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

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Pamela Malpas — CEO of One Office Technologies, a second-generation family IT business that's been running since 1992. Pamela didn't exactly plan to end up here. She studied fashion at Heriot-Watt in the Borders, went into visual merchandising in Aberdeen, and was working in marketing in Edinburgh when her dad suggested she come in and try it. She walked through the door intending to do marketing, and never did a day of it. She's a self-described "born fixer" — and once she got into the business, the operations side pulled her in and never let go. One Office Technologies is an IT partner for small and medium-sized businesses: the outsourced internal IT department that builds strategies, plans, budgets, and implements the technology that keeps businesses running. Pamela runs it alongside her brother, who came up through the business as a photocopier engineer and now handles account management and sales. Their parents — who founded the company — have now fully stepped away. And Pamela has discovered that helping a founding generation retire is its own kind of project management. We cover: What One Office Technologies actually does — and why getting the IT fundamentals right matters more than chasing the latest tech trendThe danger of reacting too quickly to new technology: cloud, AI, and building blocks that fallThe transition from reactive support to proactive, planned IT strategyWhat Pamela learned walking into the family business "to do marketing" and ending up running operationsHow she and her brother navigated taking over — and helped their parents learn how to retireThe responsibility of inheriting a business someone else built from scratchWomen, risk aversion, perfectionism, and why done really is better than perfectA walk in the sunshine that ended in a drenching — and everything it says about keeping your blinkers onThe coach, the pod of 10, and the wider support network that keeps her goingWhy opportunities don't always present themselves the way you'd expect — and how to stay open to them Quote of the episode: "Don't make decisions for fear. Because you're scared of something, don't avoid it — head into it. Get comfortable with the feeling." — Pamela Malpas

Sarah Medcraf moved to Moray at 18 because her boyfriend was in the RAF and she thought, "if it doesn't work, I'll just move back to Yorkshire." That was 2009. Today she's the CEO of Moray Chamber of Commerce, a director of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, and one of the most quietly compelling voices on what it actually takes to lead a business, a team, and a region through everything from a global pandemic to a wildfire season. She didn't take a straight path. She applied for a marketing role she wasn't qualified for, got turned down, and was offered a different job on the same phone call. She spent the first four or five years digging in and proving why she was there. It wasn't until she came back from maternity leave in 2018 that everything clicked — she finally knew what the region needed, what the chamber was supposed to be, and how to get there. In this conversation, Sarah talks about imposter syndrome in a way you won't have heard before — including the uncomfortable truth that it gets harder, not easier, as you get older and learn how much you don't know. She talks about the importance of knowing when to sit in the mud with someone, and when to get the whiteboard out. And she shares two ideas from this episode that I guarantee you'll be using by next week. The pizza boardroom. The I love me folder. You need both. Moving to a new region at 18 with a wing and a prayer — and what happened nextThe job rejection that led to the right job, on the same phone callWhy the chamber is nothing like the "stuffy old man's club" people assume it isImposter syndrome gets harder as you get older — here's why, and what to do about it"Do you want comfort or solutions?" — the one question that changes every difficult conversationWhat the first week of COVID looked like from inside the chamber: 78 phone calls, zero answersEmotional contagion: why Sarah's mood sets the tone for her whole team every morningThe pizza boardroom — how to run a boardroom without forming oneThe I love me folder — the simplest, most effective thing you'll do this weekWhy women focus on the one negative instead of the 99 positives — and how to stop Quote of the episode: "Do you want comfort, or do you want solutions? Tell me what you need, and we'll deliver that."— Sarah Medcraf Playlist song: This Girl Is On Fire — Alicia Keys

