
Shannon spent 17 years rising through corporate Canada. Director at Scotiabank. VP at Publicis Groupe. High-stakes teams, real pressure, and a front-row seat to what leadership looks like when managing how you're seen takes over from leading.
She also lived it. From the outside, she looked confident and successful, while spending real energy keeping up a front, having the answers and never showing the strain. She came to call it the mask. When she set it down and started leading more honestly, her credibility grew rather than shrank. That became the lens through which she now teaches.
Then a correctional officer who had read Shannon's book asked if she would mentor men at a medium-security prison. She met weekly by screen with men who have lost everything. No title. No status. No excuses. Just the hard work of leading themselves differently. That experience sharpened everything.
Today Shannon works with organizations where the engagement scores look fine, but something underneath doesn't, where good people are quietly starting to disengage, and where teams are capable of more than they're delivering. Whether she's speaking, facilitating, consulting, or coaching, she helps leaders address the root cause, the mask, rather than its symptoms. When leaders set the mask down, trust rises, hard conversations finally happen, and teams do the work they're actually capable of.

17 years of corporate leadership in financial services and advertising
Led high-impact teams and initiatives across 25 countries
Organizations include Scotiabank, BMO, Loblaw, and Publicis Groupe
MBA, Schulich School of Business; Bachelor of International Business
Keynote speaker for executive and leadership audiences of up to 600
Facilitator and Chair, MacKay CEO Forums
Author of Breaking Free, finalist for the National Indie Excellence Awards
Featured on CBC Radio, Breakfast Television, Business Insider, and Today's Parent
RBC Women of Influence 2025 Nominee