Kristin Sharrell is an experienced serial entrepreneur and tech professional. She has successfully launched several eCommerce brands, established a luxury car rental network on the East Coast, and organized numerous philanthropic events benefiting Greater Atlanta residents. Throughout her career, Kristin has gained recognition and many accolades for her operational expertise.
Driven by her passion for business development and her advocacy for women, Sharrell founded CEO BAE. This community offers exclusive in-person experiences, valuable networking opportunities, and essential business resources to support female founders in achieving success in their respective fields.
Sharrell opened up about her commitment to the tech community.
Why did you select your career?
I have seen so many women throughout my career who strive for excellence, whether it is mentally, physically, or financially. This has been a motivation for me to strive to achieve my best in the world, but also build a community around those who are like-minded so we all reach the mountaintop of ultimate success together.
Briefly describe your responsibilities.
As the CEO of CEO BAE, I engage with women daily through our online community. I also work with various sponsors to help carefully develop curated events that spark meaningful relationships and partnerships among the women in our community. In addition, my team consists of CEO BAE contributors who help provide knowledge on the best business practices for our community members to help grow their businesses.
What do you consider your superpower(s) to be?
One of my superpowers that has helped me find success, is being a visionary. I have a keen eye for creating various situations where people can come together, network, build resource networks, as well as scale business and personal relationships. Also, as a visionary, I am able to help create introductions and relationships that are mutually beneficial by identifying the strengths of various people in my network who need to be in the room and dialogue with each other. The ability to visually see how an event should be built or how relationships should be developed has helped me help others throughout my business and personal relationships.
What thoughtful or encouraging piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
If I could go back and have a discussion with my younger self, I would remind her that there is nothing in life that you cannot accomplish. Don’t limit what you think is possible because you haven’t seen someone do it, but act in faith on what you dream of creating. Your dreams are not your limits, they are the starting points of what you can create.
Why is it important for women of color to work in leadership roles and decision-making capacities?
We must have women of color in leadership roles and decision-making capacities because it helps the overall execution of the company when making decisions. If you only take inventory of opinions from just one viewpoint, you will miss other important viewpoints and values on any business decision that can be a detriment to the long-term success of the company. Also, by having a person of color in leadership roles, they often will tend to reach out and help other qualified individuals of color to experience more opportunities within the company.
If you could thank any Black woman for her contributions to history and society, who would it be and why?
Morgan DeBaun has been a trailblazer in many facets. She has helped create and organize some of the most impactful conferences, such as Afrotech, for people of color to access opportunities in tech. She has inspired me because technology has been an invention during this millennial generation, but the application has impacted our lives in so many facets. This has been a non-inclusive career path for people of color, but through the intersection of events and opportunity, Morgan has opened doors that many would not have had the chance to pursue. She has contributed to the careers of so many incredibly talented women and men of color throughout this process.
Why is it important for more experienced Black women to reach back and help younger women of color?
For us to continue the advancement of women of color in higher ranks within corporations, it takes us to share our wins, losses, and lessons with our future generation of leaders. The absence of this knowledge in our younger generation of women leaders means that mistakes and lessons will be repeated. They also need to know they are supported to make sure they reach the highest levels of success in their careers. We must have relatable experiences to help equip the youth to aspire to their highest levels of success.
As a successful woman in business, what is your greatest or proudest achievement?
The greatest measure of success is how much you give, not how much you gain. My proudest achievement is watching the women I have positively impacted through my events, my introductions, or any contribution that I have been able to make. Seeing other women succeed brings much happiness and joy, further affirming that I am on the right mission for my life.
