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

Today we have such an inspiring one for all of our Women in Stem as we have Joyce Onuonga who is the owner of John White and Sons. It's an engineering firm that specialises in weighing machines, and calibration. They offer a wide variety of services that range over sectors like whiskey producers, farming and renewables. The company is over 300 years old, and Joyce herself has been working there for 30 years. She rose through the ranks starting with just a 6th month contract, to now owning the company. She prioritized continuous learning and innovation introducing programs that utilize top down and bottom up processing- like college partnerships for trainee programs and KTP employees. In today's episode she talks about the importance of differentiating from your competitors, valuing and incentivizing your staff, and her experience and advice on how to run a family business. Today's episode is truly inspiring for all women looking into starting their own business, and one you don't want to miss.

Although Scale Her Up is all about empowering the amazing female business owners around the world, we'd be remiss if we didn't feature the equally amazing men in the space who help women be confident and expand who they are. Today's guest does just that. Bob Gentle from Amplify Me, is not only a social media and marketing expert, his business’s goal is to help business owners shine, through expanding and monetizing their personal brand. He is also one of the reasons Brenda started Scale Her Up. His unwavering belief in her ability and his own experience with his podcast, Building your LeaderBrand, gave her the confidence to take the leap. In today's episode Bob specifically speaks about how female business owners can become comfortable in their own brand, and his own personal journey of defining his brand and forcing himself to find comfort in the uncomfortable. He also speaks about the importance of positive feedback loops, content strategy and the importance of being both vulnerable and visible. Although it is different then our normal program it’s one you definitely don't want to miss.

Today's episode is an extra special one. We have Tem Ezimokhai from Helping Teachers Thrive. Not only is she a full time secondary school teacher but she hosts and produces her own podcast called Helping Teachers Thrive. It's a biweekly podcast set out to help fill in the gaps university doesn’t cover. After noticing how much new teachers were struggling with both the overwhelming amount of new responsibility and their own mental health, she wanted to create a space where they can come and get advice on things like classroom management, neurodivergence, and even their own well being. In today's episode of Scale Her Up, Tem speaks about her own personal journey as a teacher, from the imposter syndrome she faced, to now commanding the classroom with confidence. She also speaks about the importance of a schedule, how to professionally say no, and her best tips for teacher well being. Whether you're in the education sector or not, this is truly an episode full of some much helpful advice and inspiring words- truly not an episode you want to miss.

On today's episode, we have Dr. Rachel Milne of Dr. Rachel Coaching. She's a life and business coach that specializes in reconnecting women with who they are and helping them rediscover what's important to them. Her journey began at medicine school in Dundee, where she became a qualified psychiatrist. Afterwards she traveled around the UK working in the clinical field. After taking time off to focus on herself, she found a passion for helping women through the same issues she's experienced- anxiety, self esteem issues etc. In her work she helps women become aware of patterns that affect their lives. She helps them combat their self esteem issues, anxiety surrounding networking and how this affects not only the women themselves but everyone in their lives. Today's episode is one that embodies Scale Her Up and is certainly not one you want to miss.

Happy IWD! Today we have Melody Ford, the founder of Meloosha Homecare. They're a domiciliary care provider that gives in home assistance and care to elderly people with the goal of allowing them to stay at home as long as possible and ensuring that family members stay family rather than carers. Since starting her business Melody has franchised it and in her 3rd year of business had a turnover of £3 million. Melody explains about her decision to go into care and the hard but exciting journey of starting her own business. In this episode, Melody talks about creating structures that can last in a franchise, being adaptable to challenges, the delicate balance of mentoring her franchisees and the importance of discovering how employees need to be managed. This episode is truly not one you want to miss. Also be sure to go and check our socials for our celebration of International Women’s Day.

