From Blown Glass To Global Whisky: Karen Somerville On Craft, Festivals, And Mentoring

Karen Somerville shares how a sealed glass angel turned a whisky legend into a global brand, then charts her pivot into mentoring, festivals, and hands-on consulting. We explore practical networking, women-led business support, and why calm problem solving beats panic.

• origin of Angel Share and the whisky myth
• scaling craft glassware into global export
• limited editions and collector demand
• transition of the workshop and legacy
• shift into consulting and mentoring founders
• practical fixes for cash flow, exports, and ops
• value of local networking and agency support
• women’s peer groups and joining criteria
• festivals, distilleries, and future whisky projects
• resilient mindset and advice to new founders

Transcript

Meet Karen Somerville

SPEAKER_01 0:15

So we have a fantastic guest today, Karen Somerville. Karen has a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship. She's a the former owner of Angel Share, and she's a whiskey specialist. So, you know, lots of uh lots of feathers in Karen's cap. So welcome Karen. Thanks for coming along to King Street today. Thank you. So we'll talk a little bit about uh how you got started in business to begin to begin with, and uh and then we'll just evolve the conversation from there if it's

The Angel’s Share Origin Story

SPEAKER_01 0:44

okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

So um I started off so Angel Share is was a glass manufacturing company um formed in 2012, and um it was myself and my father started it, and we recognised that in whiskey um everyone who visits a distillery in Scotland, the Angel Share is discussed, and the Angel Share is the 2% of whiskey that is lost in maturation when the whiskey's in the casks. So they say before science got involved, the angels came down and took their share of the whiskey, which left slightly empty casks. So every distillery in Scotland talks about that, and we decided, as my dad was a glass blower, that we would create an angel that was filled with whiskey that was sealed. So no one ever got the angel share, and this was the icon of the angel share. So a bit like our mythology was a bit like the Loch Nest Monster, no one's ever seen it, but everyone believes in it. So um we created something that was tangible, and and so we started that company, and with that, I then got heavily into learning about whiskey and tasting whiskey, and just fell in love and got really passionate about the fact that whiskey is so diverse. There's so many whiskies out there, and then we just evolved the business from there into whiskey glassware, so um accessories, um, additional things that you would buy with your bottle of whiskey, water droppers and um gift sets, glassware, all that kind of stuff. So we manufactured all that. And where was that based? It was based in Bridge of Allen, right? So always had a glass-blowing factory. My dad ran a factory um there making giftware and scientific glassware for um a long, long time since the 60s. Um and yeah, so his expertise, but he had retired when I came up with the idea of the Angel Share. So we took him out of retirement, built the business up, and then we're um so then we built it up to a global um business and we were exporting all over the world with our products, and um within that I learned so much about whiskey. So then I became really interested in the whiskey industry, and I was asked to be a judge for whiskey competitions and awards, and then my business partner and I, who bus my one of my whiskey friends and I decided to go into business together and set up a whiskey festival. And at that time, um there was no whiskey festival in Fife, and that was the only area that didn't have a whiskey festival, so we

Building A Global Glassware Brand

SPEAKER_00 3:16

set it up in Fife. So that's where the kind of journey was that? So uh 2017 was our first uh whiskey festival, um, 2018, and then um that ran really successfully and got bigger and bigger and bigger from a one-day event to now a whole full weekend destination event. So, yeah. So um all that, and that's just pivot pivoted me into whiskey in general and just being immersed in the the knowledge and the learning of of how whiskey's made and the industry itself. Yeah. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Fantastic. So So back to the angel share. Yeah. Um so that was a what a closed glass bottle, if you like, filled with whiskey.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Decorative, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

So a decorative ornament that So nobody would ever drink from it.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah, and we did some limited editions. So we did um we would do a limited edition every year, and that would be an old and rare whiskey. So we have angels that are filled with like 40-year-old Rbegs, um, you know, McAllen's, really, really um old and rare whiskies, which are sealed away forever. And as soon as they become lost whiskies where you know there's just no none of that left, or um it's not in an archive somewhere, then our angels still hold that. So whoever bought them. Um they were small runs, so we only ever did 50 angels. That was it. Wow. And we had collectors from all over the world, so yeah. So it was

