The Courage to Choose What’s Next

Sometimes the most significant career decisions don’t come from actively seeking change, but from taking the time to reflect and ‘see what happens’. For Emma Heath, it was a conversation during the Executive Women in Leadership (EWIL) programme that prompted her to think differently about what she wanted from the next stage of her career.

Emma had originally intended to study law in Manchester, but just missing out on the A level grades she needed, she took a gamble and came to Strathclyde Business School having never been to Scotland before. Emma graduated with a First Class honours degree and quickly discovered a passion for brands. From her first role working in advertising, she went on to build an impressive marketing career across some of Scotland’s best-known food and drink brands, from beer at Scottish & Newcastle to a diverse portfolio premium spirit at Maxxium UK and then on to biscuits at Nairn’s. Emma thrived in her role at Nairn’s, spending eight years there on the Operations Board heading up the marketing, insight and new product development function,

In 2017, Emma joined the Executive Women in Leadership (EWIL) programme primarily to support her learning as a member of the board.  Fast forwarding to 2023, the programme gave her the opportunity to step back, reflect and consider what she wanted from the next stage of her career.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

Towards the end of the EWIL programme, Emma met Jaqui Gale, who had joined one of the sessions as a speaker and also sat on the panel of Emma’s final course presentation. What began as a conversation about a business challenge soon became something much more personal.

Jacqui became a mentor to Emma, who Emma credits as giving her the confidence to take a leap of faith that would ultimately lead her to Quality Meat Scotland, an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that works across the red meat supply chain to improve efficiency, sustainability, integrity, and profitability in the Scottish red meat sector and who are guardians of the world-renowned Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb brands. Looking back, Emma credits the conversations had within the programme with helping her recognise something she had struggled to admit to herself.

“Sometimes you have to put yourself first and take some time to recalibrate. I’d never had the headspace to do that.  After hitting 50 and spending nearly 30 years in classic brand roles, I started to feel that my enthusiasm and experience could  be better used and valued elsewhere, in a place where there were more opportunities to influence greater change”

The conversations with Jacqui encouraged Emma to reflect on what she needed next and gave her the confidence to make a decision that felt unimaginable.

“I decided to leave a job that I absolutely loved without another one to go to.  I was really upset on my last day and felt consumed by the enormity of it all, not really knowing whether it was brave or stupid!”

It was a leap of faith, but one Emma now considers having been one of the most important decisions of her career.

People and Purpose

Shortly after leaving the role, and with Emma still unclear on what she really needed from a new direction, Jacqui challenged Emma with a simple exercise, asking her to describe what she wanted from her next role using just two words.

“As someone who is known for being chatty and articulate, I was pretty stuck for words to be honest and initially struggled.  Then from nowhere, the words ‘people’ and ‘purpose’ just came into my head.”

Those two words then became a simple way of defining what mattered most to Emma and shaped how she approached the next stage of her career. Emma has always proudly used her network to help and support others, but for the first time – encouraged by others – she leaned on the network she had built to help herself. Emma shared a LinkedIn post explaining she was looking for her next opportunity and something that was different to anything she’d done before.

The response was overwhelming, and that single post eventually led to a chance conversation with the Chief Executive of Quality Meat Scotland who had just started an off-market search for a restructured Marketing Director role

The rest, they say, is history. 

Looking back, Emma sees the experience as a reminder of the importance of investing in relationships throughout your career and remaining open to opportunities that you’d never have found or considered had you looked, which can emerge from unexpected conversations.

The Value of Perspective

For Emma, one of the greatest benefits of the EWIL programme was the opportunity to connect with women from a wide range of industries and leadership backgrounds. Hearing different perspectives challenged her thinking, encouraged her to reflect on her own leadership journey and reinforced that everyone has something valuable to contribute. Just as importantly, it created a trusted network of women who continue to support and encourage one another to this day. And some of those women have become good friends.

That sense of community has remained one of the most enduring aspects of the experience for Emma and many other members of the EWIL alumni.

Looking Ahead

Reflecting on her journey, Emma believes careers are rarely defined by following a perfectly planned route. Instead, they are often shaped by chance conversations we have, the people who encourage us to think differently and the confidence to embrace change when the time feels right even if it feels like a big step into the unknown.

As the Executive Women in Leadership programme celebrates its tenth anniversary, Emma recognises that one of its greatest strengths is the relationships it continues to foster long after the programme has finished. For her, the experience wasn’t simply about leadership development; it was about gaining perspective, finding a trusted network and having the support and confidence to make one of the biggest decisions of her career.

Executive Women in Leadership Alumni Spotlight Series

This article forms part of our Executive Women in Leadership Alumni Spotlight Series, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the EWLP programme in September 2026, and has been developed collaboratively with the support of Judy Wagner, Director of FWB Ltd and Prof Susan Murphy of The University of Edinburgh Business School, (who co-founded the EWLP), the EWIL Advisory Board, programme contributors, and interview participants.

The EWLP has since evolved into the Executive Leadership Programme (ELP), delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Business School and open to leaders of all genders across the private, public and third sectors.

For more information about joining the 2026 cohort, please contact elp@fwbltd.com.