About Sirise
What’s with the name ‘Sirise’?
The name ‘Sirise’ for Sirise Coaching comes from the well-known poem by Maya Angelou, ‘Still I Rise’.
This poem was sent to me by a very good friend and colleague a few years ago, after we’d been through a period of intensive change in our organisation. It had been a pretty tough time, but what held us all together was the strength of the leadership team we worked within and the strong connections we had with each other.
Like many people, I was moved when I first heard this poem recited.
It connected with me, on a very deep level, and inspired me to live my purpose and stay true to my strengths and values.
Like many of my clients, I have experienced my own challenges and struggles that have led me to want to help others, to empower leaders, to be the best they can be for themselves, and their teams.
I have experienced the burnout of trying to keep on top of hectic deadlines and the need to lead with courage, even when I felt alone or doubted my ability.
I’ve felt at times like my message was misunderstood, and nothing seemed to go right.
That’s why I am here to listen, hold space and support my clients, to be the best version of themselves where together, we can find the missing puzzle piece.
Still I Rise
BY MAYA ANGELOU
“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past, that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou, "Still I Rise" from And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.
Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994)
