The High-Performing Virus: Paula Paterson on Transforming Culture from Within

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Paula Paterson, Founder and Solutions Director at FidesOak, a consultancy specialising in organisational cultural transformation in high-hazard industries. Paula explains how FidesOak helps leaders build high-performing teams that act like a “high-performing virus” inside an organisation – spreading better habits, psychological safety and performance from the inside out. Paula Paterson Edited

We talk about measuring culture rather than guessing, why diagnostics matter more than scattergun initiatives, and how FidesOak’s habits framework turns good intentions into repeatable, sustainable behaviour. Paula shares the idea of cultural architects vs cultural assassins, the science behind the “3.5% tipping point” for big shifts, and why cultural change usually takes three to five years – even when leaders are impatient for quick fixes. Paula Paterson Edited

Paula also opens up about her own “chequered” career journey: from office junior and beauty therapist, to mature social sciences student, to learning and development specialist, to co-founding a company three months before the first lockdown. She talks about driving the length of the country during COVID, going underground in mines and offshore to really understand clients’ worlds, and what she’s learned about courage, self-belief and “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” as a woman leading in male-dominated, high-hazard environments. Paula Paterson Edited

In this episode, we cover:

1. What FidesOak actually does and why cultural change starts with high-performing teams, not slogans
2. The “high-performing virus” metaphor – and how to spread positive habits through an organisation
3. Cultural architects vs cultural assassins, and how to empower the right 3.5% of your people
4. Why cultural change takes years, not months, and how to show progress with real measurement
5. FidesOak’s habits framework and the difference between a behaviour you try once and a habit that sticks
6. Paula’s journey from beauty therapy to social sciences, L&D and high-hazard industries
7. Founding a company on the eve of a global pandemic – and what resilience really looked like in practice
8. Her advice to women in leadership: lean into your eminence, mine your past successes, and be a “diva” in the best possible way