Sherrell Dorsey on Community and Elevating the Stories of Black Founders

Today’s guest is Sherell Dorsey, founder and CEO of The Plug – an online news and insights platform covering black tech founders, companies and ecosystems. 

She is also author of the book, Upper Hand: The Future of Work for the Rest of Us.

In this interview, we discuss what she was like growing up - from having a technophile grandfather who inspired and encouraged her to use tech, to her entrepreneurial spirit which was somewhat shaped when, as a child, she joined her mother in boardrooms. Sherrell was also heavily influenced by the black and brown role models she found herself surrounded by whether they were from church, through programmes like Technology Access Foundation co-founded by Trish Millines Dziko and/or held senior positions in business and her community. 

Sherrell always had a strong work ethic and started internships at Microsoft as a teenager. To get the internship, she had to pull a computer apart and then put it back together before identifying bugs in the software!

We also talk about her book, Upper Hand, how she had the idea for The Plug and what it took to get it off the ground, as well as how persistence, being consistent and a sprinkling of serendipity has shaped her life.

I was really inspired by Sherell and know you will be too. 

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Sherrell Twitter / The Plug / Instagram 

Upper Hand: The Future of Work for the Rest of Us

Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Episode edited by Jolin Cheng