Following a 20-year career as a journalist with The Times and The Sunday Times in London and Scotland, latterly as deputy editor of the Sunday Times in Scotland, I founded Wow (Scotland) Ltd which trades under two brands, Tartan Twist, a Scottish jewellery and gift brand focusing on clan tartans and Lily Blanche, a fine jewellery brand, specialising in lockets. Our bestselling item is the Memory Keeper Locket which opens to reveal six secret photographs and has been worn by Judy Murray and Hermione Norris.

Wow Scotland Ltd is based in Stirling and the brands sells through stockists throughout the UK such as Edinburgh Castle, Tower of London, Gleneagles Hotel, The Scottish Parliament Shop and Kensington Palace. Our main focus is on ecommerce, however.

In December 2017 I became an ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland and vice-chair of BAWE. I also write a weekly current affairs column for The Sunday Times. I live in Stirling, am married to a consultant psychiatrist and we have three children.

Website: https://www.lilyblanche.com/

Karen Somerville is co founder and director of Angels’ Share Glass. Karen was awarded Entrepreneur of The Year 2015 and the Business has won many accolades for their products and design. Karen has grown the business from a small home business to a growing enterprise with state of the art glassblowing studio, 6 full time staff and 12 seasonal & freelance staff.

All staff are female apart from Karen’s dad, Tom Young MBE & Master glassblower, who is now semi-retired and all staff are fully committed to the family business and its vision for growth. The company has grown it’s handmade glassware range to create a premium range of whisky and spirit glassware for the Whisky Connoisseur. Exporting all over the world with distribution networks in 4 major continents. The company supplies both wholesalers, retailers, visitor centres and has their own ecommerce site.

Karen is also co-director for The Fife Whisky Festival Ltd a destination event and annual celebration of Scotch Whisky in Fife. Karen and here teams passion for glass and whisky shines through in their designs and her everyday working ethic.

Website: http://www.angelsshareglass.com

Former Head Teacher and teacher, Fiona has over 30 years experience in education. In 2002 she left mainstream education and set up her own tuition business, the successful Kip McGrath Education Centre in Stirling. Fiona and her excellent team of tutors teach around 300 students, aged between 6 -18 years, in  English and maths each week.

In addition to this Fiona established Cellfield Reading Matters UK Ltd in 2009 after travelling to New Zealand for training .Cellfield is a unique computer based programme which was born out of the latest research in brain plasticity and neuro-science. It is designed to enable people with Dyslexia and related processing issues function more efficiently. As well as growing her own centre she has responsibilty for developing Cellfield in the UK and Ireland and there are now 7 centres in the UK offering Cellfield. Fiona is passionate about helping people unlock their potential and is keen to develop her own knowledge and expertise to do so. She says,” I used to do the impossible, now I do the possible and anything is possible”.

In her spare time Fiona is a keen curler and in 2013 she was part of the successful Scottish tour to Sweden. She also enjoys travel , walking and unwinding in spas!!

• Website: http://kipmcgrath.co.uk/stirling
• Website: http://www.cellfield.co.uk

Ann-Maree Morrison is Chairwoman of BAWE, Regional Vice President for the UK, and Founder of the award winning e-commerce business, Labels4Kids, which supplies name labels and personalised books and gifts internationally to parents of 0-12 year olds. Labels4Brands, a division of Labels4Kids, also provides labelling for fashionistas, superyachts, sports clubs, care homes, and just about anyone who would like labelling with their logo or a design.

Also a member of the IoD and FSB, Ann-Maree seeks paid non-executive work in areas she feels passionate about, education, e-commerce and business growth. An Honorary Professor of the Management School of Stirling University, she is also a Board member of the Management School and the Stirling City Commission. Ann-Maree took part in Women20 for the G20 in Berlin in 2017 and a UK Government Task Force for E-Commerce.

Find Ann-Maree online:

• Ann-Maree.biz
• https://www.labels4kids.com
• Ann-Maree on LinkedIn

I have been running my own business as a photographer since 2004. In my heart, I am definitely a people photographer and that is what excites me most. That’s what I am good at. I know how to make people feel at ease and get them to a point where they actually feel happy to be in front of the camera. I truly believe that a good portrait, one where the person looks at ease, natural, and un-posed comes from the invisible thing between the person and the photographer.

Over the years, I have had the honour to take photos at hundreds of weddings in Scotland and internationally, and every time I have immersed myself into the big day, becoming an invisible part of it, only interfering on a few occasions, such as the bridal portraits or the formal family photographs. The rest of the time, I am a reporter, watching what is going on, or occasionally helping the guests taking better photos!

I have met some amazing people since I started my business, photographed quite a few celebrities too, and made some amazing friends in the process. Every day is a school day for me. I strive to learn every day, to become better at photography, at business, at life.

The icing on the cake is when I see my clients, be it brides and grooms or mums and dads, being totally happy about their photographs and I know the investment is one into the future, as the photographs gain in value every single day.

I also take photographs at BAWE events and help keep the BAWE website up to date.