Her Story
About Sherri
I've been in technology for 40 years, and for the past 30 years I've focused specifically on working with state and local governments. I created a niche for myself in government contracting and capturing opportunity, which led me to open my own consulting firm, TSC Innovations, to help organizations enable themselves to do business with government. I build strategic plans, capture potential opportunities and contract vehicles with state and local government, and ensure participation. I work with sales teams, specialty teams, and marketing teams within my clients, advising on positioning, go-to-market strategies, and partner strategies. What's most satisfying to me is having a relevant role in improving government programs for citizens. I was part of the team that brought the State of California unemployment application to the web, worked on strategic offender management, and helped stop the bleeding and fraud at franchise tax. I've been involved with major programs, but I'm one of the silent heroes behind the scenes among many, many others solving problems to help citizens. Before entering the government space, I worked for OEM (original equipment manufacturers) and sold into retail, including CompUSA, Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, and throughout Canada into retail and distribution.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sherri
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to all my mentors and the drive to look to understand the problem that needs to be solved and focus on solving the problem. That's the key to anyone's success, in my opinion. Every little thing I picked up along the way was necessary knowledge and experience to get me where I am today. For example, when I was a receptionist and built an inventory system at a printer distributor, I had no clue that I would be a government consultant, but it's every little thing I picked up along the way that was necessary knowledge and experience to get me where I am today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received was: You're old enough to make a decision and young enough to take a chance. That's probably the best advice I ever received, and that's why failure's not in my vocabulary. You identify a potential opportunity, you go for it, and if it's not it, don't beat yourself up, pivot quickly. There has been those opportunities that have been very, very meaningful by taking those decisions.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The best advice I would give to any woman right now would be to remain flexible, because what you're doing today is just a little portion of the stepping stone of your journey, and you'll be using that tomorrow, but in a way different way. Do not avoid getting yourself trapped in a box. For example, when I was a receptionist and built an inventory system at a printer distributor, I had no clue that I would be a government consultant, but it's every little thing I picked up along the way that was necessary knowledge and experience to get me where I am today. And there's absolutely no such thing as failure. People like to beat themselves up on failure, but there's no such thing. It's every little thing that happens is an opportunity to learn and gather experience, and then identify when a failure might happen so you can pivot quickly.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
As a government consultant, I would say politics are the largest challenge. Then again, the largest opportunity would also be the politics that drives government business. So it would be one and the same.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty is most important to me. I can say all kinds of values, but it will end up in honesty. So truth is most valuable, and those trusted relationships are what matter most.
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