Young Entrepreneurs at Kilgraston
Celebrating Young Entrepreneurs: Kilgraston’s Ishbel and Her Thriving Soap Business, Airbubble
At Kilgraston, we pride ourselves on nurturing young entrepreneurs, and Upper Fifth pupil Ishbel is a shining example of this. At just 11 years old, Ishbel embarked on an entrepreneurial journey, founding her own soap business, Airbubble, which has been thriving for three years.
Airbubble’s philosophy is built around three core principles: Fresh, Natural, and Handmade. Ishbel’s dedication to freshness is evident as she meticulously times the production of each batch to coincide closely with its release, ensuring maximum scent, lather, and nourishment. The soaps are crafted with high-quality oils such as coconut and shea, avoiding unnecessary additives. Each bar is handmade with care, from weighing and blending to casting and packaging. Ishbel’s attention to detail ensures that every product meets her high standards.
One of the unique aspects of Airbubble is its ability to cater to custom orders. Whether it’s for event welcomes or special occasions, Ishbel can create custom-sized or designed bulk orders, packaged beautifully and professionally with either the Airbubble logo or the customer’s own branding.
Reflecting on her motivation, Ishbel shares, “I wanted something productive to fill my time when I was off school rather than skulking around the house. I thought it was very sellable and allowed me to incorporate my ideas. I could eventually branch out into different types of soap if I wanted to.” Her entrepreneurial spirit is truly inspiring, and she is particularly proud of her achievements in managing finances and launching her company website.
Looking ahead, Ishbel has ambitious plans for Airbubble. She aims to apply for the FSB Young Entrepreneur Award and is exploring opportunities to showcase her brand at larger events like the Highland Show. Additionally, she plans to launch a Facebook account to reach a wider audience and maintain a professional online presence.
We are incredibly proud of Ishbel’s accomplishments and her commitment to her business. She exemplifies the tenacity and creativity that we foster at Kilgraston. We look forward to seeing how Airbubble grows and evolves under her capable leadership.
Congratulations, Ishbel, on your remarkable journey with Airbubble. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for you and your business.
Have look to see what it’s all about:
website: airbubble.shop
Instagram: airbubbleshop
Facebook: Airbubble
Kilgraston Young Enterprise Team historic win
Hungry For Honey, a young enterprise company founded by 23 Kilgraston pupils, has created a buzz with an unprecedented victory at the Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) regional competition. The team swept the board at the event, picking up all eight awards on offer including the top prize ‘Tayside Company of the Year 2024’ for their children’s book ‘Barbee and Her Adventures’ – a result never before achieved by any other school. The team also scooped the seven other awards including for ‘Best Company Report’, ‘Best Trade Stand’ and ‘Best Presentation’. The team, comprised of Upper and Lower Sixth pupils, impressed the judges with their innovative and sustainable approach to their business, as well as their exceptional marketing and presentation skills.
Hungry for Honey was created to compete in the annual YES Company competition. This provides students with hands-on experience in setting up and running their own businesses. Since the start of the 2023 school year, the Kilgraston team has worked hard to develop their book ‘Barbee and Her Adventures’ including a novel-writing workshop with local children’s author, Lindsay Hirst.
Kilgraston School’s Headteacher, Mrs Tanya Davie, expressed her pride in the team’s achievements, saying, “We are absolutely thrilled with Hungry for Honey’s success at the YES regional championships. Their hard work, creativity, and dedication to sustainable business practices have truly paid off, and we can’t wait to see what they will accomplish at the national level.”
Now as they prepare for the national finals in May, Hungry for Honey continues to inspire the Kilgraston School community and demonstrate the power of young people to create positive change through entrepreneurship and innovation.
The team’s book is available to buy in several local shops, including The Rose House in Perth, Broadslap Fruit Farm in Dunning, and The Wee Book Shop in Dollar. A beautifully illustrated children’s book, it tells the story of a special bee called, Barbee. The company’s team collaborated on the story, with some taking on the role of illustrators while others focused on writing. The team also utilised social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook to market their book and reach a wider audience.
