Sally Weatherly · CV · Updated October 2026

Sally Weatherly

Growth and operations, built rather than advised.

I've spent the last fifteen years growing businesses from the ground up, solving operational challenges and building systems that scale while staying efficient and human-friendly. I bring hands-on delivery: two businesses founded, ten websites, five books, a Times-listed Airbnb, and a growing set of AI tools built for other people. Astrophysicist by degree, problem-solver by nature.

Selected achievements

  • Founded GradePod in 2019, an IB Physics learning platform that still helps 5,000+ students across 60+ countries annually, is used by 1,000+ teachers, and is cited around 2,000 times a day in Google's AI features.
  • Joined Perigon Partners in February 2026 and by July had built three AI lead tools and a complete internal CRM dashboard, and rebuilt the website, working to the CEO's subject-matter expertise. 31x pageviews in week one; first leads on a new tool inside 24 hours.
  • Changed GradePod's business model ahead of the market when AI undercut paid courses, giving away a £490 library and replacing it with a £49 product now selling passively.
  • Built Garden Rooms Edinburgh from a garden shed: project managed the construction, then built and ran the business for 13 years, profitable every year since 2013. 70+ five-star reviews on Booking.com, a Guardian Best British Bolthole and one of the Times' best 15 Airbnbs in Edinburgh. Rebuilt the booking site in 2026 and tripled direct bookings.

Experience

Growth & Operations Lead, Perigon Partners

Feb 2026 to present

B Corp strategy and sustainability consultancy, Edinburgh. I lead the brand, website, content, systems and automations. The consultants hold the strategy and sustainability expertise; my job is to get it out of their heads and into tools and systems clients can use.

  • Rebuilt perigonpartners.co.uk in Astro with a git-backed CMS the team edits themselves. 31x pageviews in week one; HubSpot 69 to 97.
  • Built the firm's lead tools with the CEO and Head of Strategy, who own the scoring and the regulatory content: an ESG compliance checker and the Strategy Score diagnostic. First leads inside 24 hours.
  • Designed and built the company intranet and CRM rather than buying HubSpot, allowing limitless personalisation of internal data and significant cost-saving.
  • Created a weekly AI news agent that informs consultants on targeted industry updates, with a feedback loop that learns from the CEO's own edits and turns her position into published commentary.
  • Took the fourth ESG Banking Barometer from bank reports to a published, citable research asset: authored by the CEO, reviewed externally, launched with a press page and campaign. 5 leads from the firm's target audience in 3 days. project log

Founder, GradePod

Nov 2019 to present

IB Physics learning platform that has delivered free lessons to 30,000+ students in total since 2020 and has generated multiple six figures in revenue. Used and recommended by 1,000+ IB Physics teachers worldwide, with 65 five-star Trustpilot reviews.

  • Ranked first on Google for every major IB Physics keyword for several years. Now cited around 2,000 times a day inside Google's AI features. project log
  • Pivoted the business model in 2026. Made an online course, previously sold at £490 per person, completely free on YouTube. Built a £49 practice pack and now have a strong, consistent stream of passive sales, kicking off with 151 sold through the initial three-month off-season. project log
  • Migrated from Kajabi to a self-built Astro site; costs fell from £250 a month to £9. Turned 100 hours of tutorial video into 300+ short clips with an AI pipeline. project log

Founder and operator, Garden Rooms Edinburgh

2013 to present

Luxury self-catering let in Edinburgh, built from a garden shed. I project managed the construction and have run everything since: pricing, marketing, the website and direct booking, accounts, maintenance, guest communications, licensing and the cleaning. Profitable every year since opening. The June 2026 booking-site rebuild tripled direct bookings, at 0% commission rather than 15%.

AI & Automation Consultant, Sallys.ai

Jan 2024 to Feb 2025

An accidental consultancy. It started with me blogging about the AI automations I'd built for GradePod, and ended with a global client list wanting the same built into their own businesses: customer-service automations, AI lead magnets, operations workflows.

Founder, Guzled

2015 to 2020

Resource hub for physics teachers, sold worldwide. Merged into GradePod.

Trustee, Our Dynamic Earth

2014 to 2021

Board of Scotland's leading science engagement centre.

Earlier: Head of Physics, Fettes College. Physics teacher, Whitgift School. Trainee actuarial consultant, Mercer.

Recognition

  • Two Amazon #1 titles
  • Fellow of the Institute of Physics
  • BETT Award nomination, 2016

Education

  • BSc (Hons) Astrophysics, University of Edinburgh
  • PGCE Physics, King's College London

Books

Tools

Build: Claude Code, Astro, Netlify, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Keystatic · Automate: Zapier, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets, Claude API, Tavily · Sell and measure: Stripe, ThriveCart, Lodgify, FreeAgent, Kit, GA4, Search Console, LinkedIn Ads · Create: Canva, ScreenFlow, ffmpeg

Sally Weatherly · Growth and operations, built rather than advised hi@sallyweatherly.com · sallyweatherly.com