Change Starts with Choice: A Conversation with Ev Foster on Courage, Reinvention, and Why Her Story Matters

At Scottish Business Network, we celebrate the achievements of our community as if they were our own, so when one of our members publishes a book, it’s a moment worth shining a light on. Ev Foster, Head of Keller Williams Scotland and a valued member of SBN, has just released her powerful new book Change Starts with Choice.

As SBN’s Chief of Staff, I couldn’t be more excited to sit down with her, champion her work, and share the story behind this deeply personal and inspiring project. Ev’s journey is one that reflects the resilience, ambition, and heart we see across our network, and her book arrives as a gift to anyone ready to create meaningful change in their life.

When I sat down with Ev Foster, Head of Keller Williams Scotland, to talk about her new book Change Starts with Choice, I had no doubt we were about to dive into something powerful. Ev has a presence about her, calm, grounded, but with that unmistakable spark of someone who’s lived a life full of chapters, reroutes, messy middles, and remarkable comebacks.

What I didn’t expect, however, was just how personal this book really is… and how deeply it will resonate with anyone who has ever stood at a crossroads wondering what comes next.

“Why did you write this book?”

It was the first question I asked Ev, and it’s the one that opened the door to a story so many people need to hear.

Ev smiled, paused, and then shared something that instantly reframed everything: This book didn’t start as some big ambition, or a lifelong dream of becoming an author. It started as conversations, tiny moments, where people told her that her story mattered.

“For years,” she told me, “I would share pieces of my journey at events, in coaching sessions, in conversations. And every now and again someone would say, ‘You should really write a book. Your story could help so many people.’ I always brushed it off, because to me, my life was just… my life. Nothing special.”

Ev Foster, Author

But over time, something shifted.

Ev recalled a moment that became a catalyst, a coaching session with someone working on their business plan. Out of the blue, they said: ‘Well it’s all right for you.’

That sentence landed hard. She asked them what they meant, and they replied: ‘You’ve got a business, a family, a life that works. You have everything you want.’

Ev told me those words lingered long after the session ended, because they were based on an assumption that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Nothing about her life was “all right for you.” It wasn’t handed to her. It wasn’t smooth. It certainly wasn’t effortless.

Her reality included seasons of:

• Fear
• Confusion
• Heartbreak
• Failure
• Rebuilding
• Starting again when she didn’t know how

But of course, people tend to see the outcome, not the journey. They see who you’ve become, not what it took to get there.

And that, Ev realised, was exactly why the book needed to be written.

A Book Born from Real Life, Not Perfection

Ev’s voice softened as she talked about the real heart behind the book.

She didn’t write Change Starts with Choice to position herself as a guru or to present a polished version of her life. She wrote it because she wanted people to see the truth, that change is possible for anyone, not just the lucky few.

“I wrote it,” she said, “for anyone who feels stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to go next. I wanted people to know they’re not alone. I wanted them to see that ordinary women, women like me, can create extraordinary change when they decide to.”

Her words weren’t rehearsed. They came from a place of lived experience, not theory.

Ev knows what it’s like to rebuild from scratch. She knows what it’s like to have life fall apart. She knows what it’s like to sit in the dark wondering if things will ever get better. She knows what it’s like to choose courage when comfort would have been easier.

That authenticity is woven through every chapter.

The CHOICES Framework, and the Butterfly Within It

The book is structured around the CHOICES framework, seven stages, each tied to the journey of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis:

• Crisis
• Help
• Open to Opportunities
• Implementation
• Change
• Execution
• Success

Each stage represents a choice point, a moment where a person decides who they will become next.

But what struck me most was the simplicity. This isn’t a complicated self-help manual. It’s not packed with jargon or impossible-to-implement strategies.

It’s human.

It’s relatable.

It’s the kind of guide that feels like a conversation with someone who gets it.

“What do you hope people will do after they read your book?”

This was the second big question I put to Ev. Her answer was immediate, and incredibly moving.

“I hope people realise they can create a life they love,” she said. “I want them to see that they are allowed to choose something better. I want them to feel empowered to take the first step, even if it’s tiny.”

She’s not asking readers to transform overnight. She’s inviting them to make one conscious choice, then another, and then another.

Because real change, as she puts it, rarely comes from dramatic moments. It comes from:

• small decisions
• consistent effort
• choosing again after you stumble
• believing you deserve more
• daring to imagine a life that feels good

Ev hopes readers walk away feeling capable of rewriting their own story, not because she tells them to, but because they recognise their own strength reflected back at them.

A Book for Anyone Standing at the Edge of “What Now?”

What makes Change Starts with Choice so special is that it never positions the author as the hero.

Ev isn’t selling the illusion that she has everything figured out. She’s simply showing what happens when a woman decides to keep going, no matter how many times life knocks her down.

Her vulnerability becomes permission for others to be brave.

Her story becomes a roadmap.

Her honesty becomes a reminder that resilience is built through choice, not circumstance.

This book is for anyone who has:

• lost their sense of direction
• forgotten their power
• stayed stuck because change felt too big
• wondered if they are capable of more
• felt alone in their struggle

It’s a hand reaching back for the next person in line.

Final Thoughts

As we wrapped up the interview, Ev said something that encapsulated everything she stands for:

“Change isn’t reserved for people with perfect lives. It’s reserved for people who choose. You don’t need certainty. You just need willingness.”

And that, truly, is the heartbeat of her book.

Change Starts with Choice isn’t just a title. It’s a reminder. A mantra. A permission slip. A gentle push to step toward the life you want, even if it scares you a little.

Ev wrote this book so people could see what’s possible.
She wrote it so they would know they’re not stuck.
She wrote it so they could begin, right where they are.

One choice at a time. You can also buy the paperback for £11.11 Buy Your Copy Here

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Saltire Sentinel’s editorial stance.