Scale Her Up: Female business stories and expert tips for business growth and success
If you are a female business owner, self-employed freelancer, or girl boss who wants to build a successful business i.e. work less hours, make more money, and get better results from your staff, then this is the podcast for you. Hosted by Dr Brenda Hector MBA from ActionCOACH UK, this podcast provides relatable and accessible business advice and inspiration from successful businesswomen who have been there and done it before you. This podcast is where you can • hear female business stories • share business success • learn how to overcome business challenges • get advice for businesswomen aspiring to success • find out what needs...
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From Accidental Entrepreneur to City Champion – Food, Exit and Impact with Liz McAreavey
<p>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</p><p>Liz shares how recession forced her to st...
Sustainable Space, Sovereign Tech – Energy, Orbits and Agency with Angela Mathis of Think Tank Maths
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>We tal...
From Trainer to Tech MD – People, Culture and Self-Belief with Lynne Reeves of Motion Software
<p>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</p><p>Lynne shares her career journey from trainer at leisure software company Glad...
Find Your Strength Within – Wellbeing, Resilience and Menopause at Work with Gael Simpson
<p>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.</p><p>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...
Relationships, Lettings and Growth by Acquisition – 20 Years with Catriona Smith of Arden Property Management
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>We...
You Don’t Have To Achieve To Be Loved – Redefining Success with Becca Pearce
<p>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. Becc...
Zen and the Art of Accountancy – Life, Loss and Leadership with Saj Sharif of Zen Consultants
<p>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.</p><p>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 com...
Designing for the Margins – Queer, Feminist and Neurodivergent Business with Cecilia Righini of Studio Lutalica
<p>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.</p><p>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 – workin...
Culture Pays – The 5 Ls of People-First Leadership with Margaret Brown
<p>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.</p><p>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 i...
Letting With Heart – Home, Family and 20 Years in Business with Katrina Walker of A Flat In Town
<p>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.</p><p>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...
