Our Story & Team

Know Your Strengths. Create Your Best Life.

At Shinebright our mission is to help people discover and embrace who they are, we celebrate their uniqueness and empower them to fulfill their greatest potential.

Our founders started Shinebright from their belief that everyone is born with unique gifts and talents. Unfortunately, too many people go through life without the understanding of that unique thing that only they have to contribute to the world.

Whether you are a stay home mom that is ready to take on the business world, a professional looking for a new career or a recent graduate trying to find the perfect job, we would love to meet you and help you discover your true potential.

Give yourself the opportunity to know you better!

Our Story

Shinebright was formed when two longtime friends came together over a shared passion, the possibility of unlocking potential. Shannon and Meike met their freshman year of college in Santa Barbara, CA.

They formed a quick friendship and remained close over the years, even traveling abroad together a few times. In 2012, both found themselves at a career crossroads, Shannon had just completed a Master’s in Organizational Development from Pepperdine and Meike was completing her Master’s and teaching credential from Cal State Long Beach and neither were clear on what our next steps would be.

Shannon was considering entering corporate America but feeling disillusioned by the landscape and wondered if it was too late to really make an impact on the people she would be working with. At the same time Meike was working with freshman high school students who were barely reading at a 4th-grade level and she was also feeling disillusioned about their future potential for success. After talking and sharing their concerns to one another they had an Aha moment.

What would be possible if they could take what Shannon had studied, how to help individuals find their career passion, and bring it to the population of students Meike was working with? A spark had been ignited and they began creating workshops and coaching programs designed to help young people discover their strengths, unlock their potential and hopefully reclaim their belief in a bright future.

The first few years of Shinebright was spent working with hundreds of young people; Shannon and Meike saw firsthand the power of self-exploration and helping them to discover their strengths. They loved working with young people, but as Shinebright progressed the two began to have conversation after conversation with adults who were also struggling to know their strengths and feel hopeful about their future.

So, a few years ago Shinebright expanded their services to focus on anyone who is looking to make a career transition. Shinebright now works with a broad range of clients including recent college graduates, mid-level executives who are looking for more fulfillment from their work and even baby boomers looking to redefine their careers. The type of clients has expanded but the Shinebright mission has remained the same, to help people discover their strengths so they can create their best lives.

Shannon Philip, Co-Founder

Shannon received her B.A. in Communications from UC Santa Barbara and her M.S. in Organization Development from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. In graduate school she focused on Adults Identifying Paths to Career Passion and helping leaders appreciate and leverage the unique talents of the people within their organizations.

Since co-founding Shinebright in 2012, Shannon has worked with hundreds of people, from 7th graders to recent college graduates to mid-life adults transitioning to new careers, helping them identify their natural talents, what makes them unique, and how to thrive in their lives.

In one of her last sessions of graduate school, as part of a future commitment exercise, Shannon wrote the following on a piece of paper: “I am the possibility of every person recognizing their unique gifts.” Lofty, perhaps, but this personal commitment has grown into her hopes and dreams for Shinebright. “I want to reach as many people as possible and help them discover what it is they have to offer this world–and maybe in a little less time than it took me.”

Meike Hennon, Co-Founder

Before co-founding Shinebright in the spring of 2012, Meike had spent most of her career in academia and education. While completing her Master’s in German at Cal State Long Beach, Meike taught German 101 to incoming freshmen. Teaching a difficult language to incoming freshmen sparked her love for students, inspiring them to learn, and helping them to believe in themselves. Meike went on to complete her Master’s and then to earn Single Subject Credentials in both English and German, now knowing that working with students was what she truly wanted to do.

While teaching at the high school level and seeing student’s challenges first-hand, Meike discovered that helping her students stay focused and motivated was often as difficult as teaching German grammar. It was then that she began to consider how she could truly make a difference in students’ lives, how she could help them discover their natural motivations and gifts before setting out on their life’s path. Thus began the idea of Shinebright, an organization determined to help people discover their talents and build them into strengths. Shinebright has been the perfect opportunity for Meike to utilize her high school- and college-level teaching experience in creating and facilitating workshops and curriculums. She brings a positive energy and enthusiasm to her work that is contagious, inspiring all those she encounters.