Stop calling it
success when it
feels like a cage.
The service is over. The title is gone. Now it's time to find you.
For high-achieving women veterans navigating the post-transition void, Shanelle Porter Simmons offers a concrete method to break free from old expectations and move forward with undeniable purpose.
Your audience won't just listen. They'll move.
I don't speak from theory.
I speak from the places where failure had real consequences.
As a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, I served more than 20 years in uniform, completed two combat tours, and made history as the first African American woman to command a Marine Corps recruiting station. My leadership was forged in high-pressure environments where clarity, courage, and disciplined action mattered. A former elite track and field athlete. An HR and organizational leader. An author. And I have navigated every transition I teach about — firsthand.
I do not speak as someone who read about transition. I speak as someone who has had to become again — after athletics, after the Marine Corps, after success, after identity loss, after the pause.
The Success Trap is what happens when the life you were trained to build starts feeling too small for the woman you are becoming. My talks help your audience name it, understand the causal chain keeping them stuck — conformity, doubt, fear, comfort — and give them a repeatable framework to break it.
Every participant walks away with more than inspiration. They walk away with a plan.
She has had to become again —
after athletics, after the Marine Corps, after the pause.
Competing at the highest level
Before the keynotes, there was the track. Shanelle was an NCAA champion, multiple-time All-American, sponsored professional athlete, World Championship team member, and one-time top-15 world-ranked 400-meter runner. She learned firsthand what it takes to perform under pressure when everything is on the line.
Making History in Command
Retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. 20+ years in uniform, two combat tours, and the first African American woman to command a Marine Corps recruiting station.
“The Success Trap is what happens when the life you were trained to build starts feeling too small for the woman you are becoming.”
Talks that create real movement
Every format is customizable to your audience, industry, and event goals. Virtual and in-person available.
Live & In-Person
Every room leaves with more than inspiration — they leave with a plan.
Stop Calling It Success When It Feels Like a Cage
The Success Trap is what happens when the life you were trained to build starts feeling too small for the woman you are becoming. This keynote helps your audience name it, understand the causal chain keeping them stuck, and take the first step toward purposeful freedom.
How to Build Your Next Chapter Without Burning Out, Shrinking Back, or Starting Over
For high-achieving women who know something has to change but do not want to blow up everything they have built. This talk meets your audience in the tension between what they have earned and what they are being called toward — and gives them a way forward that does not require destruction.
New Path in Motion: The Four-Step Method for Turning Success Into a Freer Next Chapter
A hands-on workshop where participants work through the P.A.T.H. Method — Pause, Awaken, Train, Honor the Call — and leave with a personal action plan for their next chapter. Not theory. Not inspiration. A framework they can use the next morning.
Credentials that
command a room.
Your audience deserves a speaker who has lived what she teaches. Shanelle brings elite-level experience from the military, athletics, and corporate leadership — and translates it into frameworks your people can use immediately.
Request Speaker Kit
Lt. Colonel
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel
Retired after 20+ years in uniform, including two combat tours. Made history as the first African American woman to command a Marine Corps recruiting station. Leadership forged where clarity, courage, and disciplined action mattered.
Elite Track & Field Athlete
Before the keynotes, there was the track. Shanelle was an NCAA champion, multiple-time All-American, sponsored professional athlete, and World Championship team member who was once ranked among the top 15 in the world in the 400 meters. She learned firsthand what it takes to perform under pressure when everything is on the line.
Published Author
Author of 'Try a New Path: Breaking Free, Growing Beyond Comfort' — a framework for navigating life's biggest transitions with clarity and courage.
HR & Organizational Leader
SHRM-CP certified with deep experience in organizational leadership, talent development, and the human side of professional transition. Shanelle speaks the language of corporate and government audiences because she has led inside them.
Two Master's Degrees
With graduate degrees in Leadership and Military Science, Shanelle brings both academic rigor and real-world leadership experience to every stage.
Flexible Formats
Keynotes (45–90 min), half-day workshops, full-day intensives. Virtual or in-person. Every format includes actionable takeaways — not just inspiration.
Try a New Path
Breaking Free, Growing Beyond Comfort
Part memoir, part guide, part manifesto — this is the book for high-achievers who are successful on paper but know something is misaligned inside.
Shanelle maps the exact causal chain that keeps accomplished people stuck — conformity, doubt, fear, comfort — and walks readers through a five-step framework to break it, reclaim their identity, and move into their next chapter with clarity and courage.
You didn't come this far to stay stuck.
readers already calling it a game-changer
Her presence stays with people.
“Shanelle's work raises deeply human questions about identity, achievement, purpose, and freedom. Her invitation to pursue purposeful freedom encouraged and challenged me in profound ways.”
“I have watched Shanelle live the principles she teaches. She brings discipline, courage, and authenticity to her work, and her presence invites others to rise with honesty and intention.”
“Shanelle has a gift for asking questions that stay with you. Our conversations challenged me to think more deeply about identity, purpose, and the places where I may have been standing still.”
Built for organizations that
invest in their people.
Corporate & Government
- All-hands meetings & leadership summits
- Professional development days
- Team offsites & retreats
- New leader onboarding programs
ERGs & Affinity Groups
- Women's leadership networks
- Veteran & military transition groups
- DEI programming & heritage months
- Cross-functional employee groups
Conferences & Associations
- Women's leadership conferences
- Professional association events
- Healthcare & education summits
- Military & veteran organizations
Let's make your
next event unforgettable.
Fill out the inquiry form and Shanelle will respond within 48 hours with availability, next steps, and a conversation about making your event extraordinary.