Growing Destinations
Your go-to source for insightful discussions on destination development. The Growing Destinations podcast delves into the strategies, challenges, and successes that drive community growth. Each episode features in-depth conversations with local and national experts, uncovering universal themes and innovative practices that can be applied to any city or region.
Growing Destinations
Laughing Through Life: Miss Shannan Paul on Humor, Resilience, and Reinvention
Join the laughter-filled journey of Miss Shannan Paul, a multi-talented comedian who swapped legal briefs for punchlines, transforming from an aspiring lawyer into a beloved performer and community advocate. From drafting demand letters to discovering her true passion for comedy, Miss Shannan shares an inspiring story of reinvention and resilience. In this engaging conversation, she explores how humor fosters connection and sparks meaningful conversations.
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Speaker 2:I like using comedy as a conversation starter. I like using comedy as a way to build community, not tear people down and use it as a reason that you can go oh, we all thought this was funny, or a bunch of different people thought this was funny and to shine a lens on certain things.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics, from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, bill Vaughn Bank. Today we have a guest who truly embodies versatility, energy and impact. She's a comedian, corporate speaker, radio and TV host, voiceover artist, benefit auctioneer and event emcee. Oh and did I mention she played in the Women's Professional Football League? Joining me today is a multi-talented and always entertaining Miss, shannon Paul. We'll dive into her journey, how she went from a marketing career to a life on stage, the good, the bad and the downright hilarious of stand-up comedy, and how she's using her platform to create meaningful change. Miss Shannon Paul, good friend of mine as well.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Grow we Destination podcast. Thank you for having me. I was so happy to come and hang out with you because I know we said we were going to do this like a year ago. We did and then neither of us followed through on that, so I'm glad to finally be here with you.
Speaker 1:Well, and we are in Minneapolis at the Convention Center for the Annual Tourism Conference which, of course, you have been an emcee for several years.
Speaker 2:Right, I started it. The first year we did a fully virtual event was when I was the emcee and it's become one of my favorite events because you really get to see the depth of what Minnesota has to offer and you get to meet so many cool people Like I was just hanging out with the people from Otter Tail County before I came in here to talk to you, because they are one of my favorite destinations on social media Like they think they do a great job.
Speaker 1:They do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm like I need to get my photo with the Otter Tail County folk and I'm always good.
Speaker 1:Well, we've already talked about your diverse career in the intro. What was your original career aspiration growing up?
Speaker 2:If you talk to me in high school and middle school, I was going to be an attorney.
Speaker 2:I was sure I was going to be an attorney and I knew what kind of attorney I wanted to be. I was the captain of the mock trial team in high school and when I started college that was still the goal. And then a variety of things happened. One I got a couple of different jobs in the legal field while I was still trying to study and work my way towards that. And so my first one is I worked at a law firm where I was writing like demand letters so it's a lot of and then so-and-so was struck by the rear and this and the car and that, and I was like that was really boring, it's not what I thought. And then I had another job at a different law firm and I liked the job fine, but it ended up being the first job I ever got laid off from, because we went through a little economic hiccup in Phoenix, arizona, where I was at the time.
Speaker 2:And after I lost that job, I reevaluated why I even thought I wanted to do that, and so I was like, well, you want to do something that's related to storytelling and words and that, and it doesn't matter if those words have anything to do with law. And so I pivoted from it, because that's what I think. I grew up watching Perry Mason and LA Law and all these other shows where you saw a bunch of attorneys, and so I had this Hollywood idea of what it was going to be like to be an attorney and that wasn't what the experience was like at all. So still one of those things I've had people say you would have made a great attorney and all those things. But I'm very happy that I am where I am.
Speaker 1:What was the moment when you realized that comedy, specifically, was something you wanted to pursue professionally?
Speaker 2:Professionally. That's a difficult question because it really just ramped into I can have this be a full-time career. And by full-time career I mean being a full-time performer, because for years I did comedy. Often I did comedy as a really quality side hustle where I was working a lot, but I also always had my day job. And it was in 2016 that I was like okay, I had been trying to figure out how to ramp up the performer side of things and ramp down my corporate jobs and you know a bunch of the corporate jobs. You and I used to cross paths all the time in corporate jobs.
