Sherry Brantley, Founder of S.T.E.P.P., Author & Certified Life Coach, based in Scottsdale, AZ. (Image provided.)
Wisdom in the Doing: A Masterclass in Resilience from Sherry Brantley
Misreading the Room
A couple of months ago, I walked into an Alignable networking event in Scottsdale. It was the usual scene—everyone was standing, mingling, and trading elevator pitches. But one woman was sitting quietly at a table by herself.
In business, we all know the feeling of networking in a new place. It is a completely different muscle. Assuming this was her first event, I thought I was doing her a favor. I walked over, fully intending to rescue a shy, first-time networker.
I was dead wrong.
Within seconds of greeting her, it was obvious that Sherry Brantley was completely in her element. She went from sitting quietly, checking her phone and bag, to lighting up the whole room. So much so that several other people began to circle around her as we spoke. Before long, I found myself trying to inject my own thoughts into a separate conversation she eventually sparked with someone else.
What I later realized was that she had not been sitting there out of timidity. She was in full reconnaissance mode, listening to the room like a secret agent. It was a live demonstration of a core philosophy she used while teaching conflict resolution and peer mediation: “Learn to Listen—and Listen to Learn!” She wasn’t hiding. She was simply assessing the parameters before making her move.
It was a massive reality check. At first, I saw someone sitting quietly and assumed she was inexperienced. In reality, I had just met a battle-tested founder, published author, and certified life coach who has overcome more adversity than most operators will see in a lifetime.
Under Pressure
Sherry’s quiet confidence does not come from a corporate training manual. It was built through absolute necessity. Decades ago, following a divorce, Sherry found herself homeless while raising three young daughters.
Not only did she survive that season, but she also leveraged it to build others up. Sherry went on to channel those experiences into volunteering at women’s shelters and homeless shelters, teaching displaced women how to set tangible goals and change the trajectory of their children’s lives.
RESEARCH INSIGHT
Data on entrepreneurial psychology indicates that founders who have navigated severe personal adversity often possess a distinct operational advantage. Their baseline for stress is fundamentally recalibrated by survival, giving them a heightened capacity for risk mitigation, crisis management, and rapid business adaptation.
She eventually became a Parenting Instructor through Michigan State University, developing a workshop entitled ‘Raising YOU CAN Kids’ that consistently overflowed with attendees. When parents told her she needed to put her knowledge into a book, she listened.
Sherry Brantley is holding one of her books, Best of Friends. (Image provided.)
Pre-Internet Hustle
Today, anyone can publish a book with a few clicks. But when Sherry was establishing herself over thirty years ago, the internet did not exist. Getting published meant getting past the traditional corporate gatekeepers.
Instead of waiting for a literary agent, Sherry hit the pavement. She approached local bookstores one by one, meeting with the staff and leaving physical copies of her work for review. Eventually, she set her sights on the biggest player in the market—Barnes & Noble—and successfully pitched her first book, Choices—The Power is Within You!
“As you can imagine, being accepted at that level made it much easier for smaller local bookstores to agree to also carry my book which allowed me opportunities to establish getting booking engagements to do book-signings at the various locations. From there, I was able to start conducting speaking engagements and workshops based on the premises of the book. That is also when I was able to truly get my speaking business up and running.” Sherry Brantley
Exercising Personal Power
Today, Sherry runs S.T.E.P.P., an acronym for Start To Exercise Personal Power. Through her speaking engagements and coaching sessions, she helps individuals map out personalized systems to go from goal-setting to goal-getting.
She knows exactly how to navigate corporate environments, bringing a unique level of grit to her consulting. Throughout her career, she has never hesitated to stand up to managers, vice presidents, and corporate presidents when she recognized their practices were failing the customer.
“In my opinion, really embracing and embodying the ‘Golden Rule’—’Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,’ is the cornerstone of how I have lived that motto my whole life. It does not say, ‘Do unto others as they have done unto you,’ or ‘Do unto others the best you can,’ it says to treat others how you’d like to be treated. And there is no one person today that does not want to be treated respectfully, with dignity and with empathy.” Sherry Brantley
Before I left that networking event in Scottsdale, I made it a priority to invite Sherry to be a guest speaker at one of my upcoming marketing workshops. Graciously, she accepted.
She operates by a very simple motto: “Knowledge is in the Knowing, but Wisdom is in the Doing!” For the rest of us, the immediate wisdom is simple—never assume you are the most experienced person in the room just because you are the one standing up.
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Check out more of Sherry Brantley’s books by visiting the official Sherry Brantley website.
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