022: Sheila Talton, Powerhouse CEO in the Male Dominated Field, of Data Analytics and Big Tech

<p class="p1">Today, we are speaking with a digital transformation and analytics powerhouse, Sheila Talton. Sheila owns Gray Matter Analytics, a healthcare data analytics company founded in 2013. She is here to share with us her perspective on important topics such as the lack of women in the big data and big tech industry, raising working capital in a business, and what it means to be an entrepreneur. As an African American woman, Sheila is an ardent advocate for African American rights. She currently serves on three public boards, two of which are John Deere and Cisco. Finally, Sheila is a thoughtful leader who attributes much of her success to her daily workouts and ensuring stillness in her day by taking time to read the Bible.</p> <p class="p1"><strong>IN THIS EPISODE:</strong></p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">[03:37] Sheila reflects on her childhood, labeling herself as a rule follower until she realized she wasn’t accomplishing as much as she wanted to quickly enough.</li> <li class="li1">[05:44] Marching and demonstrating in protests, making sure her voice was heard around important issues facing African Americans.</li> <li class="li1">[08:52] The point when Sheila knew she wanted to pursue a career in technology.</li> <li class="li1">[16:57] Not getting the support of her then husband as Sheila’s career started to grow exponentially.</li> <li class="li1">[19:16] Sheila’s next steps as she transitioned and pivoted her focus to becoming an entrepreneur.</li> <li class="li1">[21:18] How Sheila negotiated and structured the deal to get her business started.</li> <li class="li1">[27:59] Hindsight of Sheila’s career, she spent 50% as an entrepreneur and 50% in corporate America. Does she feel the time she spent in corporate was beneficial?</li> <li class="li1">[30:31] Sheila speaks about her current company and what she expects the future of this company to look like.</li> </ul> <p class="p1"><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">Sheila marched and demonstrated during the civ