Shauna Prentice: Fraternity/Sorority Life and Alumni Consultant

Shauna has more than 12 years of experience in higher education and the fraternity/sorority life profession. Her background includes roles as a campus-based practitioner, headquarters-level leader managing educational programming strategy and design, and at the association level supporting experience design. She currently works as an education and events professional in the trade show industry while also serving as the primary advisor for her undergraduate sorority chapter.

Shauna’s strengths lie in relationship-building, strategic thinking, and applying both to solve complex problems. Her experience working across multiple facets of the field—and managing teams of both professionals and students—gives her a unique perspective on stakeholder management and bringing groups together to move forward effectively.

Shauna received her B.S. from Northern Kentucky University and her M.S. in College Student Personnel Administration from James Madison University. She is based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Learn more about how Shauna can help your group through consulting at https://forcollegeforlife.com/consulting/shauna/

Transcript

[00:00:00] Casey J. Cornelius: Hey everyone, and welcome to the latest episode of the ForCollegeForLife podcast. My name is Casey Cornelius. I am the founder and president for College for Life. I also get the distinct pleasure and opportunity to host this podcast and introduce you to the consultants and speakers who make us. And allow us to earn the reputation of America's leading voices.

I always love these intro podcasts too, because it allows us to chat with some of our newest team members, but also along the way, I get to learn new stuff about folks that I've even known for for years and years. I really look forward to this one. This one's going be fun. Before I bring our guest to the mic, I would love to tell you a little bit about her.

Shauna Prentice has more than 12 years of experience in higher education and the fraternity sorority life profession. Her background includes roles as a campus-based practitioner, headquarters level leader, managing educational programming, strategy and design, and at the association level supporting experience design.

She currently works as an education and events professional in the trade show industry, while also serving as the primary advisor for her undergraduate sorority chapter. Talk about a full circle moment. Shauna’s strengths are in relationship building, strategic thinking, and applying both to solve complex problems.

Her experience working across multiple facets of the field and managing teams both. Of professionals and students gives her a unique perspective on stakeholder management and bringing groups together to move forward effectively. Shauna has received her bachelor's degree from Northern Kentucky University and her master's degree in college, student Personnel Administration from James Madison University.

Some fun facts. Shonda's married and she lives with three senior dogs. Might get into that one here in just a second, including one named for an influential sorority leader and she's the proud aunt to four. Uh, we'll call 'em Junior Nephews. We'll have some fun with that too. Uh, Shauna is based in Louisville, Kentucky and it Briggs speak.

Great pleasure to bring to the mic. None other than Shauna Prentice, Shauna, how did I do with that intro? 

[00:02:13] Shauna J. Prentice: You nailed it, Casey. 

[00:02:16] Casey J. Cornelius: And, and on the first time too, we didn't have to hit pause. We didn't have to. No. Just get back to the curtain here in just a little bit. So, Shauna, it is a real pleasure to get to chat with you in this recorded, uh, capacity.

I feel like I've known you forever, but, but there's so much about your story and about your experience that, uh, that I'm even interested to learn more about. So you, you wanna start from, from the beginning. You want to talk about what. What young Shauna was like growing up and uh, kind of getting close to that, that college, uh, Northern Kentucky experience.

[00:02:50] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I'm excited to chat. I feel the same. I've known you for a long time, but you know, in, in this space, you kind of know of people and you, you get to know them on a deeper level. Right. Eventually. So I'm excited to do that. But yeah, so young Shauna, oh gosh, Shauna was, I was a, a little shy, um, always excited, always.

Had big ideas and you know, very sociable, always. Um, but pretty shy and, and in my shell growing up and I think, um, you know, held myself back from some opportunities when I was young, which made me go to college and like fully lean the other way and like go after everything possible. Mm-hmm. Just to say I did.

Right. So, specific example, I was a cheerleader growing up. Made the middle school cheerleading squad in seventh grade. Did not make it in eighth grade, was devastated. Never tried out again in high school and like always had deep regret about that. And so I went to college and like I tried out to walk on for the softball team.

Obviously I didn't make that, I was not qualified to do that, but I was like, you know, I'm going to, I'm gonna kind of make up for not trying this again in high school and I'm gonna kind of go after everything. And that really, I think, um, that prompted most of my college experience. I got involved and in everything possible, I joined a sorority as in student government.

Um, I ran for president the first time. I didn't get it. I had learned my lesson, went back, ran the second time. I became president. So, um, I think that kind of experience growing up really dictated a lot of what I chose to do in college and, and what ultimately led to my career. 

[00:04:30] Casey J. Cornelius: You know, I, I think it's, it's so interesting, again, the, the things already into this that, that couldn't have possibly known, um, how common of a theme it is among, you know, really successful people, that there's a moment of.

