activity initiatives and the Aberdeen City Mental Health Collaborative
3. A move into the NHS as lead specialist for wellbeing and development – and why the culture didn’t fit
4. The decision to resign without another job and the mindset and support network that made it possible
5. Running Tunnel Training Fitness: free outdoor fitness sessions that build community and remove cost barriers
6. Gaining personal training and gym instructor qualifications and launching her own business
7. The reality of early self-employment: financial uncertainty, being your own boss and the importance of networking
8. Corporate wellbeing offers:
9. Individual wellbeing sessions – reflection, priorities, lifestyle and showing up well at work
10. Vibe with Your Tribe – resilience, guiding principles, values, behaviours and collective non-negotiables
11. Why leadership role-modelling matters more than wellbeing posters or policies
12. Remote and hybrid working: the pros and cons, and how to make in-person days genuinely valuable
13. Gael’s work as a menopause movement coach: perimenopause symptoms, brain fog, sleep, motivation and weight gain
14. Practical menopause support for women: strength training, planned nutrition, rest, digital detox and self-compassion
15. How leaders can better support menopausal staff through conversations, one-to-ones and structured programmes
16. The Resilience Alphabet as a tool to help adults and young people build and understand resilience
17. Gael’s core values: person-centred, authentic, high integrity – and her mantra, “Find your strength within.”

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Catriona Smith, founder of Arden Property Management, an Edinburgh-based residential letting and property management agency celebrating its 20th year in business.

Catriona shares how she “accidentally” became a letting agent after careers in primary teaching and a family business, starting out with her own small portfolio and learning the industry on the job. What began as a practical next step has grown into a long-standing, values-led agency that focuses on service, relationships and doing the right thing for both landlords and tenants.

We dive into growth by acquisition – the steep learning curve of her first purchase, how later acquisitions became smoother, and why relationships with sellers, lenders, staff, landlords and contractors are at the heart of making them work. She talks candidly about funding deals without bricks-and-mortar assets, using cash flow, loans, personal guarantees and property security, and why honesty and no-retention deals have helped her retain more business.

Catriona also shares her perspective on property as an investment. She explains why investors need to treat buy-to-let as a business rather than an emotional purchase, the importance of speaking to a letting agent before buying, and how to think clearly about yield versus capital growth, risk, compliance and tenant realities.

Throughout the conversation, a strong theme emerges: people and relationships matter more than profit alone. From supporting long-term contractors and landlords to managing staff departures and acquisitions with care, Catriona has built a business where trust, service and mutual respect come first.

We finish with reflections on confidence, learning to forgive yourself and others for mistakes, and advice for women in business to believe in themselves, recognise the value of their life skills and not assume their gender is a barrier to starting or scaling a company.

1. How Catriona moved from teaching and a family business into starting Arden Property Management
2. Building a residential lettings agency in Edinburgh and why it is really a people and service business, not just about property
3. The emotional side of lettings for both landlords and tenants, and the role of a good agent as the “middle person”
4. Catriona’s journey into growth by acquisition and what she learned from buying several other agencies
5. Why relationships with sellers and lenders are crucial and how openness and trust improve retention after a deal
6. Funding acquisitions in a service business with few tangible assets: cash flow, bank loans, personal guarantees and using property as security
7. Choosing continuity: bringing staff across, respecting existing relationships and avoiding the “big bang” merger approach that can lose landlords and teams
8. Why Arden focuses on service and long-term relationships rather than treating landlords purely as an income stream
9. Practical advice for business owners thinking about investing in property: talk to a letting agent, treat it as a business and avoid buying with your heart
10. Understanding yield versus capital growth, and why high-spec refurbishments do not always give a good return in rentals
11. The challenges and rewards of building and leading a team, and why Catriona relies on conversation and gut instinct in recruitment
12. Flexing roles around people’s strengths instead of forcing everyone into rigid job descriptions
13. What Catriona has learned about herself over 20 years in business: being more forgiving of mistakes, staying realistic and valuing relationships
14. Her advice to her 18-year-old self and to other women thinking about starting or growing a business: believe in yourself more, do not go looking for disadvantages, and recognise the leadership skills gained from life and family

