Mary Shannon Shares Her Journey Unseen

For most of her career, Mary Shannon avoided working in the youth and trauma space, even though the work called to her. More than 9 years ago, she became the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“We are a one-to-one mentor matching organization. Pretty much every part of our organization comes from a failure of the past,” Shannon said.

Her experiences, and the lessons learned from those failures and others, could make a really good book. With that in mind, Shannon shared the titles of the books she would write about her journey.

Passion: It’s More Than Just A Fruit

Throughout her nearly 30 year career in the non-profit sector, Shannon said she always worked in her passions, but Big Brothers Big Sisters hits a lot closer to home for her.

For years, Shannon avoided work in the youth development and trauma space. Even after accepting the position with Big Brothers Big Sisters, she didn’t talk about her personal experiences. A year ago, she had an opportunity to share her story publicly at an event, and it took her 6 weeks to decide if she would do it.

“I did it, and the world is still spinning,” she said. “If it inspires others, it’s worth it.”

Shannon’s story starts in South Korea, where she was adopted and landed in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 5.

“After almost 8 years of what the state once called one of the worst cases of abuse at that time, I was removed from that home and spent some time in the Wichita Children’s home,” she said.

At nearly 13 years old, a couple who were complete strangers to her reached into her life and began mentoring her.

“They SAW me,” Shannon said. “They met me where I was, took me into their home, out for a burger and gave me seat at the table. They were the first people to tell me they loved me.”

That investment of time and love led to her finding a forever family, getting her US citizenship at age 15 and attending college.

“People like the younger me, and the thousands we have served who are now adults or youth we are no serving prove the universal truth that relationships matter, and they are life-changing,” she said. “My passion is to help the younger version of me live a life down the road that I now live that I would have never dreamed possible as a kid.”

Business Matters

To be successful in pursuing your passion as a profession, you have to understand the business of doing the work.

“Passion alone is not enough to do it,” Shannon said. Paying attention to data, trends, technology, setting goals, building metrics and being relentlessly relevant are all critical.

Advancing an organization or business happens when rooted in passion, they educate themselves and others and work together to reach their goals, and have the tools to do so with grit and determination to do the work.

Jerk Is Only Good as a Chicken Spice

Recently, Shannon learned someone didn’t like her. She worried over what she had done or said to turn this person off. Finally, a conversation with her board chair, Ben Hutton, helped her put the incident into perspective.

“How many times do we say something directly or indirectly that makes someone question their value?” she asked. “You won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Life is difficult enough without all the naysayers and the negative Nellies.”

It’s Not About You. Duh!

Shannon recalled winning an award for being an outstanding fundraiser last year. She was horribly uncomfortable with the recognition because it takes her whole team, her board members and the volunteer mentors to do the work.

“Everyday, I have the privilege of helping inspire people outside of our organization to literally give a youth on our waiting list a seat at their table,” Shannon said. “And everyday, I have the privilege to share with people the critical nature of our mission, and to connect their available resources with the needs of our program, and help them imagine transformation in the lives of our youth as a result of their gifts.”

Leadership vs. Leader$#!#

Leaders consistently give credit to others when things go right and take ownership and responsibility when things go wrong. They build shared vision and create opportunities for employee growth. They inspire others to reach their potential.

Stop Dancing & Start Leading

Big Brothers Big Sisters has a culture of openness, where employees and board members are encouraged to be open and candid with each other. Dancing around the issues or difficulties only creates drama.

Hope is Not a Plan, But it is a Damn Fine Place to Start

Any business expert will tell you that hope is not a plan. But without hope, there is no dream or vision of how things could be different or better than they are now.

Welp That Didn’t Work

Shannon said her childhood fostered a healthy fear of failure because failure was met with negative consequences. She has worked hard to change her mindset and create a space where failure is an act of courage.

“Try new things, but fail fast and analyze,” Shannon said. “What did you learn from this and what idea will come from this failure that will help make us better and stronger?”

Good to GRATE-ful

“Every single morning my feet don’t hit the floor until I say three things out loud that I’m grateful for that day,” Shannon said.

She said she has many things in her life for which to be grateful and kicking off her day with them provides a perspective that allows her to better tackle the challenges that day may present.

“No matter how bad things seem in the moment, things will get better,” Shannon said. “If I could change anything, I would change the first 21 years of my life. I can’t, but I can inspire others to not walk that journey alone. Mentoring is a recognition that it is nearly impossible to journey alone.”

The advice she would give others is to find a mentor. Throughout her journey, she has gotten out into the community and connected with people, who connected her with others and they connected her with still others. Through those relationships, she has built a network of mentors who hold her accountable, encourage her and give her advice.

“You’re never too young or too old to have a mentor,” she said.