November 6, 2014

International Talk: Shanna Van Ness, Host, Writer & Leadership Educator

Whilst we were in New York we had a chat with the awesomeness that is Shanna Van Ness. Shanna is the Host of Living Room TV and a Transformation and Leadership Educator and currently works at City university in New York. Shanna is also a Writer and has written for the Huffington Post on women and leadership. She tells us about her career and how she manages to balance all her exciting projects with being a Mother to two girls. This is a MUST read!

How would you describe yourself to our readers?

I am a focused, multi-tasker who loves everything that I do. I am a single mother of two girls, 15 and 18 years of age who come first-loving them & being a provider allows me to pursue my passions in all areas of my life.

Tell us about your show

The show is called ‘The Living Room’ and is a platform to engage individuals in dialogue to promote positive social change. The key is to look at leaders in diverse communities and identify what they are doing specifically to propel the leaders of tomorrow. It’s not a show that talks about issues but if there are issues we focus on solutions. Right now it is based in New York but my goal is to take it to many cities across the United States.

What was your childhood like and did you envision yourself always having a portfolio career?
I think as a child, I knew I enjoyed talking because I always got in trouble at school for being the most talkative, expressing an opinion or raising a question. Growing up as a child and doing those things has strengthened me more in my adult life to just stand up and speak out. It is so funny because recently I was looking at my high school year book with my daughters and they asked every student to choose the career they wanted and I chose ‘Journalism’ because I always enjoyed writing as a child.

Are you still a part of the Black Women’s Career Network?
Yes I am still a part of the network but not as engaged as I was before because I needed to take time out to really focus on other aspects of my career. I still communicate with the ladies on the site by posting items to motivate them. I was the Leader of the Black Women’s Career Network in New York which is a national network supporting the professional development and success of African-American Women. This network started in Ohio with CEO Sheryl Sims and she wanted to expand her network to New York and approached me to lead this division because I was engaged with a lot of women over here in New York.

How do you create a strong network?
It is easy. You can begin to network by saying ‘Hello!’ Sometimes people walk around being afraid to just talk because they may be scared of the reactions from people. However, if you want to grow as a person you can’t do that alone and you have to realise that there is nothing wrong with saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Goodmorning’ and then ‘How are you? My name is X’. Especially if you are interacting or engaging with people you see on a frequent basis. The more you do it then the more you will become comfortable with it.

You train people to develop their careers. How did you get involved in this?

Education has always been of major importance to me and somehow years ago I landed a job working at the City University of New York which is comprised of 24 schools within the 5 boroughs of New York City. I grew there in multiple capacities and one of my key roles was being a HR Trainer. I was involved in developing the content of my programmes as well as delivery. I flourished in that role because I enjoy talking to people and teaching.

How did you become a contributor for the Huffington Post?
A few years ago I attended a conference for the NAPW (National Association of Professional Women) Ariana Huffington was one of the guest speakers and in attendance there were about 1500 women. She gave everyone her personal email address and I took the initiative to reach out to her personally and shared a story with her about a situation that I was going through at work at the time. After she received my email she sent it to her Director of Blogging and they set me up with an account and I started writing for them for their women’s section.

I wonder how people actually emailed her. I imagine very little….
I bet because they have this fear. Fear has the ability to limit us, our ability and capabilities. If we were to just breathe, let go and take a chance we may walk into something great-If you don’t then you will never know.

You are studying for a Doctorate in Public Administration. Has your education helped you in your career?
Yes it has. I am attending Walden University which is a distance learning institution, and I decided to pursue a PhD in Public Administration, Management and Leadership. Going to Walden and pursuing that particular doctorate has helped me at work and my other projects. I believe that it’s important to continue to educate yourself because we live in such a public society. We need to learn how to give back because we all have a responsibility to engage in our communities. That is actually one of Walden’s missions and one thing that they teach all of their students. They state if you are going to pursue a PHD here (at Walden) then your topic must promote some type of positive social change.

