Roots and Wings.
My Mum told me, as her Mum had told her, it was important to give your kids Roots & Wings. She did just that for me.
I've always known my roots and my parents raised me and gave me the confidence and the courage to fly. I grew up on a farm in southwest Scotland in a loving and supportive family.
I always knew I wanted to travel and explore the world.
The dream that haunts me.
After high school that took me to Australia where at18 years old, I had a dream so vivid and visceral it has stayed with me ever since. I dreamt I was a bird trapped in a cage, and I woke up with this haunting feeling, of never wanting to be trapped and to be free.
Over the next few years, I experienced that freedom through travel, moving from place to place with nothing but a bag on my back. It was through my travels that I was moulded as an adult. Discovering new cultures, languages, people, and places expanded my heart and mind.
In 2012 I arrived in South Africa, it was there I founded Be United with my co-founder Boysie Gumede. (I also met my future husband on that very first trip to SA, but more on that another time).
Building Be United.
I built Be United from an idea into a national Scottish charitable organisation. For 13 years I followed that calling, working to build Be United, to be one of the leading spaces and platforms amplifying Scotland’s Black creative voices.
I built Be United in a way, that honoured (unconsciously) my desire to feel free.
But somewhere along the line, the life I had created in the pursuit of building something started to feel like a cage.
I was in debt, Be United felt like it wasn’t going anywhere, I didn’t have much of a social life and after a bad break up and an abortion, in 2018 I hit my rock bottom.
I remember being told ‘show me your friends and I’ll show you your future’ I looked at my life and I knew it wasn’t going to create the future I wanted.
Then life, as it beautifully does, life’s.
In 2025 I found out I was pregnant and that we had secured 3 years of multiyear funding for Be United. Two huge milestones.
The funding milestone was significant because as a Founder and CEO, it's hard to step away without longer term funding. For the first time in 13 years, it would be possible and I knew the time had come.
I went on Maternity Leave and in 2026 I handed my notice in at Be United.
I had to rediscover who I was.
After over a decade spent working on Be United, leaving to start a new business and be with my family. I had to rediscover who I was, who I am in this new season and phase of life.
I'm still figuring it out and while I do I am building a business with a new mission and a new purpose.
This next chapter I will serve other women who like me feel trapped in an area of their lives and are ready to break free.
If this speaks to you, join my growing community of women, building a life they love.
If you feel trapped.
By your career, maybe like me, you’ve built an organisation or business that now feels like a golden cage. Maybe it’s the friendships you have or the relationship you are in. Maybe the kids who you love unconditionally are feeling like a prison.
Or maybe it’s just a dull feeling that there must be more to life, that what you’re living (no matter how lovely it may be) just isn’t it.
No matter where you are or what the exact situation is. If this speaks to you, please reach out below to see how we can work together.
‘‘Your dreams matter as much as your responsibilities.’’
— Emma Sithole
Contact me
For speaking, collaborations, or opportunities to work together. I’d love to hear from you.