When The Time Is Right
by Charlotte Skipper
Before a lotus flower blooms, it spends months growing roots deep in the muddy bottom of a lake. It takes time, but once the flower rises up and emerges from the water, its beautiful petals are revealed for the world to admire.
In many ways Sheryl Mays relates to the lotus flower. She is the CEO of Rise and Shine Consulting and Coaching Firm (which uses the lotus as its logo), a seven-time published author, and immediate past chair of the Seminole State Alumni Leadership Team. But Sheryl says her level of success didn’t happen overnight – it took time.
Instead of beginning college as soon as she graduated from high school, Sheryl took another path by working for a nonprofit organization. Her higher education career didn’t begin until she was in her 30s. Sheryl enrolled at Seminole State College after she sought a new position in her field and realized that additional education would help her attain her goals.
“I was able to be more engaged, because I could see how this now impacted what I was doing in my life and in my career,” says Sheryl. “It made a lot more sense for me than going into college right after high school and not knowing what I wanted to do.”
Now, Sheryl uses her own experience to encourage new leaders and entrepreneurs to jump in and actively pursue their goals, much like she did when beginning her classes at Seminole State. By building human connections in the digital world for clients in multiple industries, Sheryl is now providing hundreds of young business owners the chance to put their best foot forward.
Realizing Your Value
“I love guiding new leaders. We often do them a disservice by putting them in positions without proper training and expecting them to do well,” says Sheryl. “I often hear my clients say, ‘I didn’t think I could, but now I can,’ and it’s because of something I helped them realize in themselves along the way.”
In addition to the work Sheryl does to expand the minds of up-and-coming business moguls in America, she has also branched out beyond the United States. Sheryl is a faculty member at The Leadership School of Communication, guiding students in Nigeria, West Africa to reach their greatest potential in business. Sheryl believes all her students deserve a reliable mentor to help eliminate personal doubts, much like her Seminole State professors did for her when she was a student there.
“As I think about the time that I spent at Seminole State, the common thread of my success was the instructors,” says Sheryl. “It doesn’t matter where you go to school; it’s how the instructors work with you that makes the difference. They were just so passionate about what they were doing and how they were actually helping.”
Sheryl is living proof that students can achieve great success if they start their higher education journey at the time that’s right for them. Much like a lotus flower, she believes that rising out of the muddy darkness into the light will lead you to your highest potential.
“You’ve just got to do it,” says Sheryl. “That’s so easy to say, and it’s hard for people to put that first foot forward, but you’ve just got to take that leap.”
Know an SSC alum we should feature? Email Alumni@SeminoleState.edu to tell us about them!