Lesley Whyte didn't set out to be an entrepreneur. She was studious, academic, and fully expected a career inside universities. What she didn't expect was that a job in Dumfries, a chance meeting with an IT-minded colleague named Eric, and a radical idea about how libraries could access information would lead her to co-found a business that now employs 60 people and underpins how libraries and publishers across the UK work every day. Bibliographic Data Services — BDS — provides metadata for books, music, film, and computer games to libraries, retailers, and e-tailers. It's a niche that didn't really exist when Lesley started out in 1987, and a business model she and Eric had to essentially invent. When they launched in late 1994, the internet was barely a word most people had heard — and yet it was the internet that made BDS possible. In this episode, Lesley talks honestly about the confidence she didn't have as a young woman, the slow accumulation of experience and self-belief that changed everything, and why she thinks women need to stop standing in each other's way. She also shares one of the more striking stories you'll hear on this show — her mother's reaction when Lesley announced she was starting a business. This is a conversation about the long game: building something over three decades, finding the right co-founder, adapting to technology, and choosing, every time, to believe that what you're doing has value — even when the people closest to you aren't so sure. How BDS got started in 1994 — and why the internet made it possible when nothing else would haveThe Princess Diana publishing story: how BDS proved its model on the day the world changedCo-founding with Eric — a partnership that has lasted 30 years and never had a dull momentWhy Lesley had no idea she was an entrepreneur until she was already oneThe mother who said "the last thing you need is to start a business" — and the church member who called it criminalWhy women are sometimes the least supportive of other women — and what Lesley thinks we should do about itAI at BDS: using it to cut the laborious work while protecting the human expertise that makes metadata valuable"Be brilliant" — the mantra John gave Lesley that she now uses with her whole team Quote of the episode: "If we don't allow women to advance, then what's the point in educating them?" — Lesley Whyte

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Lucy Harrier — managing director of Prepress Projects Limited, a copy editing, proofreading, and publishing services company based in Perth, Scotland. Prepress Projects has been going since the early 1990s, started by a husband and wife team. In 2022, it transitioned to employee ownership — a succession model that kept the business and the jobs in Perth. Fourteen of the 16 staff are women. Their clients include UNICEF, UN Women, the UN Population Fund, and the Publications Office of the European Union. Most of their work is with overseas clients — they've worked with over 53 UNICEF country offices across the world, from Vietnam to Afghanistan to Uzbekistan. Lucy came to Prepress from a completely different direction. She had a PhD in plant molecular biology and spent nearly a decade as a lecturer. Her mum spotted a small ad in the Courier and suggested she apply. She joined as a publishing assistant, enrolled in an MSc in publishing at the same time, and 20-plus years later is the MD. We cover: What employee ownership actually means for a business — and why it was the right succession option for PrepressBrexit: how it wiped out ~15 EU agency contracts overnight, and the creative solution (a Luxembourg partnership with Lexilux) that got them back inTrump-era UN funding cuts: what geopolitics does to a small company in Perth with a global client baseAI and copy editing: not a threat, but potentially a bigger opportunity — because AI-generated text still needs a human to check itThe Institute of Directors: why becoming a Chartered Director transformed how Lucy approaches her role, and why she recommends it to anyone stepping into a directorshipResilience: navigating Brexit, a lost major UK contract, and personal bereavement at the same timeThe Monday Motivation: what Lucy publishes to the team every weekA meeting in 2026 where a business contact spoke to her male colleague and ignored her entirely — and what happened next Quote of the episode: "Treat people how you want to be treated yourself." — Lucy Harrier Playlist song: Human — Rag'n'Bone Man ("It doesn't rev me up, but it gives me peace.")

