How Rosie Sherry Built the Ministry of Testing into the World’s Largest Community of Software Testers

Masters of Community with David Spinks

Today we get the pleasure to hear from Rosie Sherry - founder of the Ministry of Testing, the largest network of software testing professionals, and is the current Community Manager of Indie Hackers. Rosie began her career as a software tester in 2000 and began hosting her own casual, community events, which eventually resulted in the Ministry of Testing Community. In the beginning, she recruited volunteers in different cities to run local software testing events. Eventually, she decided to host a conference that resulted in 60 attendees, and has since skyrocketed to 9 yearly conferences earning $1.5 million in annual revenue. She discusses the challenges of growing a community and determining whether to buy or build community software. Eventually, Rosie outgrew this community, handing over her title as CEO, and discussed the hardships, challenges, and the emotional toll it takes to leave a community she built from scratch. She transitioned to the Indie Hackers Community and has continued to break out of her shell by speaking and educating others on the power of community. Who is this episode for?: B2C, in person and online, starting 3 key takeaways: -Rosie has discovered that you don’t build a community tool until you need to because it’s not the tool that makes the community it’s the people. -Rosie successfully left the Ministry of Testing after outgrowing and losing interest, and affirms that it’s normal to move onto other opportunities. -Community isn’t about one person leading, it’s the person to person relationships that cultivates community, as shown by the Ministry of Testing growing from 1 conference a year to 9.