Press Kit

Marilyn McCoy

Professor, Author & Mahler Historian

 
Imagine an opportunity to take an object, perhaps glass that will be refired, perhaps a building that will be redesigned, and stepping into a co-creative process and asking the question, "What does this object really want to be?" A glass bowl? A fire station?

But instead of a finite object with surface area, volume, and a finite number of uses the work being performed is on the infinite space of one's own life. Imagine peeling back the layers of the prison of the mind, imagine freeing up space to do exactly what you want, and understanding what it is exactly that you want.

Refiring, redesigning, this is what is done.

Peter House

President & CEO of Deeptree

 
I've had the pleasure of working with Shannon for a number of years now. We initially started working together shortly after I started a new business. This was a substantial shift in terms of lifestyle and demands upon my mental, physical, and spiritual health. As a former IT manager and software developer who decided to go into business, and having never done so before, what lay before me was a vast blue ocean and I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go and an even vaguer notion of how I would get there.

Throughout our time together, Shannon and I have worked together to tackle the strategic, the tactical, and the personal elements of running a new business. Everything from business strategy to time management to critical feedback on management issues, Shannon has been a vital ally and coach in sorting through the many challenges that presented themselves before me. In doing so, I was able to develop and use many of the tools of the trade needed to move forward in the direction of my dreams. Navigating the vast ocean has become less daunting.

The time commitment for working Shannon has been easy to fit into my busy schedule. The weekly phone calls provide a welcome moment to unpack my mind and let the bigger ideas unfold. The work in between sessions is easy, just remembering to do a small thing here or there. In this way, like with many things, small things bring about significant change. Details matter.

Prior to working with Shannon, my time horizon was limited and my work habits reflected that brevity. Now, as I make decisions with where I spend my time, I'm able to see a much bigger picture with a broader sense of impact. Being able to telescope in and out of detail is something that has been enhanced in my time working with Shannon.

For me, the consistency of the weekly sessions with Shannon has helped yield greater impact with less effort than had I worked with her on an as needed basis. Many times, when a problem arises to the point that it needs to be addressed, the myriad opportunities to catch it before the arrival of untoward consequences has passed. I appreciate having someone help me catch things before they swallow up time and energy.

By following this consistent approach, during the sleepy, easy times and the chaotic, turbulent times alike, I've been able to solve a wide variety of problems from the strategic direction of the business to how I work with others. Even figuring out what work is right for me on a daily basis. Building a business, a new life, isn't easy. It takes focus and effort. And coaching. Someone who is impartial and yet gentle enough to make facing the truth a welcome prospect.

I've worked with Shannon for some time now and I don't hesitate to renew each year. The investment has been both a prudent business and personal decision. There's quantitative impact ­ I can trace from the sessions to the balance sheet the impact. Our double digit growth is, in part, due to the work Shannon and I have done together. I remember a couple of vital, creative sessions where we batted around a few ideas. Those ideas grew into lines of business and a stronger vision for the future company. I remember the sheer joy of putting those ideas to strategic documents, to contracts, and to business processes like it was yesterday. The creative spirit was flourishing.

There's a qualitative element as well. I am a stronger, more confident, and more balanced individual. I understand myself, what motivates me, and what my pitfalls are in a gentle, caring way. I have moved from a place of try-­hard striving to one of more confident action.

As I pilot this vessel across the broad, blue ocean of a new life, Shannon is a welcome and exceedingly competent navigator.

Megan Wildhood

Published Author, Editor, and Writing Coach

For the first 20 years of my life, I could not imagine having anything like a career. I didn’t have enough clarity, confidence or self awareness to know where to begin and thought that the despair I felt around work and the nostalgia for childhood (it wasn’t super but I didn’t have to figure out the least miserable way to make ends meet) would just be part of adulting. I couldn’t fully accept the next 50 years being barely worth living while having to work so hard emotionally to get through; true to my nature, I rebelled against that story… which, temporarily made things worse.