In this powerful episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Becca Pearce, executive coach, former healthcare CEO and author of You Don’t Have To Achieve To Be Loved: Escape the Lies You’ve Been Sold to Design the Life You Want. Becca shares her remarkable journey from leading the implementation of Obamacare in Maryland, to a very public job loss, to a life-threatening brain tumour and major surgery that left her having to learn to walk again – and how all of that ultimately led her to completely redefine success and redesign her life. Becca Pearce

She talks about landing back in a senior hospital role to “prove” she could still do it, only to realise that titles, money and corporate achievement no longer mattered in the same way. What she really wanted was time – like one more morning to put her daughter on the school bus. That realisation led her to quit, retrain as an executive coach and focus her work on high-achieving women who have done everything they were “supposed to do” and are quietly wondering, “Is this it?”

Becca introduces the core belief that shaped her life – “I must achieve in order to be loved” – and explains how many women carry similar unconscious rules such as “I must have a title to be respected” or “I must earn a certain amount to be valued.” She shares her change framework, starting with “unfortunate awareness” (that nagging sense something isn’t right), moving through mourning old identities, and into the “one foot in, one foot out” phase where social and emotional ties make change feel scary and sticky.

We also talk about boundaries, identity and perfectionism as a business owner: giving yourself grace, not “should-ing” all over yourself, and setting up a business that honours your values and needs – like Becca’s own non-negotiables of daily dog walks, daylight, no weekends and clear finish times. She offers practical advice on hiring support early, investing in yourself, and remembering that if you don’t have an assistant, you are the assistant.

This is an honest, compassionate conversation for any woman who looks successful from the outside but feels restless, exhausted or disconnected on the inside – and is ready to start designing a life and business that truly fit who she is now.

1. Becca’s story: leading a major healthcare reform project, losing her job publicly and later discovering a golf-ball-sized brain tumour
2. Brain surgery, rehabilitation and coming back with partial deafness, vision and balance challenges – and what that taught her about what really matters
3. Returning to a big corporate role to prove she could still do it, then realising titles and money weren’t enough anymore
4. How she retrained as an executive coach and why she now focuses on successful women who feel like they’ve done everything “right” but are still unhappy
5. The core belief “I must achieve to be loved” and other common hidden rules women carry about worth, money and success
6. Her change model: unfortunate awareness, mourning old identities, one foot in/one foot out, and the reality that deep change takes years, not weeks
7. The power of identifying your true core values and needs today (not 10 or 20 years ago)
8. “Shoulding” on yourself and noticing phrases like “I should be happy” or “I should be further on than this”
9. Boundaries that protect your energy: non-negotiable daily habits, working hours and designing work around life
10. Perfectionism and analysis paralysis when you run your own business, and how to set time limits so decisions actually get made
11. Why hiring an assistant early is a strategic move, not a luxury – and how women often underinvest in themselves and their own support
12. The importance of self-compassion, giving yourself grace and accepting that your relationship with yourself changes when you become a business owner

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Saj Sharif, CEO and founder of Zen Consultants Limited, a multi-award-winning accountancy practice supporting around 700 clients with everything from self-assessment and VAT to payroll, CIS and management accounts.

Saj shares a powerful, very human business story. Once a stockbroker, she was signed off with ME/chronic fatigue and told she would never work in finance again. While recovering, she helped with her partner’s stonemasonry business, doing the accounts from home. After he passed away she closed the business – but the subcontractors kept coming back for their tax returns, and word of mouth quietly grew into a real firm.

While raising three children, fostering, and managing a growing client base, Saj went back to college and then university to qualify as an accountant, graduating in 2013. She took on her first part-time employee in 2014 and has been scaling ever since, now leading a team of 11 (soon to be 12). She talks honestly about the loneliness and responsibility of being a solo founder, and the reality of having to keep going when “life happens”.

We also explore what makes Zen Consultants truly “zen”: incense, plants, colour, hoodies instead of suits, plain-English communication and morning meditations in busy season. Saj shares how she has deliberately created a calm, compassionate culture where people can be themselves, talk about what is really going on in their lives and grow in confidence.

As a woman of colour in a male-dominated profession, Saj has heard “I thought you’d be a man” more times than she can count – but she no longer feels the need to prove anything to anyone. Instead she focuses on service, values and building a business that creates jobs, supports apprentices, works with schools on financial education and gives her children a powerful example of what’s possible.

