I have had a lot of strange jobs, so maybe it makes sense that I’m now an A&M Recruiter at a place with "Zoo" in the title.  I have been both a Party Animal (yes, that was the name of the place) where I dressed up as Snow White and the Little Mermaid for children’s birthday parties and I also used to sing on Tuesday nights at a local cafeteria for the over 70s crowd.  For a while there, I was also a full-time Mommy to the best two children in all the land. 

In addition, I have also held some real jobs like working for a division of Morgan Stanley for seven years, and in post-secondary admissions (read: college recruiting) for four years or so.  In short, I have spent a whole lot-o-time talking to folks and interviewing people helping them to figure out what’s going to make them happy.  Throw in a gallon of writing gigs, a quart of marketing, and a dash of some retail…bake until done and voila!  It’s Shannon-a-la-mode!

My first memory is of moving. I was four. It has become an on-going theme in my life.

By the time I was seventeen, I had amassed thirteen schools and twenty-one different residences spanning four states and two continents. It never seemed weird to me. I loved moving. Loved traveling. Loved that my family was adventurous and brave and that we had the opportunity to do so. I encourage my candidates to look at relocation the same way.

But now, I think I’m part gypsy. Not so much the free-flowing skirts and the jangly bracelets part of gypsy, but the insatiable search for a place to call "home."

Someone once told me I should heed the advice given to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She spends the entire length of the film trying to get back home and comes to realize that "home" is a state of mind. She also learns that flying monkeys are really very creepy.

So after years of being walked into the front office of new schools with my immunization paperwork and old report cards tucked into my brand-new Trapper Keeper, I attended no less than three colleges and then convinced my husband to move me to the other side of the country three weeks after our wedding. See a theme here?

The good news is that we have finally put down some roots (although I admit that since I’ve been at Talent Zoo, I’ve had 3 different desks). 

At home,  my clan is up to four (2 big ‘uns and 2 little ‘uns) and I’m COO of the whole mess. Luckily, the employees of my venture are radiant and brilliant and full of light and love (ok, a bit demanding and "me me me" at times) but they dole out hugs and kisses like candy on Halloween. I’m training them to lead the rebel forces one day. Good Jedis they are. Strong with them, the force is. (Or at least that’s what Yoda tells me.)

And as for my clan at Talent Zoo, let’s just say I’m not the weirdest one here and you gotta love that in a family.

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