Celebrating International Women's Day 2019

The 8th March is International Women's Day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. 

This blog began in 2016 and this was the first entry:

In our celebrations we want to tell you a little more about, Anna White, owner and founder of ScotlandShop and a few of the inspirational women she has met along the way. Read the blog to discover more about Anna, her beginnings and the journey to creating the best (in our opinion) tartan company in the world. 

Borders born and bred I have a huge love of this rural area of Scotland that provided the inspiration to start the business. With a degree in international marketing and French, and plenty of time spent working and studying overseas, the desire to see locally produced textiles reaching every corner of the world has driven the growth of the website.

When I started Uni we had only just begun using email, so it is hard to believe that now my entire business is based on the internet. As in most rural areas businesses are small and jobs in marketing are pretty limited, so I needed to create myself something interesting to do. I love fashion, colour and texture so tartan is a dream to work with.

ScotlandShop has grown with the internet and the changes in technology continually drive change which is what makes it so interesting. Fashion changes with the seasons, web design trends change, marketing has moved from advertising and PR to social media and blogging. Video and mobile is taking over the world. We are just continually trying to keep up! 

We are a relatively new business and there are many women we have on our radar who inspire us when life is tough and we aren't growing quite as quickly as we think we should be. There was recently a documentary on Karren Brady who made it in the man's world of football. It was good to see behind the tough exterior of The Apprentice aide and West Ham vice-chair, to understand the strength she draws from her faith, the support of a lovely husband and the challenges that have made her what she is. Personally I couldn't manage without the support of my lovely husband, not to mention his shift as house husband from October to January when our sales reach fever pitch! Karren talked about her grandmother always pushing her to the front of the queue and saying go on, you can do it, you show them. My parents never really said no to us, but if you wanted to do it you were expected to get on and make it happen yourself. This has really helped me to be to be self sufficient and confident in my own ability to make things happen and I hope to pass the same message on to my own children.

Rosie Eribe is a lady I have always admired. She runs ERIBE KNITWEAR, a local knitwear company who have always remained true to their core values, going eco long before it became trendy and always cutting edge with their innovation and design. As a result Rosie has built a strong brand and business, using the local skills of hundreds of hand-knitters to become one of the largest hand-knitting companies in the UK and Europe. We still stock Eribe sweaters today.

Slightly biased in that my son and I share a love of the bike recently I have been watching another local company starting to hit the headlines. Alex Feechan has created mountain bike clothing brand, Findra, which has gone from startup to award-winning business in just over a year. Spotting a gap in the fast-growing women's cycling market for technical clothing that is both functional and looks good Alex has designed a fabulous range of kit. My favourite quote "It felt like everything that was available suffered from the "shrink it and pink it" approach, which is basically taking a man's product, reducing it in size and adding a pink flower or go faster stripes to it, which felt condescending". I totally agree and now the range is stocked on top biking website Wiggle there is no excuse not to treat myself! With a similar obsession to ourselves for quality fabrics, Findra also use local manufacturers and their mantra is a good one for all women out there:

We are free, happy, strong, confident. We are women. Out there. Liberated from the humdrum. At least for a while! Together conquering the path, the road, the hill, the mountain. Always aiming a little higher. Fulfilled, accomplished, achieving.

Whether you are on a bike, building a business or just surviving the day today let's raise a glass to all the women in the world aiming a little higher.

The following was written in 2020 at the height of the Global Pandemic.

In 2016 I wrote about why I started the business and some of the women out there who have provided inspiration. 4 years on it is time for an update and I ask myself a few questions about why I enjoy running my own business, appreciating that in years gone it was not normal for women to be in paid employment, let alone set up their own commercial enterprise. Under great pressure from my staff (more on this later!) today I am also launching our very own Vlog to share the journey in my own words. 