Speaker 2:And it finally got to the point that I was going. Well, what I need is some time to really think, and there were some chaotic life events. There were some chaotic political events or a variety of things that happened in 2016 that made me go. You know, I went into work one day not meaning to quit. At the last job, I had full time at this radio station and went in. I was like, you know, I need to quit. So there were a number of like small life events that had helped me start that off ramping process and I kept waiting for that moment to be able to go. Well, here's where the two are equal, or this is when I'll be ready enough that I can jump and I can exit. And it just didn't come. So I finally just left, you know, and I left that job and the first year I said, okay, I'm just going to give myself. This is what I did. I gave myself two years. I said, okay, I'm just going to give myself. This is what I did. I gave myself two years. I said I know how I work and I'll run back to safety and security and I'll find another corporate job. So I said give yourself two years and if you run out of money then you can go look for another corporate job. And I said, stay off of LinkedIn for two years, because I was like I knew that LinkedIn would push that algorithm, would push me back to the you want this kind of job. You had that kind of job, so it just stayed off of it.
Speaker 2:And that first year was rough. I had to borrow some money from my mom, take some money out of my 401k, but by the second year I still needed to keep working towards that foundation. But I wasn't strapped like I was that first year. And so I'm like, okay, you're moving in the right direction. And now I'm on what? Year eight, almost nine, of being a full-time performer and building up the Miss Shannon Paul side of my business and going okay. Well, now how do I my version of as a solopreneur? How do I scale? You know, what do I do? Like, how, what? What support systems do I need to be able to grow and still have a life and maintain and watch my son I have a complicated kiddo who is my heart and to figure out how to do that. So it wasn't one thing, it was a series of little things that finally built up to the point that I go okay, you could probably do this.
Speaker 1:Leap of faith.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wish that I could say that it was. I knew for sure at this day. I did it. It happened to work out and I was able to go what's the next right thing to do, what's the right decision for this moment? But I can't tell you that that now I'm able to strategize and go. What's the next step? What do I need to do?
Speaker 2:When I first jumped, I didn't know that it was going to work. I just was really confident that I had the abilities to do things, and the thing that I kept anchoring myself to is that I was a really good manager. You know, I was a really good employee and always got glowing reviews and everything was great. And so I'm going, if you treat yourself as that company the same way that I had honored and really did my best at every employer I'd had up until that point, if I treat myself like that and stay focused, where can I get and how will it look if I put that much effort into me as the business instead of somebody else's business? And that's what I always anchored myself back to and thankfully it worked out, because there are some times I'm like that was dumb and you know what are you going to do for retirement and your kid are going to be destitute. You're really stupid, but it worked out, and so now I'm here.
Speaker 1:Coming from Phoenix and now being a well-known figure in Minnesota, how has the Midwest influenced your career in comedic style?
Speaker 2:I tell people all the time I'm a better Minnesotan than anybody that was born here, because I picked this place. I picked this place. I choose to stay here. I'm raising a Minnesotan because, as we were recording, it's like minus 20 degrees.
Speaker 2:And my kid was outside, he's 17. And he was a very Minnesotan teenager. He was outside last night in basketball shorts and a hoodie and just being invigorated, like I'm like, come inside before you freeze, and I don't have to deal with that. But the thing is I have a variety. I'm a storyteller and I thought that my I was, I'll say thought. But for a while I'm like well, am I too Midwestern in my style? And then I started doing comedy on the road again, and no, and I think that there's some variety of storytelling that you can do. That's universal.
Speaker 2:And that's the kind of storytelling that I feel I do is that I look for ways that are commonalities. If I'm telling a story that's personal, I try and figure out well, what's the broadest vision of this story, what's the most relatable version of this story? So I can go oh, somebody can see themselves in me, or they have a friend that is like this, or it reminds them of their cousin or their sister or their mom or somebody like that. And that's kind of the frame that I put on my comedy and the way that I write versus the. Does it feel like it's LA? Does it feel like it's New York? Does it feel like it's LA? Does it feel like it's New York? Does it feel like it's Boston? I don't think I really do that and so far, so good. It's been okay.