This is a rich, honest conversation about resilience, culture, scaling a service business and staying grounded through it all.

1. What Zen Consultants actually does and how it grew from a handful of subcontractors to around 700 clients
2. Saj’s journey from stockbroker to ME diagnosis, interior design student and eventually qualified accountant and founder
3. Growing a business while raising three children, fostering and studying at college and university
4. Taking on the first employee, then building and leading a team of 11 and counting
5. The reality of being a solo CEO: responsibility, burnout scares, grief and carrying the weight of salaries, leases and client obligations
6. The perks of business ownership: flexibility, financial rewards, travel and the pride of creating jobs
7. The five foundations she relies on: structure, transparency, team bonding, reward and budgeting
8. How she builds a “zen” culture in an accountancy practice: meditation, music, colour, plants, hoodies and no jargon
9. Recruitment lessons: skills and personality tests, culture fit, banter, inclusivity and trusting your intuition
10. Being a woman and an ethnic minority in a male-dominated industry, and how her response to bias has changed over time
11. Handling mistakes and client loss as learning opportunities while always backing her team
12. Saj’s parallel passion project, Zen Community: coaching, hypnotherapy, sound healing and shamanic work to help people release trauma
13. The role of networking and support networks: chambers of commerce, HR and legal helplines, boards and advisory groups
14. Her advice to women considering starting or scaling a business: do not hesitate, find your people and remember it will work out

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Cecilia Righini, founder of Studio Lutalica, a queer, feminist, neurodivergent-led design agency and community interest company. Lutalica creates branding, websites and editorial design for feminist and LGBTQ+ organisations and founders, with a strong focus on lived experience, values and community impact.

Cecilia shares how years of discrimination and microaggressions in traditional workplaces pushed them to create a studio where queer and trans people, and other marginalised identities, can feel safe, respected and fully themselves. They talk about the power of niching deeply – working specifically with feminist and LGBTQ+ communities – and why that has been one of the best decisions for both impact and business growth.

We explore what “professionalism” really means when you strip away suits and dress codes and instead prioritise respect, reliability and good work. Cecilia explains how Lutalica matches projects to designers with relevant lived experience, why being comfortable can unlock creativity, and how honesty about neurodivergence in the team (including ADHD and autism) helps everyone work better.

Cecilia also breaks down the decision to move from a limited company to a community interest company (CIC) so Lutalica could operate as a nonprofit, reinvesting surplus into pro bono and low-cost design support for grassroots organisations. They explain the difference between a CIC and a charity, why political voice matters, and how the studio is building a more structured community impact programme.

We talk about feminism, systems that were never designed with people like us in mind, and the reality of founding while neurodivergent – from masking and burnout to finally getting an ADHD diagnosis. Cecilia shares the importance of trusting your gut, choosing support that aligns with your values and building an internal support system through your team, board and community.

This is a thoughtful, energising conversation about designing businesses around who you really are, centring marginalised communities and letting your values drive both your work and your growth.

1. What Studio Lutalica does and why it focuses on feminist and LGBTQ+ communities
2. How niching deeply actually helped the studio grow faster and become more visible
3. Creating a workplace where queer, trans and neurodivergent people can show up without masks or constant explanation
4. Redefining “professionalism” around respect, reliability and good work rather than suits and stereotypes
5. Matching clients and projects with designers who share relevant lived experience
6. Cecilia’s experience of discrimination in previous jobs and why they needed to create their own space
7. Discovering ADHD and autism as a founder and how that changed their understanding of work, burnout and boundaries
8. Why so many neurodivergent people start businesses and what structures can make that sustainable
9. Moving from a limited company to a CIC and what being a nonprofit actually means in practice
10. The difference between a CIC and a charity, and why retaining a political voice mattered
11. Using surplus to fund pro bono and low-cost design and building a structured community impact programme
12. Feminism, intersectionality and questioning systems that were never designed for women, queer people or neurodivergent people
13. Building a support network: team, freelancers, mentors, accelerators, business advisers and a values-aligned managing director
14. The advice Cecilia would give their 18-year-old self: you will find your place, keep trying and trust that it will come together

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined again by Margaret Brown, executive leadership coach, organisational development specialist and now author of Culture Pays – a book that has been 20 years in the making.

