In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined again by Margaret Brown, executive leadership coach, organisational development specialist and now author of Culture Pays – a book that has been 20 years in the making.

With over 35 years’ experience working across engineering, energy, IT, construction, professional services and global corporates, Margaret has seen first-hand how much leadership and culture impact performance, profit and people’s lives at work. She shares why she believes we’re facing a global leadership crisis, and how the way leaders show up – in businesses as well as in politics and institutions – shapes everything from wellbeing to the bottom line.

Margaret introduces her 5 Ls leadership model from Culture Pays – Listen, Learn, Lead, Leverage and Live (your values) – plus a powerful final L: Legacy. She explains how listening deeply to employees, learning from what they actually say, leading with a compelling vision, leveraging people’s strengths and truly living your stated values can transform culture from “nice words on a wall” into a genuine competitive advantage.

We dig into the hard numbers behind culture, including Gallup research on quiet quitting and why disengagement is costing the global economy trillions. Margaret shares what she hears in confidential focus groups – staff who feel unheard, undervalued and disconnected from their organisation’s values – and how leaders can start turning that around with better feedback, recognition and everyday conversations.

This is a practical, optimistic conversation for founders and leaders who suspect their culture could be stronger, want to keep great people, and are ready to become the kind of leaders others would happily take a pay cut to follow. Margaret Brown

1. Why Margaret finally wrote Culture Pays after 20 years of thinking about it
2. The business case for culture: engagement, retention, productivity and profit, not “fluffy stuff”
3. The global leadership crisis and why she focuses on leader, not party in any context
4. Gallup research on quiet quitting, the cost of disengagement and why over half of employees consider leaving
5. What Margaret hears when she goes “undercover boss” – running focus groups and one-to-ones with employees
6. The 5 Ls leadership model:
7. Listen – to the business, to your people, to what is and isn’t being said
8. Learn – from feedback, data and mistakes instead of defending or explaining them away
9. Lead – with a clear, exciting vision and everyday conversations that connect people to it
10. Leverage – people’s strengths, potential and diversity of thought so more than 9% of their talent is used
11. Live – your values in real decisions, not just in posters and elevator graphics
12. The final L:...

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Katrina Walker, co-founder of A Flat In Town, a central Edinburgh letting agency that has been “letting with heart” for 20 years. Starting as a temp in a small letting business, Katrina fell in love with the variety, the people and the privilege of being trusted with someone’s home – and eventually decided to build her own agency.

Katrina shares how A Flat In Town grew from a simple idea in her mid-twenties into a long-standing business that truly cares for both landlords and tenants. She talks about the joy of seeing tenants turn an empty flat into a home, and why she has always approached letting from the perspective of being both a landlord and a former tenant herself. “Letting with heart” is not just a tagline – it’s how she and her team work every day.

We dive into what it really looks like to build a business around the life you want. Katrina and her business partner factored potential children into their very first five-year plan, and she is honest about the juggle of nursery runs, school hours, sick days and being the last parent at pick-up while trying to run a professional service. She shares how business ownership has given her flexibility, and how that has shaped the way she now supports her own team as an employer and mum of two teenagers.

Katrina also talks about navigating regulation, doing things to best practice not bare minimum, and the reality of managing people – from brilliant team members to the occasional hire who reveals outdated views about women working. She explains why outsourcing HR and legal support was a turning point, and how a strong business partner, supportive husband and trusted friends have been crucial parts of her support network.

After years of relying on word-of-mouth, Katrina has recently stepped into more networking and visibility. She shares how getting out of the office has brought fresh ideas, confidence and a reminder that 20 years in business is an achievement to be proud of. Her message to other women is clear: let your business serve your life, listen to your gut, use your support network and give yourself permission to plan a future you’ll actually enjoy.

1. How Katrina fell into letting after university and why small-business experience was the best possible training
2. The story of A Flat In Town and what “letting with heart” means in practice for landlords and tenants
3. Why home and community matter so much to her, and the satisfaction of seeing tenants turn empty flats into real homes
4. Building a business in your mid-twenties and consciously planning around future family life
5. The honest reality of the juggle: nursery pick-ups, school hours, sick kids and late-night work
6. How being a business owner created flexibility – and how that now shapes the policies she offers her staff
7. The impact of an all-female team, hiring for attitude and fit, and learning to trust your instinct in recruitment
8. Dealing with sexism and unhelpful attitudes, and why bringing in external HR and legal support was so important
9. Working in a regulated sector and choosing best practice over bare...

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Gayle Thomson, Employer Engagement Advisor in the Careers and Employability Service at the University of Aberdeen. Gayle works at the heart of the university’s strategy to expand work-based learning, connecting employers with students through internships, part-time roles, volunteering, mentoring and short-term shadowing opportunities.

Gayle explains why real-world experience is so important for students’ employability and confidence – and why it’s a genuine win–win for businesses too. She breaks down the university’s part-time, term-time internship programme: 70 hours over seven weeks, fully funded for SMEs and charities, with all the recruitment admin handled by the university. We talk about the impact on small businesses, using Brenda’s own podcast intern as a live example.

We also dive into Gayle’s 25-year career journey in careers and employability – from community careers work and 22 years as a careers adviser at RGU, to a full pivot into employer engagement at the University of Aberdeen. She shares how she went from walking round Granite Expo without speaking to anyone, to becoming a confident networker who now happily works a room and sees value in every conversation.

Another big theme in this episode is volunteering. Gayle talks about her long-standing commitment to charities including Befriend a Child, Team Jak, Marie Curie, Maggie’s, Clan, Charlie House and the transformational experience of helping deliver the Tall Ships event in Aberdeen. She shares how volunteering supported her through personal change, why it’s so rewarding, and how business owners and busy professionals can still find realistic ways to get involved. Gayle Thomson

If you’re a business owner curious about hosting an intern, looking to deepen your talent pipeline, or wondering how to build volunteering into your life and business, this conversation is full of uplifting, practical insight.

1. What an Employer Engagement Advisor actually does and how Gayle works with employers to create opportunities for students
2. The university’s push for more work-based learning: internships, volunteering, part-time jobs, mentoring and shadowing
3. How the part-time, term-time internship scheme works: 70 hours, 10 hours a week, fully funded and admin-light for employers
4. Why these internships are especially valuable for SMEs, charities and creative or cultural organisations
5. The “win–win” stories: students gaining experience and confidence while employers get real projects delivered and often retain interns afterwards
6. Gayle’s 25-year careers journey across Step Ahead/Skills Development Scotland, the University of Aberdeen, RGU and back to Aberdeen in a new role
7. How she transformed her relationship with networking – from wanting to leave an event to confidently talking to every stand in the room
8. The power of LinkedIn and long-term relationships between universities, students and employers
9. Gayle’s volunteering story: from Sunday school and Brownies to Befriend a Child, cancer...