Speaker 1:Comedy can be both a gift and a challenge. What do you love most about making people laugh?
Speaker 2:I like using comedy as a conversation starter. I like using comedy as a way to build community, not tear people down and use it as a reason that you can go oh, we All thought this was funny, or a bunch of different people thought this was funny and to shine a lens on certain things. I am not one of those people that chooses to punch down. I say this way I punch at the mirror first, so I like I punch at me, and then, if you happen to be like me, then maybe you feel like I'm punching at you too, but it's really. Oh no, no, this is about me first, and then we'll see where else we go, versus looking for those things where we're poking at other people.
Speaker 1:What's the most rewarding experience you've had as a comedian?
Speaker 2:The most rewarding one is anytime somebody comes up to me after a show and says thank you so much for talking about that. I saw myself in that. Or I had a really terrible day. I had a lot of stuff going on in my life. I'm this, I'm that, and you gave me, you know, hope, or you made me smile, or I feel so much better after seeing you. That is really what I get out of it the most. I'm like, yeah, it's great when you do a show and somebody pays you and all of that stuff.
Speaker 2:But I think, especially if you're trying to figure out how to start being a comedian, you can't. You know it doesn't pay hardly anything at the beginning. So you really have to have another reason why you're in it. And there's lots of days where comedy is a job.
Speaker 2:You know there was lots of times where I was driving six, seven hours to some gig in the middle of nowhere and you get there and there's eight people or they didn't know there was going to be a show and the TV's playing in the background and they're just waiting for the game to start playing, and so you end up feeling like an inconvenience and you still have to do it. Or there's just stuff going on in the world and you still have to show up and be funny, or there's stuff going on in your life and you still have to show and be funny, and that's when you're like, ok, I am really good at this, because there were these barriers and I still did a good show. You know, I still made people laugh, I still provided a value as a comedian, and that's important to me as well.
Speaker 1:Well, you're good at a lot of things and you've been recognized as one of the few black women in the US working as a certified benefit auctioneer. Thank you. What has that experience been like, and what advice do you have for others looking to break into similar roles?
Speaker 2:I have, throughout my life, been less afraid of being the first or the only and sometimes going. If it's something that adds to the career goals that I want, or if it's something that I can add to that alphabet soup of letters behind my name so that it makes me more valuable, then I'm going to do it anyway. And it's also taking advice from other mentors that are out there, and so, for me, I had been, you know, emceeing a lot of fundraisers, of fundraisers. I really want to be a really good community partner for people and trying to figure out how to effectively help them tell their stories and work a room for them in a way that their people that are attending this event go. Yeah, I'm here and I understand the message and I want to support this organization. And not only do I want to support it tonight, I want to support it after I leave. I want to go and tell other people hey, I was at this event and it was super dope and you should support it. Here's their website.
Speaker 2:And I had hosted a lot of that and one of my friends, rusty Kath, who is an auctioneer as well. We had a friend and he and I would co-host this event for her for years. And so he was the one that said you know, you're already here and you already know how to do most of the stuff. You should get your auctioneer's license. And I went oh okay, so I looked up and I went to the auctioneer school that he went to. We both went to the same one. I don't know if you've talked to local notable notable Frank Vassilero. He went to the same auctioneer school that I went to. So I went to the same one he went to. I guess is better because he went there first.
Speaker 2:And so, if I'm going to do something, for me, getting that certification was important because I wanted to make sure that the organizations that I partner with were able to go back and tell their board of directors and other people. We didn't hire her only because she's funny or you heard about her because she's on the TV or the radio, which is expert at helping us with our fundraiser. She knows how to consult on this and has the tools to make sure that we are doing the best and we are interacting with people using all the best standards and those things. And that was really important to me to be a quality partner for groups and being able to have them do that. So I went and got it and every year I ride away to the, you know, and I get my auctioneer's license renewed because there's some markets where you don't need a license.
