Rachel McDougall’s story is a masterclass in backing yourself when everything around you says “don’t.” In this episode of Sourced, Rachel shares how COVID sparked her leap from events work into coaching, how she returned to Scotland after losing her dad, and how she built Tribe in tiny Kirkcudbright from scrappy community-hall classes, bootcamps, and hauling equipment in a trailer into a real facility—only to find herself trapped in a “busy but broken” model: low prices, endless classes, inconsistent delivery, burnout, and barely paying herself. She opens up about the moment she realised she couldn’t keep serving everyone at the expense of her own life, and the fear of changing in a small town where rumours spread fast and everyone has an opinion. This one’s for any gym owner who feels stuck, overworked, and secretly knows: it’s time to raise the standard.
