"Working with Sheri Palazzo as our Entrepreneur in Residence has been an enriching experience filled with growth and camaraderie. Sheri's vibrant personality and deep expertise bring a unique energy to our monthly CTO + Technical Lead roundtables. With her by our side, the atmosphere is always one of collaboration and support. Each session becomes a journey of discovery as Sheri shares her insights and guides our group of ~15 CTOs with personalized coaching, educational content, and genuine connections. Her passion for cultivating stronger technical leaders and managers is evident in every interaction, making our partnership with her an invaluable asset to our community."

Jackie Hedberg, Director of Community, Greentown Labs

"Working with Sheri Palazzo in our Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program has been incredibly rewarding. Sheri's dedication and innovative ideas have significantly contributed to the growth and success of the program. Her proactive engagement and strategic insights have enriched our initiatives and expanded our reach to over 20 startups in 1H 2024.

Sheri's enthusiasm and commitment to excellence foster a collaborative and supportive environment. Her ability to connect with participants and provide personalized guidance has greatly impacted our community. It has been a joy to work with Sheri, and her presence has been an invaluable asset to our team."  

Erin Wheeler, Director of Member Success, Greentown Labs

"As a seed stage hardware startup you are pulled in multiple directions and always short on time—we brought in Sheri to help guide and streamline our first commercial pilot project.  She was impactful is an understatement.  We could not have deployed our first commercial pilot without her.  With her project management experience and expertise, she was able to help us identify the risks early on, set accountable timelines, and execute the project with minimal surprises.  A bonus, she is great to work with.  Startups if you are working on tight timelines and missing deadlines, get on Sheri's calendar!"   

Malav Sukhadia, Head of Finance, Sol Clarity 

“Sheri was a great mentor and was able to help me run my team, while taking into account my management style, available resources and personality. It was easy to bring problems to Sheri, knowing that she would be able to help guide me through the problem and come up with a gameplan to solve these. Would highly recommend.” 

Rick Salvucci, Vice President of Downstream Processing, Phoenix Tailings

"It’s hard to properly articulate how much I valued the work Sheri and I did together.  She helped me examine myself as an employee and as a person, defining strengths, opportunities for growth and really solidified my core values and beliefs in a clear way.  For the first time in my career, I have a real sense of what I want (and don’t want) and how to use that information to make impactful career decisions.  The work was hard and at times very emotional, but Sheri maintained a genuine, consistent, and supportive demeanor which helped me feel safe enough to make difficult observations about myself.  I feel extremely confident in where I am now and am completely sure that without this work, I would not have gotten here. Thank you, Sheri!"

Tricia Freitas, HR Manager

"Coaching with Sheri doesn’t feel like work.  It feels like chatting comfortably with an old friend. She cares deeply about the people she works with. Her coaching process is deceptively simple and incredibly powerful.  In each session there was an inflection point where an “ah ha” moment took my breath away.  She helped me clarify my priorities, articulate my values and lean into my strengths.  Until you work with her, you might not appreciate how fundamental those things are to any life transition.  As a supportive partner, Sheri helps adjust your perspective and see the forest for the trees.  At the close of my coaching journey with Sheri, my 'ah ha' moment was recognizing that my values and my strengths always defined me, and now that I am fully aware of them, I am confident leaning into them and using them intentionally to drive my decision making."

Christy Murfitt, Marketing & Customer Success Leader, Strategic Advisor, Executive Coach 

"Working with Sheri has been a transformative experience. As someone who recently graduated from college, I have debates about my career and life outlooks. Sheri is so personable, patient, and encouraging. She listens to my journey with acceptance and compassion. She then uses an insightful questionnaire to help me contemplate my experiences and evaluate myself. We collectively reflect on my strengths and weaknesses and then develop areas of improvement and potential career pathways. Sheri has helped me gain clarity in my life and fostered a positive mindset.

Overall, Sheri is a great listener and pushes me to reflect and take responsibility for my own experiences. She is a skillful coach and a caring friend. I highly recommend working with Sheri!"

