As a high schooler in Missoula, Montana, Shannon had enough work as a portrait and wedding photographer that she created a limited liability company—at age 17. Her success has been on a fairly steep trajectory ever since. In her 16-year career she’s worked with more than 200 clients as a photographer and project director, including with global brands like Red Bull and Ford Motor Company. She’s best known, though, as the director of “Nexus,” 2022’s blockbuster ski flick.

Filmed in the Tetons, Tahoe, Revelstoke, and Alaska, “Nexus” is a modest budget documentary that tells the story of five distinct groups of women who are drawn together by skiing. The mountains are their nexus. More so than most annual ski flicks, the film features real emotional stakes and growth. And unlike some ski films of late, the messaging about inclusivity isn’t overplayed. “We never wanted to be too on the nose about our cast,” says Shannon. “It was meant to be a really good film that just happened to feature all women.” 

After the film’s success, Shannon was  inundated with requests for showings and press queries, including prime-time interviews on the BBC and NBC news. It was at that point that Shannon knew that the team  had achieved its goal with the project. She had to hire someone just to field all the inquiries.  

Today, Shannon is highly sought after for film projects. Still, despite all her success as a director, she is reluctant to give up the title of “photographer.”

“A lot of people expect me to move fully into directing,” she says, “but I love shooting stills. I’ve spent a long time developing my style.” Shannon’s still images have a distinctive look, conveying a mood while still having real pop—essential for the commercial space she has worked in for the better part of the last decade. “This kind of creative work takes a lot of intention, and an ability to trust your creative choices,” she says, of both photography and directing. “I try to learn quickly, and actively reflect on what I could improve with each project. I even have a Google Doc called ‘What I would do differently next time’ for some of the bigger projects where I may not encounter the same choice for a year or two.”

Shannon takes pride in her client communication, earned through hundreds of projects. “I always try to put myself in the client’s shoes and think about what I’d love to see if I was hiring a creative.” That sometimes means admitting what she can’t deliver. “You have to be fully transparent. You need to be willing to take a risk that the partnership won’t work because that same partnership may come together on the next project. When that happens, the goal is to have my partners think back on it as a positive experience,” she says.

Following the runaway success of Nexus, Shannon is working to get a pair of ambitious passion projects off the ground. The first is centered around women in mountain biking. The second is even closer to home: an immersive six-part series documenting the ‘behind the scenes’ of creatives with exceptional skill sets working in the outdoor space. Each episode takes place in a different environment, including motorsports, skiing, big wave surfing and natural history. “There’s no guarantee these will both get off the ground,” says Shannon, “but I’m confident that there’s lots of interest in these stories, and I’m fortunate to be working with incredible teams to make these a reality.”