Shannon Maher Wallis is the Director of Worldwide Leadership Programs for Microsoft’s Sales Marketing and Services Group. Shannon’s nearly 20 years of international work experience includes organizations as diverse as Coca-Cola, Universal Studios, and Microsoft. During that time, she has specialized in working with leaders and their teams to transform key relationships. She has designed and facilitated over 500 workshops and training sessions while holding management positions in Fortune 100 businesses and international consulting firms. Her degrees include an MBA with a concentration in Health Services Management from Duke University and a B.S. in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University. She is an adjunct faculty member at Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain.

In 2000, she founded Create Your Life, a club designed to help individuals not only discover their passions but also to manifest them in their lives. Utilizing her professional and personal education and experience, she guides members in the journey of self-discovery to help them transform their lives and achieve their dreams. Over time, Shannon observed that the club’s membership was 90% female. They were women who juggled many roles as mother, daughter, sister, wife, loyal friend and employee. Create Your Life offered them the network of supporters who sustained and encouraged them to achieve their dreams.

In 2002, she completed El Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile walking pilgrimage across northern Spain. Her keynote address, Getting to the Destination: Managing Your Life in Times of Change, 15 Lessons from The Camino, is popular with individuals and organizations embarking on major change.

Shannon lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband, Joe, two daughters and two dogs. Her passions include travel, her daughters’ laughter, and working with disadvantaged youth. She credits her mother, Patricia Gray, with her success.