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Rowan Morrison — co-MD and co-founder of We Are Rationale (or Rationale, day-to-day), a brand agency based in Edinburgh specialising in regulated markets — financial services, healthcare, health tech, med tech. They're also a B Corp, which means values-driven impact isn't an afterthought. It's built in. Rowan set up Rationale with her co-founder Sven Clouston six months before the pandemic. She is a Women's Enterprise Scotland ambassador and a member of the 93% Club — and this conversation goes into both. She dropped out of school. She was the first in her family to go to university. Entrepreneurship wasn't something she saw people like her do. She came up through marketing, landed in a senior role she didn't ask for, was dragged into it by a mentor who saw something she didn't, and eventually broke out to set up something of her own. She was also told by a previous CEO, in what was apparently intended as a pep talk, that she was probably his best performing MD — but that she didn't fit in. She was delighted. We cover: What Rationale does: brand and creative strategy in regulated markets, emotional connection even in B2B and insuranceSetting up six months before the pandemic and growing steadily through itHow a female mentor saw something in Rowan before she saw it in herself — and dragged her into leadership kicking and screamingDr. Martens at board meetings, challenging authority, and not being anyone else's version of a managing directorThe 93% Club: 93% of the UK went to state school, but a very small percentage own the wealth or run the businesses — and what that means in Edinburgh specificallyHiring for diversity of thought: why she wants people in her team who take things in directions she wouldn't haveAI: where it's useful, where it's not, and why using AI to do your creative work is "feeding the lion that will eat you"Being proud of yourself as a mum and a business owner — and her sons telling her they're proud of herThe David Bowie quote that sums up her philosophy Quote of the episode: "You don't ever have to be someone else's version of who you are." — Rowan Morrison

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Kerryann Martin — owner and managing director of K&M Cleaning Services Limited. Kerryann started in 2014. Her son was only months old. Her daughter was in nursery. The plan was simple: go out and clean some houses, work around the school hours, answer to nobody. "Oh, how that changed very quickly." Twelve years on, K&M Cleaning Services has 30 staff and a service list that now includes domestic cleaning, deep cleans, tenancy cleaning, commercial contracts, carpet and upholstery cleaning, laundry, and biohazard cleaning. None of that was the original plan. Most of it was opportunistic at first, then strategic, then (as she puts it) all at once because she couldn't help herself. We cover: How K&M grew from domestic cleaning to biohazard — which bits were planned and which weren'tWhat she wishes she'd known about running a business at the start — and why she's glad she didn't know itThe growing risk appetite that took over the last couple of years ("I never done it in small doses either")The goalpost problem: getting the commercial client, the office, the van, the staff — and then needing moreWhat she's learned about herself: patience, not taking it personally when staff leave, surprising herselfThe husband who picks her up when she wants to throw in the towelLearning from networks: Growth Nation, BNI, coaches Faye Mack and Strategy OneAdvice for her 18-year-old self: set goals, make a plan, go for it Quote of the episode: "As long as you're doing better than what you were doing yesterday, that's all that matters." — Kerryann Martin

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Lyndsay Yuill — director of Rent Locally, a letting and property management company with an estate agency wing, based in the Central Belt of Scotland. Lyndsay didn't plan to be in property. She worked in the care sector, running a project for young people in Edinburgh. When the funding was cut — as part of an equal pay anomaly that redirected council money — she landed in a letting agency while waiting for disclosure checks to clear. Within a year, she'd been headhunted to open a branch. Within the year after that, she set up on her own. That was 2008. She founded Live and Let. Her now-business partners founded Rent Locally the same year. In 2012, they merged — same size, same stage, different geographies — and Rent Locally has been growing by acquisition, by systemisation, and by a relentless focus on communication ever since. They have 29 employees, a large network of subcontractors, and have won the gold award for Scotland's best letting agency at the ESTAS — voted for by customers. We cover: What Rent Locally does, and why communication is their number one differentiatorBalancing two sets of customers — landlords and tenants — and why 99% of the time it isn't actually that hardThe 2008 financial crash as a fast learning curve: watching entrepreneurial landlords navigate the cycleWhy Lyndsay merged rather than competed — and the smart logic of putting two companies together to unlock growthGrowth by acquisition: why buying an existing book of properties is faster than growing one-to-oneMatching personality types to roles — why the wrong person in the wrong job is a management failure, not a people failureWork-life balance: what it actually looks like in practice, and why booking downtime is an active, intentional choiceThe networking events Lyndsay runs — and why collective collaboration makes you bulletproofBeing in cycle two of property after two decades: how you start seeing the same patterns and can help clients navigate before things go wrong Quote of the episode: "Collective collaboration makes you bulletproof." — Lyndsay Yuill