Today we have Noreen Baqir founder of Circle Finance, on the podcast. They're a financial advisor business that helps clients release finance from existing equities and properties.They assess how clients can use what they currently have to finance their future. Noreen founded Circle Finance 7 years ago after being inspired by her father’s own entrepreneurial background and property management experience. In today episode she regales viewers with her quirkier experiences on the job, the passion she has for her work, the importance of confidence, and the comfort of having more women around her in the corporate world.

Today's episode we are joined by Carly McNamara of My Academic Family. It’s a social enterprise specializing in giving support to disadvantaged and first generation university students in order to get them to graduation. They do this by engaging them with their studies, showing them how to navigate the university environment and supporting their needs. Inspired by her own experience as a first generation university student and working within academia; she has a unique insight into what her targeted students need. She launched during COVID-19 in April 2020, with just £1000, and now supports nearly 100 students and holds workshops in several different colleges and Unis. In this episode, she speaks about her vision for the future, the challenges she faced with sales and revenue, the importance of having a network to rely on and learning how to implement a digital marketing and brand strategy. Today's episode is an absolute joy you don't want to miss.

Today's episode is a special one, as we have Katie Watson of Aberdeen Grampian Chamber of Commerce and the lead of BWC Futures group. Even though she's just recently started her corporate journey, Katie has been a standout star, already rising through the ranks of the chamber to become a relationship manager, and was a finalist in the Rising Star Award. Katie speaks about her career path so far and how she's progressed this far at such a young age. She also speaks about the BWC Futures group, a platform to support young professionals in the work field and give them tools to combat things like impostor syndrome and letting them know there's others going through the same thing. In this episode Katie speaks about her passion for creating safe spaces for young professionals, the importance of community, being vulnerable, and creating a network. When we learn of katies battle with depression in her teens, her story is even more inspiring and not one you'd want to miss.

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Tracy Franz of SmartPA, a business administration and performance specialist who has been running her own business for almost eight years. Tracy helps business owners streamline their operations, protect their time and spend more of their day doing work they actually enjoy.

Tracy shares the very personal, powerful story behind her business. She opens up about her experience with addiction, what life looked like at her lowest point and the hard work of getting clean and rebuilding from scratch. From there, she talks about the decision to create her own business rather than go back into traditional employment, and how that choice has changed her life, her confidence and her sense of purpose.

We dive into imposter syndrome – especially for women who didn’t take a straight-line path to where they are now – and the “who am I to…?” voice that can show up even when you’re great at what you do. Tracy talks about the danger signs of burnout, the pressure to say yes to everything as a service provider and the importance of putting boundaries, support and rest in place before your body forces you to stop.

Tracy also shares how she learned to look outside the box in business: saying yes to opportunities that felt a bit scary, tailoring services instead of trying to do everything for everyone, and using her own lived experience to connect with clients on a deeper level. Goal setting is a big part of that – not just big revenue targets, but personal goals about who she wants to be, how she wants to feel and the kind of role model she wants to be for the people around her.

Above all, this episode is about the power of women who lift other women up. Tracy talks about the women who believed in her when she didn’t yet believe in herself, the networks and friendships that have supported her through tough times and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who will remind you who you are when you forget.

This is an honest, hopeful conversation for anyone who’s had to restart, is battling imposter feelings or needs a reminder that your past does not disqualify you from building something brilliant.

Today we have Lora Caven, an internationally recognized and decorated business coach with a focus on supporting high performing women (in and out of C-suite positions) during perimenopause and menopause. She speaks about her journey to getting to this era in her career after feeling lost following some major changes in her life. Her real passion lies in coaching other women in business through the busiest time of their lives- Menopause. After seeing just how damaging the business world is to women going through that era in their life, she set out to challenge a system designed around men. In today's episode she speak about the importance of womanhood and relying on the community that women are innately a part of. She says “The more you show up for yourself the more other people show up for you”. She even speaks about her own experience regarding coaching and stresses how important it is to have that support. She also speaks about the importance of believing in yourself and knowing your own body. This episode will be a comfort to most people and is truly not one to miss.