Shannon is a native of Lexington, Kentucky. She went to school at Cassidy Elementary and Morton Junior High and graduated from Henry Clay High School. She was able to take time off from school to pursue her passion of competing horses in Three Day Eventing, Dressage, and Show Jumping. She lived in New England and Northern Virginia and trained with Olympic Coaches and riders as she pursued her dream of going to the Olympics. 

Shannon graduated from the University of Virginia, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and a Minor in Bioethics. She received a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies, focusing on Eastern Religion. Deciding to pursue a career in law, she then went to the St. Louis University School of Law, where she received a Juris Doctor and specialized in Criminal Litigation.

She was hired by the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy in 2008 to work in the Lexington Public Defender Office. She served as a Directing Attorney of the Lexington South Office for seven years and is currently a staff attorney with the Capital Trials Branch - East.   

Shannon is a member of the American Bar Association, the Kentucky Bar Association, the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is a Board Member of the Fayette County Bar Association. Shannon is the mother of two children, who attend Morton Middle School and Glendover Elementary, and they have a dog and two cats.