Kilgraston pupil and Hungry for Honey CEO, Rebecca, Upper Sixth, said: “We’re thrilled to see our hard work pay off with this success and we are excited for the finals. Our team has worked tirelessly to create a high-quality product that appeals to children, and we’re excited to share it with even more people through the YES competition and expanded retail opportunities.”
Hungry For Honey’s future plans include expanding their reach to more shops and nurseries, as well as developing additional products that align with their mission of educating and entertaining young readers.
For more information on Hungry For Honey and their products, follow them on social media at Instagram handle is hungry.for_honey, Twitter handle is hungry_4_honey, Tiktok handle is hungry_for_honey and Facebook handle is Hungry For Honey
Kilgraston YES team 2023 win regional final
Kilgraston YES team 2023 win regional final - find out more:
On Thursday 23rd March – the Young Enterprise Team (MIKA) and fellow supporters from the sixth form travelled to Forbes of Kingennie Country Resort in Dundee to compete in the Tayside Young Enterprise Regional Finals Competition.
Prior to this we had been interviewed by a panel of judges and submitted a company report to the judges. On the evening we had to present our company journey to a room full of competing teams, supporters and local businesses. MIKA put forward Kate, Rebecca, Jessica and Flora, all Lower Sixth to present and afterwards Jessica, Upper Sixth, took questions from the audience.
MIKA came home with 5 out of the 9 awards on offer during the evening.
We won:
• Best Interview
• Best Company Report
• Best Link Teacher – Mrs Docherty
• Most inspirational journey – Sara, Lower Sixth
• Company of the year
We are delighted to have won the Tayside Regional Final Competition and look forward to competing at Scottish Nationals at Hampden Park on 31st May.
Flora, Lower Sixth
Kilgraston’s Business Management teacher Mr Erdal retires
Kilgraston’s Business Management teacher, Mr Erdal, is retiring and here Dr Phillips talks about the impact he has had on the school:
Mr Erdal joined Kilgraston as Head of Business Management three years ago and quickly made himself a fixture of the Kilgraston Staff Room, having previously taught at Glenalmond since 2002. There are, however, many other strings to Mr Erdal’s bow. Did you know, for example, that he ran his own outdoor events company for a decade prior to going into teaching? Or that he enjoys a possibly lucrative sideline in skippering yachts for corporate clients? Or that he was an extra in Highlander?
We always encourage students to get involved in extra-curricular activities because that is what they will remember most about their school life, but I suspect that might be the case with Mr Erdal as well. Surely his greatest legacy will be in co-ordinating this year’s Young Enterprise group, Jute Joy, to their successful haul of nine trophies in the regional championships. So it only seems fit to leave the final word to once of the members of Jute Joy. Anna T said: “Mr Erdal steered us in the right direction when first setting up our company, and gave us a push when we needed the wind in our sails. We wish him a very happy retirement.
Women and Business at Kilgraston School - Dr Julie Maxton of The Royal Society
“Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom, always be open to learning.”
Wise words indeed from Dr Julie Maxton CBE, Executive Director of London’s historic Royal Society, spoken via Zoom while giving her inspirational talk as part of Kilgraston School’s Women and Business lecture programme.
Brought up in Edinburgh, and originally training as a barrister at the Middle Temple in London, Dr Maxton talked to girls about her career-trajectory and what had brought her to the position of the first woman in 350 year to hold the post at the world’s oldest, continuous, scientific academy: “I’ve had a lifetime of looking at evidence,” she told girls, “always try to look through the eyes of each side.”
The Royal Society enjoys patronage of scientific super-brains including, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Isaac Newton, Jennifer Doudna, Dorothy Hodgkin, Sir David Attenborough, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, together with Elon Musk, one of only five, global, centibillionaires.
It’s motto ‘Nullius in verba’ means ‘take nobody’s word for it’: “This is an expression of the determination of members to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment,” expanded Dr Maxton, “we always look for the facts, we’re the opposite of ‘fake news’”.