What are the challenges of being a woman in the US?
I think it depends on the field that you work in. There are challenges with balancing work life and personal life. Sometimes women we fall in this position where if we are assertive they say we are being aggressive and if you say something in the wrong tone then now ‘You want to be the boss’. I do love men but they can come in and say the exact same thing but will get patted on the back for showing initiative or being powerful in their role. Personally as a woman I don’t have a problem expressing my opinion or being assertive because I may need to be that for moment in time. If I am the Boss then you have to respect me as the Boss and if I am being Bossy then maybe I need to be AT THE MOMENT! However, still maintaining a level of respect for myself and who I am speaking to. I have two daughters and when they come to me with any issues that they may have I always tell them ‘Get Over it’ and move on to the next thing and let it go.

Do you think women can have it all especially those who are working mothers?
I do believe that women can have it all and you will have all that you aspire to have in due time. We can’t have everything we want at the moment. We can set goals and strive to reach them to gain what we want in life. I have a lot of great people around me who support everything that I do but one thing they always tell me is ‘You will get what you want when the time is right and when it is meant for you to have it’. One thing I can say is that I don’t look at what someone else has already got, as sometimes we get caught up in looking at others and saying ‘well they seem to have it all, this is what I want’. You have to remember that is not your life! Embrace your life, accept what you have, be thankful and blessed for what you have and identify the ‘all’ that you want and work towards achieving that for you and not for anyone else!

What has been the biggest challenge so far?
One of the biggest challenges that I encountered was at work-there was a time when I should have received a promotion and did not get it. It was hurtful at the time and instead of being emotional about it in the workplace I wrote about how I was feeling and afterwards I took a step back and did a self-assessment. Sometimes when you self-assess you become more self-aware. After my self-assessment I knew that wasn’t the job for me. I didn’t get it because it wasn’t for me to have and I had to accept that. I took it as a learning experience and decided to further prepare myself so that when the next promotion came around I made sure I was going to get that one!

What has been the highlight of your career so far?
It has to be the pace at which my talk show is going because it is a show that I developed back in 2005 and left it alone for a long time. Then my manager told me to take a business trip to LA with her and we managed to meet some amazing people. One of the popular comments that I received were ‘stop talking about it and just do it!’. So since last year it has just been full steam ahead and for me to actually put in the work-it has made me stronger and I am really proud of myself.

Describe a day in the life of Shanna Van Ness

I wake up at 6:00am and then wake my kids up at 6:15am and make sure they are ready to go. I prepare a quick breakfast such as cereal, bagels, English muffins and fruit.

I leave home at 7:15am with my youngest and we commute half way together. I arrive at work at about 8:30am. I log into my computer and reach out to my support network where we check in and motivate each other to start our day.

I officially start my work at 8:45am. Throughout the day I am very accessible and I am lucky to have a work life balance. I will talk to my kids and check in with them throughout the day in between meetings and work.

I leave work at 5pm. I arrive home at 6:15pm. I go to the gym or run at least 3 days a week. Sometimes my girls can prepare meals as they are old enough! We talk for about an hour and a half about their day and what’s going on with their lives.

We are all in bed by 10pm. I believe that you need a certain amount of sleep to be productive the next day at least 8 hours a day.

How have black women in America been able to rise up in their country? What could we learn in the UK?
I think that there are different methods applied and ideologies embraced over here that allow women in the US vs other countries to excel in their careers. In my opinion, growing up women in the US were taught to speak out and say whatever we wanted to say and the sky was the limit and to go for our dreams. Often times maybe in the UK these ideologies and thoughts are not encouraged, so that women are empowered and enriched to know that you can do anything despite your gender or colour. I have been strengthened along the years by the people I have around me-both men and women-who support my goals, dreams and aspirations. My Dad has been very supportive of my dreams and always asks me ‘what are you doing now and what do you need me to do?’. Not everyone has supportive Dad’s like mine. Women can find supporters and cheerleaders in our family, friends and in the workplace. If we have those networks in all aspects of our life it will strengthen our ability to succeed.

Thank you to Shanna Van Ness for meeting with our founder Vanessa Sanyauke in New York
Thanks to Trump Soho New York for hosting us
Check out Shanna’s show The Living Room here: www.thelivingroom.tv
Follow Shanna on Twitter here: @SB_VanNess