Winning Ideas from Winning Women
Barbara Sheridan

Barbara Sheridan describes herself as “a risk taker, opinionated, always challenging current ways of doing things, and thriving on change.” As the president of HR XCEL, a human resources company supporting middle-market companies, she has the opportunity to live into her persona.

Sheridan spent several years working as a human resource executive for several large companies, as well as working as a consultant for the Towers Perrin company. However, in 1994, she married and moved to Charlotte, N.C., where she took a temporary position with a company that had 500 employees and almost no human resource expertise. She knew that there had to be other companies which were in similar situations, and Sheridan stepped up to the challenge of devising a business plan that would enable a human resource department to meet the needs of these companies.

Even though she had no real financing—just a few potential investors—Sheridan made the choice and informed her managers that she was resigning because she wanted to start her own company. They both agreed that the business plan was solid and had great potential—they even offered to provide her with the financial backing she needed. Ironically, her previous employer became her first client.

It was not until 2002 that HR XCEL really took off. Sheridan recalls her most exciting moment during the expansion of her company as when she landed her first million-dollar contract for a company with 8,000 employees; the contract was actually for five million dollars because it was a five-year deal. “HR XCEL competed against 18 other companies, many of which were Fortune 500 companies. The other finalist was CitiStreet, a division of CitiGroup, and HR XCEL was the victor!” she proclaimed.

Barbara Sheridan

Surrounding herself with an outstanding and committed executive staff is one of the best business-related decisions Sheridan has made thus far. She believes their dedication has made all the difference in HR XCEL’s success.

While Sheridan has experienced much success with her company, she also realizes that there have been failures in the company’s history as well. She describes her worst moment as when one of her biggest clients went bankrupt. It was within HR XCEL’s first two years of business and the client had several thousand employees for which HR XCEL had to hire more of their own staff to support. It was tough financially, but Sheridan proudly says that she never had to lay off employees during this time—she transferred them to new clients and kept right on going.

Sheridan attributes her success to the people who have helped her along the way. Todd Wiebusch and Mike Brown are her partners, whom she describes as successful entrepreneurs whom have taught her a lot, but also have let her make her own mistakes. Her father, who has a Ph.D. in Economics and was an Economics and Business professor for 40 years, has inspired her as well.

Not only is Sheridan a successful business woman, but she is also a wife and a mother. Her husband Stuart is an executive at Wachovia and they have a six-year-old son who is just finishing kindergarten. Sheridan is proud of the way that she is able to balance her company and her personal life, even though she admits it took her a while to find that balance.

Her message towards women who are thinking of starting their own business is that it is a lot harder than you think, but it is also one of the most rewarding things you can do. She believes that having a supportive family is definitely a must and that anything is possible as long as you can balance your work life with your family life. A strong team in the workplace is absolutely necessary, and when they share your vision, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.

Sheridan feels one of the biggest mistakes one can make is underestimation. She underestimated how hard it would be to sell a very new concept, like HR XCEL, to the middle-market. “Fortune 500 companies have been outsourcing for years, but the middle-market needed a lot of education on the concept. I regret not investing in higher-level sales people earlier on—it was hard to compete with the big boys without having the right talent in sales and marketing,” she explained.

On top of her family and professional life, Sheridan is involved in many North Carolina organizations. She was appointed by the governor to the Advisory Committee for NC State Employee benefits, she is a member of the Charlotte chapter of the WPO- Women President’s Organization; she serves on the Charlotte Chamber Board of Advisors and is a board member of the Business Innovative Growth Council (Entrepreneurial Council in Charlotte).

In 2003, Sheridan won an award from the Charlotte Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and won the Charlotte Business Journal’s 25 Women’s Business Achievement Award in 2004.