Limited Editions And Collectors

SPEAKER_00 4:36

great concept. Yeah, it's a good it was a good thing. And now Angel Share has is evolved. Um obviously I've it left the business, and my um glassblowers who worked, you know, worked with us for all that time, um, they now carry on the Angel Share and and um uh so they are now carrying on that legacy of my dad and I and and and and still making the same products.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So are they being made now?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So they're now in Glasgow, so still in Scotland. Um but they um were uh Sean has got a studio in Glasgow now, so um yeah, so from But Bridge of Allen was always our home and Sterling we've always I've always been really passionate about.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

The Woodwinter's premises now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Um Were you in the premises on the It's across from the Elmwater Cafe, so we had um a studio and a retail shop there. Right. Um and then we moved down to where the UCP is, the um Cork and Seal used to be called. So we had um big offices in the factory studio down there. So um yeah, so we we evolved quite quickly and and um yeah, we grew into.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Great. So as you came out of that, the glass blowing business, if you like, and obviously continued your passion for whiskey, which I know you're very passionate about still, um you started to diversify a little bit and uh do other things from a business perspective. Um so do you want to tell the audience a little bit about what you've been doing since uh since you left Angel Share?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

So not just um while I was in business, I networked a lot. So networking for me was a big thing in terms of meeting people and getting the product out there as well, but also to learn about other people's businesses. And I am also part of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, so I'm vice chair of that. That's a uh Fourth Valley-based um women's uh business group of purely peer, uh peer-to-peer support and mentoring. Um, it's part of a bigger UK-wide, but we're the Scottish arm. So I'm vice chair of that, and my networking for business was always that there were so many people in business that gave me a hand up when we were starting, that now I go, actually, I can really help a lot of businesses who are either starting or have a business that's doing really well but they want to grow it, and where where do they start? So that's kind of my niche is that I want to help. I want to to help other businesses get, you know, get into growth and also add value to what I've the experience that I've got and share that with them.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

So in some cases, uh are you becoming a bit of a fixer to help businesses turn themselves around?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yeah, I like problem solving. I've all I'm always a uh I always love a challenge. And even when things you know in business do go wrong, I was always straight in there, you know, like almost, you know, metaphorically in my whaley boots up to my knees in it, and I would learn how to, you know, get myself either out of whatever it was, whether it was import duties or, you know, learning how to export to a certain country. I was always the one that would go in and and

Legacy And Move To Glasgow

SPEAKER_00 7:38

problem solve that to to find out how it worked and how we could resolve solutions.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Good. So do you specialise in any particular sectors or are you pretty diversified?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

I'm pretty, yeah, I'm pretty wide. In fact, um people will tell you and even when when I did go in to start consulting and um the clients that I work with, um it's so varied. You know, some clients I'm dealing with their marketing and helping them with their messaging and their marketing, and some clients I'm helping them with their financials and their you know, cash flow and stuff like that. And it's all these little things that people just go, Well, I don't really understand that. Can you help me understand that? And that's probably more the value I want to bring. I don't want to go into a business and do it for them. I want to go into a business and teach them how to do it for themselves, and that's probably the value that I add.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

And how long have you been going at that then?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

So um since um 18 months, yeah. So quite fresh into it all. So 18 months into it and really enjoying it and working with some fantastic Scottish companies. Scottish business is a passion for mine, especially women-led businesses. Um, I really like to help um, you know, and understand how they can make their business grow and be successful. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

So is it all Scottish base or do you do anything kind of south of the border?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Well, it's all Scottish base now. I did have an Australian client um who now have relocated or have opened up a Scottish um warehouse and unit in Stirling. So I've relocated them from Milton Keynes. They did have uh 3PL down in Milton Keynes, and I've relocated all that up to Stirling because they came to Stirling for a visit to meet me and fell in love with the place. And I said, Well, you can have the business here, I can oversee it from and they're Australian. So there is a a bit still a bit of a global connection there. So they're in Australia and I help um I'm what they're called, their their sounding board and buffer board for for their business here. And they've just you know, I've hired all those staff, I've built their team up and everything here.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

So what's the nature of that business?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

So is moon bottles, so they're stainless steel um water bottles and and thermal mugs, and they're very eco-conscious company,

Pivot To Consulting And Mentoring

SPEAKER_00 9:46

um fantastic values and you know, almost be corpse certified, but not quite yet. And so they're on that level of of um great family business and um great products. So yeah, totally invested in it. And very similar to what I did at Angel Share in terms of, you know, warehousing, exporting, e-commerce, you know. Um I do a lot of e-commerce stuff as well.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So you do a lot of that with Angel Share along?