Speaker 2:Minnesota is one of the places that you're supposed to technically have a license it's not hard to get one, but you're technically supposed to do it and so that's why it was important to me to do that at first, that there weren't that many black women that had done it until I started working in the industry, started networking and had gone to like there's, of course, like any place else, like we're at a conference now for people that are in the tourism industry, there's one for benefit auctioneers and so I went to a conference one year and it's like, oh wait, there's not that many of us, and so I wasn't surprised. But I was like okay, you don't see it modeled for you and you don't know it's a job and you don't know that you can get a certification in something. So why would? If I hadn't been in this particular route, I wouldn't necessarily have known that it existed. And to dovetail back into your question, I think sometimes it's if you go to an event and you see something, you need to go ask the person well, how did you get there? And you know, and even if you can't get to them directly, you can go to their website and go well, how did they start? And sometimes that's the reason why I go, that seeing different things represented matters, because you don't know what all your options are if you don't see it modeled for me, like you wouldn't even know to imagine that this happens if you're not in that room, and so I encourage people to go.
Speaker 2:Well, just broaden outside of your normal day-to-day community and go. Well, what other jobs exist, what other roles exist? And let yourself dream other than the things that you know. If I only went by, part of the reason back to what you're saying that I thought I wanted to be an attorney is that's something that I'd seen on TV and it looked achievable and for what I wanted, which was stability, something that was performance-based but actually looked like you got paid. You know, because in my head when I was a kid, well, you don't want to be a full-time performer. Actors don't make any money and you don't want to not make money you know, I grew up with no money.
Speaker 2:I wasn't trying to grow up and I mean, I didn't have money when I was a kid and I didn't want to grow up and get myself back in a cycle of something that didn't pay, so it landed on. Well, you need to be an attorney, because then you get to do something that's performance-based. You get to go and speak in front of people, you get to be, you know, the necessary center of attention sometimes, but you'll also get paid, and that's what I encourage people to do. Is, how does that look as a career? I use this as an example.
Speaker 2:Like, I get to say I'm a full-time performer and so you rattled off a few things there, bill, about what it works at. So even when I had my corporate job, I started off as a comedian and then that was great and it was fine. But then it's like, okay, well, what else can I do that's adjacent to that? So, okay, I'm a comedian, I also can be a corporate speaker. I get to use my humor, I get to do it a little more long form, it'll get me in different rooms and that'll be another revenue stream that's still in this thing.
Speaker 2:So then, I end up being a comedian? Oh well, I work in the radio station, I'm a comedian. I'm a corporate speaker? Oh well, let me be a voice actor, because I already have most of the equipment. I know how to run these things. I'm used to talking in front of people, so that doesn't wig me out. So it's also what's the acting and what's the job of being a voice actor. So then it's okay, there's another thing that I can do. That means that I don't have to go work at a corporate job. And so then it's like oh well, what else does that?
Speaker 2:That's where the event MC comes in. Well, I'm already here. They've hired me before to do their, their events. This is something that not only can I do and use my humor and actually bring an energy to a room, but you're probably more likely to get booked back year after year. If you're a really good event MC, then sometimes, even if you're a great keynote unless you have multiple keynotes it's not that you aren't great, they just had you. So what else can we do? And then that's kind of where I'm like okay, I'm doing events, now I'll do the benefit auctioneer and add into that, and that's what I usually encourage people to do is what can you do that's adjacent to what it is that you already love, so that you don't have to have a fallback or an anchor job?
Speaker 1:or something else Right.
Speaker 2:And it's still all in the general, same bucket, but it takes out the seasonality of my career. It gives me the ability to ramp certain things up or make a pivot and do something else for a while, when, if I was only doing stand-up. There's a ceiling. You can only do so many of those things, but you can do other stuff as well.
Speaker 1:Can you share more about your work with the Autism Society of Minnesota and the Pacer Center?
Speaker 2:I try and work with a variety of different organizations that are in town, but I was formerly on the board for the Autism Society for 11 years. Now I'm one of their primary volunteers whenever they need something, and I just rolled that off when my kid got super into the teenage years because I needed a little bit of time back and couldn't actively be on their board anymore teenage years because I needed a little bit of time back and couldn't actively be on their board anymore. But I am on the board of directors still for the Pacer Center. That also champions our families that have children with disabilities and for me it's just really important to help give voice to that and to also tell all of the stories that are in there.
