Scaling a business is no small feat, it takes resilience, strategy and a willingness to embrace both the highs and the challenges.
In this new series, Kylie fires questions to female founders who have scaled successfully, uncovering the systems, habits and mindset shifts that have helped them along the way.
Vicky Hope is the driving force behind LOOP Agencies, a business that has been in the news recently, having become Scotland's earliest employee owned trust.
LOOP’s client base has grown rapidly and now include Aberdeen Group, First Sentier Group, Franklin Templeton, Phoenix Group, Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, Scottish Equity Partners, and Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
From productivity hacks to leadership lessons, Vicky shares her no-nonsense take on what it really takes to scale.
1. Morning routine - best thing ever or load of baloney: load of baloney. I wish I could wake up early - evening owl me. I would work through the night for a lie in.
2. One system you couldn’t live without: my to do list. Ticking things off is a joy. I start on a Monday with my Big 5 for the week, and have now swapped my notebook for an iPad, so rather than ticking things off I get to rub them out – even better!
3. Best productivity hack: a fellow business owner told me to set up a CC folder. Life-changing! I now don’t look at any emails I’ve been cc’ed on except for half an hour on a Friday.
4. How would your team describe you as a leader: we give each other feedback often, recently I’ve received: positivity, visionary, integrity and empathy, which is lovely. I try to be less impatient, which is feedback I need to work on.
5. How do you impart your vision to the team: you need to boil it down to one page, and ideally in a nice graphic. For the first time ever LOOP has a proper 4-year plan which I’m excited to share. But it’s nothing without the team to make it happen – so we like sharing personal vision boards at the start of the year. It’s a great way to get to know new team members too.
6. Fast growth - how did you achieve it? : there’s no secret sauce. You’ve just got to be prepared to keep doing the relentless, repetitive, tedious tasks and put in all the hours needed to do them. Then 2 years later you look over your shoulder and realise you’ve achieved something.
7. Best business book - The business of expertise, by David C Baker - if you are providing a knowledge based service it’s a must read.
8. Woman who inspires you: Trinny Woodall – I love everything about her energy and the business she’s built. I’ve been so lucky to have met with some inspirational female founders and leaders of agencies who have been very generous with their support and advice, we need more of them.
9. AI tool you couldn’t be without: I’m enjoying Perplexity at the moment. Like a Google search but you get the answer rather than a list of links – brilliant example of AI disruption. 10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years: I will be a non-exec director of my daughters scaling skin-care subscription business. (She just doesn’t know it yet, but I’m manifesting it for us.)
11. One piece of advice for a women looking to scale her business: surround yourself with radiators and not drains
. You need positivity and humble honesty around you always, because it’s not easy.
12. What do you do to protect your mental health/avoid burnout: I feel protected as I know what burnout feels like and it’s not a place I’m ever going back to. All my values are based on not recreating that environment.
13. How do you switch off? Ha do you ever when you run your own business?
14. Do you believe in work/life balance? Controversial, but I don’t. What I mean by that is everyone should define that balance for themselves. There’s stages in life when different things are more important, but I don’t think you should have to apologise if you want to work on something you enjoy doing – just don’t impose your hours on others.
Vicky’s journey is a great reminder that scaling isn’t about overnight success—it’s about showing up, staying consistent, and surrounding yourself with the right people.
That’s exactly why we created our business membership—to give women looking to grow professionally access to a network of like-minded women. A community to connect, collaborate with others, access exclusive workshops, events and marketing opportunities.
If you're ready to scale, join us and be part of a network that helps you grow. Join the egg business club here.