To celebrate International Women's Day, this month egg hits the road bringing our renowned Women on Top events to a Scottish city near you. Our mission is to inspire, connect and empower women so we’ll be joined by some incredible guest speakers along the way. The line-up includes the founder of Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate, Scottish fashion designers, foodies and marketing guru for Steven Bartlett.
They’ll all be talking about achievements, motivation and inspiration. There will be career advice and top tips. Plus, ways in which they think we can be a more inclusive society, the theme of IWD 2024. And there’s time for you to ask burning questions too. So, without further ado, let’s meet the ladies that will be coming to Dundee, Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Samantha Paton - Director & Founder of Isolated Heroes
Queen of sass Samantha Paton is the Director & Founder of Isolated Heroes. Specialising in sequins and faux fur, her multi-award-winning Scottish fashion brand has a celebrity following including Miley Cyrus, Paloma Faith, Pixie Lott, Becky Hill, and Sophie Hannah. Dundee-based Samantha is a big advocate of giving opportunity to freelancers and graduates within the Scottish fashion industry. She wants more fashion success stories north of the border. We can’t wait to hear her story at the DCA.
Samantha will be speaking to egg at Dundee Contemporary Arts, on 13th March, 10am - 12pm. Book tickets here.
Anja Baak - Owner of Great Glen Charcuterie
Anja is the owner of award-winning Great Glen Charcuterie. The family run business produces a range of specialist charcuterie using only the finest wild Scottish venison. Check them out on Instagram for delicious sounding recipes or join us at our Dundee event to hear her inspiring story. She’ll talk about her move from the Netherlands, experimenting with local meat using a hand-built smoker and launching her own business deep in the Scottish Highlands.
Anja will be speaking to egg at Dundee Contemporary Arts on 13th March, 10am - 12pm. Book tickets here.
Rachel Rowley - PR/Marketing guru
Marketing expert Rachel was one of the founding partners of the award-winning, foodie favourite Ballintaggart Farm and sister venue The Grandtully Hotel, a rural and refined destination in highland Perthshire. Renowned for its outstanding Scottish food and drink, boutique rooms, fine food shop and cookery school, she helped build the business into the success story it is now. In 2023, she took the plunge and moved to pastures new, becoming Head of Partnerships for ‘and.’, a business consultancy based in Dunkeld. Hear all about her journey and learnings in Perth on the 14th March.
How will you #inspireinclusion in 2024? “To me, inspire inclusion means to connect and support without judgement so that women and men can work together to uplift each other,” Rachel tells us. Adding, “The more individuals I can meet, the more I understand the importance of inclusion and appreciate our differences.”
“It also means being able to ask questions, actively seek new knowledge and consider a range of responses. I rely heavily on my circle of friends to share what they know and to call me out when I am getting something wrong. I'm committed to always learning about diversity and asking when my lived experience doesn't have the answers. I also take my responsibility as a mother seriously and ensure my children can access books, films, art, games and other resources which represent marginalised or underrepresented communities. You can't be what you don't see!"
Rachel will be speaking to egg at Perth Art Gallery, on 14th March, 10am - 12pm. Book tickets here.
Jade Robertson - Co-Founder and Creative Director of Little Lies
Jade is the co-founder and creative director of Scottish fashion brand Little Lies – think boho with a rock 'n' roll twist. Since launching the label with her husband in 2015, the business has gone from strength to strength. They’ve opened a new HQ in Glencarse, Perth, and have a huge following on Instagram, currently 102K followers. They can also count Denise Van-Outen and Helena Bonham Carter as A-list clients. Jade will at Perth Art Gallery telling egg how the brand progressed from working in their bedroom to sourcing styles from wholesalers and transforming into an entirely own label brand at the start of 2023.
How will you #inspireinclusion in 2024? “As an independent brand, inclusion within our product range is super important to us at Little Lies,” says Jade. “Most fashion labels - both independent and large scale - still offer very limited size ranges or introduce different product for plus sizes. But at Little Lies, we manufacture every style in sizes 8 to 24 as standard. Alongside this we photograph our garments on a variety of body shapes as it’s so important so see different heights, dress sizes and shapes in an item to get a feel for how it’ll look on you!”
“As our business grows, I would absolutely love to extend our size range further and continue to show many more beautiful bodies in our clothing to continually inspire inclusion in the fashion industry. With our own label only having been in production for a little over a year, this feels like just the beginning for us!”
Jade will be speaking to egg at Perth Art Gallery, on 14th March, 10am - 12pm. Book tickets here.
Jo Fairley - Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate Founder, Journalist & Speaker
From chocolate to business, British entrepreneur Jo Fairley knows what it takes to achieve success. She left school with six ‘O’ Levels and went on to become the youngest-ever magazine editor in the UK, at just 23. Then, in 1991, she co-founded Green & Black’s, the world’s first organic chocolate. She’ll be joining egg at the Aberdeen Music Hall on 21st March to share her story about building the global chocolate brand which was eventually sold to Cadbury in 2005. She’ll also be talking about her books, setting up an organic store and sharing her business insights into change, women in business and entrepreneurship.
