Episode 60: Sherry Sims Talks About the Power of Mentorship and Taking Risks
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In this episode of Beyond the Business Suit I had the pleasure of interviewing Sherry Sims. Sherry is the Founder of Black Career Women's Network, also called BCWN. During the interview Sherry and I discuss quite a bit including how she learned the importance of finding mentors, a big sacrifice she made that had a big payoff, how she started the Black Career Women's Network, why she feels like it's important for African American women to have a career network, AND something in her background she has never shared before. Make sure to listen to the episode for full details.
In this episode you will hear:
- Her career journey and how she built her confidence
- How she learned the importance of finding mentors
- Something about her background that Sherry has never shared before until now
- How getting overlooked for a job led her to what would become the Black Career Women's Network
- The big sacrifice she took that had a big payoff
- Why she feels like it's important for African American women to have a career network
- and more!
Sherry's Bio
Founder of Black Career Women's Network, Mom, Career Coach, Speaker and native of Oklahoma City, now living in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sherry Sims has a passion for helping professionals discover, focus and utilize their strengths to develop and manage their careers. After working 12 years in the Human Resources industry as a Corporate Recruiter and HR Generalist for corporations such as CVS Pharmacy, AT&T, and AOL/Time Warner, she had a strong desire to make a career change. “I wanted do something different, where I could take all of my experience in HR and Recruiting and utilize it in a different way.” says Sherry. When she made the transition in 2011 from Corporate Recruiter to Career Coach, she discovered a new passion for helping people strive for career success, specifically black women.
Inspired to create a network due to a lack of access to other professional black women for peer support and mentoring in her own career; while living in Birmingham, Alabama. Sherry founded Black Career Women’s Network. The platform was originally established in 2008 as LinkedIn forum to be sounding board and provide support, share experiences and career advice. She has expanded Black Career Women's Network into a national organization with 35 online communities, exclusive list of Mentors, Coaches and Experts to further develop our members in addition to providing local support.
BCWN has been featured in online publications such as blackenterprise.com, cosmo.com, madamenoire.com and forharriett.com. Sherry has been featured in publications such as Cincinnati Business Courier, Cincy Chic and Cincinnati Herald and also appears on Cincinnati's FOX19 affiliate as a Careers Expert. In 2015 she was featured in Who's Who in Black Cincinnati, received the Honor of Woman of the Year by Zeta Phi Beta – Cincinnati Grad Chapter and held BCWN's first Annual Conference called Passion, Power & Pursuit.
Quotables
“I built my confidence off of knowing that I am worth it and I do have the same skills that you do, I just may not have the paper behind me as far as credentials, but I definitely have what it took to be successful.”
“The life God gave you is lost in the life you've been living.”
“Think about where you are. God gives us all special gifts. It's our job to discover what those are and use those to work in our purpose.”
The Final 5
- Some of Sherry's “secret weapons of success”: faith and resourcefulness.
- If I asked 10 people who know Sherry to describe her in 3 words, she thinks they would say: consistent, bubbly and strong.
- Sherry's morning or night time routine: she's not a morning person or night owl, she's more of a 10-2 girl. She has been known to burn the midnight oil though there may not be an actual routine she follows.
- How Sherry manages her life, family and career: she is learning how to take time to enjoy Redbox, popcorn and wine. She likes sweet red wine.
- Sherry's favorite “power outfit”: she loves a good pencil skirt with a classic vintage blouse and pearl earrings and a necklace.
Bonus: How you can connect with Sherry:
Website: www.bcwnetwork.com
Twitter: @BCWNetworkCEO
Instagram: @BCWNetwork
Facebook: /BCWNetwork
Pinterest: /BCWNetwork
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