Emmagness (Em), is the Co-Founder of VAKA Consulting, a Marketing, Coaching and Training Consultancy.
She helps businesses establish solid foundations in marketing through research based, customer-centric strategies and marketing programs.
Emmagness is a Speaker focusing on helping people develop an empowered mindset. She also sits on the advisory board of the African Professionals of Australia.
Em, as she is known to her friends, is the Chief Strategist for Skilled Migrant Professionals Magazine and the Co-host of Empowered Voices Amplified podcast. Both these publications are dedicated to amplifying and elevating the stories of underrepresented groups in our communities.
In 2023, she was named one of Queensland’s 40 Under 40, an award that celebrates young business leaders and entrepreneurs who have demonstrated outstanding success and community engagement within their fields.
She is a mentor with Assisterhood, an industry-wide program that links young women in the creative and advertising industries with mentoring, experience, and education.
VAKA Consulting
VAKA Consulting was launched in March 2023.
The name VAKA means “build” in Shona, and perfectly embodies her commitment to sustainable growth and success.
She believes that marketing is all about building – building a brand that resonates with the right customer profiles, building a connection with your target audience, and ultimately building a business that thrives in a competitive marketplace.
Since launching VAKA, Em has worked with various clients that are ASX listed companies, Fortune 500 Fintech Organisations, not-for-profits and small businesses.
What were some of the main challenges you had to overcome moving from a successful corporate career to starting your consultancy?
When I was 22, straight out of Uni, I wrote down a 20 year career plan. I know how insane that might sound! I come from a long line of successful women, and long term planning is in my DNA.
My 20 year plan was broken down to 5 year milestones. In 10 years, I was on track, I was Head of Retail and Marketing for one of the largest organisations in Zimbabwe. Next steps were to become Chief Marketing Officer for a Global Company, then CEO by 40. The plan was to be CEO for at least 5 years before starting a Marketing Consultancy.
Moving to Australia 7 years ago and having to rebuild my career put a dent in my plans. It was frustrating, but I work hard, and I’m really good at what I do – it didn’t take long before I was Head of Brand and Marketing for a Fortune 500 Company.
The plan was back on track, only now, I only had 3 years – instead of 5 to work my way up to Chief Marketing Office and then CEO. I was so focused on climbing the corporate ladder and getting those titles, completing the plan I had written in my 20s was going to be my version of “success” and I was determined to get it.
After a year and a few months, the role was made redundant and I was laid off….
Now the pressure was on to get a role, as quickly as possible, the plan had to be back on track.
After applying for a few roles and receiving those yucky automated rejection emails, I decided to stop. I didn’t like how those emails made me feel, I didn’t like that they made me question my experience and capabilities – I was not going to go down that rabbit hole.
A friend advised me to take a few months off to think about what I wanted to do with my life and what truly made me come alive and filled me with joy. I’m glad I took that advice!
In March 2023, I decided to finally start and launch my company, VAKA Consulting, 7 years ahead of schedule. This is something I had been contemplating doing but didn’t feel quite ready to do because I “wasn’t well established enough,” to get good clients. I wasn’t 45 yet, was I ready?
In the first month setting up my systems and processes, I had to actively fight that voice at the back of my head that kept whispering that I wasn’t good enough. That this was premature. Who did I think I was to be setting up a Consultancy business? I had been in Australia for only 6 years, and I thought I could break ground in a field I didn’t see many people like me successfully operating in?!
I made the mistake of asking for advice from someone who I had worked with before. They are someone I respect but what I failed to realise at the time is that their view of me was as an employee, and never as a business owner. They advised me against it, told me I belonged in the Corporate world and running a business would not be a successful venture for me.
I went home completely dejected.
I had built my processes and systems, just finalised my website and I felt all that was a waste, I needed to get back to applying for jobs and get myself a job.
At home that evening, my husband asked me why I was letting the opinion of one person – who hardly knew me, affect and impact my plan? Why was I giving him so much power over the trajectory of my life? This hit me hard!
I decided to do my empowerment zone exercise where I step into a zone where I’m completely unstoppable. It was at this point I realised that I had been filling my head with other people’s fears and the limitations they’ve placed in their lives, and I was taking that as my own.
I knew, at that point, that starting my own business was the best way forward because I bring so much to the table that cannot be boxed into a title, I’m multi-disciplined and multi-passionate, I’m energised when I have lots of things going at the same time. I have the resilience and drive to build a successful business.
After fighting to regain an empowered state, I brushed all the negative talk aside and shut down that small voice which was working so hard to keep me small! And again, this paid off.
In May, I signed up my first client – an ASX listed company which generates billions of dollars in profit! Since then, I’ve worked with numerous clients including Fortune 500 companies who are after establishing a solid foundation in marketing.
Why do you think that there’s still such a gap to fill when it comes to having WoC in Executive Leadership roles?
There was research done a couple of years ago about the challenges that women of colour face in corporate Australia. This was a large paper which discussed the discrimination which minoritised women face in recruitment, salary, recognition, bias, promotions etc. There seems to be research that comes out every year discussing the disadvantages women of colour face, and I’m not sure what we are collectively doing to address these discrepancies.
Closer to home, I’ll speak about my lived experience, having spent 6 years in Corporate with 3 of those as a senior leader responsible for leading marketing teams.
Some people seem to struggle with the idea of having a woman of colour in a position of authority, making decisions and leading people. I’ve been told a few times that people “wouldn’t be comfortable reporting to me because that’s not something they’ve ever done before!”
