Tash went on to train at Queen Margaret University, expecting that she would become a sound and lighting engineer, but she found stage management and knew it was the perfect fit for her love of organisation and attention to detail.

“I can walk into a room, take a look around, live there for 3 days and then put everything back exactly as I found it so that you wouldn’t know I had been there,” she says. “I guess I would have made a good cat burglar or jewellery thief, but instead I became a stage manager. I realised I was good at diffusing stressful situations, thinking of other people and working out what they need, and completing tasks to an absolute standard. I love the unpredictability, the urgency and the sense of closure and accomplishment at the end of a project or a show.”

After graduating, Tash worked in stage management in opera and ballet and then moved into international touring, working in Russia, Europe and the Middle East with the Traverse, Grid Iron and many others. A shift into producing led to some years with Iron-Oxide and site specific work with circus and aerial elements. This culminated with a show that was part of the cultural program accompanying the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. 

Tash says: “I was 9 months pregnant with my second child when I finished working on that show. With one child it was manageable – I could just put them on my back and keep going! With two…? Maybe it was time to think about doing something new!” 

It was then that Stuart Nairn, whom Tash first met while studying at Queen Margaret, asked her to join him at Big House Events along with Nicola Milazzo and JJ McGregor, and the timing was perfect. Big House is one of Scotland’s leading set and scenery providers designing and building props, scenery and furniture for the creative and corporate sectors. The company has worked with renowned organisations such as National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh International Science Festival, as well as private events companies creating sets and props of all shapes and sizes – including a giant hamster wheel. 

Tash says: “When I joined Big House the company had just moved to new premises. The lease was quite short which wasn’t an alarm bell at the time – but it would be now. We invested a lot of time and money into the building and had started to lease small studio space to other artists, which we realised worked well. But it all came to nothing as we had to move after just a year and a half” 

The company had to move six times in the next two years until they eventually found their current premises. While the building itself was too large for Big House, they didn’t want to lose it due to the security the lease could offer, and so they revisited the idea of leasing the extra space to other professionals. 

“Initially we ran the workshop as a continuation of Big House but we soon realised that there was an appetite amongst amateur makers to use the space and to learn woodwork, metal work and textile skills. So in 2017 Edinburgh Open Workshop was launched as a social enterprise company and secured funding for staff members to accommodate the growing needs of our makers.”

While her friends and family are not surprised that Tash is now the director of a large artistic hub, enabling and inspiring others, Tash herself says that EOW has grown in such an organic way, it is only when she looks back at where they have come from, that she truly appreciates the scale of the company’s success. 

She says: “At the worst of times, I was sat in the front of the Big House company van with the office in a box on my lap, while JJ and Stuart were in the back of the van building a set. I am so proud that we managed to hold onto Big House at a point when other people might have given up, and we found a way to build something else from it. And I am so proud of what EOW has become – the community we have here, the team – I’m humbled everyday by how much everyone gives.”

As EOW grew, so too did the role that Tash played within the organisation. She says: “I naturally love being a strong second in a team, so stepping out from behind Stuart to be the face of EOW was nerve racking. As the business started to get bigger and we were looking to expand, I realised that I needed some help to understand how to lead other managers in the organisation and to deal with conflicts and expectations within the business. This brought me to coaching as a solution.”

Tash was keen to find a mentor who had worked in the creative sector themselves and had lived experience of doing a similar role. Claire Carpenter was the Founder & CEO of The Melting Pot – Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation. She conceived & developed one of Europe’s first coworking spaces. So when Claire came up as a potential mentor and executive and leadership coach it seemed like the perfect match.

Tash says: “You really need to feel comfortable and at ease with the other person in this situation as they will be deep diving, asking awkward questions and holding you to account.”

With Claire’s guidance, Tash started to look at things differently, separating her personal feelings around work from doing what was right for the company. “A lot of what you learn through coaching is stuff you already know, but it’s good to have someone else say it in a different way. It is less about forcing opinions on someone else, but rather leading them to think of the right answer or solution. I think that’s something you do intuitively in a friendship situation but it tends to go out the window in a corporate environment. It’s nice to bring that into the workplace.” 

Tash believes that coaching could play a vital role in supporting other artists to develop the skills and understanding to turn their creative talents into a viable and worthwhile business. 

She says: “There are many challenges ahead for arts organisations, in particular with regards to funding. We’ve had decades of relying on benefactors and funding and, while there is still a need for that to some extent, I think that artists could be better supported towards creating their own business model, giving them more freedom and security to ultimately take their creativity further.”

Looking forward, Tash says her goal is to improve and build on what EOW has already achieved – providing more space for resident makers, more courses and improving their offering with other techniques such as hydro dipping.

“In the next ten years I would like to be in a position where we can secure a purpose-built facility that can service more people. Our current landlord is so supportive of us, it would be fantastic if we could do this together. And ideally I would like to stay in Leith as there is a great community of artists and makers here. I believe there is a place for everyone and I would really like to see us working closely with other making spaces in the future, to create a solid, supportive foundation for our sector.”