In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Catherine Bunn, Managing Director of Highland Campervans and Director of Camper Lux Limited — a motorhome dealership on the outskirts of Inverness that Catherine built from scratch, starting with two campervans, a baby in a car seat, and a conservatory extension she never actually built.

Catherine has been running Highland Campervans for nearly 20 years. She started the business after leaving the Royal Air Force, grew it organically while raising two sons, built a team of over 20, and is now preparing for the next major phase of growth. This is one of those conversations packed with genuinely useful business thinking — from a real business owner who's figured things out the hard way.

We cover:

- How Highland Campervans started — and the creative way Catherine funded the first two vans when the bank said no

- Growing organically and reinvesting profits rather than over-financing

- Building a team from part-time working mums to 22+ staff

- Working with her husband — what works, what didn't, and how they made it sustainable

- Being a 4am worker and why she flexes her hours around her energy

- The burnout turning point — and the simple tool that helped her treat herself like an employee

- Work hard, play hard: ultra running, sea kayaking and Munros

- The castles, moats and cores business model — and why the customer is the crown jewel

- The beachhead strategy for business growth — and why doing everything was holding them back

- What's next: a brand new workshop and the next phase of growth

- Camper Lux Limited and the Motorhome Depot franchise explained

**Quote of the episode:** *"Treat yourself the same way you treat your staff."* — Catherine Bunn

If you're a business owner who's been putting everyone else first, growing steadily and wondering when it's your turn to focus — this episode is for you.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Michelle Quinn — Managing Director and co-owner of Almond Engineering, a precision engineering company based in Livingston, West Lothian.

Michelle started at Almond as a 17-year-old on a three-week temporary contract. She had no qualifications, no idea what engineering was, and no particular plan. Twenty-one years later, she owns the company.

This is one of the most extraordinary journeys I've heard on this podcast — and Michelle tells it with complete honesty, including the parts that were hard.

We cover:

- What Almond Engineering does and the range of industries it serves

- How Michelle went from office junior to MD without a degree or formal training

- The moment at 17 she told the founder she'd be the first female MD — and why they both laughed

- What it's like being a young woman in a heavily male-dominated industry — and how she built respect from the ground up

- The management buyout she completed less than two weeks after having her first child

- How she funded the MBO — and what the process actually looked like

- Being a self-described workaholic and what having a family changed

- Introducing flexible working into an engineering company — and why it's the best thing they've ever done

- Why she'll hoover the office, do deliveries and do whatever it takes — and why that matters

- What needs to change to get more women into engineering

**Quote of the episode:** *"I'll be the first female MD in this company."* — Michelle Quinn, age 17 (she was right)

If you're someone who has been told there's only one path to success — or you're building something in an industry that wasn't built with you in mind — this episode is for you.

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I'm joined by Fiona MacEachern, Managing Director of Loch Lomond Brewery and Levenbank Distillery — a business she started from scratch with her husband in 2011, home brewing for fun, and has grown into a 15-strong team producing 6,000 hectoliters of beer a year, alongside gin, vodka, rum and their own whiskey barrels.

This is one of those conversations that stays with you. Fiona is honest, direct and refreshingly no-nonsense — about what it really takes to build a business from nothing, what happened when she faced cancer treatment while running the company, and why not doing something is always worse than trying and failing.

We cover:

- How Loch Lomond Brewery started from home brewing and became a brewery, distillery and taproom

- Growing from one employee to 15 — and why building trust takes time

- Why Fiona gave up a career as a police officer to start the business (and what finally pushed her over the edge)

- Working with her husband and the boundaries that have kept the marriage intact for 25 years

- Cash flow as the constant challenge — and how crowdfunding raised £250,000 to fund their expansion

- Managing the business through cancer treatment — and why coming to work was her support network

- What it's like to be a woman in the brewing industry

- The natural progression from beer to spirits — and how selling whiskey barrels helped fund the distillery

- Her honest, respectful take on BrewDog and what they did for the Scottish brewing industry

- What's next for Loch Lomond Brewery and Levenbank Distillery

**Quote of the episode:** *"If you do it and fail, that's a good thing. Not doing it is not a good thing — because you've never achieved your full potential."* — Fiona MacEachern

If you're thinking about starting something, scaling something, or just wondering whether all the hard work is worth it — this episode will remind you that it is.