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Alison Gray — founder of Skillfluence, a company that helps entrepreneurs, business leaders, and academic researchers get their ideas out into the world and make a difference with them. Alison started Skillfluence after a project she led at work was so successful it got absorbed into a large organisation. She found herself getting worse at her job, not better. She took a sabbatical to San Francisco with her partner — six months, life savings, studied at Berkeley and Stanford, went to Toastmasters — and came back knowing she had to build something. She left her job on a Friday and started at Entrepreneurial Spark on the Monday. Skillfluence now has 12 core team members, 30-plus associates, a portfolio of mentors and speakers, and programmes running across the UK and further afield. Right now, there's a cohort of 30 female business leaders in the Highlands and Islands with a WhatsApp group that's, as Alison puts it, absolutely buzzing. We cover: What Skillfluence does — for founders, entrepreneurs, and researchers trying to commercialise cutting-edge workThe sabbatical that changed everything: six months in San Francisco, Berkeley, Stanford, and ToastmastersBuilding a team: why she started with associates, and what the first real hire taught her about what a business needsRecruitment: a process Alison has designed specifically to reveal who someone actually is before offering them the job (the surprise training delivery task at in-person interviews is particularly good)AI: where it helps, where it takes away, and why some things genuinely need to be your own wordsCOVID: all the programmes fell off a cliff, and how being one month ahead of their clients felt like flying by the seat of their pants — but made all the differenceThe challenge of productizing something that's deeply tailored"It's not the knowledge that's the challenge. It's actually doing something."Why continuous improvement is more useful than regret Quote of the episode: "It's not actually the knowledge and knowing how to do something that's the challenge for people. It's actually doing something." — Alison Gray Playlist song: Titanium — David Guetta ft. Sia

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Nyasha Mangaba — managing director of Potters Healthcare Limited and co-founder, with her husband, of the Mani Group: a portfolio of businesses operating across Scotland, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, and Mauritius. I invited Nyasha to talk about Potters Healthcare. What I got was rather more than that. In Scotland, Potters Healthcare and sister company Mighty Care provide social support and home care to nearly 500 elderly service users across the central belt — Stirling, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow and West Lothian. The Mani Group also operates in logistics, farming, beef supply, genetic cattle breeding, retail, and fast food across four African countries. All of it started because Nyasha's daughter was born with a hole in the heart, and she needed something flexible enough to work around her baby's medical care. We cover: What Potters Healthcare and Mighty Care do — and how they've grown from zero to 6,000 hours of care per weekNyasha's background as an occupational therapist and why that gave her a critical advantage with local authoritiesBeing hands-on in the business for seven years — and why that was a deliberate choiceInternational recruitment after COVID: going to Zimbabwe for staff, getting a sponsorship licence, and the unexpected responsibility of helping people integrate into Scottish life (tatties, messages, and driving on the left)Managing across HR, immigration law, care legislation, and five separate software systemsSix consecutive years of Grade 5 from the Care InspectorateThe highs: being recognised in Tesco by families she once cared for, Christmas cards still arriving from families she worked with years agoHer book: Shattered Yet Standing — ten stories of women who made it despite everythingHer PhD in women's entrepreneurship and public healthThe church teaching that planted the entrepreneurial seed: always have something else coming in Quote of the episode: "Don't look at seven-figure businesses and think you can't build up to that. Start small and scale yourself up. That's what a good entrepreneur should do." — Nyasha Mangaba If you want to hear what real scale looks like — built from a care visit at a time, with empathy at the centre — this is the episode.