Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherlyn Dorsey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sherlyn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am the youngest of three children born and raised in the Chicagoland area. I attended undergraduate at Western Ill. University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology. After graduating from college, I entered the workforce where I was a corporate trainer and director of a social service program. Soon after starting to work, I married my high school sweetheart, and we have three amazing daughters, Mahogany, Ashia and Mizan.
After we started having children, we decided that I would stay home full-time, to reinforce the values we wanted to instill in our girls. I loved being a stay at home mom but admittedly, I lost myself in taking care of my children, being a wife and the societal ‘pressure’ of what being a woman should be. In trying to balance motherhood, live up to the standards of society, and balancing it all, I became depressed. I gained a substantial amount of weight and completely let myself go socially, physically and lost personal ambition. I knew I couldn’t keep living like that because of the vision I held for myself. I knew that I was meant to be more so everyday I made small steps to regain control of my life and around 2010 it all just clicked! I began my weight loss journey, completed two master’s degrees and moved to Texas — and I haven’t looked back since. For a short while, I rejoined the workforce and matriculated up the corporate ladder pretty fast, however, I’d always known that my calling was on the entrepreneurial path, so after a few years I left and pursued contract work. After some success contracting for other companies, in 2015, I decided to jump full-on into my brand and established my first company called, You’re More Than Their Mother. This company was built out of my story and seeks to help moms re-claim, re-align and re-balance their lives and to go after their dreams. I provide the tools women need to create a sustainable lifestyle around building boundaries, effective communication and task management. It’s also the year I authored my first book doing the same title. My business was off and running, and I absolutely loved how I chose to share my gift with the world.
In 2018, I noticed a few things about my business, first, that the demographic I served was not always willing and able to pay my fees. They simpled did not value their personal development to the degree that they were willing to invest in themselves. The other thing I noticed was that when I did have speaking engagements or made presentations, one of the first things people would ask me after was, “did I conduct trainings” because I would be a good match for this company or that organization. While that was great to hear, many companies did not translate a “motivational speaker” into a trainer or learning and development expert. Then the light bulb went off! I had been training and developing a curriculum for over 18years. I was still doing some contract training for another company on the side — why not start my own training company and we would offer “keynote” speaking as a line of business. My story of being more than a mother would be incorporated in me sharing more about myself, and I would still be able to have “back of the room sales” with my book. PERFECT! From there, I started People Development and Training, and it was the full embodiment of the vision I had for how I would add value to the world and create a viable company that would leave a legacy for my family.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road, the biggest struggle has been self-doubt. As I look back over my life and the things I have had to overcome, I realize that my old paradigms stood in my way of creating, attracting, and obtaining many of the things I wanted. The funny part about this is that no one ever told me, per se, that I had to believe certain things or act a certain way, however, due to social mores and the pervasive unwritten rules of how a woman and mom should ‘show up in the world,’ I adopted patterns and habits that didn’t serve me. I, subconsciously, let it stand in the way of me realizing the success I imagined
Examples:
I used to believe that to be a great mother, you had to focus on the children, first, and sacrifice whatever necessary to ensure that they had what they wanted.
I used to believe that you had to have a lot of money to start a business. I didn’t think that there was any way that I could do it without large savings to pull from, the loan from a bank or getting investors
I used to believe that everything had to be perfect before I was able to get started (I had made up some ridiculous idea of what perfect looked like)
I used to have the case of the “imposters syndrome” — what if I am not the expert I believe that I am
Essentially, I sabotaged myself before I ever got started. However, I am so grateful to have developed my mindset and that springboarded my actions into the intentional creation of a life that I love.
Please tell us about People Development and Training.
People Development and Training is a corporate training and executive mentorship company. We specialize in helping businesses and entrepreneurs retain their employees, improve their customer’s experience, and increase their bottom line. We deliver core competencies training and teach startup and new entrepreneurs how to launch and run a lean business and make money. In sum, People Development and Training integrates personal and professional development through interactive training and mentoring methods that empower the learner and strategically improve the business.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Our family vacations! We had a van that we traveled the country in and we able to see a large portion of the country. I loved the way my mom would pack food up for the trip — we’d play car games, sing and have some of the best talks. My daddy used to drive the bulk of the journey and tell us, “as long you all are talking, and I have good music, I can keep driving.” We had some of the best adventures and created some of the best memories of my life — I love my family immensely!
Pricing:
- Full day training for up to 12 people = $2500
- Business Strategy Session (for the startup/new entrepreneur) = $1500
- 3mos mentorship package = $3995
Contact Info:
- Address: 555 Republic Drive – Suite 200
Plano, Texas 75074 - Website: www.peopledevelopmentandtraining.com
- Phone: 4692690454
- Email: info@pdandt.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/pdandt
Image Credit:
Mayor Jeff Cheney (Frisco); (Mayor’s)Campaign manager Lori Medina0
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