Sherrell Dorsey

Hi! We’re going onto month six now. I keep saying to myself how can this get more awesome. At least in my own head this whole initiative continues to floor me. Each speaker never fails to blow my mind. How can I top it? Have you met Sherrell? That’s how. I can’t get enough of her. That’s how I decide on speakers. If we meet and all I want to do is spend more time chatting… yup, that’s it. My conversations with Sherrell have definitely run the spectrum. Everything from making Charlotte a bigger, more unified city to why she’s chosen the monkey with hands over his eyes emoji. I soak it up. Y’all will too. I’m confident in that. I asked her five questions. Joel asked her one. RSVP’s open Friday the 19th of June. Bookmark this page.

What is your passion?

Oh geez. Let’s see. Outside of food I would say my passion is trying to figure out how can I help to equip people to help some some issues within either the community or society. I know that’s kind of a Miss America answer but it’s true. I think people are brilliant and I think they come up with awesome tools and ways to connect folks. I believe that if we continue to fuel that creative thinking then we can really do some awesome things.

What frustrates you?

So many things. Let’s see. I’m a foodie so I just don’t understand crappy grocery stores. This is what we eat every single day. There should always be some high quality groceries in your neighborhood. Whether it’s a corner store or chain grocery store. I hate crappy grocery stores. {what’s your favorite?} You can’t go wrong at Trader Joe’s. EarthFare has really great seafood.

What is your greatest indulgence?

I kinda like to break into old buildings… old, mid century buildings and take pictures. I’m fascinated by architecture and abandoned things. {that’s trespassing} A little bit of trespassing happens. I’ve not been arrested. I’ve very careful. I’m very quick. It’s just awesome. From city to city i’ve found some of the most amazing things.

How do you think people would describe you?

That is such a good question. Geez. I would like to say only positive things but that may not be always true. A little quirky. A big idealist. Completely optimistic. Challenging at times. Hopeful. Innovative. Of course these are things I’d probably say about myself so. A huge supporter. I’ve worked hard at being a good friend. The feedback I get from my friends is that they are thankful that I believe in them. Always. I’m probably most proud of that.

If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?

Hmm… That is so hard. I really feel like I wouldn’t change anything. Everything was purposeful. Even the bad decisions helped me to learn. I think at this point I probably wouldn’t change anything. If I have to speak something I always say I wish I had stayed in college in Seattle instead of leaving and going to New York. Just because knowing the other side of student loans. Man, I could probably own a Tesla if I didn’t have these student loans but I wouldn’t have the wanderlust and experiences if I hadn’t left. It’s hard.

Joel Tracey wants to know what you think is missing from this community?

Something that is a little more surface is real uptown. I am bothered by having to go all the way to South Park to go to the mall or go shopping. Online is fine but I think it would be interesting to see what happens when you do have people congregating around malls and stores whether it’s mom and pop or mainstream. I think I love that about New York. I think having retail uptown would bring an interesting change to how people spend time uptown. How they build community uptown?

You can find Sherrell on Twitter at @sherrell_dorsey.