Sherron Washington on Learning From Your Mistakes

The Marketing Whisperer. That’s how the industry knows leading expert Sherron Washington, and for good reasons. The founder and CEO of the marketing and communication company the P3 Solution and creator of social media campaign #YourWorthIsValued, Sherron is an accomplished professional, with a Master’s Degree in Communications. Juggling her careers as a marcomm strategist, speaker, trainer, and author, Sherron is a true female disruptor who’s set on changing the world.

Changing the World: #YourWorthIsValuedCampaign

At Female Disruptors, we believe in bringing goodness to the world. For Sherron, the best way to do that is to share and promote the stories of others. That is exactly what her most recent social media campaign, #YourWorthIsValued, is all about. The initiative aims at showcasing positive images of Black men around the world to help amplify their greatness. Since early June, Sherron has set herself to post about more than a hundred men on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. By introducing men from all backgrounds, the posts change the narrative, in the context of Black Lives Matter. From barbers and kids to professors and florists, Sherron’s campaign influences how people, both inside and outside Black communities, perceive Black men.

Sherron asked each of these men to come up with a positive word to describe themselves. The adjectives are not only representative of their individualities, they also showcase what the entire Black community is about. She selected them within her circle of friends, business associates, and community-at-large. This initiative is important because our mindsets need to be changing, along with a shift in action. June has been an important month in American and Black history, but it also came with a plethora of negative stereotypes, especially in the media. When Sherron realized that she was starting to absorb that negativity, she understood it was time to act on it. And you can too! Sherron asks that you repost her images and use photos and words of your own, using the hashtag #YourWortIsValue. We, as a society, have the power to use words for good. You can hear Sherron discuss #YourWorthIsValued here.

Getting Started: The Winding Road to Success

Sherron had not always known she wanted to work in communications, far from that! For most of her childhood, she wanted to become a gym teacher. But her mom, who didn’t see how Sherron could be financially stable that way, pushed her to become a CPA. However, Sherron quickly realized that accounting wasn’t the career for her. Thankfully, one of her mentors saw her potential and advised her to go back to college to get her degree. At Trinity University, she met extraordinary people who guided her to the field of communications. Eventually, Sherron earned both her BA and her MA in Communications. Talk about persisting!

Once armed with her diplomas, Sherron started working in PR. But, back then, PR was an endless cycle of press releases. And as anyone who’s met Sherron would say, she’s not one to settle for a routine. She knew she had to find a more dynamic job so she got into communications. But after a few years, like a lot of comms professionals, she started feeling like all the traveling was getting a bit much. That’s when a marketing manager saw potential in her skills and told her she could start her own business and become a marketing consultant. That immediately made sense to her. In 2006, she created her own company, the P3 Solution. Since then, it has been a bumpy but great ride and she wouldn’t change being an entrepreneur for the world.  

Her company, The P3 Solution is well-represented by its motto “Keep Calm, Market Simple.” Indeed, as a consultant, Sherron takes care of everything. The P3 Solution is a full-service marketing and communications firm. When a company requests their help, Sherron and her team develop an easy marketing strategy, work on messaging, and create design and social media solutions for businesses. It’s as simple as Keep Calm, Market Simple!

To women who want to start their own business, Sherron advises the first thing they do is get help. Before even deciding on a name or a logo, aspiring entrepreneurs should consult friends, colleagues, and experts in the field. No matter how good an idea might sound, there is always something to be learned from outside perspectives.

Learning From Your Mistakes and Leadership Tips

Female disruptors learn and grow from their mistakes. For Sherron, that happened when she got fired from her first job. Before she had to let her go, her supervisor explained what Sherron needed to do to be successful and not make the same mistake that got her fired. From her professional experiences, Sherron learned five leadership lessons. First, be flexible. Understand that things don’t always work out and adapt your strategy from there. But also work around other people, adapting your actions to others. Second, check your own communication. It’s easy to blame others for miscommunication, but misunderstandings often come from both parties.

Third, gain grit. This industry is a tough one and it requires resolve and strength. Fourth, it’s ok to follow. Other people might have more experience than you and you should try to learn from them. On other occasions, you might find yourself working with people who know more about a specific subject than you do. Acknowledge that and let them teach you. Fifth, be inclusive. We live in a divided society where people don’t start off with the same privileges and tools. Understanding that and including everyone is crucial to making the world a better place. It will only make you a better leader, and that’s what female disruptors are all about!

More About Sherron

A true Leo, Sherron’s life lesson quote is “Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready!” In her free time, she loves to rollerskate, a sport she’s been practicing for forty years. Sherron is currently reading Poised for Excellence: Fundamental Principles of Effective Leadership in the Boardroom and Beyond by Karima Mariama-Arthur. When asked about her favorite drink, Sherron said “water, it replenishes and regenerates.” On productivity tips, Sherron advises to think bite-sized. Creating a goals list every week and attacking two of these goals to complete is a good way to put less pressure on yourself while still being productive.

Sherron says that, in five years, social media will be saturated and secondary. What does that mean? Well, marketing has changed so much in the past five years, it is bound to evolve just as fast in the upcoming ones. Content is already saturating every single social media platform, and it is likely to get worse. That is why communications and marketing professionals should always be looking for the next big thing instead of focusing all of their energy on a single sector of the industry. And that’s exactly what the P3 Solutions does by offering full-fledged and all-encompassing marcomm strategies.

Giving Back: Sharing Your Expertise

Sherron’s book, The Oops Moment: Eliminating Marketing Mistakes, Mishaps and Missteps provides readers with thirty-five scenarios from all types of business like startups, large corporations, or small companies. Each scenario has a specific problem to which Sherron offers tailored solutions. In the book, Sherron uses mistakes she’s made as well as errors made by people around her and shares how people can grow from these mistakes the way she did.

But Sherron doesn’t only share marketing tips. During quarantine, she has really focused on the importance of being in the moment. Not only does she enjoy the moments she is living through, but she is also aware that the present is always the good time to act. She says “Every moment is an opportunity to begin again, you don’t have to wait until tomorrow.”

You can follow Sherron on all social media platforms at @CEOp3. There, you can join her #YourWorthIsValued campaign to celebrate Black men and follow what she’s up to. Her two books, Market Simple: The Blueprint to a One-Page Marketing Plan, and The Oops Moment: Eliminating Marketing Mistakes, Mishaps and Missteps are available to buy online. Sherron Washington is a successful entrepreneur, teacher, speaker, and author but she’s also the embodiment of what it means to be a female disruptor. It couldn’t have been more clear than when we asked her who the women she admires were. Her answer? “All.”

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