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Yeah, so e-commerce. So we had yeah, Angel Share was e-commerce and wholesale trade, and um we did scientific stuff, so we did also have an uh from the other side of distilling, we would deal with the retail shops and the visitor centres and their outlets, but we would also deal with the distilling wear, which was um all the scientific glassware that's used in the actual whiskey making process. Yeah, okay, for the measurements. Yeah. So so there was kind of two edges there for that.

unknown 10:44

Great.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

So if we kind of come back to the networking piece, because um, in fact, we've had uh a couple of uh previous guests that we've had on have started business clubs and networking groups. Um you're probably familiar with uh the Ukrainian lady that uh founded the Ukrainian Women's Business Club. So we've had her on the podcast, uh Anna. Yeah. Um the power of networking is so significant, and you know, certainly the circles that you know we we work in within within Sterling, there's lots of opportunity to join different and be part of different networking groups. So um networking from the perspective of you know women's entrepreneurial groups, what else do you typically engage with from a networking point of view in the area? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

So from networking from my point of view is um engage with agencies. You know, if I wouldn't have grown my business without the support of people like the Chamber of Commerce, um, you know, Business Gateway, all these um pockets of agencies who are there to support business. And if you engage with them, you will get it back tenfold, you know, either whether it's in connections or whether it's in funding or you know, just knowledge to help you build your own knowledge. I f I just find that in Stirling we're actually really on Fourth Valley as a whole, we're really rich in business support. And I think that should be applauded because I think there is other places in Scotland and and you know, and certainly in England that don't have what we have here, which is really good.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yeah, no, I would definitely concur with that. And I think certain from our perspective as well, you know, we have a lot of things going on in this building with the apart

Hands-On Problem Solving

SPEAKER_01 12:18

hotel, the workspace business, the events business, but our whole strategy is about engaging the community. Yeah. And that is another form of networking, and you know, you you always get a lot back from what you put into these things.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Aaron Powell Definitely. And there's always someone, especially when you and and and it's not for everyone networking that some takes people out of their comfort zone. But I think even if you're the quietest person in the room, you can come away with a nugget of information that will help you or help someone you know that you need to help, you know, and or a connection or something. You always come away with something. You never come away and go, Well, that was a waste of my time. Um there's always someone there that will be willing to help or you know, put you in touch with someone, or and I think that's the beauty of networking, and especially with the the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, is very peer-to-peer support. So there's no buy-in, there's no, you know, there's no sell, there's no big sell there. There's lots of different diverse um people doing different things in business, but they all have a shared um kind of I suppose support way of wanting to help each other. Um and that that's what I like about it.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

There's no how big is that group for Scotland?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

So we have about um the group itself in Scotland we have about 40 members, um and but the wider group as a whole um has hundreds. Um the the London UK-based, yeah. It's it's it's very uh Scotland's um kind of just the the small arm of it really. And then uh the UK-based is also part of an international um group which plugs into that. So you have got you know, if you want to network with other female-led businesses internationally, you can do that through um the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs as well. But the Fourth Valley um group that we have are all you know uh Stirling based or um you know Perth or are all in a kind of radius of the central belt, which is great. Um and we meet quarterly. Um and the the women are always, you know, really supportive,

E‑Commerce And Scientific Glass

SPEAKER_00 14:25

helpful, um even if it's right down to you know, if you've got an HR problem and you just can't get your head around it, someone will go, Well, I you know, I've been there, done that.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

So if some of the listeners, some of the um, you know, the women out there that are looking to be part of that that that type of group, how how would they get in touch?