Zack Chou, Research Assistant, Harvard University 

"I started working with Sheri as my career coach when making major career/life decisions after spending 15+ years at a major corporation. I interviewed multiple coaches and decided to put my trust in Sheri because it was clear to me right from our first introductory session that she genuinely cared about me more as a person than a professional. Sheri has had an amazing career and has faced and solved many of the same transitions and work/life challenges that I was facing. She helped me prioritize my needs and provided structures and templates to help me with my-decision-making. She held me accountable by always putting my documented priorities front and center when I was executing my change plan but sometimes second-guessing myself, while allowing me the space to consider alternatives. She also openly shared her own experiences that helped me think through implications and apply lessons learned.  Sheri went above and beyond to connect me with the right leaders within her vast professional network even after our formal arrangement ended. Through this, I got invaluable insights when pursuing and evaluating new opportunities. She checked on me multiple times formally and informally keeping key dates and milestones in mind, but never interfering. She boosted my confidence and gave me the Power of Choice to say Yes or No on my terms. Sheri became the partner I did not know I needed through stressful times. I feel privileged to be a part of the Saplings family and look forward to continuing my engagements with Sheri."

RV, Senior Strategy Manager

"Sheri is an amazing career coach. She is very empathic and professional. My sessions with her helped me truly take my managing skills to the next level. She has a versatile tool box that can help anyone gain clarity, make great change, and create next steps while having a supportive ear by your side.

I had 8 sessions with Sheri during a time when I had to build strategies and make extremely challenging work decisions. She helped me weigh all my options and we narrowed in on my strengths and core values to ensure that I incorporated these into my decisions as well. She also helped me with understanding what success in my role looks like. Together, we built a game plan and an arsenal of plans and strategies that I can reach for when faced with new challenges.” 

Sean Weiss, VP of Software Engineering, Kuva Systems

"As an electrical engineer at Altaeros for nearly five years, I had the honor of working with Sheri in her position as VP of Engineering both directly and indirectly through the design, build, and test of four different aerostat systems. Working at a startup is equal parts challenging and rewarding. Sheri expertly managed projects with tight timelines and difficult technical challenges while also ensuring that each person on the team felt valued and fulfilled in their work.

Sheri is an incredible project manager. Her most impressive accomplishment in this area during my time at Altaeros was the design, build, and deployment of the first ST-Flex System in less than 18 months throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheri was able to manage this project and continue the collaboration that was so critical to our work with nearly the entire team working remotely.

In addition, Sheri is a talented engineer. While her background is in mechanical engineering, her ability to learn quickly has allowed her to develop a strong understanding of other engineering disciplines (including electrical engineering). This has resulted in Sheri having an excellent system understanding, which allows her to expertly navigate technical challenges. While her project management and technical skills are excellent, what sets Sheri apart as an incredible leader is her ability to manage and build teams.

Sheri fosters a culture of respect, collaboration, and growth within her team. She takes time to get to know her team members, how they prefer to work, and what motivates them to ensure that they remain passionate and engaged with their job. She encourages and facilitates collaboration across disciplines. Finally, Sheri supports the personal and professional growth of her team members. The result of this work was a higher quality of work and a happy team, illustrated by the very low turnover rate at Altaeros.

Personally, I would not be where I am as an engineer and person without Sheri and I am certainly not the only person with this experience. The team that Sheri built was the primary reason that I spent nearly five years at Altaeros before returning to graduate school. While we no longer work together, she is still one of my closest mentors, both personally and professionally. I am so excited to see her expand her work to Saplings Consulting, so that others can benefit from her knowledge and mentorship."

Elizabeth Suitor, PhD candidate, Harvard University

"It is rare to come across a person who is so generous with their time, passionate about helping people achieve their professional goals, and can mentor young professionals of all ages. Sheri is one of those fantastic people. I have worked with Sheri for the past three years as a Guest Speaker, Mentor, and Technical Coach to TYE Boston's Entrepreneurship Academy. I am in awe of Sheri's ability to connect with learners of all ages and translate complicated processes through a simple and fun learning opportunity. Over the past three years, Sheri has taught our Rapid Prototyping Workshop. She guides our students through the design thinking process while helping them develop their communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. During the height of the pandemic, Sheri transferred her workshop to a virtual format. She offered it to the greater TYE Global Community, coaching high school students from India, Australia, Canada, and other U.S. cities. Sheri's guidance would be a true asset for anyone looking to further their professional development, and she comes with my heartfelt recommendation."

Katie Quigley Mellor,  TYE Program Director