Many jumpers, both veteran skydivers and those new to the sport, have heard of Shannon Pilcher.
At Dropzone Marketing, we’re delighted and humbled by the opportunity to work with giants like Shannon. What he’s accomplished, and indeed what lies ahead, is laced with equal parts talent, intention, and integrity.
We are honored to have played an integral role in the launch of shannonpilcher.com – Shannon’s website dedicated to his personal mission of empowering others to live with passion, purpose and perspective. Through consulting and speaking engagements that take him around the world, and a compelling podcast called Choices that he produces from his studio in DeLand, Shannon is continuing to follow his heart and live the dream.
The Man Behind the World Records
Shannon is what you call, “a natural”. He’s comfortable and confident in his own skin; always has been. When he puts his mind to something, he often succeeds. As a kid, he was an athlete who sported all of the stripes – baseball, football, BMX, basketball – he played on every team most every year.
The first in his family to go to college, Shannon’s studies were tethered to his aspiration of becoming an architect. While pursuing his BS degree in Building Construction Science, though, Shannon was introduced to skydiving through the Georgia Tech Sport Parachute Club, and the rest may as well be history.
His love for skydiving was instant. After just 26 jumps and a freshly-issued A license, Shannon accepted an invitation to join a 4-way Formation Skydiving team. Alongside Kyle Collins, Ian Bobo, Scott Webb, David van Greuningen and Eric Taylor – new faces then, and lifelong friends now (who are household names in their own right) – Shannon began a rich and highly decorated skydiving career.
RAP Sheet
Shannon’s list of personal Records, Accomplishments & [Canopy] Progressions is as long as your arm.
In his Georgia Tech days, his teams not only won and the title as Collegiate Champions of the USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championship for three consecutive years, but they stole the gold each time from military teams who had won the title consistently for decades.
Within six years of being in the sport, Shannon became a sought-after skydiving coach (training the Australian, Austrian, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Irish and Norwegian national teams, all said and done) and started becoming somewhat of a fixture on the coaching circuit.
Across his 21 year career of competitive skydiving, he earned four World Records, consistently took first and second place in national and international competitions in 4-way FS and Canopy Progression, was named Skydiver of the Year, was a founding member of the PD Factory Team and, subsequently the Flight-1 skydiving school, and has swooped some world’s most picturesque and awe-inspiring locations.
On to the next …
Shannon packed away his competition canopy for keeps in 2010.
By then, Flight-1 was four years old and already highly successful. He immersed himself in the work of Flight-1, supporting its growth into an internationally-respected canopy school for civilians and military parachutists. Today, Flight-1 is sanctioned by the US Military and is valued in several NATO countries where it facilitates the training of special operations forces charged with completing covert operations.
Flight-1 kept Shannon’s skydiving itch in check, but he found himself yearning for something new that would nourish his soul. After learning about the impact a degree in Organizational Development (OD) had had on one of his long-time skydiving compatriots, Jack Jeffries, Shannon decided to investigate it for himself. His introspective nature and reputation for being a problem solver made him a prime candidate to find meaning in OD, a behavioral science that helps people navigate change.
In 2013, he enrolled at American University and in 2015 he emerged on the other side with his Master’s in OD. He immediately got to work as a consultant, helping organizations large and small to find the solutions to their greatest challenges within, and quickly witnessed powerful results.
Since traveling this new path, Shannon’s message across the board has been simple: you create the ripples in the pond; what’s next is up to you.
Choices
Living an intentional life has always been important to Shannon, and never so much as during this stage of his life. Now a husband and a father, Shannon more than ever values time over money and experiences over material possessions.
“Make meaning of conversation”, “live life in the little moments” and “measure success by happiness” are just three of the mantras Shannon has carried with him all of his days, and they are informing present day life in exciting and unexpected ways. As a consultant and coach, he’s lauded for his honesty and unbiased feedback. As a speaker, he’s warm and sincere, quickly earning the trust of the audience. As a podcast host, he’s showcasing the power of listening, the merit of vulnerability, and how seemingly ordinary people are capable of things most extraordinary.
It all boils down to choices.
What’s next is up to you …
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We are grateful to Shannon for choosing Dropzone Marketing to help him shepherd in this next exciting life chapter. Visit his site, learn more about Shannon’s story, and take a listen to his podcast.
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