As a senior leader, I was constantly told that I was a star performer, I exceeded expectations but somehow, that was never good enough. There was always the underlying criticism that I wasn’t doing enough, casting aspersions on my experience, waiting for me to slip up – it always felt like I was walking on eggshells.
I’m reminded of the quote from Michelle Obama in the book The Light We Carry, “ For eight years as First Lady, I’d been vigilant and cautious, deeply aware that Barack and I and our two daughters had the eyes of the nation upon us, and that as Black people in a historically white house, we could not afford a single screw up.”
That resonated deeply with me, I could never afford a single screw up in my time as a senior leader, the first brown woman in a senior leadership position in that company. I could not afford to mess that up because I knew if I did – they would probably not hire anyone that looked like me for an executive role.
It is exhausting carrying that weight on your shoulders!
There were a few incidents of bullying and racism that I faced which I reported to my manager who was the CEO and to HR. However, each time I brought these up, I was told that I had “misunderstood,” “was I sure that’s what the person meant?” “maybe you need to make a bit more effort with them and make them your friend..”
I have a strong personality and I’m not someone who stays quiet in the face of injustice. I imagine there are a lot of women like me. However, it gets to a point where you have to ask yourself what the size of the crown of that fight is. Is it worth it to keep fighting? To keep pushing? To keep highlighting obvious issues of bias, bullying, and racism when the feedback is always, “what can you do to stop it” without any repercussions to the people perpetuating harm?
I believe this is why we don’t see a lot of WoC in leadership positions. You have to fight so much for recognition, inclusion, to be heard, to be seen that at the end of the day, it’s easier, and healthier to simply walk away. We are great at what we do but when that’s not appreciated or acknowledged, and we can’t get a seat at the table, we move on and start building our own tables.
What do you think organisations can do to create a more inclusive environment when it comes to female team members and team members from multicultural backgrounds?
When HR or the Consultants they use and the senior leadership team is not diverse, how can organisations expect that the decisions they make, the policies they make and prioritise will represent everyone in the organisation or the communities they serve? Diversity doesn’t mean compromising on competence, far from it!
I’m not an expert in this space, I only know what could have helped me. An empathetic ear and clear policies on how prejudice and racism is addressed in the organisation could have helped. The standard compliance videos people are made to watch every year without any follow up discussions simply don’t cut it. If the environment is going to become truly inclusive and equitable, then real work and real investment has to be put in. It cannot remain the status quo going forward. The organisations that are willing to put in the work, will reap the rewards, it’s not rocket science.
The challenge is when people in decision-making roles all look the same, it’s not going to happen.
I recently came across a post from Uma Thana Balasingam on LinkedIn which breaks this down perfectly:
“DEI is not about compromising on competence. It’s about recognising and leveraging diverse talents that have been historically overlooked. It’s about creating a level playing field. Everyone has the opportunity to excel based on their merit. Their gender, race, or cultural background should not hinder them.
The argument of biological differences fails to distinguish between biological facts and socially constructed gender roles. The latter has long been used to justify unequal opportunities. Diverse teams are more innovative and effective and have better problem-solving capabilities, which science supports.
My experience, along with that of countless other competent, driven, and successful women, contradicts the views expressed. We’re not anomalies but examples of what can be achieved when opportunity meets talent, irrespective of gender or race.
This isn’t about feelings. It’s about facts. Facts about performance, innovation, and growth that diverse leadership brings. It’s about inclusive practices’ real, measurable impact in the workplace and society.”
Can you share a little with us about your work with Skilled Migrant Professionals?
My family and I migrated to Australia as skilled professionals in 2017.
When we moved here, we didn’t quite know where to start regarding looking for a job, the financial lingo, annual salary instead of monthly salary, it was all too much and there was no obvious source of information we could turn to.
There was a lack of positive representation of a multicultural society in the media, I didn’t see people that looked like me in senior leadership positions, I didn’t see people that look like me in my profession, marketing. The only stories I got to hear in mainstream media at the time about non white Australians were when there was reference to gangs or crime – and how people need to be sent back!
My passion in leading the production of this magazine and the podcast, Empowered Voices Amplified is to amplify the stories of skilled migrants in Australia. To highlight the contributions they make and the importance of the work they do from a professional level to community impact through volunteering, entrepreneurship and employment.
As the Chief Strategist of the magazine, my role is to pay attention to the community and everything happening around us in order to produce stories that resonate with our audience.
I am so fortunate to be surrounded by passionate, empowered women, each with a unique story and passion for working on the magazine and I’m quite privileged to be leading them on this adventurous journey!
Who is your muse in both your personal and professional lives?
Just one?!
Tich, my husband, is my rock. When I have a thousand things on my mind that I need to bring to life, he knows how to help me succeed. His encouragement and gentle nudging helped me build a successful consultancy within 6 months. When I am stressed, he knows how to support me to make it to the other side.
My 9 year old daughter challenges me to be brave, to colour outside the lines, to not be defined by the borders but to always find a way through.
If you were to be granted any superpower, what would that be and why?
I’m an accidental ambidextrous person. Being left handed was frowned upon by my grandparents and when I visited them as a child, I was smacked each time I used my left hand, it was considered bad and rude culturally.
I learnt how to switch between my left and right hand depending on who was watching, after quickly assessing the level of punishment I would receive for using the “wrong hand.”
A super power I would love to have would be the ability to go back in time without causing the butterfly effect! The first thing I would do is keep using my left hand, confidently and without shame.
Follow Emmagness, VAKA Consulting and Skilled Migrant Professionals Magazine.