ScotlandShop was founded in 2002 by myself, a native Scot who has travelled and returned home each time with a new appreciation for how lucky we are to live in bonnie Scotland, for our particular area with it's tradition and history in the textiles industry, packed with heritage and an international reputation for quality. The theme for International Women's Day this year is #EachforEqual and I love this - individually we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. I can see my teenage daughter rolling her eyes already, she has already had enough of my "below the line and above the line" lectures. Listen in to future Vlogs if you like the sound of this.

I was surprised, and a little embarrassed, to learn that this International Women's Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first​ ​IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Prior to this the​ Socialist Party of America, United Kingdom's Suffragists and Suffragettes, and further groups campaigned for women's equality. I wouldn't call myself a feminist but I certainly don't like to miss out on the opportunity to do anything simply because of my gender. I do not intentionally recruit women but retail and our business does seem to attract more female applicants than male, so we do have a bit of a female bias at ScotlandShop. According to the statistics this is not unusual and women owned businesses do tend to employ more females than males, and have a higher percentage of women in management roles. Check out our Team page if you would like to learn more about the many inspirational women (and our 3 inspirational men) within ScotlandShop and what drew them to our company. Personally I don't care who you are, you just have to be "on the bus", more on this ethos later but basically you need to jump right into our world of tartan and be fully committed to get the most out of working with us,

Only 1 in 3 UK entrepreneurs is female: a gender gap equivalent to 1.1 million missing businesses. (Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, HM Treasury 2019). In 2017, only 5.6% of UK women run their own businesses, compared to 15% of women in Canada, almost 11% of women in the US, and over 9% of women in Australia and the Netherlands.

I am often asked why I started the business. I needed a job, an interesting job that could evolve with me and use my marketing skills. I don't think I could have articulated that at the time but looking back at my terrible employment record of 6-12 months in every job before moving on to find something more exciting I can see it now. I have always loved working, not so keen on the academic, I just love something I can really get my teeth into, an all consuming new project with endless opportunities. Running your own business means you have at least a one new challenge every single day. Actually make that 20!

We live and work in a very rural area in the Scottish Borders and there aren't a huge number of businesses with large numbers of employees. I always hoped I could offer interesting jobs to other people in the area and am proud that this is something we have achieved. One of my long term dreams (along with a ski chalet in the Alps), is to create some kind of academy working closely with the local school, young people and other organisations to provide great basic training opportunities in a practical environment. Now I have written that down you can hold me to it and we will see if in 5 years time we have started that project! This is how I tend to do things, I mention it, then it grows arms and legs, and suddenly we are halfway down the road doing it and there is no turning back. That's how the business started, with only me to make things happen. The great thing now is that I have a team to help me, and that team is growing all the time in numbers but more importantly in confidence and ability. Follow the Vlog and we will share a few stories of these brilliant people.

Today I would like to celebrate the brilliant and hard working women, who make ScotlandShop who we are, both inside and outside of our business. From the longest standing member of the team Sarah who came here 11 years ago to Lillian who started last month. If we wait until the time is right to do something, we will never do it. Women, what are you waiting for?

The following was written in 2021.

International Women's Day has come around again and I am feeling under pressure to write something insightful. Part of me wants to tell you that the woman who has brought me through lockdown sane and intact is my dog, Angie. God bless her for looking perky at all times, dragging me out of my bed knowing she is waiting for a run, that I need to put my trainers on and generate those endorphins that help us through another day.

However my team has informed me that choosing my pet is not very respectful of all the women who have fought to give us the independence we have today, particularly when there are still so many women worldwide not enjoying this freedom. And I really appreciate this freedom. My parents were dairy farmers and I am one of 3 daughters. They made us into fiercely independent women and my Dad always said he was torn between being very proud of how we turned out, followed by feelings of whether it was right that we didn't conform to the old traditional stereotype of the farmers wife, staying at home to support her husband. Saying that my Mum has to be one of the strongest women I know so I am not sure he married a conformist either!

Sports presenter Jill Douglas and I had a chat about our opinions on the male female divide last week, (listen to her full interview on Wednesday night, she is an inspiring lady), both working in male dominated industries, she is in the world of rugby and myself ensconced in the deeply traditional world of Scottish textiles.