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Ros Marshall — managing director and co-founder of Molke Limited, an ethical underwear brand manufactured in Scone, rural Perthshire, now shipping to 72 countries worldwide. You might not have heard of Molke. You should have. They make comfortable, supportive, non-wired bras in a size range that runs from a 26 band to a 54 band, and up to a P cup. They've been going since 2016. They have a Facebook community of 12 to 13,000 members. And everything is made in Scotland. And it all started because Kirsty — Ros's co-director and the original founder — designed a bra for herself, put a picture on Facebook, and within days was completely overwhelmed by people who wanted one. We cover: What Molke is, who it's for, and why size inclusivity is at the heart of everythingThe origin story: cloth nappies, a council losing its funding, and a friendship that became a businessDirect to customer: why Molke has kept 99.9% of its business that way — and what that means for customer serviceWhat Brexit has actually meant for a small Scottish manufacturer exporting to 72 countriesCOVID: how Molke was one of the businesses that found itself exactly where the moment neededWhat Ros has learned about herself over 10 years of business: adaptability, unflappability, and "there is always a road"Stepping back from her ex-husband's priorities in her 30s, and what 2016 meant for her sense of selfHer mum: one of the first women to qualify as a stockbroker, working in a male-dominated industry in the 1980sBeing a real living wage employer, endometriosis-friendly, menopause-aware, and a Neurodiversity in Business founding member"You spend most of your life working. It shouldn't be a place you hate." Quote of the episode: "There is always a road. It's just taking the time." — Ros Marshall Whether you make something physical, ship something across the world, or just want to hear from someone who has built something genuinely special in Scotland — this is a great one.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Cecilia Grigor, director of Planitt Scotland Limited — a marketing partner (she doesn't like the word agency) based in Inverness, now in its 13th year, with 10 staff working fully remotely from across the UK. Cecilia started the business by herself, in a single room at home, because she needed to be at the school gates at 4 o'clock. What started as a single mum doing "whatever needed done" for clients who didn't know what to do with their marketing has grown into a team spanning Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. She's also just turned 40. And she's starting to think about what the next 13 years look like. We cover: What Planit Scotland actually does and why Cecilia refuses to call it an agencyMarketing then vs now: jack of all trades, specialism, and now the AI eraSetting guardrails for AI in a marketing business — and why she tells clients everythingBuilding a remote team culture: Monday goal-setting calls, buddy calls, Friday wins, and the team member who's been to five Taylor Swift concertsWhy COVID reduced her staff from five to one — and how she rebuilt, fully remoteThe Business Gateway graduate who changed everythingTaking staff turnover personally — and why she stoppedCoaching and accountability: the Entrepreneurial Spark programme, one-to-one coaching, and why accountability is the only bit that actually worksTurning 40, stepping back, and why good leaders build teams that go further than they did"Are you gonna sink or are you gonna swim? I'm not sinking. I've worked too hard." Quote of the episode: "Life's complicated enough. Let's just not make it harder." — Cecilia Grigor

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Dominique Dawson — director of Finnies the Jeweller in Aberdeen, and, as I realised partway through this conversation, the first third-generation female business owner I've ever interviewed in 170-plus episodes. Dominique's grandparents founded Finnies. Her mum and uncle ran it. Now Dominique and her brother are the third generation. And next year, the business turns 70. Her baby bouncer was installed in her grandfather's office. She went on to get her graduate gemology qualification in London, spent four years as assistant manager at Chanel Fine Jewelry in Harrods, sold a £1.5 million set of jewelry to a customer who paid by card without blinking, and came home to modernise a business she'd grown up in. We cover: What Finnies the Jeweller is and what makes it specialWhat three generations of female leadership looks like from the insideWhat Dominique took from four years at Harrods — and one crucial thing she left behindWhy she has never introduced commission or targets for any member of her team — and why she never willComing home to modernise: the half-day Wednesday closure, the website, the online transactions, and the staff rota she rebuilt for 40 peopleThe imposter syndrome of being the youngest person in the room with the most ideasWhat's next: the 70th anniversary, the renovation, new brands — and why she'll never open a second locationAberdeen city centre: what it needs, what Finnies is doing for it, and why she's more optimistic than the AberdoniansWhy sleep is non-negotiable and gardening was a revelation"Sometimes they say the third generation destroys. I hope not." Quote of the episode: "The only reason we will continue to succeed is you've got to look after people." — Dominique Dawson If you run a family business, if you're trying to modernise something that's been done the same way for a long time, or if you just love a good Aberdeen story — this one's for you.