Vocational flailing is absurdly painful. This is what I was avoiding by attempting to accept 8-to-5 misery. I would think I’d found The Thing—my passion, as the buzzword goes—and promptly lose all interest as soon as I learned how much effort it would take to become proficient in The Thing. Nothing seemed to work: I had no idea how to find my passion; the things people asked for me weren’t things I liked giving; I didn’t enjoy what people told me I was good at. But, most importantly, I had disavowed the dreams of being a writer I’d had since that childhood I longed so much for: I didn’t think what I wanted was possible, that I could be good enough to do it as well as I wanted (which was, of course, perfectly) or that I was allowed to want to be a writer while the world burns. After all, poetry is not penicillin.

So, when I was referred to Shannon by a dear friend who had totally transformed in her approach to her own “why should I be allowed to do this?” dream, I signed up for a free call. It became clear on that call pretty quickly that I had found the weirdest career coach ever, and in that moment, I learned what true hope felt like. Much as I want it to, traditional, beaten-path stuff just does not work for me; weird has always been how I roll. And this time was no exception.

I mean, except the transformation in me: that was exceptional. I actually was one of those people who knew what she wanted to do since she was four years old. I simply had taken it as a given that I was not allowed to do it. By the end of my work with Shannon, I had stopped looking for permission from the world to be a writer and started giving huge, heaping helpings of it to myself every day. I stopped apologizing for who and how I am and what I want out of my work life—which is satisfaction, fulfillment and the ability to make a huge impact for good in the world. And I finally got—like in my body—what it feels like to be truly listened to, validated and seen for who I am and what I want while at the same time being challenged to grow out of the comfort nest I’d ensnared myself in. The ability to do both of those things, which requires creating and holding a truly safe (which is not synonymous with “swaddled” or “coddled”) space is but one of Shannon’s superpowers. 

I am now a writer slash social worker slash business creator slash investor because of my work with Shannon. And I know how to add or swap what comes after each slash—a huge feat for someone who does not enjoy flexibility or change once A Plan is in place—when the times come to do so. Not even therapy or the other career coach I worked with got me there.

Aspenyarrow

Singer-Songwriter

Before I worked with Shannon, I didn’t think what I wanted to do was possible. I was restraining myself and not allowing myself to tune in to what I wanted. The world felt small to me. I wasn’t allowing myself to figure out what I wanted because I didn’t think I could have it. I had a belief I couldn’t go after what I wanted. I thought I had to wait for things to fall into my lap and I didn’t know that I was allowed to decide. 

What I first noticed about myself changing as a result of working with Shannon was that I started learning how to listen to and trust myself. I gained confidence that I didn’t have before both in myself and that I could actually have what I wanted. I realized that I can just go do things to get what I wanted. I don’t have to wait for someone to invite me to be in a band; I can start a band and invite other people. I found a sense of empowerment that I had not known before. 

I now have a belief that anything is possible and that it’s very important to figure out what you truly want. That would not have happened without Shannon. I also learned that what I truly want can change as I grow and change. Now I have the skills to recognize and identify it, let go of my picture of how things should go and do the ongoing work of identifying what I truly want. 

Shannon made it safe for me to explore the world. I knew that, no matter what happens, I have this person who can help me figure out what to do with this shitty mess I just made. If something I try doesn't go well, it’s okay. I have this person I can talk it over with. I felt like I could connect with my inner child and that was so good for me because I really needed to connect with that part of me to figure out what I really wanted. I did not feel embarrassed when we did visualization exercises and something “weird” came up. I felt safe to find myself.

Shannon is a calming presence and really creative, relational. She’s more creative than she realizes she is because it’s just how she is. And that is her message for everyone: you don’t know just how awesome you are because your gifts feel like breathing to you.

"​For the first time I have a non-judgemental understanding of my functionality. What I thought, or was taught, was a weakness is actually a strength and has helped me realize the value that I contribute. It's genuinely given me self-confidence. You have no idea how it's positively impacted my life."

- Chima Odinkemere, MD MBA | Clinical Fellow, Harvard Medical School