With over 35 years’ experience working across engineering, energy, IT, construction, professional services and global corporates, Margaret has seen first-hand how much leadership and culture impact performance, profit and people’s lives at work. She shares why she believes we’re facing a global leadership crisis, and how the way leaders show up – in businesses as well as in politics and institutions – shapes everything from wellbeing to the bottom line.

Margaret introduces her 5 Ls leadership model from Culture Pays – Listen, Learn, Lead, Leverage and Live (your values) – plus a powerful final L: Legacy. She explains how listening deeply to employees, learning from what they actually say, leading with a compelling vision, leveraging people’s strengths and truly living your stated values can transform culture from “nice words on a wall” into a genuine competitive advantage.

We dig into the hard numbers behind culture, including Gallup research on quiet quitting and why disengagement is costing the global economy trillions. Margaret shares what she hears in confidential focus groups – staff who feel unheard, undervalued and disconnected from their organisation’s values – and how leaders can start turning that around with better feedback, recognition and everyday conversations.

This is a practical, optimistic conversation for founders and leaders who suspect their culture could be stronger, want to keep great people, and are ready to become the kind of leaders others would happily take a pay cut to follow. Margaret Brown

1. Why Margaret finally wrote Culture Pays after 20 years of thinking about it
2. The business case for culture: engagement, retention, productivity and profit, not “fluffy stuff”
3. The global leadership crisis and why she focuses on leader, not party in any context
4. Gallup research on quiet quitting, the cost of disengagement and why over half of employees consider leaving
5. What Margaret hears when she goes “undercover boss” – running focus groups and one-to-ones with employees
6. The 5 Ls leadership model:
7. Listen – to the business, to your people, to what is and isn’t being said
8. Learn – from feedback, data and mistakes instead of defending or explaining them away
9. Lead – with a clear, exciting vision and everyday conversations that connect people to it
10. Leverage – people’s strengths, potential and diversity of thought so more than 9% of their talent is used
11. Live – your values in real decisions, not just in posters and elevator graphics
12. The final L: Legacy – how you want to be remembered as a leader and the impact you leave on people’s lives
13. Why most leaders are well-intentioned but unaware – and how awareness shifts everything
14. Promotion mistakes: elevating brilliant technical experts into people management with no support or training
15. The true cost of attrition and why people usually leave leaders, not jobs
16. Practical ways to make culture work “on Monday morning”: reflection questions, action tips and small everyday habits from the book

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Katrina Walker, co-founder of A Flat In Town, a central Edinburgh letting agency that has been “letting with heart” for 20 years. Starting as a temp in a small letting business, Katrina fell in love with the variety, the people and the privilege of being trusted with someone’s home – and eventually decided to build her own agency.

Katrina shares how A Flat In Town grew from a simple idea in her mid-twenties into a long-standing business that truly cares for both landlords and tenants. She talks about the joy of seeing tenants turn an empty flat into a home, and why she has always approached letting from the perspective of being both a landlord and a former tenant herself. “Letting with heart” is not just a tagline – it’s how she and her team work every day.

We dive into what it really looks like to build a business around the life you want. Katrina and her business partner factored potential children into their very first five-year plan, and she is honest about the juggle of nursery runs, school hours, sick days and being the last parent at pick-up while trying to run a professional service. She shares how business ownership has given her flexibility, and how that has shaped the way she now supports her own team as an employer and mum of two teenagers.

Katrina also talks about navigating regulation, doing things to best practice not bare minimum, and the reality of managing people – from brilliant team members to the occasional hire who reveals outdated views about women working. She explains why outsourcing HR and legal support was a turning point, and how a strong business partner, supportive husband and trusted friends have been crucial parts of her support network.

After years of relying on word-of-mouth, Katrina has recently stepped into more networking and visibility. She shares how getting out of the office has brought fresh ideas, confidence and a reminder that 20 years in business is an achievement to be proud of. Her message to other women is clear: let your business serve your life, listen to your gut, use your support network and give yourself permission to plan a future you’ll actually enjoy.

