Your journey in fragrance intersects experiences across various fields and industries. How has your experience and path within fragrance evolved over the years as a female entrepreneur?
My path into fragrance has not been linear, and I think that has been a strength. I began in luxury storytelling and global brand building, in whisky, working with remarkable houses that understood heritage and excellence at scale. Over time, I felt a growing desire to create something deeply personal, a house rooted in a sense of place, landscape, nature and craft.
As a female entrepreneur, I have learned to trust both intuition and discipline. Fragrance demands patience, creativity and conviction. In the early days, you often have to hold the vision alone. Over the years, that quiet conviction has evolved into confidence, not louder, but clearer. KINGDOM Scotland is the result of that evolution: thoughtful, complex, and unapologetically itself.
KINGDOM Scotland’s ethos is deeply rooted in botanical preservation, craft, and academic partnership. How do you see this concept-driven approach opening new doors for women founders to innovate in fragrance and luxury?
A concept-driven house gives you permission to go deeper. Our partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is not a marketing layer - it is foundational to how we think about biodiversity, sustainability and scent creation.
Women founders are often instinctively systems thinkers, we look at botany, community, long-term impact. A model rooted in preservation and academic collaboration allows innovation beyond aesthetics. It opens conversations around responsibility, science and stewardship. That is a powerful space for women to lead in luxury, because it reframes success as contribution as well as growth.
KINGDOM Scotland was part of the first TFFUK Next-Gen Programme cohort of brands. How did the programme support and empower you in your entrepreneurial journey?
Being part of the inaugural cohort was both affirming and galvanising. The Fragrance Foundation UK recognised not just product, but potential. The programme provided access, perspective and industry insight at a moment when scale felt both exciting and daunting. The cohort continues to be an incredible support and I have made some wonderfully supportive friends in the process.
It has reminded me that independent founders are not alone. There is strength in shared knowledge and in institutions willing to nurture emerging voices. That support gave KINGDOM Scotland both visibility and belief.
The programme and cohort were shared with other female entrepreneurs. How did their journeys and perspectives enrich the experience and your own growth?
There is something powerful about sitting around a table with women who are building with courage. Each founder had a different story, different scale, different challenges yet there was a shared understanding of what it takes to create something from nothing.
Their openness has accelerated my own growth. We spoke honestly about cash flow, imposter syndrome, supply chains, creativity. That candour builds resilience. It shifts entrepreneurship from competition to collective elevation.
The recent selection by Walpole’s Brands of Tomorrow is a remarkable achievement. What does it mean for independent brands to have institutional and industry support in nurturing women-led fragrance brands?
Being selected for Walpole’s Brands of Tomorrow feels like a milestone, not just for KINGDOM Scotland, but for independent fragrance more broadly. Walpole represents the very best of British luxury, and to be recognised within that context signals that independent, female-led houses belong in that landscape.
Institutional support provides credibility, mentorship and access to networks that can meaningfully accelerate growth. For women founders in particular, it helps level structural imbalances and reinforces that commercial ambition and creative integrity can coexist.
The programme highlights emerging luxury houses with exceptional commercial potential. How do you envision balancing commercial ambition with KINGDOM Scotland’s slow perfumery ethos?
For me, ambition is not at odds with patience. Slow perfumery is about depth, precision and respect for raw materials. Commercial growth is about clarity of vision and disciplined execution.
We will scale thoughtfully, protecting formulation integrity, investing in sustainable partnerships, and ensuring that storytelling remains authentic. Growth should amplify essence, not dilute it. If we hold to our values, commercial success becomes an extension of purpose rather than a compromise.
What female voices in the industry are influencing your leadership at KINGDOM Scotland?
I am inspired by women who lead with substance - founders and creatives who build quietly but powerfully. Perfumers, evaluators, botanists, editors, many of whom work behind the scenes yet shape the cultural direction of scent.
Beyond fragrance, I draw inspiration from female leaders in luxury who combine commercial intelligence with empathy. Their example reinforces that leadership can be rigorous and generous at the same time.
I also get a huge amount of inspiration and collective support from broader female entrepreneur networks. I am inspired by Emmie Faust Founder of Female Founders Rise. She very recently released The Rise Report that highlights that 78% of UK female founders view human connection as vital, yet 45% cite funding as their primary obstacle. Based on 2,225 respondents, the report indicates that peer networks (39%) and mentorship (32%) are crucial for overcoming isolation and business growth barriers. The report identified that the UK could unlock up to £310 Billion in economic growth if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men. Wow! Just imagine.
How do you see scent as a form of empowerment?
Scent is invisible, yet transformative. It alters how we feel in our own skin and how we move through the world. Choosing a fragrance is an intimate act of self-definition.
Empowerment in scent is not about projection; it is about alignment. When a fragrance resonates deeply, it strengthens presence without force. It becomes a quiet armour of self-expression - complex, layered, evolving.
For International Women’s Day, what do you hope women feel when they experience and discover Kingdom Scotland, and how do you envision your leadership fostering female empowerment?
I hope women give themselves the gift of feeling and experiencing curiosity and confidence. KINGDOM Scotland is gender-free and complexity-led, it invites exploration without prescription.
Through my leadership, I aim to foster an environment where women are encouraged to think boldly, collaborate generously and lead sustainably. Empowerment, to me, is about creating space for ideas, for growth, for nuance. If KINGDOM Scotland can embody that spirit, then it becomes more than fragrance - it becomes a platform for possibility.