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

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