What can we call it? Early disappointment. I mean like we make the seventh grade team, we think everything's smooth sailing, and then something happened that was, was jarring to the maybe the plan or the script that you had in your mind, and that set you in motion to what would eventually be true. 

[00:05:06] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, absolutely.

It was like that feeling of watching all my friends cheering in high school and having fun and having to like, exclude myself every time. I, I never forgot it. Right. And I was like, I am, I'm gonna squash this feeling every chance I get. 

[00:05:21] Casey J. Cornelius: Wow. Yeah. So one of those turning, turning a, a harsh feeling into something that was eventually really positive.

So as you mentioned in northern Kentucky, you are, you are ultra involved. So sorority, student, government, let's, let's start with student government because I don't think that I knew the, the connection of that as well. That's, uh, you were, uh, student government president. Could you talk about what that experience was like?

[00:05:44] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah. I'm sorry if I misspoke. I wasn't student government president. I was sorority president. 

[00:05:48] Casey J. Cornelius: Oh, sorority president. Excuse me. I apologize. Yeah, 

[00:05:50] Shauna J. Prentice: no, that's okay. But I was student on student government exec board two years in a row. Um, 

[00:05:55] Casey J. Cornelius: understood. Gotcha. 

[00:05:56] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes. And you know, similar little less pressure. Um, but yeah, that, that was really cool.

And that was something else that, you know, my brother and I. We're first gen students. And so my brother had gone to college and, and learned a lot of the things that he passed on to me. And one of the first things he said to me was, was get involved and join student government. And, um, yeah, so I, I ran for that my freshman year going into sophomore year and was on the executive team for two years and learned so much about the influence that students are able to have and I think.

You know, was spoiled pretty early in that like when you're on student government exec, you're interacting with your vice president of student affairs. Right. And, you know, going to your state capital and, and interacting with legislators. And like I was 19, I had no business doing any of that. But we got that access.

We got tours of our student union when it was being built by our president at the time and just, or a lot of really cool access that isn't guaranteed to students. And so I think I learned. Early to, to really appreciate those opportunities and the conversations that we got to be a part of. And you know, like I said, the ways that you do actually get to have a huge impact through student government, that is really cool when you're thinking about applying that to, to real life and to adulthood and like figuring out what levers to pull and what conversations you need to be a part of, and that you actually can make change on the local level or you know, a larger level just by figuring it out and getting involved.

[00:07:23] Casey J. Cornelius: For sure. Yeah. And, and I am particularly, it resonates with me, but, but particularly interested as well in, in the, the first gen experience. So, uh, you'd mentioned your, your brother kind of gave you the, the lay of the land moving forward. Did he go to Northern Kentucky as well? 

[00:07:38] Shauna J. Prentice: He did not. He went to the University of Louisville.

And you know, we're in the Louisville, grew up in the Louisville area and big Louisville sports fans. And so he went to U of L. It was like, no question. Um, and he, he was mostly focused on, you know, his degree and I think he worked quite a bit. And when I was making my decision, I applied to U of L and I applied to NKU and I was like, I could go to U of L and get cheap student tickets.

To the sport event. 

[00:08:02] Casey J. Cornelius: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:03] Shauna J. Prentice: Or go to NKU, um, which I had done my tour there and I just, the energy and the size of the campus, 'cause it wasn't huge, I'd gone to a pretty small high school, um, was just a really good fit. All the, the vibes were right. And so, you know, I, I had And 

[00:08:18] Casey J. Cornelius: how much older is your brother?

I mean, just for perspective, how much? 

[00:08:21] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, sure. He's four years older, so I was a senior in high school when he was a senior in college. 

[00:08:25] Casey J. Cornelius: Gotcha. Gotcha. So maybe some of you, I, I don't want to guess, but some of you like wanted to forge your own path as well. You didn't just wanna follow in in his footsteps specifically.

Totally. There 

[00:08:36] Shauna J. Prentice: was definitely a little bit of that. 

[00:08:38] Casey J. Cornelius: Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. So we're at NKU, we're, we're getting involved, all that other kind of stuff. And then sorority becomes a part of your life. And I think one of the things that's interesting to me again, uh, resonates particularly, but the, the first gen experience of sorority and fraternity as well.

So what, what was, you know, um, undergraduate Shauna thinking, uh, coming to sorority for the first time. 

[00:09:08] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes, undergraduate Shauna, uh, is it really worked out that I did go to NKU just for the size of the campus and like not being intimidated. I think if I had gone to a larger school, I may have not thought sorority was for me, and obviously I'm really glad that I decided it was for me.

