Human on the Inside with Shannah Kennedy
Human on the Inside. We’re big believers in the power of human skills. But don’t just take our word for it - the evidence for excellence powered by human (‘soft’) skills is everywhere! In this engaging, ever-enlightening series, we speak with industry leaders, innovators and game-changers to learn a little about their personal career journeys, and how human-led strategies, philosophies and cultures are proving a force for good in their working worlds …
Maxme: Welcome Shannah, and thanks for stepping into the #SuccessIsHuman Spotlight.
You’re one of Australia’s foremost ‘strategic life coaches’.
In 1 sentence (ok, we’ll give you 3), what does this role entail?
Shannah Kennedy: My role involves guiding elite athletes, CEOs, and individuals towards achieving their highest potential by developing personalised strategies focused on values, vision, and overcoming burnout. I provide expert coaching in executive strategy, self-care, and self-leadership to enhance personal and professional performance. Additionally, I share these essential life and wellness skills through bestselling books, keynote speeches, and interactive workshops.
M: Consistently ranked as one of Australia’s top 10 business & life coaches, you’re also the author of bestsellers The Life Plan (Penguin Books) and Plan B (Penguin Books), with your latest book released in late 2023. In addition, you’re the co-founder of Human Elevation with former CEO of Sussan Colleen Callander, with recent clients including Global Vic, Entrepreneurs Organisation and CHE Proximity.
Prior to this, you worked for over seven years (2013-2020) on another business you Co-Founded with Lyndal Mitchell called The Essentialists. Together, you were dubbed the “Thelma and Louise of wellness”!
Your early career was quite different to all of this, however. In fact to kick it all off in
1988, you spent six years in the stockbroking industry with JBWere, but before long, you found a calling in sports marketing. Initially managing the communications for 12 Pro golfers at Pro Sport Management Inc, and three years later joined Bollé to head up Sponsorship, PR & Marketing for its ski range.
How does all this work speak to your personal purpose and what drives you as an individual?
SK: I love how life and career keep evolving and are never stagnant. All of it has been a result of following my heart, my passion and purpose at the time and stage in my life. Each age and stage is different, and each was about authenticity and truly engaging and building a business that came from the heart with inspiration, motivation and dedication.
As an individual I strive to make each day count, to help someone grow and evolve; whether it be through my coaching, my books, my vision-board kits, my keynotes, workshops or interviews. It all comes down to sharing tools and tips that work for self regulation, awareness, self leadership and self management.
M: Tell us a little about your personal education pathway/s - what led you to where you are now? How closely do your formal qualifications match your current career?
SK: I didn’t go to traditional University - instead, I went straight into the workforce at 18 years of age. I wanted to work, and work as hard as I could. It thrilled me to learn, grow and have an income.
My first formal qualification after school was at 30 years of age studying to be a Certified Life Coach at a time when no one had ever heard of the term. I was passionate about starting my own business so I could work around raising a family.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice to your 21 year old self it would be ...
SK: Protect your energy and embrace the pace in life, you don’t have to achieve everything today. I learned the hard way and suffered extreme burnout prior to turning 30 as I basically married my job, loved it, and had no regard for self care or my health. It cost me dearly resulting in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a deep depression.
M: Maximising the potential of individuals, communities and businesses through the power of human skills is the reason Maxme exists. Can you tell us a little about the role and / or value of human skills in your workplace or industry right now?
SK: All roads and leadership starts with self. Turning up to work as the best version of ourselves requires a lot of work, effort and commitment to the values, goals and habits we have for ourselves. Human skills are the foundational base of a high performer, and I think they are imperative for long term sustainable success.
M: Self Awareness sets the critical foundation for all Maxme learning experiences. With that said … what’s your strongest trait / personal superpower?
SK: I would say breath work. Coming home to self, by grounding in breath in any situation allows me to rationalise, regulate, control my reactions and hormones. I think it is a high performance habit. We see it in sport all the time, the breath work, the preparation to either fire up or cool down, and when we make it our own super power, we really take life to the next level.
M: And on the flip side, what’s one human / ‘soft’ skill you’ve had to really work on improving over the course of your career?
SK: Putting progress ahead of perfection. Being an ‘A-type’ overachieving perfectionist always leads to burnout, stress, exhaustion, overwhelm and anxiety. I have worked very hard on giving myself permission not to have everything perfect - that progress is far more rewarding.
The other would be learning to tame the inner critic, which I have done a lot of work on and seem to be able to control most of the time.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice with recent Uni graduates or candidates keen to work in the field of life coaching, what would it be?
SK: Ensure you have the experience of being coached yourself prior to deciding if you would like to be a coach. I had a coach first, and had the experience of being a client. I think it is like wanting to be a personal trainer, but you have never had one for yourself. It’s imperative to have the experience of being the client.
I still employ coaches to coach me every few years, and find it incredibly valuable for a plethora of reasons.
M: You’ve been granted approval to add one University graduate to your business, but have 100 applicants, all with outstanding academic results. How do you find your perfect candidate - what are you looking for?
SK: I would ask them their values. I would go deep into their values and see who really had done the inner work on themselves first before wanting to be a coach. I think this is incredibly rare unfortunately, as coaching is a human connection and we hold such a sacred and safe space for our clients that my graduate would need to have done the inner work themselves to be able to hold this space.
I worked for over a year with a coach before I decided to study, and continued reading, learning, and getting coached from people all over the world over the past 20 years to ensure I keep evolving.
M: In the words of John Dewey, “education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.”
What’s next on your #learning agenda?
SK: The journey of midlife, the chrysalis in life, where at this stage we need to dissolve a part of us to turn into the butterfly, my best years yet! I have a thirst to learn about transitions, about reinventing myself now that my children have grown up, and I am no longer their manager, but now their consultant. It’s time to really shine the light on myself and create my next 20 year plan.
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