1. How Katrina fell into letting after university and why small-business experience was the best possible training
2. The story of A Flat In Town and what “letting with heart” means in practice for landlords and tenants
3. Why home and community matter so much to her, and the satisfaction of seeing tenants turn empty flats into real homes
4. Building a business in your mid-twenties and consciously planning around future family life
5. The honest reality of the juggle: nursery pick-ups, school hours, sick kids and late-night work
6. How being a business owner created flexibility – and how that now shapes the policies she offers her staff
7. The impact of an all-female team, hiring for attitude and fit, and learning to trust your instinct in recruitment
8. Dealing with sexism and unhelpful attitudes, and why bringing in external HR and legal support was so important
9. Working in a regulated sector and choosing best practice over bare minimum from day one
10. The value of five-year plans, setting clear targets and writing them on the wall for the whole team
11. Discovering networking later in the journey and finding it energising rather than intimidating
12. The importance of rest, listening to your body’s warning signs and letting your business support a life you actually want

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Gayle Thomson, Employer Engagement Advisor in the Careers and Employability Service at the University of Aberdeen. Gayle works at the heart of the university’s strategy to expand work-based learning, connecting employers with students through internships, part-time roles, volunteering, mentoring and short-term shadowing opportunities.

Gayle explains why real-world experience is so important for students’ employability and confidence – and why it’s a genuine win–win for businesses too. She breaks down the university’s part-time, term-time internship programme: 70 hours over seven weeks, fully funded for SMEs and charities, with all the recruitment admin handled by the university. We talk about the impact on small businesses, using Brenda’s own podcast intern as a live example.

We also dive into Gayle’s 25-year career journey in careers and employability – from community careers work and 22 years as a careers adviser at RGU, to a full pivot into employer engagement at the University of Aberdeen. She shares how she went from walking round Granite Expo without speaking to anyone, to becoming a confident networker who now happily works a room and sees value in every conversation.

Another big theme in this episode is volunteering. Gayle talks about her long-standing commitment to charities including Befriend a Child, Team Jak, Marie Curie, Maggie’s, Clan, Charlie House and the transformational experience of helping deliver the Tall Ships event in Aberdeen. She shares how volunteering supported her through personal change, why it’s so rewarding, and how business owners and busy professionals can still find realistic ways to get involved. Gayle Thomson

If you’re a business owner curious about hosting an intern, looking to deepen your talent pipeline, or wondering how to build volunteering into your life and business, this conversation is full of uplifting, practical insight.

1. What an Employer Engagement Advisor actually does and how Gayle works with employers to create opportunities for students
2. The university’s push for more work-based learning: internships, volunteering, part-time jobs, mentoring and shadowing
3. How the part-time, term-time internship scheme works: 70 hours, 10 hours a week, fully funded and admin-light for employers
4. Why these internships are especially valuable for SMEs, charities and creative or cultural organisations
5. The “win–win” stories: students gaining experience and confidence while employers get real projects delivered and often retain interns afterwards
6. Gayle’s 25-year careers journey across Step Ahead/Skills Development Scotland, the University of Aberdeen, RGU and back to Aberdeen in a new role
7. How she transformed her relationship with networking – from wanting to leave an event to confidently talking to every stand in the room
8. The power of LinkedIn and long-term relationships between universities, students and employers
9. Gayle’s volunteering story: from Sunday school and Brownies to Befriend a Child, cancer charities, Team Jak, Tall Ships and more
10. Why charities are so vital to communities and how events rely on volunteers to run
11. Practical encouragement for people who think they “don’t have time” to volunteer – and how to involve friends, family, partners and even dogs
12. Her message about pushing out of your comfort zone, trying new things and letting that shape your confidence and career

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Liz Carnie, director of PWS(formerly Power Washer Services), a second-generation family business started by her dad over 40 years ago. From one man and a van to a team of 28 covering all of Scotland, PWS now supplies and services power washers, compressors, generators, heaters and more – with a reputation built on backup service, not just sales.

Liz shares how she went from RAF police and policing in England to “helping dad out for a bit” in 1990, only to discover a whole new world of business, sales and spreadsheets she never imagined herself in. She talks about learning on the job before computers and mobiles, growing the engineer team, and why they chose to service competitors’ machines as a growth strategy.

We dive into the realities of running and scaling a family business. Liz works alongside her brother Jim, his three children and now her own son – and she is candid about disagreements, boundaries and succession planning. She explains how they recruit engineers for attitude and problem-solving skills, often from agricultural backgrounds, and why cross-training staff has become essential.

