How a Stewarton Connection
Shaped a Professional Business Book
Fiona Campbell Arrand
When leadership specialist and business coach Fiona Campbell-Arrand attended a networking event at The Mill House in Stewarton in 2025, she didn’t expect it to influence the direction of her first business book. Yet a conversation that evening with Stewarton-based Book Consultant, Suzanne Ulph, proved to be the turning point.
Fiona had been developing a manuscript based on more than 35 years of work in leadership development, coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She had drafted chapters and outlined her thinking, believing she was close to completion. What she had was depth of experience. What she needed was clarity and fresh perspective.
After attending one of Suzanne’s creative writing evenings in Stewarton, Fiona asked her to review the draft. Suzanne, founder of the Curious Wolf Collective – a group of highly experienced publishing professionals – offered clear and constructive feedback. She challenged Fiona to sharpen the message, strengthen the structure and focus more clearly on the reader. Instead of simply finishing a manuscript, Fiona began reshaping it into a business book designed to offer practical value.
At the heart of the book is one powerful idea: trust.
Before her late husband, Duncan, passed away, Fiona asked him what he believed mattered most in a leader. His answer was immediate – trust. That single word became the guiding principle behind the book and its title, Working with Trust.
The book explores how trust is built – and often broken – in everyday workplace conversations. It focuses on the small but significant moments: how expectations are set, how feedback is delivered, how leaders respond under pressure and how consistency builds credibility. Alongside practical frameworks, it includes real-life leadership stories drawn from both Fiona and Duncan’s careers, showing how these principles play out in real organisations. The aim is to give readers tools they can apply immediately in their own workplaces.
Over the months that followed, the manuscript grew stronger. With Suzanne’s guidance and the support of professionals connected through the Curious Wolf Collective, Fiona refined her ideas, strengthened the narrative and shaped the material into a clear and accessible read for modern workplaces.
Early readers are already responding positively. Lindsay Jackson, Global Sales Manager, described it as “one of the most human, practical and generous leadership books I’ve read in a very long time.” Carol Deveney, Managing Director, called it “a brilliant combination of actionable frameworks and real-world solutions – a toolkit you’ll go back to time and again.”
Working with Trust will be published on 26 March 2026. Readers who join the waiting list by scanning the QR code will receive updates as the book approaches launch and will be first to access it when it is released. They will also receive complimentary access to three self-learning programmes — Emotional Intelligence Mastery, Making Sense of Communication and Eliminating Imposter Syndrome — together worth £225.
From that first conversation at The Mill House to creative sessions in Stewarton, the book’s development reflects the strength of local collaboration and professional talent within the community.
What began in Stewarton is now set to reach readers far beyond Ayrshire — a reminder that important opportunities often start closer to home than we expect.
Contact Fiona Campbell Arrand at
www.theprofessionalgrowthcompany.com
Or fiona@theprofessionalgrowthcompany.com
