Scale Her Up: Female business stories and expert tips for business growth and success

Suz Bird, founder of Bird & Emmy, is a social media strategist working with SMEs across Scotland and the UK. She breaks down how to ditch “post for the algorithm” thinking, build a simple strategy that serves your business goals, and stay sane as a solo founder and single parent. We talk retainer vs project vs training models, why food-and-drink brands spark creative scrappiness, and how to use testimonials, co-mentors and tiny environmental shifts to quiet the inner critic. Suz shares her start-up story (redundancy, separation, first clients from community work), her love–hate with social media, practical networking habits, and plans to expand in-person workshops and DIY-friendly products so time-poor founders can still get results. 

In this episode:

• Mindset first: social media as part of marketing, not a separate chore—and why clarity on audience beats chasing virality. 
• Three ways she works: retained strategist, finite projects to build a plan and hand over, and one-to-one or workshop training. 
• Solo doesn’t mean alone: using feedback forms, DMs and local networks to combat isolation and spark referrals. 
• Get out of your own way: change the room, take a walk, then act—perfectionism is the enemy of momentum. 
• What’s next: more live workshops and practical resources for founders without retainer budgets. 

Guest: Sophy Green, Chief Executive of Instant Neighbour, a 40-year Aberdeen charity and social enterprise. Sophy lifts the lid on balancing compassion with commercial discipline: running a food bank and the Giving Tree appeal, generating 85–90% of income through shops, an online store, joinery and carpet services, and delivering council contracts. We talk board governance (“nose in, hands off”), rising demand through the cost-of-living crisis, funding realities, and the tough calls—closing sites, restructuring, and still protecting frontline services. Sophy shares how she future-proofed with e-commerce, avoids “shiny object” projects by staying close to mission, and why leaders must chHead & Heart Leadership: Sophy Green on Running a Modern Charity That Workseck whether decisions are driven by the head or the heart. She credits coaching and regular “helicopter view” pauses for better choices, and ends with practical ways people can help this Christmas—volunteering, donating quality furniture, selection boxes, or money. 

Victoria Vyalikova, founder of Brand House, a digital marketing agency serving B2B and professional services from Aberdeen to international markets. We talk about building a specialist-first team, the associate model, and why honesty and transparency are the ultimate growth levers. Victoria shares her journey from Big Four marketing to launching during downturns, navigating COVID, and treating AI as a productivity booster—not a replacement for human judgment. We dig into people-pleasing, perfectionism, pricing fairly when AI speeds work up, and the real “juggle vs. balance” of a founder’s life. 

In this episode:

• From EY/KPMG to founder: spotting the local digital gap and starting as a white-label freelancer before hiring in-house.
• The associate model: why deep specialists beat generalists, and how to find, test, and keep great partners.
• Values in action: “hard truth over comfortable lie,” expectation-setting, and saying no to conflicting goals.
• Resilience through shocks: oil crash, COVID, and today’s uncertainty—what held, what changed, what grew.
• AI at work: where it helps (analysis, content, reporting), where nuance matters, and why she reduced prices as efficiency rose.
• Personal growth: recovering people-pleaser, perfectionism, therapy/coaching, and redefining “balance” as intentional trade-offs.
• Early roots: tutoring at 13, problem-solving as an identity, and choosing a career built on earned autonomy.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro & Brand House focus (B2B/professional services)

• 05:00 Specialist team & associates

• 09:30 Reframing creativity

• 11:00 Honesty, expectations, and saying no

• 15:00 People-pleasing & perfectionism

• 19:00 Riding downturns

• 20:30 COVID: mental health, demand spike, onboarding associates

• 24:00 AI as opportunity, not threat

• 27:00 Pricing with integrity in the AI era

• 30:00 Entrepreneur or accident? Problem-solver origins

• 33:00 Women as do-ers: “What are we going to do now?”

If you’re a female founder aiming for £1m+ turnover by 2030, book a 30-minute coaching chat with Brenda for a practical action plan https://bit.ly/brencares

Welcome back to a very special episode of Scale Her Up! After 3 years of podcasts, we’ve officially hit the 100th episode. To celebrate that milestone today, we have Dr. Brenda Hector herself on the podcast. Not only is she the regular host of ScaleHerUp, she's a business development coach with ActionCoach, dedicated to helping business owners grow their business and achieve their dream. Today though, she’ll be in the hot seat, and we'll get a glimpse into her motivations and experiences. We will reflect on the last 100 episodes, the impact it has had for her, and talk about what her career journey has been like up to this point. On this episode we talk about the best advice she's ever been given, how the Rose Review ignited her passion for supporting female entrepreneurs, her Business Excellence Awards win, and how the last 100 episodes have shaped her. Be sure to follow our instagram @scaleherup and also her Linkedin at Brenda Hector for daily motivational updates and exciting future plans.