Part of Dr Maxton’s job is to administer the RS’s £100m annual grant budget, nurturing a pipeline of over 3,000 young scientists who benefit from the global network of experts offering mentoring, investment and business advice. “I didn’t know a thing about spreadsheets,” laughed the good-humoured speaker, “but I sat down and learnt and knew how to ask if I didn’t!”
Girls also learnt how Dr Maxton’s progression drew on various life- influences, including, in her current position, legal contacts nurtured during time as a barrister: “I knew quite a few judges and one of the recurring subjects was the need for better understanding of the strength of accurate scientific evidence presented in court.” Continuing, she added: “the right questions must always be asked, based on a clear statement of science.”
This thought-process resulted in RS Fellow and renowned University of Cambridge Professor of Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, Sir David Spiegelhalter OBE, giving several senior judges topic-specific lectures on scientific assessment: “Remember,” commented Dr Maxton, “you must always keep learning; learn anywhere and from anyone.”
As a result of this collaboration with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, benchmark-documents, on subjects such as ‘Forensic DNA analysis,’ ‘Forensic gait analysis,’ and ‘The use of statistics in legal proceedings,’ are now embedded in the UKs legal framework.
Pupils were quick to fire questions at the impressive guest-speaker with one Sixth Former intuitively asking how she dealt with career set-backs.
Answer? “At my first job, I was the only woman in the faculty. Always be analytical and objective, your professionalism will carry you through. Very quickly, I learnt that you have to look after yourself.”
Hugely impressed by the visiting speaker, one Fifth Form girl described Dr Maxton as “inspirational,” adding that it had “opened her eyes to global possibilities.”
Concluding the lecture, Dr Maxton urged pupils not to feel pigeon-holed by following one path: “Be prepared to change career, take opportunities. No one will think for you. Put your own hand up.”
Sound advice indeed.
Kilgraston’s Women and Business lecture series - Gleneagles
Kilgraston’s Women and Business lecture series continues this term and our latest speaker was Gleneagles’ Commercial Director, Jane McGee. Jane, who has worked for the luxury hotel since 2018, outlined her career and some of the incredible highlights. It is a career which has seen Jane travel all over the world, working in some of the most beautiful and luxurious hotels including Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental where Jane said: “The level of customer service is phenomenal with several members of staff to every guest. You can just sit high above this amazing city and calmly watch the huge city gyrate before you.”
Kilgraston’s Women in Business series is an opportunity for our older pupils to hear in-depth stories from women in rich and diverse careers. In the past year, we have welcomed a National newspaper columnist, an accountant, a family law expert, a Professor of Photodermatology and Consultant Dermatologist to name just a few. In line with our on-going commitment to building the next generation of entrepreneurs, in 2019 Kilgraston was also the proud sponsor of the Inspirational Women category at the 2019 Business Women Scotland Awards.
Kilgraston Headmistress, Mrs MacGinty, said: “Having the opportunity to hear from someone of Jane’s calibre was a treat indeed. Her global experience and obvious love for her chosen career was a great chance for girls to hear, first hand, about this fascinating path. We’d all like to say a very big thank you to Jane for giving up her valuable time at this extremely busy time.”
The School’s Women in Business series will welcome an engineer from SSE, an orthodontist from Dundee and a stem cell expert from Ninewells Hospital during the next four months.
You can also read more about Jane’s talk on the GSA website.
Kilgraston girls win Young Enterprise Scotland regional prize
A La Mode, one of the Kilgraston teams taking part in this year’s Young Enterprise Scotland’s Company Programme, has scooped the top prize at the regional finals. The company, set up and run by Upper Sixth pupils Molly, Lola, Natasha and Flora, designed, packaged and sold locally sourced, environmentally friendly premium self care boxes. Aside from the top prize, the team also won other categories including Best Marketing and Best Trade Stand. The girls now go into the national Young Entreprise Finals, scheduled to take place in June.
Huge congratulations to A La Mode and all our Young Enterprise teams.
You can vote for A La Mode .
Business Women Scotland Awards nominee - Fiona Frew
The final nominee to be featured in our series about the Kilgraston School sponsored Business Women Scotland Awards, is Fiona Frew.