Speaker 2:I think the Autumns Society of Minnesota does a really good job of saying there are a variety of families that are in this situation.
Speaker 2:There's a variety of human beings that are in this situation that we can support in a lot of different ways.
Speaker 2:So being able to work with them and help them storytell and be a face for that and just demystify the conversations that we have about those two things would also just make it really real, because it's not that anything's perfect or that anything's dire. It's both at any given moment and you have an upside and up and a downside of all those things. And as an autism mom myself because I have an adorable 16, almost 17-year-old son who happens to be high supports on the autism spectrum I've been through this and I know how difficult it is to navigate some of these things as you're getting diagnoses and things change and you're constantly educating yourself on what's best for your kiddo and how you can advocate for them. So trying to help other families so that they're not feeling alone or feeling like they don't have the skill set to advocate for themselves and their kid, is really important to me. If you could do a standup set with any comedian, living or past, who would it be?
Speaker 2:and why A standup set with or be on a show with you pick. If I was going to do, if I was going to, if I was going to do a set with, it would be Steve Martin, like I. If I could figure out a way to the interplay with him and I don't know exactly how it looked cause I'm not like Martin short, so I don't know how that would work but I would love to be able to do a back and forth with Steve Martin. I always thought he was just so, just so funny and one of those people that I'm going the always thought he was just so, just so funny, and one of those people that I'm going. The way that he has managed to maintain his relevancy in different states of his career is something that I really look forward to, hoping that I could go.
Speaker 2:Okay, I did that and somebody's like going. Well, I remember listening to her when I was 16 and now I'm listening to her well, now that she's 60. So that's it. If I was going to be on a show with somebody, it would be and I try, I auditioned, I auditioned like for for Wanda Sykes, like I would like to perform. I would love to be Wanda Sykes, opener, um, kind of thing, and just cause I love the way that she writes and she's so authentic and so real. So if I was a person that went or toured around the country over for Wanda Sykes, I would take that gig. I would take that gig, I would figure something out.
Speaker 1:We'll have to make that happen. What's next for Miss Shannon Paul? Any upcoming projects or activities?
Speaker 2:I have two, and so I have a residency over in Fridley, minnesota, at Krooner's Supper Club, one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world again in the world. But I do not do jazz. I do Miss Shannon's Comedy Through the Chaos, which is a live performance where we do stand-up and storytelling and has a different chaos of the moment that we explore every show. We're also filming those and it's going to be a series that you're going to be able to watch and so we are looking for a home for it. Right now we know that our Fox local folks have already said that they'll green light, our green lit, our initial episodes to see. So that show as a series is going to be stand up and storytelling and then me interviewing and discussing the subject matter with the performers.
Speaker 2:So not so much one of those hey, tell me about that bit or that story that you wrote, it's more about tell me about you and how we got here. So if we're talking about mental wellness, what's the story? If we're talking about addiction and recovery, what's the story? So that is what I'm working on Our next in-person show. We film and do the live shows every other month, so we have one coming up in March and there'll be another one in May, so you can get that information.
Speaker 2:And the thing I'm most excited about, in addition to that, is that I wrote a book last year, and so I wrote a book. I'm in the editing process of it now, and it will be available on the tail end of 2025. It's called Standing in your Spotlight and it discusses taking center stage in your life and working on things like overcoming your imposter syndrome and why do we put ourselves in that position of being the sidekick in our own story, and that I'm very excited about. So you're going to be able to get Standing in your Spotlight, the book that I wrote. So I'm very excited about that. That was, I had been kicking around that idea and had some people say that you should write a book and I had not got around to doing it, and so I spent a lot of time last year making sure that I got it done.
Speaker 1:Well, a lot to look forward to in the coming year and beyond. Ms Shannon, paul, it's been great to have you on the podcast. Finally, finally. Good to see you at the State Tourism Conference, as always, and thank you for being our guest.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:On the Growing Destinations podcast. Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations podcast and don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, Minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene, its international culinary flavors and award-winning craft beer by visiting experiencerochestermncom.
