Meet Shannon Kill | Trauma Informed Cash Flow Consultant for Neurodivergent Women Entrepreneurs

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shannon Kill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Ya know, I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I think my “neurodivergence” (for me, ADHD, dyslexia & OCD) played a huge role in this. I left a job I had seen great success in back in 2017 because in spite of the “benefits”, it was absolutely soul sucking for me, I never got to see my kids and I was constantly having to work harder than my male peers for a seat at the table. At the time, I was willing to do whatever it took to NOT have to ever go back to work for someone else again, so I took on freelancing jobs writing copy for local businesses, doing social media marketing and attempting affiliate marketing, but it never felt like a “real business” even though it totally was. In 2019, I decided to apply my love of finance and launched a bookkeeping firm, but quickly realized that I wanted to help people in a much more intimate way and THAT is what ultimately led me down the path I’m currently on. Now, I get to spend my days teaching other neurodivergent and trauma effected entrepreneurs how to manage their business and personal finances in a way that makes sense for them and is sustainable for them as an individual instead of trying to shove them in to a box that was never meant for them. My work allows me to reach the communities who are so often ignored and are drastically underserved, (specifically women, minorities, neurodivs, victims of abuse & poverty) because when they get a real chance to thrive, that’s where the real magic happens and we see these beautiful, universal shifts. My business is all about meeting folks where they are and helping them get to where they want to be.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
It’s always so hard to explain what I do because I truly haven’t come across anyone else who does what I do and definitely not in the WAY that I do it; that’s not meant as a pat on the back, it’s just the reality. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of “See a need; meet a need” because it drives me nuts to see cookie cutter businesses popping up all over the place or to have two coffee shops right next door to one another. That’s not meeting a need. The ice cream shop that just opened up on my square where there’s no where else in the city to get ice cream… that’s meeting a need.

So for me, I started out as a bookkeeper because I knew I could apply the skills I had and make money on my own schedule, but once I got in there, I started to notice that a) online bookkeepers were popping up all over the place thanks to some brilliant marketing strategies in the online space and b) there were specific needs that weren’t being met. Not many people were talking about personal finances, not on an individual level anyway. Finance is dominated by rich, old, white men and while that’s not inherently a bad thing, there’s a good bit of perspective missing. Who was speaking to the poor? Who was speaking to women? Who was teaching autistic people how to manage their finances? Why aren’t we talking about building generational wealth? Why aren’t we addressing systemic racism in relation to finance?

I didn’t see very many women in the finance realm, so I locked arms with every woman in finance with the same ideals and I’m proud to say I’ve built a gloriously diverse network of humans who can meet your finance needs if I’m not able to.

As for what I do? My bread and butter is a super “high touch” 24 Week Intensive consulting program where we essentially start from scratch, unraveling all the harmful beliefs we’ve learned attached to money. I really take the time to get to know the person and their habits around money and together we build out a sustainable monthly budget for them. From there, I plan out the next YEAR of their finances in great detail, but in easy to digest weekly chunks so it doesn’t feel so overwhelming. During that time, we meet once every week via zoom, with or without video and they have access to me for support via Voxer so they can either type or speak their messages. Basically, I try to offer as many avenues as possible for support so I know they are getting what they need. However, I know not everyone is able to afford this type of service, so I offer tons of free resources and lower ticket offers to help get you to where you want to be without the added financial burden. I offer scholarships, but that funding is low; I’m currently working on forming a non-profit organization with a group of amazing women so that we can offer support to new business owners, so keep an eye out for updates on that front!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I’m being honest, any time I want to do anything in the city, I ask my friend Nick Waters (@SoSoFedEats)! He is ALWAYS doing something and sending me jealousy invoking photos of food and coffee. I don’t spend much time in Atlanta anymore unfortunately now that I’m further south, and #traffic.

We recently did a weekend haul for our anniversary; we rented an AirBnB near Piedmont Park so we could walk to Torched Hop Brewing. We ate allll the carbs at the Melting Pot Midtown, had brunch at the Bellyard Hotel (shout out to Ne’Ira!), threw axes with Desmond at Bad Axe, got coffee & breakfast the next morning at Cafe Lucia and ended our time in the city on a high note with ramen and PJ’s incredible energy at Momo Cafe.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Oh man. Where would I even start? I began really building my business at the height of the pandemic, so my online community has been instrumental in keeping me on track. It can feel like an island out here, so it’s incredibly important to find your people and love them hard. The “Collective” (you know who you are!) deserves so much credit for my success; without their support, I would have given up several times over. Lekeshia Angelique, my confidant and go-to DE&I consultant is always there cheering me on and calling me in; she is always striving to teach others how to create more equitable businesses and is just a fantastic human. Brit Miller, my website designer, “therapist” and friend is always pushing me to demand more of those around me, in the most loving way possible; I never would have known to seek out a professional ADHD diagnosis had it not been for her openness in speaking about her experience with ADD/ADHD. Claudia Smith, my bookkeeper and soul sister keeps me in line with my own finances; she is so brilliant and kind and generous with her time. I couldn’t imagine my business (or life) without her in it. Emily LaPrairie, fellow coach for neurodivergent & trauma effected entrepreneurs has this amazing ability to make you feel “seen”; She has pulled me out of many a dark hole and guided me back to the light to help me re-focus on our mission. Kate Cornelius, my business coach and a true friend; she is the yang to my yin, always keeping me balanced and driven toward the next goal and making me laugh hard the whole way there.

There are honestly too many women to name individually, but they are all equally important in this story. Even the ones who have caused harm in some way have taught me invaluable lessons that I am so grateful for because they’ve offered me so much perspective on this journey that has helped me further my ability to meet others where they are.

And of course, my gorgeous husband and the Killdren; they are the main reason I keep going when all I want to do is nap.

Website: https://shannonmariekill.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonmariekill/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonmarielindsey

Image Credits
David Kill