Liz also opens up about the most difficult chapter of her life: her partner Colin’s cancer diagnosis, his role in the business, working from home during COVID and eventually losing him. She shares how being forced to step back showed her that the business could run without her – and why building a company that doesn’t rely on one person is so important.

Along the way we talk confidence, difficult conversations, “eating the frog”, lists, and how networking through BNI helped her find her voice, ask for help and realise she wasn’t alone in business. Her message to women thinking about starting or scaling is simple and powerful: go for it, and don’t be afraid to ask for support.

1. The story of PWS: from her dad’s redundancy from farming to spotting a niche in power washers
2. How the business grew from two people to 28 staff, serving customers across Scotland
3. Adding compressors, generators, heaters and more by listening to existing customers’ needs
4. Choosing to repair competitors’ machines and why service has been their long-term differentiator
5. Liz’s journey from RAF police and policing to sales, office management and business leadership
6. Learning accounts, systems and HR on the job – and later investing in courses and self-development
7. Recruiting engineers for practical skills, attitude and hobbies, not just formal qualifications
8. The reality of managing people: treating everyone differently, playing to strengths and getting the best out of the team
9. Running a multi-generational family business with her brother, nieces, nephews and son
10. Handing over responsibility, succession planning and involving the next generation in management and numbers
11. Navigating her partner Colin’s cancer diagnosis and death, and how the team stepped up in her absence
12. Why cross-training roles and building a business that works without you is essential
13. The role of BNI and networking in building confidence, learning to ask for help and finding community in business
14. Liz’s advice to women thinking about starting or scaling a business

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, Dr Brtenda Hector is joined by Kim Woolner, an independent HR consultant, founder of Holding Space, certified menopause coach and part-time team member at the Russell Anderson Foundation in Aberdeen. With more than 25 years in HR across energy, construction and other male-dominated industries, Kim brings a powerful mix of professional expertise and lived experience to the conversation.

Kim talks about juggling multiple roles – HR consultancy, wellbeing work, a charitable foundation, board positions and professional bodies – while navigating menopause and protecting her own energy. She shares why her motto is “healthy body, healthy mind, healthy business,” and how women so often drop self-care first when life and work get busy.

We dig into confidence, intuition and authenticity at work: from masking in tough cultures to learning to trust your own voice, even when it shakes. Kim explains how women can stand in their own way, talk themselves out of opportunities and wait for permission, while men will apply for roles when they only meet a couple of the criteria. She offers practical ideas for owning your worth, building a trusted circle and using your network well.

With her HR hat on, Kim shares honest insight into menopause in the workplace – what it really costs businesses when experienced women leave, and how leaders and line managers can respond better. From flexible working and simple physical adjustments to normalising conversations about feelings and energy, she shows how small, thoughtful changes can transform retention, performance and culture.

We also explore Kim’s entrepreneurial journey with Holding Space: combining Bach flower remedies, essential oils, emotional wellbeing, meditation and mindfulness. She talks about learning not to over-give, setting boundaries, charging properly and recognising that “failure” is usually just information that shapes your next step.

1. Kim’s 25+ year career in HR and why she moved into independent consultancy
2. How she juggles HR work, Holding Space, the Russell Anderson Foundation, board roles and professional commitments
3. Why “healthy body, healthy mind, healthy business” underpins everything she does
4. The internal stories women tell themselves, and how they can block confidence and progress
5. Working in male-dominated industries and the pressure to wear a “mask” at work
6. Intuition as a business asset – learning to listen to your gut before hindsight kicks in
7. The gender difference in applying for jobs and opportunities, and what women can learn from it
8. Menopause in the workplace: symptoms, stigma, loss of confidence and the real cost to organisations
9. Practical ways businesses can support menopausal employees: awareness, flexible working, line manager training, small environmental changes and real policy in action
10. Emotional culture at work – why feelings drive behaviour, actions and ultimately business results
11. The role of coaching, leadership development and supporting “managers in the middle”
12. Kim’s Holding Space business: Bach flower remedies, essential oils, menopause groups, meditation and mindfulness
13. Boundaries, pricing and protecting your energy when you are the engine room of your business

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Paula Paterson, Founder and Solutions Director at FidesOak, a consultancy specialising in organisational cultural transformation in high-hazard industries. Paula explains how FidesOak helps leaders build high-performing teams that act like a “high-performing virus” inside an organisation – spreading better habits, psychological safety and performance from the inside out. Paula Paterson Edited

