Sherri Thomas is a popular Career Coach and personal branding strategist, award-winning author, Forbes writer, and President of Your Leadership Lab. Sherri helps professionals re-brand and elevate their career.
Throughout her own career, Sherri successfully re-branded herself 4 times as one of the few women disc jockeys in radio to host a morning show, to navigating up the career ladder through 4 industries, 2 Fortune 100 companies, and a roller coaster ride of re-orgs, new leadership, and company downsizing.

While working 15+ years inside a Fortune 100 high tech company, she learned so much about branding herself inside (and outside) the corporation, she was named career strategist and personal branding coach to the company’s VP’s, Directors and high performers.

Sherri has written 2 multiple award-winning books and spoken at 500+ global conferences and events across the US, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Kenya, Bali and Singapore. She is a published Forbes writer and regularly sought after by the media including the Washington Post (4x) Wall St Journal (12 times), TIME Magazine, Investors Business Daily, NBC TV Phoenix (20x), etc.

Do you wake up Monday mornings with subtle dread—not because you hate your job, but because you've stopped growing? You're competent, maybe even excellent, but you've plateaued. Meanwhile, opportunities surround you, but you're not sure how to position yourself to seize them.

Sherri Thomas has successfully rebranded herself four times across different industries—from radio DJ to Fortune 100 career strategist. Her journey includes impressive wins (like a 56% salary increase) and devastating setbacks that taught her how to strategically navigate career transitions.

The Three Types of Career Opportunities:

• Given opportunities: Jobs posted on boards like LinkedIn and Indeed
• Hidden opportunities: Positions in the corporate undercurrent that never make it to career pages—accessed through strategic networking
• Created opportunities: Projects and roles you generate by volunteering on high-profile initiatives. One client who hadn't been promoted in four years volunteered just two hours weekly on a high-profile project. Within four months, he was promoted. Four months later, he was promoted again—twice in one year.

Sherri's Venn Diagram Exercise

When feeling stuck, Sherri drew three intersecting circles representing responsibilities she wanted. After creating ten versions, she found a combination that excited her—surprisingly, it didn't include her bread-and-butter skill of marketing. Sharing this vision with her manager landed her a challenging project and a 22% raise.

Stop waiting for promotion. Identify where you can add unique value right now.

The most powerful leaders don't seek to control outcomes—they create conditions where people can thrive.

Your Next Step

Stop waiting for someone to move you up the ladder. Draw your own Venn diagram with three responsibilities or skill areas you want. Create ten versions. Find the combination that genuinely excites you. Then identify one high-profile project where you can volunteer your unique value—even just two hours weekly.

Resources Mentioned:

• Sherri Thomas's books: The Bounce Back and 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand
• Connect with Sherri at YourLeadershipLab.com
• Follow Sherri Thomas on LinkedIn

To learn more about my services and for additional tools to enhance your leadership impact, visit ClaireLaughlin.com and connect with me on social channels @Claire Laughlin Consulting. 

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