Her Story
About Sheri
My journey into medical device sales started 18 years ago through a connection who worked for a dental implant company and helped me get into sales. I currently work for a medical device manufacturer, and I manage our largest DSO with a team of 11 doctors and clinical support specialists who help me support the account. I've been with this company for 8 years, though it's actually 10 years if you count the two years I was with the company before this one bought them. I stepped into a regional leadership position in 2022, and then took over the full account in November 2024. What I'm most proud of is where I am currently, because that was probably the biggest jump as far as leadership goes. I have a really fantastic team, and I'm extremely proud of them, though I don't fully take credit for that because I think they were great on their own. What I love most about my work is working with people and being able to help them find solutions for their problems and challenges they're facing. I also love to help grow people, so raising up my team into their own leadership roles is really rewarding for me. Looking ahead, I'm chasing some titles and experiences. I'd like to end up in international sales at some point, as an international sales director or something along those lines, because I love being involved in both sales and leadership and combining those together.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sheri
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say probably persistence, advocating for myself, and also being surrounded by just really amazing people that lifted me up along the way. Throughout my career, I've learned that you really have to be persistent and advocate more than you think you need to. In general, as women, we are not comfortable doing that. I think that men are more comfortable selling themselves and promoting themselves than we are. We tend to be naturally a little more humble, and humility is fantastic, but in the corporate world, I think you really have to build strong relationships and be persistent and really advocate for yourself. I've noticed that we women colleagues joke about how we don't apply for certain jobs because there's one or two criteria on there that we don't meet, but statistics show that men will apply for jobs where they only meet one or two things out of six and they apply and sell themselves into the role. But we don't even put in for it because we're missing one or two things even though we have the majority of them. When I look through postings, I'll be like, well, I don't have that, I guess I won't apply, and then I'm like, oh, wait a minute! So persistence and advocacy have been key, along with the amazing people who supported me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say be more persistent and advocate more than you think you need to. I think in general, as women, we are not comfortable doing that. Men are more comfortable selling themselves and promoting themselves than we are. We tend to be naturally a little more humble, and humility is fantastic, but in the corporate world, I think you really have to build strong relationships and be persistent and really advocate for yourself. My women colleagues and I joke about how we don't apply for certain jobs because there's one or two criteria on there that we don't meet. But statistics show that men will apply for jobs where they meet one or two things out of six and they apply and sell themselves into the role. But we don't even put in for it because we're missing one or two things even though we have the majority of them. That's really true when I look through postings. I'll be like, well, I don't have that, so I guess I won't apply, and then I'm like, oh, wait a minute! So my advice is to be persistent, build those relationships, and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself even when it feels uncomfortable.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Minnesota
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.