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Emma Hutton — a social justice leader with over 20 years of experience, and until March of this year, the Chief Executive of JustRight Scotland. Emma left that role after burning out. She's sharing her story on this podcast for the same reason she wrote a long, honest article about it on LinkedIn: because she thinks she might have recognized the signs earlier if she'd seen someone else describe it first. This is not a business episode in the usual sense. But if you lead anything — a business, a team, a department, yourself — this conversation has something in it for you. We cover: Emma's career in social justice: what it looks like when there's no corporate graduate pathway to followThe structural challenges that made the CEO role uniquely hard: funding pressures, a polarized external environment, the isolation of being the one the buck stops withWhy burnout doesn't arrive suddenly — the cyclical buildup, the warning signs ignored, and the four or five times she recovered and thought she could keep doing thatThe blood pressure test that changed everythingWhat burnout actually feels like from the inside: the flat Sunday mornings, the frog-marched dog walk, the brain that stopped working beyond breakfastHer relapse prevention plan: four categories of warning signs, and what she's watching forWhat she'd say to someone who recognizes themselves in her descriptionWhat she'd say to someone who can see the signs in somebody elseThe nervous system: what she's learned about the neuroscience of stress and why it's changed how she thinks about everythingWhat's next — including the first draft of the novel she finished the morning of this recording Quote of the episode: "Burnout happens to people who are very resilient — until they're not resilient anymore." — Emma Hutton If you're listening to this and thinking "that sounds like me," this episode is for you. If you're listening and thinking "that sounds like someone I know," this episode is for them.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Debbie Mitchell, director of Atholl Scott Financial Services — an independent financial planning firm in Aberdeen with a 60-year history behind it. In September 1999, Debbie went into work as normal. By the time she went home, she was the director. Her boss and his wife had left without warning that Tuesday morning, and the CA firm partners called her to say she was now running things. There were lots of tears. A significant amount of wine. Her sister drove to the office after work every night for admin. Her husband was in charge of pizzas and filing. And Debbie called every single client personally. Twenty-five years later, she's sold the business, she's president-elect of the Chartered Insurance Institute, and she still gets imposter syndrome — though she's old enough now not to let it stop her. We cover: - What Atholl Scott Financial Services does and how it was built - The September Tuesday morning that changed everything - Why client loyalty belongs to the brand, not the person — and what that's worth - Selling the business: why she took the lowest offer on the table - The three Cs that mattered more than money: clients, colleagues, compliance - Advice for anyone thinking about exit planning — start with what it looks like, not what it's worth - What she's doing now: CII president 2027, performing arts charity chair, travel, and a very full life - Why only 18% of financial planners are female — and why she thinks that's about to change - Running the business with a papoose strapped to her front. Also caring for both parents. Also being the only woman in the room. - The self-belief message she most wants to leave behind **Quote of the episode:** *"Absolutely believe in yourself. You are so able, so capable, so brilliant. Self-belief is what's important."* — Debbie Mitchell If you've ever wondered what it takes to build something, sell it well, and still have a full life on the other side — this is the episode for you.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Leanne Ramage, Managing Director of Kudo Software — a renewable energy software company that helps manage projects and people across wind farms, solar farms, battery storage and pumped hydro. Leanne didn't plan to lead a company. She didn't plan to stay in renewables after her PhD. She didn't plan for most of what's happened. What she did was take each opportunity that appeared in front of her — and that approach, combined with what she describes as an almost inconvenient stubbornness, has brought her here. In 2023, she and her co-founders spun Kudo out of Natural Power Consultants, backed by the Fred Olsen Group. They launched with 20 people. They're now 25. And they're in year two of actually selling their product to market. We cover: - What Kudo Software does and which sectors it serves - The spinout model: different from a startup in important ways — and harder in others - What she'd do differently (smaller team, established product first) - What she's learned about herself: stubbornness as a strength, and being annoyed at herself for not liking being uncomfortable - The first rejection — getting to the final two and losing on referenceability - Fred Olsen, 97-year-old blue sky thinker and unlikely early champion - The day of graduation she turned down two good options to "play at being a scientist for a few more years" - The juggle: retired parents on the school run, a husband who doesn't travel, and airport teddies - Why women in STEM is still not changing — and the frustration that comes with not knowing how to fix it - The playlist song: Cheerleader by OMI, and the reason it will always mean something **Quote of the episode:** *"I don't think you should be worried about failure. All you're doing is making yourself more marketable."* — Leanne Ramage If you're thinking about taking a big leap — or you're deep in year one or two and wondering if it's going to come good — this one's for you.