SPEAKER_00 14:43

And well, there's all sorts of so um Bowie, as we call it, um is all is it has quite strict criteria to join. So you have to have a certain turnover, you have to have put your own capital into your business. Um you have to put your own capital at risk and there's and have to employ staff. So it's it's quite strict on criteria, but there are other women's groups like Emerge with Ceteris, which is fantastic for entry-level um women in business who are in the Maggie rooms, right? Yeah, so um Maggie and the and the people at Cetarist, the team there are fantastic. They have a skill share which is invaluable. You know, if you've got a certain skill share, whether it be Google Ads or whatever, then you can tap into that in that network really easily, a bit a bit of trade-off for tokens and stuff. It's a really good way to network. Um so if you're not at that stage where you have built a business to a certain stage, but you're you're just kind of in the peripheral, then things like Emerge or um are great um stepping stones to then get into Bowie because the the UK restrictions are quite tight.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

So what next for the Somerville conglomerate then? So where where are you going next?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Well, so the festival, um I run I run two festivals, the Fife Whiskey Festival on uh Borderlands, which is in Lockerby. Um and the festivals they tick over. Um I think I'm coming as a guest to the next one. I think you are, yes, which will be lovely. And so yeah, so they have uh they've been going for a long time as well, they just kind of tick over. So when the festival time is on, then that's kind of when I meet all my whiskey friends and and do a lot of stuff like that. And there's lots of whiskey conferences and things to go to. And then um one of my clients is a distillery, so they're building a brand new distillery and being on board with that is really. Is that the one you're still? No, it's not. It's up in Angus, unfortunately. Yeah. So there is one in Stirling as well, which I have been

The Power Of Local Networking

SPEAKER_00 16:44

involved with to a point, and um one we'll see what happens with that. But yeah, being involved on their journeys and and having that whiskey expertise and knowledge of about you know how I've bottled whiskey, I've blended whiskey, I've made my, you know, I I launched my own single malt, I've launched, you know, when I had Angel Share, we I kind of diversed a bit when whiskey was my passion. I said, Oh, I want to have my own whiskey. So so yeah, so I think probably more towards the whiskey-related side of things as well as the business related side of things. I always say I'm passionate about whiskey, Scotland, and business, and that's my three main things that are. Yeah, and if they all intertwine with each other, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Brilliant. Okay. So here's a question for you. So now older, wiser, very experienced in the world of business, okay, what would you say to your younger self if you were start starting out again?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

I would say everything works out. Because you have so many barriers in business, and constantly, if you especially when you're a sole trader or you're, you know, you don't have a big team, or or even if you do have a big team, you're constantly firefighting something, whether it's you know customers or whether it's there's always something that needs sorted out. And you can have sleepless nights and worry and this is it, it's over moments. But actually, if you just take a breath and look at things, you know, methodically, or whatever you need to do, things work out. Whether they work out for the you know, they were work out in one reason or another. And that's what I would tell myself now. I see, do not panic, things will work out.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Great advice. Yeah, for all those uh you know budding business owners and entrepreneurs out there. I mean, yeah, uh y you find that every day you you you run in you run into some some challenge or the other. So just having the faith that things are gonna work out as a and having the resilience to go, actually, is this as bad as it it's gonna be okay?

SPEAKER_00 18:50

And how you know being able to to problem solve or just have someone in that can help you take that stress out of things. I mean the amount of worry that I have hours I've wasted on worry on things, and now looking back I go, I what was I worrying about? Yeah. Just we just got on with it, or we just changed tack or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Great. Great advice. Uh current um fantastic topics that we've covered, and very diverse as well, which is fantastic. So uh thanks for coming in, thanks for being part of the podcast and uh sharing sharing your uh story.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Yeah, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Thank you, Karen.

unknown 19:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

So we're coming to the end of another Sterling Business podcast. Uh Karen Somerville, our guest

Women’s Groups And Criteria

SPEAKER_01 19:35

today, uh, very passionate about whiskey, I think it's fair to say, and also business and entrepreneurialship, particularly in supporting women in that uh in that particular uh area. So thanks again for joining, and we'll be with you again on the next episode.