Her Story
About Sherry
I've been fortunate to have many different careers throughout my life, all rooted in my love of creativity and athletics. Growing up, I was always an athlete with a competitive mind, and no matter what I wanted to do, it was in the space of creativity and athletics. I started speaking in college to share my experiences, whether it was as a player at Holy Cross College or competing for the USA in the Maccabee Games. I ran my own basketball camp where I would impart different experiences and knowledge as a coach. Then I became a basketball coach for 22 years, which gave me active listeners on a daily basis. As an athletic director, I shared experiences as a coach and in business to schools. I also had a production company where I told the stories of other people's journeys through video, which I continue to do now with Generation W, a company where we educate, inspire, and connect women and teens. I was Senior Director of Video Production for 10 years. I've been a speaker for about 40 years. As an author, I'm in a relatively new space - my book 'Pre-Game A Winning Mindset' was just published in February. I took my pregame speeches, which were not just rah-rah, let's go get them, but were tailored to stories that happened with me and the way I would see things to share with the team to really set them up. I took that to the next step and really wanted it to be for anybody who just wants to look at things and try to shift the mentality to a positive one. I have what someone pointed out to me as the QBE distinction, which is qualified by experience.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sherry
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received came from Dr. Edith Eager, a Holocaust survivor who was 98 years old and has recently passed. I was at a conference where she spoke, and she said that if you leave the room, no one is going to be able to replace you. That's what you bring to the world. You bring your authentic self, you bring who you are, and to make the most out of what you have been given is really all that you can control on a daily basis. That's how I look at things.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The first thing I would say is to be your authentic self, which I know other people say in different ways, but I truly believe that is true. If you want to distill it to coaching, if you are an intense, fiery person, you're going to need to have that come out, and not be that calm, collected one if that's not your personality, because people will see through that and you won't be at your best. If you're someone who looks at things in a lighter side, then that needs to come through. Obviously, there's a balance, right? You can't be one way all the time, but I think you do truly have to be who you are, who your authentic self is. As Dr. Edith Eager said, if you leave the room, no one is going to be able to replace you. That's what you bring to the world. You bring your authentic self, you bring who you are, and to make the most out of what you have been given is really all that you can control on a daily basis.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Making a difference in people's lives is the most important value to me. In coaching, I found that winning was great, and I fortunately have done a lot of that, probably because I've had great players with me. But to be able to make a difference and hear from those players who say I made a difference in their journey, in their life - that's what matters. I see that in the Generation W space too, that we truly make a difference, whether it's inspiring or connecting with either teens or with women who come to our signature events. The impact I hope to leave is to make a difference in a way that people will have a positive view. You wake up every morning and you're setting the tone for yourself. The impact is to make a difference in the lives of people that I meet, sometimes intentionally, whether it's someone having a bad day and I say something to them, or sometimes it's just me being me and doing something, because you never know when that small act of something you do, whether it's something you say or helping somebody with the groceries or something, can make a difference in a positive light in somebody else's life.
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