I’m Sherri.
Leader | Operational Excellence Expert | People & Culture Champion | Customer Excellence Advocate | Change Manager | Technophile.
- Looking to join a company that aligns with my core values.
My Journey
Proud to wear the badge of being both an internet and mobile pioneer, I’ve primarily worked with startups in hyper-growth on a global market, where some of the biggest tech companies and 85% of the Fortune 500® were clients and business partners. This bred a best-in-class approach to every aspect of how I approach business.
« Anyone exposed to the grind of launching a business knows that it fast-tracks your understanding of every aspect of how a company is run, creating an unparalleled jack-of-all-trades. They say 5 years in a start-up is like 15 years in an established one. It ages you, but you wouldn’t have it any other way! »
I've spent my career solving problems, leading and coaching teams, and ensuring business objectives were met and clients were happy, usually under very stressful and challenging circumstances with very tight timelines.
I’ve led teams through multiple challenging acquisitions, rebrands, restructurings, layoffs and hiring freezes with dignity. Known for being a critical and strategic thinker, I thrive under pressure, become more resilient with every challenge, and have a passion for delivering exceptional people and customer experiences - knowing how to anticipate, challenge, reframe and make difficult decisions with well-backed data analytics.
My approach is always data-driven and people-focused, ensuring that the strategies I help implement are both effective and empathetic. I’m currently exploring how AI can facilitate and create efficiencies while being respectful of human needs.
After 15+ years of successfully running the Canadian division of a global leader in the messaging and omnichannel communication space, where I played a key role in its growth from 150 to 4,500 employees worldwide, I made the difficult decision to move on to explore new challenges.
While my last employer, Sinch Communications, grew tenfold globally (what a ride! ), my heart lies in working with a mix of small but fast-growing businesses where I feel I can make an important foundational impact.
I’m currently seeking new job opportunities that touch on Customer Success or Operational Excellence.
I’m now hungry to re-enter the job market, utilize my transferable skills in a new challenge, and dedicate my time to a great company doing great things, alongside amazing people.
For now, I advise and coach to share the wealth of information and experience I’ve gained in my career. I help small to medium-sized businesses set the right foundation, and larger companies realign when areas of their business no longer fit their long-term objectives. My love for design allows me to create branded creatives and tell compelling stories that help my clients put their best foot forward.
Being an entrepreneur at heart and a life-long organizer, I also try to find time on my weekends to do creative projects as a professional organizer. This allows me a design outlet that feeds my soul.
Projects
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Where: IKEA Canada
Hired in 2000 to help build and grow the St.Laurent, Quebec call centre, I was responsible for building a team, reducing OPEX costs to the stores, and answering customer support concerns and escalations nationally.
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Where: Sinch Communications
I project managed Videotron in the design, development and launch of their website, mobile application and storefront as they became a Canadian mobile operator in 2010.
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Where: Sinch Communications
SMSC1 (MTL) to SMSC2 (HQ).
Project managed both client and internal discussions around the migration of Sinch’s local Canadian SMSC platform post-acquisition. This project merged an aging platform into a global cloud-based one, saw 100+ clients successfully land in their new environment, and took over a year to complete.
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Where: Sinch Communications
Working with Salesforce and my local team, we onboarded all Canadian clients into the newly adopted CMS. Regular maintenance and updates allowed us to expand into new plugins like Klue, which provided valuable insights into our competitive but very niche market.
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Where: Sinch Communications
Working closely with a group insurance broker, I developed a comprehensive benefits package that was tailored to other local market offerings. For many years this allowed us to stay competitive and attract a team of talent-dense employees. I was responsible for the onboarding and support of the program, including training, onboarding and payroll, until we moved the responsibility to our North American business unit in Atlanta.
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Where: Sinch Communications
Aligning with our global sales objectives, I built Sinch product Sales Enablement initiatives for the Canadian business unit. I developed personas and sales materials that were walked out to the new sales team members joining the company. I organized quarterly and annual sales summits held at various North American sites.
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Where: Sinch Communications
Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams globally, I helped integrate the Canadian team into a newly launched CRM, merging multiple platforms into one.
Where I love to spend my time
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Advisory & Coaching
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Operational Efficiencies
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Customer & Employee Journey
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Change Management
Proudest Moment
Leading my teams through multiple challenging acquisitions, restructurings, layoffs and hiring freezes with dignity. Organically reducing the attrition rate to under 10%.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“As a senior leader in the Americas, I had the pleasure of working closely with Sherri for the past eight years. Her focus, passion and deep commitment to the business are what helped to drive meaningful success in Canada. I was always impressed by Sherri’s ability to handle even the most challenging clients effortlessly. That skill takes years to develop, and something hard to teach, but came perfectly naturally to her. Sherri always was invested in building a strong culture for all teammates around her – that investment, created a fun work environment that employees wanted to be a part of and thrived in. A key to good performance is a motivated team and a good culture, and that is exactly what Sherri personified!
Petter Bengtsson
Head of Sales E&M North America at Sinch
(now EVP Market Unit, Americas)
“I had the pleasure of working with Sherri who played a key role in building a strong and cohesive work culture, which fostered a positive and productive environment for everyone. Sherri is a natural leader who motivated and inspired the team to achieve great results! Her organizational skills are second to none and help her manage multiple projects and priorities flawlessly. Further, Sherri is always able to expertly navigate difficult client situations with tact and professionalism – not always an easy task! Her passion for people is clear and she has a unique ability to connect with others. I can truly say it was a great experience working with Sherri!”
Alexa Davidovic
Senior Account Director at Sinch Canada
(now head of FinServ, Americas)
“Sherri is one of the most talented leaders I know – from being incredibly well-organized to her compassion and empathy that creates a supportive environment for teammates across the spectrum. Sherri is deeply skilled not only in management-related complex issues, but she has a very strong-anchored understanding of the People dynamics of any situation, including her ability to engage teams towards high levels of performance and productivity. It has been my sincere pleasure to have worked with Sherri for 3+ years while at Sinch, and who knows, maybe our paths will cross again in the future. Best of luck to you, Sherri, on your continued career journey!”
Todd Pouwels - SPHR, SHRM-SCP - SINCH
People & Culture | E&M N. America | Global Product | Global M&A
(now at SecureWorks)
“Sherri is one of the most motivated and talented business consultants I’ve ever worked with! She is always creative, attentive to detail, and consistent in meeting deadlines. After presenting our project (MyLnker) and the direction we wanted to take, Sherri delivered incredibly good designs and advice that exceeded all our expectations. Sherri is up to date on all aspects of the industry and helped us implement very useful tools for our product that we didn’t even know about. If you have the opportunity to work with Sherri, I say go for it! You are guaranteed an enjoyable and productive experience.”
Carlos Acosta
Commercial Director at MyLnker/People Connection
“Sherri is not only a great business advisor, but also a creative genius. She helped us transform our product from good to awesome. She showed us how to enhance MyLnker and make it irresistible to our target market. She also gave us a stunning visual direction and proposed some exciting features and partnerships. She was a pleasure to work with, as she grasped our product and company needs quickly and effortlessly.”
Daniela Borrego
Project Manager at MyLnker / People Connection
