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December 15, 2025 66 mins

Shannon Nash’s (see her bio below) career doesn’t follow a straight line—and that’s exactly the point. Attorney. CPA. CFO. Board director. Podcast host. Film producer. Zumba instructor. Her journey is a masterclass in saying yes to growth, even when it means rewriting the plan entirely.

In this conversation, Shannon shares how growing up between the Midwest and the East Coast, sitting outside law school classrooms as a child, and watching her father blaze a trail into the legal profession shaped her sense of discipline, ambition, and possibility. She opens up about the pivots that changed everything, from leaving traditional professional services to building a global career in corporate leadership, from living as an expat in Switzerland to stepping away from full-time work to support her son during critical developmental years.

We talk about:

  • Why career “detours” often become the most meaningful chapters

  • What global living taught her about leadership, culture, and perspective

  • How improvisation, creativity, and even group fitness classes sharpen leadership skills

  • The realities of board service and how leaders actually get invited into the boardroom

  • Her experience as CFO of Wing, Alphabet’s autonomous drone delivery company

  • Why relationships, not résumés, drive long-term career success

  • The inspiration behind her podcast, No Boxes: Just Verses, and why music tells leadership stories better than titles ever could

Shannon brings candor, humor, and deep reflection to a conversation that challenges traditional definitions of success. Her story is proof that leadership isn’t about staying in one lane—it’s about knowing when to change course and having the courage to keep moving forward.

 

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About ​S​hannon: Shannon Nash is a global C-suite leader, Qualified Financial Expert, attorney, and CPA with 30+ years of experience at the intersection of technology, finance, and governance. She serves as an independent board director for NetScout Systems, SoFi Bank, and Lazy Dog Restaurants. Formerly CFO of Wing, an Alphabet company, she led global finance and operations for its autonomous drone delivery service. Shannon has also held CFO roles at Reputation.com and Inside Source, and senior finance roles with Amgen and Cumulus Media. She started her career at KPMG and Cooley LLP.

She is a 2025 NACD Directorship 100 honoree and one of Silicon Valley’s 100 Most Influential Women, with cybersecurity certifications from MIT, the AICPA, and NYU Law–Nasdaq. Shannon is also host of a new leadership podcast No Boxes: Just Verses, which ranks in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and top 40 in its category, and an award-winning film producer. She holds both a BS in Accounting and JD from the University of Virginia.  
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