In this episode of the Leaders in Business podcast, Marlene is joined by Marc Crothall MBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance — the overarching national trade body for tourism and hospitality in Scotland — and the recent recipient of the IoD Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the tourism and hospitality industry.

Marc's story is one of the most colourful you'll hear. It begins at 16, when a young Marc bluffed his way into a silver service role at a prestigious Oxford restaurant under one of France's most celebrated chefs — only to lance a potato into the lap of a wealthy American diner. Rather than marking the end of his career, it turned out to be the beginning of a remarkable one. From milkman to the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, from South Africa to the Channel Islands, and from Glasgow's European City of Culture to the Olympic Games — Marc's 45-year career has been anything but conventional, and entirely shaped by the connections he has made and kept along the way.

At the heart of Marc's philosophy is a simple but powerful truth: never say no to an invitation, and never lose touch with the people who matter. It was exactly this approach that led him, in 2012, to the role he holds today at the helm of the Scottish Tourism Alliance — an organisation he has grown from a single office in an Old Town jail cell into one of the most influential trade bodies in Scotland.

Beyond his leadership of the STA, Marc co-chairs the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Leadership Group alongside the Minister for Business and Employment, and serves as a board member of Apprenticeship in Hospitality Scotland and Interface, an advisory board member to Springboard, and a member of the ScotRail Stakeholder Forum. In 2020 he was awarded a Fellowship by the Scottish Hotel industry, and in June 2022 he received his MBE in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours for services to the tourism industry in Scotland — a moment made all the more special by being able to share it with his 85-year-old mother at Windsor Castle.

Marlene and Marc explore the vital importance of advocacy and visibility for the tourism and hospitality sector — an industry Marc passionately believes is everyone's business — and why staying silent is never an option when policy needs to change. They also discuss the future of Scottish tourism as the country approaches its next election, the untapped potential of the next generation of talent, and what it truly means to leave a lasting legacy in an industry you love.

Honest, warm and full of wonderful stories, this is a conversation about a life lived fully in service of an industry Marc clearly adores — and a timely reminder that the greatest careers are built not on qualifications, but on curiosity, connection and the courage to always just show up.

In this episode of the Leaders in Business podcast, Marlene is joined by Sarah Boyd, Chief Executive of the Lothian Group — the organisation behind Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams — whose combined network carried an extraordinary 130 million passengers last year.

Sarah's story begins in Dundee, before a degree in maths and finance at Edinburgh University led her unexpectedly away from the world of finance and onto a Stagecoach graduate scheme that would shape everything that followed. Spending time in depots across the UK — including a memorable stint underneath a bus with a jet wash in a Fife depot on a freezing cold day — Sarah quickly discovered that the heart of any organisation lies firmly in its people. That insight has never left her.

After 12 years with Stagecoach, she joined Lothian in 2013, and last October took on the role of Chief Executive — overseeing the integration of the bus and tram networks, bringing together two distinct cultures under one vision, guided by Lothian's long-standing ethos: leave it better than you find it.

Marlene and Sarah explore what it means to lead with genuine curiosity and determination, the power of staying close to the ground even at the most senior level, and why Sarah actively welcomes the moments that don't sit comfortably — because those, she has learned, are often where the greatest growth lies.

They also discuss Sarah's IoD Director of the Year Award, the quietly complex feelings that come with individual recognition when success is always a team effort, and the surprising personal challenge Sarah set herself in her forties — taking up running from scratch and completing her first half-marathon last year, with more already on the horizon.

Warm, candid and quietly inspiring, this is a conversation about leadership, lifelong learning, and the very human thread that runs through every great organisation.

In this episode of the Leaders in Business podcast, Marlene is joined by Rebecca Rigby, Operations Director at Bluestone National Park Resort — a five-star holiday destination in Wales welcoming hundreds of thousands of guests each year.

Rebecca's story is one of full circles. Growing up immersed in her family's thriving hospitality empire — spanning pubs, restaurants, a hotel and a nightclub — she developed a formidable grounding in people, service and work ethic from a young age. But with a burning desire to spread her wings, she studied economics in Bristol before landing her first role at a German investment bank in London, trading on the floor during the turbulent days following 9/11.

In a male-dominated environment where she was once told by a senior leader that "no woman would ever make it on his trading floor," Rebecca chose to answer with determination rather than defeat — and proved him wrong. After several years in the city, she followed her heart back to Wales and rejoined the family business, only to find that deep-rooted generational expectations around gender could not be shifted regardless of her efforts. It was a pivotal and difficult decision, but one that ultimately set her on the path to discovering her own leadership identity.

From her early days at Bluestone, through to a senior commercial role at the National Trust navigating the complex balance between conservation and commerce, Rebecca's journey has been shaped by moments of growth, reinvention and the courage to choose her own direction. Eight years later, she returned to Bluestone as Operations Director — a role that felt, in every sense, like coming home.

Marlene and Rebecca explore the fascinating concept of generational pivoting — the shift between traditional family models and the evolving expectations of today's workforce — and the importance of creating space for both men and women to navigate that change authentically. Rebecca also shares her passion for elevating the hospitality sector as a destination for meaningful, long-term careers, and reflects on the possibility of one day building a family business legacy of her own.

A warm, candid and genuinely inspiring conversation about resilience, identity and what it truly means to lead.