We talk about measuring culture rather than guessing, why diagnostics matter more than scattergun initiatives, and how FidesOak’s habits framework turns good intentions into repeatable, sustainable behaviour. Paula shares the idea of cultural architects vs cultural assassins, the science behind the “3.5% tipping point” for big shifts, and why cultural change usually takes three to five years – even when leaders are impatient for quick fixes. Paula Paterson Edited

Paula also opens up about her own “chequered” career journey: from office junior and beauty therapist, to mature social sciences student, to learning and development specialist, to co-founding a company three months before the first lockdown. She talks about driving the length of the country during COVID, going underground in mines and offshore to really understand clients’ worlds, and what she’s learned about courage, self-belief and “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” as a woman leading in male-dominated, high-hazard environments. Paula Paterson Edited

In this episode, we cover:

1. What FidesOak actually does and why cultural change starts with high-performing teams, not slogans
2. The “high-performing virus” metaphor – and how to spread positive habits through an organisation
3. Cultural architects vs cultural assassins, and how to empower the right 3.5% of your people
4. Why cultural change takes years, not months, and how to show progress with real measurement
5. FidesOak’s habits framework and the difference between a behaviour you try once and a habit that sticks
6. Paula’s journey from beauty therapy to social sciences, L&D and high-hazard industries
7. Founding a company on the eve of a global pandemic – and what resilience really looked like in practice
8. Her advice to women in leadership: lean into your eminence, mine your past successes, and be a “diva” in the best possible way

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Fiona Duguid, co-founder of Indigo Seven Ventures, Chief Information Officer at Aurora Energy Services, and the portfolio lead for Expo Design – a business creating sustainable exhibition and display solutions using engineered fibreboard made from recycled cardboard. Fiona describes how Indigo Seven Ventures invests with a focus on sustainability and “doing good in the world,” while she splits her time between fast-growth energy services and a greener alternative to traditional MDF exhibition builds. 

Fiona’s career path is anything but linear. She started in medicine, switched to mechanical engineering at the University of Cape Town, worked in the nuclear industry, then pivoted into software development and technical sales in London – eventually becoming a senior account manager at Halliburton, working across Latin America, Europe and Houston before making Aberdeen home. Through each change she’s been one of very few women in the room, learning how to negotiate pay, hold her own in male-dominated spaces and back herself. 

We dive deep into the gender pay gap, why women often wait to be “noticed” while men actively negotiate, and how language, body language and “knee-capping” ourselves with constant apologies holds us back. Fiona shares why coaching, mentors and honest feedback are so powerful for women – and why we have to stop assuming good work will automatically be rewarded. 

From an investor’s perspective, she explains what Indigo Seven Ventures looks for in opportunities: values-aligned people, authenticity, realistic plans and a clear understanding that things will take longer and cost more than you think. We also talk about the funding gap for women-led businesses, how to aim higher when you’re raising money, and why asking for help on LinkedIn or in your network is often the most underused strategy. 

Above all, this is a conversation about self-belief. Fiona is candid about underestimating herself early on, and the mindset shift that came when she realised she was “so much more able” than she’d ever given herself credit for. Her message to younger women – and to all of us – is clear: trust yourself, reach higher, and be the master of your own destiny. 

• What Indigo Seven Ventures does and how Fiona and her husband involve their (adult) children in learning about investment
• Fiona’s portfolio roles: CIO at Aurora Energy Services and leading Expo Design, using recycled cardboard honeycomb board for sustainable exhibitions and activations
• A non-linear career journey: medicine to mechanical engineering, nuclear industry, software development, technical sales and global account management
• Being “the only woman in the room” in engineering, tech and energy – and the reality of the gender pay gap
• Why women often stay too long in roles, expecting good work to be recognised, while men tend to move and negotiate for higher salaries
• The concept of “knee-capping” ourselves in emails and meetings with apologetic language – and how Fiona now edits her words to show she belongs at the table
• How coaching, mentors and good courses can transform women’s confidence around money, negotiating and career progression
• What early-stage businesses often underestimate: the sheer number of hats you wear and the importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses
• Advice for women seeking funding: look at how men approach it, aim higher and don’t be afraid to ask for help from people who know the investment world
• What Indigo Seven Ventures looks for in an opportunity: authentic people, shared ethos, realistic plans and contingency for “it’ll take longer and cost more”
• Why it matters who you take advice from – and Fiona’s rule to only listen deeply to people she genuinely respects
• The power of networking, building genuine relationships, and paying it forward by supporting other women coming through

