Shannon Bannister, STRIVE 1994, at her home in North Carolina.
Nearly three decades after graduating from STRIVE, Shannon Bannister is grateful to be reconnected with the community. In this special Mother's Day blog post, Shannon shares what STRIVE has meant to her and how she has become inspired to pay-it-forward by helping others through her new women's empowerment brand, Plan Your Pivot.
What inspired you to build this brand? Why now?
It started with a quiet moment of clarity.
After more than three decades in financial services, I began to feel a pull. A sense that there was something more I was supposed to be doing, alongside the work I'd been committed to for so long. I didn't have a name for it yet. I just knew the feeling.
Then, by chance, I reconnected with STRIVE.
They were approaching their 40th anniversary, and I saw the announcement in their newsletter. I responded simply, with a "Congratulations! I was there in 1994." What happened next changed everything.
They asked me to share my story. Invited me to speak at the gala in New York. To be featured on the cover of their impact report.
They gave me an opportunity to be seen, and made me feel witnessed in a way that stopped me completely.
And I thought: this feeling needs to be available to all women.
Not just at milestone moments. As a standard. As a practice. As a space women can return to again and again. To pause, reflect, and move forward on their own terms.
That's what Plan Your Pivot is. That's why now.
What is your goal for Plan Your Pivot? Short term and long?
Right now, my goal is presence and community. Showing up consistently. Creating a space where women and mothers feel safe enough to be honest about where they are in life and what they actually want next.
I'm developing myself in real time alongside the women I'm building this for. That's intentional. I'm not speaking from a distant place of having it all figured out. I'm in it, too. Planning my own next chapter while helping others plan theirs.
Long term, I want to build something that outlasts any one moment or platform. A community where women are known, supported, and free to grow without having to fit a mold that was never designed for them. Where being a stabilizing force is recognized as the gift it actually is.
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What is your vision for women and mothers like yourself in the future?
I want women to feel seen on their own terms.
Not seen because they finally got the promotion. Not seen because they performed their way into someone's good graces. Seen because they created space, intentionally and strategically, to know who they are and what they bring, independent of any title or organization.
The future is calling all of us and I want women to answer it prepared. Not panicked. Not reactive. Not starting from scratch because life forced a decision before they were ready.
I want them to have already done the work. I want them to already know their worth. And I want a community standing with them when they are ready to take that next step.
How did STRIVE play a role in this chapter?
STRIVE has played a meaningful role in two chapters of my life, and I don't state that lightly.
The first time, I was in my twenties, nervous, and looking for a way forward. STRIVE gave me structure, accountability, and a belief in myself I didn't know I was missing.
The second time, I was decades into my career, and they called me in. Not because of a title. Not because of a resume. Because of a story worth telling. They reminded me what it feels like to be truly valued.
Plan Your Pivot exists because STRIVE showed me (twice!) that the right support at the right moment changes everything. I want to be that for someone else.
What is your message for STRIVE women and mothers?
Find your soil.
Find the space that sees you, that notices what you carry, and that challenges you to grow. Sometimes you bloom right where you are. Sometimes you need to be transplanted into a new ecosystem entirely. Either way, don't stay stuck in ground that was never meant for you.
And to the mothers especially, your children and family and community are watching and championing every step you take, even the ones that feel small.
I know this because I lost my mother recently. And while going through her belongings, I found my original STRIVE certificate from 1994. All these years later, she kept that. She knew what it meant. She knew where I was headed.
Our journeys are witnessed, even when we don't realize it.
Take your next step. Someone is watching you bloom.
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CLICK to hear Shannon share her story at the 40th anniversary gala in 2024.
About STRIVE
STRIVE is a national workforce development solution for people ready and motivated for a new start. We offer tuition-free skills and job-readiness training, one-on-one support and lifetime personal coaching. We create partnerships with employers that result in pathways to life-changing careers while helping employers close critical gaps in their workforce.