Jo will be speaking to egg at Aberdeen Music Hall, Union St, on 21st March, 10.30am – 12.30pm. Book tickets here.
Dr Jeanette Forbes OBE - Businesswoman and entrepreneur
Successful Aberdeen businesswoman and entrepreneur Jeanette is a woman on a mission with two totally different businesses - PCL Group complete IT services and upmarket wine bar Grape & Grain. After being made redundant in 2000, Jeanette founded PCL Group which now services 27 countries. Grape & Grain came along in 2017 and it’s now a multi-award-winning wine bar in Aberdeen. As if that’s not enough, Jeanette is also the CEO of Blue Gentoo and a Director of OMMICA which develop technology for the emerging net-zero EnergyTech sector. She’s a board member on several Scottish Government partnerships and associations too. If you’re looking to scale, you don’t want to miss this.
Dr Jeanette Forbes will be speaking to egg at Aberdeen Music Hall, Union St, on 21st March, 10.30am – 12.30pm. Book tickets here.
Grace Andrews - Marketing Director for Steven Bartlett
Grace, aka the @the.socialclimber, is the marketing genius behind super successful Steven Bartlett. Listen to his chart-topping podcast, the Diary of a CEO – it’s great. He also appears on Dragon Den. Social media can be a tricky but Grace is committed to sharing her marketing knowledge with the masses through viral growth hacks, toolkits and guidance across her social channels. What a woman! Oh, and she's only 26 years old! We suggest you bring a notepad.
Grace will be speaking to egg at The Balmoral, Edinburgh, on 7th March. Event tickets are SOLD OUT but you can event stream by clicking here.
Sonja Mitchell - Managing Director for Jump Ship Brewing
Sonja runs alcohol-free Jump Ship Brewing. The self-confessed lover of beers but hater of hangovers jumped ship five years ago to set up the first and only non-alcohol brewery in Scotland. But it’s not all been plain sailing. In November last year, Sonja made headlines for being brave enough to battle it out with beer giants BrewDog over an allegedly stolen beer name… We can’t wait to hear her more.
Sonja will be speaking to egg at The Balmoral, Edinburgh, on 7th March. Event tickets are SOLD OUT but you can event stream by clicking here.
Tammy Koslowski, Founder of House of NAF!
Manicurist Tammy is the beauty powerhouse behind Glasgow’s award-winning NAF! Salon. The entrepreneur launched the business in 2015 and it’s now the go-to place for amazing, trend-led nail designs. You’ll also find serious #NAILSPO over on the ‘gram too, where they have 121k Followers, we might add. With over 12 years’ experience in the industry, Tammy has dedicated her career to creating supportive spaces for beauty professionals, clients and students. She’s also been instrumental in the brand’s collaboration with big names including Swarovski, Topshop, H&M and Tequila Rose. Their NAF! Stuff products are on the shelves of over 2,000+ salons worldwide. Hear all about her journey at the Glasgow event on 27th March.
Tammy will be speaking to egg at The Corinthian Club on Ingram Street, Glasgow, on 27th March, 10am – 12pm. Buy tickets here.
Mel MacIntyre, Business coach
Executive Coaching & Business Consultancy superstar Mel helps women to strategically scale their business without risking burnout. Relentlessly driven to see you at your highest potential, she's a leader, coach and consultant specialising in change and transformation for 25+ years. In 2015, she broke down, burnt out and most importantly, made a comeback to transform her life. Last year, she was invited on to the BBC Radio to share her views on anti-burnout as a subject-matter-expert. We’re looking forward to hearing all about her transition from corporate life to conscious business coaching!
What career advice would you give others? Don't doubt yourself. You are going to fail many times. But you will get back up and learn from it. These experiences help create a life and business beyond your wildest dreams.
Why do you think International Women’s Day is important? Only 18% of global government committees on finance, defence, and human rights are chaired by women. Until more women are at the table leading in partnership with men, our current and future generations will continue to suffer.
How will you #inspireinclusion in 2024? I hope to help women value themselves and what they have to offer
Mel will be speaking to egg at The Corinthian Club on Ingram Street, Glasgow, on 27th March, 10am – 12pm. Buy tickets here.
*EVENT CHECKLIST*
Time? 10am - 12pm in the respective venue (*Aberdeen event will be 10.30am-12.30pm). Tea, coffee and pastries included.
Dress code? Whatever makes you happy. We're a relaxed and friendly bunch.
Free childcare? Our partners at Tinies will be there on the day in a separate room nearby to look after your little ones, aged 0-10 years. You’ll need to include lunch, nappies and wipes.
Women on Top is a series of egg events designed to inspire, connect and empower women. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]. You can also read more on our events page. To book a hot desk or private office in our Edinburgh-based egg & co-working space, a colourful, creative hub empowering women, book here.
