Sheila Dohmann is Chief Marketing Officer for Book.io and Stuff.io, two companies working at the intersection of Web3, ownership and digital media. At Book.io, the focus is on what it means to own digital books and audiobooks in a meaningful way. At Stuff.io, that thinking expands into wider media, including film, music and other forms of content.
For Dohmann, the work is not simply technical. It is about people understanding why ownership matters, why creators need new models, and why trust still sits at the heart of an industry often described as trustless.
“One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that leadership is not about having all the answers,” she says. “I ask questions daily as we work in a technical industry that changes by the minute.”
“The confidence to ask questions is a huge thing in leadership for the industry because it is impossible to stay up-to-date on every issue. That is where an amazing team comes in.”
Team Based
Her view of leadership is firmly team based. She does not see people as sitting beneath her in a traditional hierarchy, but beside her, each with different roles and purposes. Leadership, in that sense, is about creating clarity, building trust and allowing talented people to move in the same direction.
As a woman in an industry that still has a visible gender gap, Dohmann is also clear that leadership cannot wait for permission. Women need to be prepared, informed and willing to speak with conviction. Sometimes that means asking the practical question in the room. Sometimes it means slowing down the hype and bringing the conversation back to product, trust, people and long-term value.
“I think women often bring a powerful balance of strategy, empathy, and resilience to leadership,” she says. “Those qualities are not soft. They are essential, especially in an industry still earning mainstream trust.”
That point is important because Web3 has often described itself as meritocratic, yet many of its leadership structures still mirror the industries it hoped to disrupt. Dohmann sees both realities happening at once. On one hand, Web3 can lower barriers, create direct access, give creators more ownership and allow communities to form without waiting for traditional gatekeepers. On the other, technology alone does not erase old power structures.
“If the same people control the capital, the platforms, the speaking opportunities, and the decision-making rooms, then decentralisation will fall into replicating the same patterns we have seen in traditional industries.”
Intentional Opportunity
For Dohmann, the opportunity now is to be intentional. If Web3 is truly about ownership and access, then that must include who gets funded, who gets hired, who gets heard and who gets to lead. Decentralisation should not be only a technical principle, but also a human one.
She has not experienced that challenge directly within her own team, where she says she has always been respected and treated as an equal member. But across a career that has included international sports, broadcasting and technology, she recognises the familiar patterns that many women in leadership know well.
“Every woman in leadership has experienced that, whether it is obvious or subtle,” she says.
Sometimes it appears as interruption. Sometimes an idea is overlooked until someone else repeats it. Sometimes a woman is expected to prove her expertise in a way her male counterparts are not. At other times, the assumption is more subtle, that she is in the room to support the conversation rather than lead it.
Dohmann says her own response has changed over time. Earlier in her career, she felt more pressure to over-explain or over-prepare in order to be taken seriously. Now, she chooses to stay calm, direct and focused on the work.
Gracious and Firm
“I have learned that you do not have to match every tone in the room to hold authority in the room. You can be gracious and still be firm. You can be collaborative and still make the decision.”
Her own leadership style is relationship driven, but also practical. She cares about how people experience a brand, whether they feel informed, and whether they understand why something matters. That is especially important in Web3, where language can become technical very quickly, and where confusion can easily make people feel excluded.
At Book.io and Stuff.io, that challenge of communication sits at the centre of the business. The companies are asking readers, creators and publishers to rethink what it means to own digital media, whether that is books, audiobooks, film, music or other forms of content. It is a conversation that inevitably begins with technology, but Dohmann believes it succeeds only when it becomes about people.
“I try to communicate in a way that feels human first,” she says. “Not every audience cares about the mechanics of the blockchain at first. They care about what it means for them, for creators, and for the future of media.”
Technical or not
Although blockchain is frequently viewed through a highly technical lens, Dohmann is keen to challenge assumptions about who belongs in the industry. She rejects the outdated stereotype that women are somehow less technical than men.
“First off, I think we need to get away from the assumption that women can’t be technical, understand technology, or be engineers. Web3, and especially in this new AI building world, is full of women builders.”
Equally, she points out that successful technology companies require much more than engineers. Technical products still need marketers, communicators, educators and people capable of building trust with communities. In many ways, those roles become the bridge between innovation and adoption.
“Technical products do not reach the world without people who can translate them,” she says. “Community is what Web3 is actually all about.”
That ability to translate also defines the way she moves between grassroots Web3 communities and more formal institutional environments. The two worlds often operate very differently. Community groups move quickly, driven by passion and shared values, while institutions tend to focus on governance, compliance, reputation and long term sustainability. Neither is sufficient on its own.
“If you only understand the community side, you may miss what it takes to scale. If you only understand the institutional side, you may miss the energy and belief that make Web3 powerful in the first place.”
Her own role regularly brings together publishers, authors, filmmakers, musicians, investors, developers, creators and business leaders, all arriving with different levels of knowledge and different reasons for caring. Rather than forcing everyone into the same conversation, she believes the better approach is to meet people where they are and help them understand the value from their own perspective.
AI and Blockchain
As artificial intelligence increasingly develops alongside blockchain, Dohmann believes women have an essential role in shaping the ethical frameworks that will govern both technologies. Questions around ownership, privacy, identity, creativity and trust are not simply technical issues but human ones.
“Who owns the output? Who controls the data? Who benefits financially? Who is protected? Who is left out? Those questions require a broader set of voices at the table.”
She believes women often bring different lived experiences and a heightened awareness of how decisions affect families, communities, creators and vulnerable users. Just as importantly, she sees AI creating even greater opportunities for women to become builders and engineers themselves, bringing practical experience into future conversations around governance.
Behind her own career, Dohmann credits mentors rather than technology. Throughout different stages of her professional life, experienced leaders were willing to give their time, guidance and encouragement, lessons that continue to shape her today.
“I still talk to my mentors to this day,” she says.
While AI will undoubtedly become an important educational tool, she believes technology should support human experience rather than replace it. Young people will naturally turn to AI for quick answers, but leadership, judgement and resilience are still best learned from people who have lived through success and failure themselves.
“We’re going to need to use technology to deliver human knowledge and experience to people. We will never get away from learning from each other.”
Three tips from Sheila Dohmann
• Go for it. Don’t wait until you think you are ready. Apply for the role, launch the company or begin the project. “Do not confuse being new with being unqualified,” she says. “You might be the next Web3 genius.”
• Master the fundamentals and never stop learning. Web3 and AI evolve constantly, but strong foundations allow leaders to ask better questions and adapt as the technology changes.
• Protect your credibility. In an industry that has experienced hype cycles and broken promises, reputation matters. Be known for communicating clearly, following through on commitments and focusing on genuine utility rather than empty promises.