In this Scale HER Up episode, coach and trainer Claire Standen (Embodiment UK) explains how to move beyond Mental Health First Aid into embodied, trauma-informed leadership. We discuss reading behaviour as communication, nervous-system tools for teams, and the realities of leaping from employment to entrepreneurship as a single mum. Includes practical steps for culture change and performance.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Intro & who is Embodiment UK
• 01:00 Why MHFA is just the start
• 06:00 Behaviour = communication
• 09:00 Perspective-taking & Poke the Box 
• 13:00 Training vs transformation
• 15:00 “I am home” insight
• 28:00 The leap & veterans coaching
• 31:00 Founder mindset
• 33:00 Twin support
• 35:00 Advice to younger self.

Book a complimentary coaching call with Dr Brenda Hector https://bit.ly/brencares

Suann shares why she left employment to create a slower, higher-care model; how small, human touches (yes, a free massage chair!) become talking points; and why most people who take the leap are more likely to succeed than fail

The 5 Vs are Vibe, Velcro, Voyage, Visibility and Visceral. Listen to find out what each one represents.

Book a free introductory session with Dr Brenda Hector https://bit.ly/brencares

Welcome back to Scale Her Up! Today we have Kelly Ling from Ling and Co joining us. They are a business growth consultancy, all about helping entrepreneurs and business owners simplify their day to day operations and create a strategy that would best help their businesses grow and become more streamlined. She works on everything from brand marketing, to team development and even general operations. In essence she is a master of business problem solving. After training in animations at a university in Singapore, Kelly came to the UK to start her marketing and PR journey. From beginning her career journey in festival producing, to working at the biggest arts festival in the world (the Edinburgh Fringe) to landing a role as an executive at an agency; Kelly is very versed in the world of PR and marketing. In this episode, Kelly speaks about her decision to leave the corporate world and her desire to impact local businesses on a personal level. She goes on to speak about her experience and recovery from burnout, her struggle with perfectionism, the importance of failure, and gender roles in the house and careers.  This episode is truly one you won't want to miss, a massive thank you to Kelly for joining us as well. Be sure to follow our instagram @scaleherup and also my Linkedin at Brenda Hector for daily motivational updates and exciting future plans.

Welcome back to Scale Her Up! Today we have Lindsay Conchar from Scots Law Talks with us. They are an educational event and workshop service that sets out to make Scots Law more accessible and understandable. From interactive talks about legal issues, to forensic workshops analyzing blood spatter, their passion is sharing the knowledge to all ages, communities and groups across Scotland. After starting her law traineeship, Lindsay quickly realized soliciting and formal law was not the space she was meant to be in. She still had her passion for justice but didn't know where she'd fit. She took the leap and left, not knowing what her next step was, and fell into education, becoming a lecturer at Dundee and Angus College. There she found her love for teaching and sharing Scots law, which prompted her to start Scots Law Talk during her maternity leave. On today's episode, Lindsay opens up about her advice to those who aren't happy in their current careers and shares how she made the leap. What she's learned since becoming an entrepreneur, the glamorous and not so glamorous sides of business, what it's like working with her husband, and how to deal with the isolation that could come with starting a business. This episode was an absolute delight to film, and a big shoutout to Lindsay for joining us. If you're interested in any of the workshops or events you can find out more at https://www.scotslawtalks.com/.  Be sure to follow our instagram @scaleherup and also my Linkedin at Brenda Hector for daily motivational updates and exciting future plans.

Welcome back to Scale Her Up!

Today we have Gail Henderson on the podcast, she's the owner of DEV4 and Equi-Track, a bespoke software development company and cloud-based equipment management software meant to help businesses digitize their services and enhance their productivity and processes. After starting her professional life as a software engineer, Gail fulfilled her dream of owning her own business in 2017 when she joined DEV4. Although a trained engineer she took on a more business development focused role, learning to balance her own work alongside it. DEV4 works in a number of different industries- from Oil and Gas, to Energy, and more, and has grown to help and advise businesses all over Scotland. In today's episode, Gail discusses the challenges and growing pains she experienced running her own business, the importance of going outside your comfort zone, how she's learned to network, and finally her experience being a Woman in Stem and tech, and ways she thinks we could give other women and young girls the same opportunity. This episode was an absolute joy to film and a reminder to challenge yourself, even if it intimidates you. A big thank you to Gail for joining us! Be sure to follow our instagram @scaleherup and also my Linkedin at Brenda Hector for daily motivational updates and exciting future plans.

After a short break we’re back and better then ever with a very special episode. Back in May we had our very first Scale Her UP LIVE at the University of Aberdeen’s Sir Duncan Rice Library, our version of a live episode interviewing our panel of amazing businesswoman and celebrating what it’s means to be a woman in their field. We were joined by Ann Johnson of Blaze Manufacturing Solutions, Tracy Franz of TopPA and Maya Vertigans of Planner Bee VA. All long time members of the Scale Her Up families and female entrepreneurs who set out to change their field. It was a roaring success and helped introduce both students and other female business owners to each other and the wonderful community we have here. We were lucky enough to have an amazing filmographer, Karim Hurtig, who recorded the whole session, so that those who couldn’t join, can experience the joy of this experience. 

Be sure to keep an eye on our social medias, our instagram @Scaleherup and also my LinkedIn at Brenda Hector for future ScaleHerUp events, and daily updates.