Meet Sherry Lynn Simoes, Founder & President of Women of Today Inc. in Ilderton, Ontario, Canada

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do professionally.
I live on 50 acre farm with my husband and 15 year old son where we raise pure bred boer goats. I was not born a country gal but now that I am here I love the peace and quiet and being an animal lover love the fact that I can enjoy having many animals. I currently have 2 horses, Najomi Spirit Jac and Cute Candy Girl, an African Grey Parrot named Thunder, a Guinea Pig named Monkey, two cats, Smokey and Red, a Chihuahua named Petey and 5 other farm dogs!

My background and natural talent is design and marketing and I run Creative Concepts Design & Marketing Group which I started in 1994 when my son was born so I could work at home when he was young and have ever since.

I also run Women of Today, a professional group that helps women connect and grow in business and supports them in marketing their businesses in professional, affordable ways which has just gone global.

What do you enjoy most about your profession and why did you choose it in the first place?
The thing I enjoy most is the reward of seeing women succeed in marketing their businesses because of the support we can offer as well as working one-on-one helping them fine tune their marketing. I am an ideas person by nature and love to help them pull the piece together. I already mentioned why I started Creative Concepts. As for Women of Today, I realized a need in our area for a networking group for women as well as the fact that I saw women who excelled in the area of their expertise but needed support getting their businesses seen.

Tell us about the organizations your company supports and why?
We support various organizations. One being the Women’s Community House, a local shelter for abused women to help make an impact in our community. Another is The Canadian Cancer Society and try to form a team each year for the Run for the Cure as a tribute to the women we know who have battled breast cancer.

What is the biggest risk you ever took professionally and/or the biggest obstacle you have overcome?
The biggest risk I have recently taken is to go Global with Women of Today and put my main focus on building it. There are many wonderful women’s organizations many of which are free to join and I although I know the reasons, I have a challenge ahead of me proving that a paid membership is worthwhile to women thinking of joining!

From where do you draw inspiration? Who have been your role models, mentors, etc?
I draw inspiration from daily devotionals and Thoughts from the Universe that both come to my e-mail each morning. I also love to read about women in business succeeded beyond measure. Women who have overcome hurdles such as Ali Brown,

How is the current economic situation affecting your company/organization?
The current situation has not shown an impact because of the fact that women need to market more than ever in challenging times. We do our best to make sure the women get results from their marketing.

What one thing would you like to learn this year?
I would like to learn to become a master of marketing online. There are so many things to learn and I am eager to learn them all. I am blessed to have gotten to know so many wonderful women that I can learn from!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years I see myself with more time to myself and my family enjoying the help of a fulltime assistant taking care of all the administration leaving me to do what I do best. I also envision a head office with a conference centre/meeting facilities.

What do you do for fun/relaxation/entertainment?
I love to spend time with our horses and read, I love to soak up all the information I can.
I also love to create photo books and do that as a hobby as well as for other people as part of my business.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Never underestimate the power of networking. In my opinion it is the most important method of marketing your business. Take it seriously, learn the art, work it into your marketing plan and schedule the meetings into your day and be there!

Which, if any social networking sites do you belong to (feel free to include links)?

I belong to too many to mention them all but the ones I am most active on are:
Ryze http://www.ryze.com/go/creativeconceptsonline
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sherry.simoes
Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrysimoes
Ning http://www.ning.com/sherrylynnsimoes
Biznik http://biznik.com/members/sherry-simoes
The Self Growth Network http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/sherry_simoes.html

Networking Expert on several Ryze Networks:
HER Mastermind, A Bit of Humble Pie, Real Women Real Success, Small Business Owners and Women of Today.

For more information, visit: www.womenoftodayinc.com