Rachael Smith has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Inspirational Woman of the Year award at the Women’s Business Awards. She is also a finalist in the ‘Giving Back’ category.
Rachael runs local groups in the community, and has been put forward due to her voluntary efforts across Renfrewshire.
The 45-year-old is one of only three women in Scotland to reach the final stage.
She feels that all of her work is about bringing people together in the Renfrewshire community and supporting local businesses.
One of the most important groups to Rachael is her ladies social group ‘Renfrewshire Ladies’, which has almost 2,000 women who meet up and attend regular events together.
Rachael started the group to simply find other like-minded women she could connect with.
She said: “I started the group in 2022, I was coming out of lockdown, and working from home with the same four walls all the time.
“I decided I wanted to get out more so I created this ladies group and at first it was quite small.
“It’s always nerve-wracking starting something, I thought what if they don’t like me, or they think I’m weird, or even worse, what if no one shows up”.
The group has had amazing success, with the ladies at the group describing it as “life changing”.
They spoke to me about how much the group has impacted them.
One member said: “It’s a lifeline. I don’t think Rachael appreciates how much an impact shes had on all the ladies in the group. It gives ladies confidence, and allows them to meet people and make friends.
“It’s a lovely space and there is such a variety of activities; brunches, murder mysteries, coffee mornings, ring making. We even do ABBA nights, there really is something for everyone.
“The group really is somewhere where ladies can come together”.
Rachael’s group has clearly made an impact on the local women and the community.
Rachael highlighted: “It can be scary for women to put themselves out there and go make new friends.
“We always try to make all the women feel welcome, even small things such as walking in with them when they’re attending for the first time can make such a difference”.
“Still today there are ladies that came to that first meet up, that still come”.
Outside of the ladies group, Rachael runs the Renfrewshire Board Games, Renfrewshire macaroni cheese club, and Paisley Heritage Group.
Also, she is a presenter on Paisley radio, and hosts radio chat shows. Rachael’s favourite thing about this is that she can give people a voice and a platform to share their stories.
Rachael is hoping to be lucky at the Women’s Business Awards on Wednesday.
The voting for Rachael is open, and you can vote for her here.
