Building Her Dream is excited to learn all about Dr. Sherell Edwards. She is from Jacksonville, Florida, United States and has been in business for 14 years.
Dr. Sherell, why don’t you start by telling us what your dream life looks like? Are you currently living it?
My dream life looks like me living abroad in Caribbean countries for 6 months and then home for 6 months. That includes waking up without an alarm clock and working 2-3 days a week.
I have not achieved that dream yet but am making adjustments to get my current work schedule down to 3 days a week and then as other things align, down to 2 to 2.5 half days each week. The dream is still a work of intentional progress.
Half a year in the Caribbean sounds amazing! Tell us more about what you do and who you help.
I am a new Holistic Health Practitioner as of July, 2022. I partner with individuals that endure hypertension and diabetes to move towards complete wellness.
I have two other LLCs. One is a wholesale company where we are an authorized dealer for a toy company that sells kids and young adult riding toys along with other wholesale goods and products.
The other company provides dispute resolution and notary services. So we work with adults, children and professionals.
Sounds like you’re very busy! What inspired you to get started in the health field?
I’ve known since the 1990s I wanted to complete doctoral studies at some point in my life but wasn’t sure in what discipline.
But when I started seriously checking out schools, all that healthcare experience I had already gained led me to the field of healthcare where I could continue to serve people where there was real needs, i.e. following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on your experience in your field, what factors of life do you think we are most influenced by?
I believe we are most influenced by time and good health. What is life without either one of these factors? Nothing! It is my mere belief that we should treat these two things with the highest regard and respect and govern our lives accordingly.
This is one of the core reasons I serve in holistic healthcare and I chose to spend a lot of my time building my businesses instead of building someone else’s.
Throughout my life, I had to learn how vital these two factors were and came to respect them both at optimal levels.
We’ve all faced challenges along the entrepreneurial journey. What’s a challenge you’ve dealt with?
I fell ill to the COVID-19 virus in August 2020, while in the doctoral program. It was the Fall semester and I never started the classwork because I was at home, ill and struggling health-wise.
I finally decided to go to the ER and was admitted for 5 days. I was released 5 weeks later in the midst of the ongoing semester, so I was behind in my studies.
I somehow caught that work up, had to apply for an extension but was able to complete everything in late December and continue on as scheduled in the program.
I had never been that ill as long as I could remember and that was an enormous challenge I will not forget.
I overcame…I graduated July 29, 2022!
Wow, that must have been tough. Congratulations on graduating!
How has being an introvert affected your business?
I struggle with sales and marketing because of it. I have a strong mindset but facing people all the time and being an effective sales and marketer has been challenging for me.
I ran to several online businesses figuring I could manage better because of the challenges but what you find is there is no getting around this hurdle, unless you intend to not do business anymore.
Sales and marketing are really the lifeblood of any business model.
You are absolutely right about it being the lifeblood. So what do you do to attract new clients?
I am a better networker now among other businesses and I like the idea of collaborations. Collaborating and partnerships have proven to be helpful and strategic for me and my businesses.
Is attending networking events a part of your marketing strategy?
Yes, attending networking events are a vital part of my quarterly activities. I am intentional on meeting at least 3 new business owners each quarter and attending several networking events every quarter.
These have proven beneficial where I may have great business information, the partnering business may have social traffic that becomes beneficial to my businesses’ sales and marketing goals.
How do you define success for yourself and your business?
My definition of success goes back to my response to your first question. That freestyle, Caribbean living, and 2-day work weeks.
Success for my businesses will be when they can continue to function without my presence and still solve problems and serve their customers efficiently.
What advice would you give to other introverted women who are just starting their own businesses?
Learn how to comfortably network in the early stages and gain as much knowledge, training or coaching on automation processes as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to share your story. Where can our readers find more information about you?