With a wealth of experience in Financial Services, Fiona joined Murphy Wealth last year as an Operations Manager. Murphy Wealth is a Glasgow-based wealth management advisory firm, that provides independent financial advice and creates wealth for businesses. Fiona was promoted within her first 3 months following the prominent impact she made to the firm and is now Murphy Wealth’s first female board director. Fiona has also been integral to the relationship her company has built with Business Women Scotland since partnering with the network. Her efforts were significantly reflected when she was asked to join the committee this year.
Fiona, like many of Kilgraston School’s students, loves all types of sport, especially football, and enjoys supporting charities through fundraising and volunteering. She has also recently joined the ‘Killie Striders’ Kilmarnock running club which keeps her active every week!
Kilgraston School - Business Women Scotland Awards nominee - Suzie McCafferty
Our next featured Business Women Scotland Awards finalist is Suzie McCafferty. Suzie is the CEO of Platinum Wave Franchising – a business consultancy firm that specializes in franchising. It helps entrepreneurs franchise their businesses all over the world and provides a full recruitment service to ensure they find the best staff and franchisees. Suzie has worked in franchising for very nearly 20 years now. Right after university, she opened a refillable ink cartridge shop in Edinburgh. Customers came in and asked if it was a franchise so often that Suzie decided to find out what a franchise was. Fast forward a few years of seriously hard work, taking advice, ignoring advice and Suzie had 70 franchisees in 6 countries from the Middle East to the Caribbean. Suzie offers her advice to Kilgraston School students:
1. What do you enjoy about your work?
Every day I work with very like-minded people with drive and ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit. This pretty much guarantees an element of excitement to each day because things happen at pace, people have great new ideas, or somebody comes to us for advice on a project that no-one has ever tried before. The great thing about franchising is that it involves every business sector you can think of and it can take you all over the world.
2. What are the biggest challenges that they face with their work?
I travel a lot, but I have a thirteen-month old daughter at home who doesn’t care one bit if Mummy has to get up at 4am for the first flight down to London – so handling a full day of meetings on 2 hours sleep is probably my biggest challenge right now! But, because I have such a great team, I’ve been able to reward myself with a four-day working week. It doesn’t always work out, but I’m determined to make sure I get the balance right between business and home life.
3. What advice would they give to high-school aged girls wanted to follow in their footsteps?
My advice to you is to be brave and believe in yourself - if you don’t believe you can do something there’s a good chance you’re right. You will make mistakes, but they are only a problem if you don’t learn something from them, so don’t be afraid to make them! Don’t let your age hold you back either – there are self-made billionaires out there still in their twenties. However, the most important thing is to find something you love doing, that excites you to want to get up every day and do. Why not take a look at franchising – it can be a wonderful way to have your own business and be your own boss? Of course, I would say that!
The award winner will be announced on Friday 8th November 2019.
Business Women Scotland Awards - meet Susan Harkins
Our series on the Business Women Scotland finalists continues with Susan Harkins. She heads up Business Gateway Edinburgh, and over the last 15 years she has led her team to support over 25,000 small businesses to start-up and grow. Susan has a passion for working with SMEs, and has a keen interest in Women Led Businesses, Digital and Social Enterprise.
Susan chairs the Business Gateway National Operational network, is founder of Women in Business Edinburgh network, a member of the Scottish Government Women in Business Action Group, regularly contributes to the Scottish Government Cross party groups on Women in Business and Social Enterprise and is an active member of Scottish Local Authority Economic Development (SLAED) Business Group. She studied her MBA at Edinburgh University and has a Business Counselling diploma.
1. Can you give us a brief description of your business?
Public Sector Business support and advice service. It’s a public service, and the inspiration came from the market failure, start-ups failing within first year of trading.
2. What do you enjoy about your work?
The people, I meet people from all different backgrounds aiming to start and grow their business it is inspiring and no one day is the same
3. What are the biggest work challenges you face?
Not enough time in the day!!
4. What advice would you give to high-school aged girls wanted to follow in their footsteps?
Be confident and strong, and most importantly be yourself.
The winners of this year’s Business Women Scotland will be announced on Friday 8th November.