From Cape Town to the UK: Building Two Businesses and a Life of Purpose-Ep 94 with Sharon Constançon
The Relocated South African | Emigration storiesPlay episode
Show notes
Sharon Constançon left South Africa after a hijacking changed the way she viewed her future.
Originally from Cape Town, Sharon had already built a successful career and business in South Africa when the security incident made her ask a simple question: if she couldn't safely travel two miles between her office and home, why was she living there?
She moved to the UK, where she has now spent more than two decades. Along the way she built a career with the South African Chamber of Commerce and went on to build not one, but two very different businesses.
Today Sharon runs Valufin, a foreign exchange and risk management business helping importers and exporters manage currency exposure, and Genius Boards, where she works with boards, CEOs and senior management on governance, board effectiveness and the dynamics that determine how organisations actually work.
But this conversation goes well beyond business.
We talk about growing up in South Africa, educating herself after being discouraged from pursuing further education, leaving South Africa, the importance of having family already in the UK, relationships and emigration, the realities of integrating into British life, why some South Africans struggle with being pigeonholed professionally, and what she misses most about home.
Sharon also shares her thoughts on the cost of living in the UK, the price of a £6.50 cappuccino, safety in South Africa, and whether she could ever see herself moving back permanently.
Her answer is revealing: she doesn't regret leaving, but she hasn't stopped being South African either.
Quote of the episode:
“Nothing is on a plate. Nothing is given to you on a plate.”
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TIMESTAMPS
00:11 – Welcome and introduction
01:17 – Winning the Away Game feature
02:49 – Growing up in Cape Town and Johannesburg
04:49 – Education, mobility and the UK connection
06:03 – The security incident that changed everything
07:57 – Returning to South Africa after ten years
09:03 – Having family already in the UK
11:15 – Helping South Africans through the Chamber
12:45 – Why some South Africans return to Cape Town
15:14 – Property and financial ties to South Africa
16:28 – Relationships and the reality of emigration
18:59 – Finding your South African community abroad
20:30 – Being South African in the UK
21:09 – Building two very different businesses
24:01 – Running a global team
25:45 – Governance and working with South Africa
27:21 – UK and South African governance
29:34 – Board accountability
31:45 – South Africans and the work ethic
34:19 – What Sharon misses from South Africa
36:48 – South African or British?
37:30 – The cost of living in the UK
39:33 – The £6.50 cappuccino
40:55 – Safety and returning to South Africa
42:55 – Would she do it again?
44:38 – How to connect with Sharon
44:58 – Closing thoughts
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Connect with Sharon Constançon:
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sharonconstancon
The Relocated South African
https://therelocatedsouthafrican.com/