We agreed that we didn't feel that our careers had been inhibited by being female but that this is probably because we are confident and well grounded, so the thought would never enter our heads. We are lucky to have had stable upbringings to help us feel this way. This year has tested our resilience and I have felt my confidence waver on many an occasion, so the team around me has been critical to provide a bit of support when required and vice versa. My role has become part counsellor, part employer in 2020 and if that is what it takes to pull us all through I am happy with that. Which brings me onto another inspirational lady, Kathy Weir, wife of our favourite character and international rugby legend Doddie Weir. Emily here at ScotlandShop designed the Doddie'5 tartan and sales of this raise funds for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation leading the search to find a cure for MND. Doddie is the most optimistic, positive person in the world but standing right beside him is Kathy, always strong and smiling and never seeking any accolades for her unfailing support and strength to keep fighting. Jill is CEO of the Foundation and this is a cause very close to both of our hearts, as are these two people.

This time last year we were finishing off a tour around Florida, taking in the Northeast and Southeast Florida Highland Games and meeting some truly amazing people. Two women we were determined to say hello to en route were Linda Frazier, former President of the St Andrew's Society of Tallahassee and her partner in crime Dani Turner. The energy and enthusiasm of these ladies is unbeatable and their passion for Scottish culture and people in general is infectious.

We were so sad not to go back again this year but instead we did record an interview with Linda on YouTube where she shares her love of food and how she has brought the Scottish community together through Culinary Ceilidh's and other incredibly creative events. Meeting these people inspires me to take our products worldwide! My son travelled with us on this trip and he will never forget the welcome he received, not to mention the enormous box of Krispy Kreme donuts Dani brought him.

Another woman topping that list of those I admire would be Lorraine Bell, Corporate Director, Chartered Professional Accountant, Trustee of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society and where we made her acquaintance, 84th Chief of the New York Caledonian Club and a critical part of the New York Tartan Day celebrations. Lorraine is that perfect mix of super intelligent, incredibly humble and great fun personality. With a reputation for being on #teamnosleep and partying throughout Tartan Week alongside President Kyle Dawson, Lorraine shows the kind of endurance that gets you through most things in life.

Ladies I salute you, Mum for devoting your life to bringing my sisters and I up and making us what we are today, for always being there when I turn up at your door in good or bad fettle, with or without your grandchildren in tow. And to all the women I meet around the world as I travel the tartan journey, your support and enthusiasm keeps me going and inspires our marketing and product development. Just wait to see what we have been up to to relieve the latest lockdown lows! And to those who need some support, my door is always open. Happy International Women's Day!

"Give to Gain" is the official campaign theme for International Women's Day in 2026 highlighting "the power of giving support, knowledge, opportunities, and solidarity to help create more equitable and inclusive futures for women and girls around the world — reinforcing that when we give, we all gain in progress and strength". I am a huge believer in this and have strived to create a supportive environment where anyone who works for us can be themselves, do their best and take advantage of each and every opportunity

We don't always get it right, but we do try and in January last year we adopted a new management structure to help give a better voice to every member of the team. EOS really encourages open and honest conversation, bringing issues to the table and getting them solved so we can all move on. 

Miya C

Fondly known as Miya Mac and Miya C, our two apprentices this year have performed so well as part of this, being brave, speaking up and sharing ideas on how we can do better as a business. I hope that wherever they end up in the world, starting out working as young females in a business that respects their opinions and values their feedback will shape a powerful future for them. 

Miya Mac

As we mark International Women’s Day, it’s a moment not only to celebrate the incredible achievements of women past and present, but also to recognise the strength, resilience and determination shown every day in businesses, families and communities around the world. Progress may not always be linear, but together — by supporting, uplifting and championing one another — we move closer to true equality. Here’s to the women who inspire us, the journeys still unfolding, and a future shaped by confidence, opportunity and collaboration.