In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Gael Simpson, personal trainer, menopause movement coach and former senior education leader. After more than 20 years as a teacher, head teacher and local authority leader for health and wellbeing, Gael has completely redesigned her career around movement, resilience and workplace wellbeing.

Gael shares her journey from primary teaching to headship, then into a strategic quality improvement role where she led health and wellbeing, physical activity and mental health initiatives across Aberdeen schools – including introducing the Daily Mile and helping create the city’s Mental Health Collaborative. She talks honestly about a later move into the NHS as lead specialist for wellbeing and development, why the culture wasn’t right for her, and the big decision to resign without another job lined up.

Alongside her education career, Gael and her partner were quietly running Tunnel Training Fitness, offering free outdoor fitness sessions to build community and remove cost barriers. After formalising her qualifications as a personal trainer and gym instructor, she decided to “take the bull by the horns” and launch her own business focused on personal training, outdoor classes and corporate wellbeing – with the mantra “healthy body, healthy mind, healthy business.”

Gael now works with individuals and organisations on fitness, lifestyle, resilience and menopause. She runs one-to-one and small group training, outdoor classes and two corporate programmes: one focused on individual wellbeing, and “Vibe with Your Tribe”, which helps teams build collective resilience, shared values and healthier everyday habits at work.

We also dive into menopause at work and for business owners. Gael explains the difference between perimenopause and menopause, the impact of symptoms like brain fog, poor sleep and low motivation, and why strength training, nutrition, rest and digital detoxes can make such a difference. She shares how leaders can support menopausal staff and talks about her six-session menopause movement programme and her free Resilience Alphabet resource for adults and young people.

This is an uplifting, practical conversation about listening to your values, backing yourself through big career change and finding your strength – whether that’s getting out of bed on a tough day, leading a team or running a marathon.

In this episode, we cover

1. Gael’s 20+ year career in education: teacher, head teacher and local authority quality improvement manager
2. Leading health and wellbeing in schools: Daily Mile, physical activity initiatives and the Aberdeen City Mental Health Collaborative
3. A move into the NHS as lead specialist for wellbeing and development – and why the culture didn’t fit
4. The decision to resign without another job and the mindset and support network that made it possible
5. Running Tunnel Training Fitness: free outdoor fitness sessions that build community and remove cost barriers
6. Gaining personal training and gym instructor qualifications and launching her own business
7. The reality of early self-employment: financial uncertainty, being your own boss and the importance of networking
8. Corporate wellbeing offers:
9. Individual wellbeing sessions – reflection, priorities, lifestyle and showing up well at work
10. Vibe with Your Tribe – resilience, guiding principles, values, behaviours and collective non-negotiables
11. Why leadership role-modelling matters more than wellbeing posters or policies
12. Remote and hybrid working: the pros and cons, and how to make in-person days genuinely valuable
13. Gael’s work as a menopause movement coach: perimenopause symptoms, brain fog, sleep, motivation and weight gain
14. Practical menopause support for women: strength training, planned nutrition, rest, digital detox and self-compassion
15. How leaders can better support menopausal staff through conversations, one-to-ones and structured programmes
16. The Resilience Alphabet as a tool to help adults and young people build and understand resilience
17. Gael’s core values: person-centred, authentic, high integrity – and her mantra, “Find your strength within.”