Shanon Muir
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
Age: 46
“A seasoned executive committed to authentic leadership and fostering a growth mindset.”
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Family Members:
Mother: Carol Muir
Father: Stanie Muir
Fun fact about yourself: I have completed an Ironman (Ironman Couer D’Alene).
Undergraduate School and Degree:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor-B.A. Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Women’s Studies
Tulane Law School – Juris Doctor
Where are you currently working?
Warner Bros. Discovery
Senior Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs-WBTV Group-Animation
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:
Running, Reading, Pilates, Sports.
Honored to be nominated by my classmates as the student commencement speaker representing the LA cohort.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am proud that I completed the Pacific Palisades 5k and the Manhattan Beach 10k during business school. Wellness is a core value of mine and with the pressures of school and work it can be easy to put your health on the back burner. Training for these races forced me to keep my commitment to good health.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of my promotion to Senior Vice President. I worked hard for this promotion challenging myself to take on any opportunity for growth. I had to rebuild the team, streamline workflows and take on providing services to one of our company’s major TV-producing talent. I also added supervising the legal and business affairs for our new podcast business, overseeing business affairs for our international studio, and finally overseeing legal and business affairs for Cartoon Network Studios, all while managing teams remotely due to COVID.
This was no small feat, and I am beyond proud of my team. There is no way I am an SVP without the dedication of the eight people who helped to ensure our team tackled all of our high volume of work.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? I learned so much in all my quantitative courses. Itay Kama is an exceptional professor who made accounting interesting, fun and practical. M.P. Narayaran simplified finance, not only teaching us the concepts but also teaching us how to think and apply finance concepts as general managers. I also have to shout out our marketing professor, Puneet Manchanda. I learned so much about product development, pricing, promotion and, most importantly, the collective decision-making process that is critical to getting all of the elements of a product offering right.
The faculty at the Ross School of Business is both accessible and exceptional.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? Having received my undergraduate degree from Michigan, I was very familiar with the quality of education and specifically the focus on leadership which exists at the undergraduate level as well.
I opted to try the Ross Executive Education program to get a flavor of the school and was blown away by the quality of the faculty. As I explored the EMBA program, I was excited about the emphasis on leadership development through various workshops, courses, and executive coaching. I was also drawn in by the general management focus of the program versus a specific business specialization. As a legal and business leader, I often work with production, production accounting, finance, HR and creative/marketing. The Ross EMBA offered the ability to learn how to evaluate decisions for every area of business.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The biggest lesson I learned came from teamwork. Business school has a lot of teamwork and therefore different approaches to problem-solving and getting work done. I had to balance sitting back and letting other people lead with knowing when to step up and lean into my experience and expertise.
I was able to directly apply this lesson at work. Even as the head of the department, it is important for me to step back and open up space for my team to stretch and grow. At the same time, I have to know when to step into the process and take the reins. As a result, I have seen some of my team members take on more responsibility and grow.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? During Term 2, I bought a property, and I was going through the stress of closing, packing up my old place, and moving when one of our operations assignments was due. I was also fairly busy at work as I was down an attorney in my department. I made sure to give my team a heads-up so that we could plan my contribution. I made sure to jump on every team meeting, even if I had to do it while driving, and my team was so accommodating. I asked some family members to come and help me pack and, in the end, I was able to make the transition to my new home without disrupting the team dynamic or work.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Get clear on your why. This is a huge investment of time and money. You don’t have to have a detailed plan for post-graduation, but you should be very clear as to why you are taking on this load. If the answer is you just really enjoy learning, that’s a perfectly acceptable answer. The demands of the program are going to weigh on you at some point, so you’ll need to reach back for your why to help you push through.
What was your biggest regret in business school? I would have loved to spend more than one term on a few of the quant classes. Our valuations class was such a classic business school course and I really liked the professor. It’s such a dense topic that it easily could have been spread across two terms. I would have loved the opportunity to spend more time practicing forecasting.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I really admired Rick Bruno. He has a big job as the president of a medical center and university medical group. Yet, he was able to balance work and school with a calm energy that was contagious. He was always prepared for teamwork and is just a really smart and kind guy. He was a cohort fave.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I craved being around like-minded professionals looking to better themselves, and I wanted to have the in-class experience as well as the opportunity to get to know people on a personal level outside of class.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My long-term goal is to run my own business. I still have a little bit of professional climbing in me. With my years of experience, I am definitely equipped to helm an established business, and I look forward to that opportunity. However, my dream is to build something of my own.
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