“Don’t give up. But also, don’t give in to toxic groups or people, because that will squash your creativity.”
Quick Facts
Education: Graduate; Has taught at SCSU, York Tech, and Midlands Tech
Years of Experience: 25 Years
About
Shannon Ivey is a professional theatre artist who works in applied theatre, storytelling, and creative non-fiction. Her passion for the stage developed in early childhood, with a love of books, experience in puppet ministry at her church, and an admiration for performances of the older students at her elementary school. These pieces built up a language for storytelling unconfined to a stage or single form, a language that fully blossomed twenty-five years later when she decided to build on what started back then.
Shannon taught at South Carolina State University, York Tech, and Midlands Tech. She is the Founder and Chief Story Officer #whatshesaidproject, and from that, has gained experience of the business side of being a creative. “It is so much more than entrepreneurial than school prepared me for,” she says. “So. I’ve learned a lot about business.”
She is also an advocate for positive, healthy work environments, especially in creative industries. The creative life is long, and the network matters. Toxic people and groups have a way of quietly flattening creativity before it is even noticeable, so she promotes working with others who focus on the positive. Shannon is glad she is integrated across many artistic genres and is always learning as well as experimenting. “Restlessness,” she says, “is a gift.”