Fiona Duguid is co-founder of Indigo Seven Ventures, a small investment company she runs with her husband, with a focus on sustainability and doing good in the world. She is also Chief Information Officer at Aurora Energy Services and portfolio lead for Expo Design, which creates exhibition stands and experiential activations using strong, printable engineered fibreboard made from recycled cardboard. 

Originally from South Africa, Fiona studied mechanical engineering after a brief start in medicine, worked in the nuclear industry, and later pivoted into software development and technical sales. She spent years at Halliburton in a technical software division, including five years based in Venezuela covering Latin America and later managing major operator accounts across Europe and Houston. Having spent her whole career in male-dominated sectors, she is passionate about helping women understand their value, negotiate fairly, and take ownership of their careers and businesses. 

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneurs Show, I’m joined by Iona Foubister, Director and Building Surveyor at FG Burnett, a long-established firm of chartered surveyors and commercial property consultants based in Aberdeen. Iona lifts the lid on what FG Burnett actually does – from those “For Sale” and “To Let” boards you see around town, to building surveys, schedules of condition, property management, valuations and rating advice. 

If you’ve never leased or bought commercial space before, this conversation is a must-listen. Iona explains why taking professional advice before you sign a lease or purchase agreement can save you tens of thousands of pounds later, and why a schedule of condition is so important for protecting your business at the end of a lease. She also talks honestly about being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated profession, her route from graduate to board director, and the realities of running a small professional services firm in a changing Aberdeen market. 

We also dig into wider industry challenges – from the impact of the oil crash and COVID on office space, to a looming shortage of building surveyors as university courses close and firms pivot to graduate apprenticeships. Through it all, Iona comes back to two big themes: enjoying your work and believing in yourself as your experience grows. 

• What FG Burnett actually does: building consultancy, sales and lettings, property management, valuation and rating – and how these departments work together for clients 
• The big differences between buying/leasing a home and taking on commercial property – and why there’s no “home report” safety net in the commercial world
• Why business owners should always take surveyor advice before leasing or buying, and how a schedule of condition can drastically limit your dilapidations bill at lease end 
• The hidden risk of letting the landlord’s team have professional advice while you try to negotiate on your own
• Iona’s career journey: RGU building surveying degree, APC, becoming chartered, then progressing through senior surveyor and associate to Director and board member in around 10 years 
• What changes (and what doesn’t) when you join the board – from 5-hour board meetings to being a voice for employees while still being “one of the team” at lunchtime
• The reality of working in a small firm competing with global consultancies – doing your own BD, networking, articles and social media alongside client work 
• How Aberdeen’s oil downturn and COVID have reshaped the office market: remote working, empty buildings, refurbishments and even demolitions
• The challenge of educating landlords that the old days of “do nothing and they’ll still take it” are over – investment and upgrades are now essential to attract tenants 
• A looming skills shortage: RGU closing its building surveying course, the shift to graduate apprenticeships, and what that means for salaries, recruitment and training time in small firms 
• Being a woman in building surveying: expectations vs reality, why she hasn’t personally experienced major barriers, and the importance of visibility for future female surveyors
• The mindset shift from needing constant reassurance to trusting your own professional judgement as your experience grows

Iona Foubister is a Director and Building Surveyor at FG Burnett, an Aberdeen-based firm of chartered surveyors and commercial property consultants that’s been serving the city for over 65 years. After studying Building Surveying at Robert Gordon University, Iona joined FG Burnett as a graduate, completed her APC to become chartered, and has steadily progressed to board level while remaining hands-on with clients. 

Working in the Building Consultancy team, she delivers building surveys, schedules of condition, dilapidations advice and refurbishment projects for landlords and tenants, while also playing a key role in business development and strategy. Passionate about enjoying your work and backing yourself as your experience grows, Iona is a brilliant example of a woman building a successful career – and now shaping an entire firm – in a traditionally male-dominated profession.