A female founder's journey: fireside conversation on building with purpose
In celebration of International Women's Day, join the Entrepreneurship Centre for an inspiring fireside chat with Lisa Cathro, founder of Zest and one of Scotland's most dynamic entrepreneurs.
Lisa's journey is one of bold decisions, community leadership and resilience, from building a beloved hospitality brand to navigating the challenges and opportunities faced by women in entrepreneurship. This conversation will explore the realities of founding a business, leading with purpose and carving out space as a woman in a sector where representation is still growing.
The evening will open with networking and refreshments, followed by a live interview led by one of our student team members. The session will conclude with an audience Q&A and additional time to connect with peers and aspiring founders.
In this event, we'll explore:
- Lisa's founder journey and how Zest came to life
- the realities, challenges and wins of being a female founder
- leadership, purpose and navigating uncertainty
- lessons from building a community‑driven brand
- advice for students and early-stage founders
- how we can empower more women in entrepreneurship
This event is open to all students, staff, alumni and community members. Whether you're exploring entrepreneurship for the first time or already building something, this conversation will leave you motivated, informed and inspired.
Lisa says: “I bought Zest, almost by accident in 2008 right before the global financial crash and was wholly unprepared for becoming a business owner. However, my mantra has always been to not worry about not knowing enough…i just don't know enough…yet. The key is then to source the knowledge, learn from others and not be afraid to show vulnerability by asking for help. Something which I am always keen to instil in our team.
“Since then I have completed my Business degree, and focused that on Social sustainability and business models which facilitate people development.
“I love owning and developing a business that actively seeks to help people facing barriers or issues to learn skills to enhance their employability. Social Responsibility is very important to myself and our team at Zest. Our strong culture for learning and improving our own skills facilitates our vision to help others. I realised later that my first time around at university in 1998 doing Occupational Therapy strongly influenced how we work today – everything we do is about purposeful activity.”