Um, but you know, the size at NKU, our chapters were around. 80 people, maybe. There were five sororities at the time. And so it was a pretty manageable experience. It started, um, right after Labor Day weekend, so it, we were a campus where we could go get used to going to classes for a few weeks and then decide, yeah, I'm gonna track.

Sorority life, right? This is for me. Um, and I was very much, you know, a few people from my high school went to NKU, but most of them went to one of the bigger state schools. And so I was just excited to make new friends and like, you know, I had mentioned earlier kind of break out of that high school shell that held myself back kind of out of fear.

I was, I was ready to kind of move past that and just try all the new things and make all the friends and I. Like everyone had no idea how much sorority would impact my life and, and my future. But um, yeah, I was just really excited to jump in and meet all the people and try all the things. 

[00:10:19] Casey J. Cornelius: Wonderful.

Yeah. And I think that there's something, um, you know, I I, I talk to folks from time to time as you do too, who, who, um, in, in my opinion, have these like mega chapter experiences, right? Mm-hmm. Where they're like, oh, my, my new member class was 115 people. And it's like, wow, how do you even get to know? And you mentioned like.

You know, 80 women in your chapter. And, and I, you know, I, I think my chapter was about the same size as an undergrad. It, it felt like that that was a, a manageable size too, where. You could really get to know people. And it sounds like you did, 'cause you moved into that leadership position throughout your experience too.

[00:11:01] Shauna J. Prentice: Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. And, and you know, the, the mega chapters and the mid-size chapters all have their approaches to breaking it up into the smaller groups and making it more manageable to kinda get to know folks. Right. But yeah, it was, it was a good spot, a good size. It was a sweet spot to be able to sit in our circle at chapter meetings and feel like I kind of know everyone.

And if we aren't. Super close. At least I know their vibe and I know I can say hi to them on campus and kind of what they're into. Um, and that was awesome. 

[00:11:30] Casey J. Cornelius: Yeah. Okay folks, if you haven't yet, please make sure, um, you're gonna hear me say this a couple times throughout the podcast. Please make sure you check out, uh, Shauna's page at for college for life.com/shauna, that's S-H-A-U-N-A to learn more about her primary work in consulting, um, in, in the way that she's serviced campuses and organizations across the country.

So, Shauna, um, I, I know that part of your story. Is centered on sorority, but that becomes a part of your professional journey as well. You wanna talk a little bit about what that, uh, what that progression felt like? 

[00:12:04] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes. So we, at NKU, there were a good number of us who, um, went on to study higher education, student affairs.

Um, we had, like I said, from being involved with student government, we had access to our vice president of student Affairs, our dean of students, you know, they spent time, I was an orientation leader. They spent time with us during training, and so we got. Close to them and, and they mentored several of us.

Um, my friend Kevin Reynolds, who is on our four College for Life team. Shout 

[00:12:33] Casey J. Cornelius: out Kevin Reynolds. 

[00:12:34] Shauna J. Prentice: Shout out Kevin. We were really tight in college and kind of followed a similar path where, um, you know, I, I was studying a major, I was studying middle school education, but it was, that was always kind of the side.

Project for me, I was, was so involved and knew that my career would kind of go in this direction. Once you realize it's a career, right? And you don't know that until you're a junior or senior and you're like, wait, people are getting paid to do this. Um, and so, you know, working with, with some of those folks and those mentors.

I, I had identified student affairs as an option, but my first year out of school actually I was a consultant for my sorority, and so I was like, you know what? I'll figure out next steps later. Let me go on the road and like do this dream job of being a consultant, which was really, really awesome and was probably my first taste of understanding the different dynamics on.

From campus to campus and from organization to organization and how everything is a little bit different depending on where you are. And that requires different support and a different approach. But I did that and I think a few months in I realized this is actually really meaningful. Like working with college students and helping them develop and learn in the ways that I was developed and supported, um, is really powerful stuff.

And so I went on to, um, get my master's degree at James Madison, which. I, again, was lucky to have a mentor who had studied there that, that told me about JMU. I never would have considered it otherwise, and it was one of the greatest decisions in my life. It's a great campus, beautiful, made such, such really good friends and mentors there.

Um, and even then I thought being in a sorority was really cool and impactful. I'm not doing that professionally, right? I was like, I'll do orientation or I'll do leadership. I don't know about fraternity, sorority life. My first job out of grad school was a student organization's job, and about a year later, my sorority headquarters had an education job open and I was like, wait, I do actually think this is what I want to do.

And so I, I got that job and did that for about three and a half years and just fell in love with that, that bigger picture of programming. And again, like serving d. Campuses and different chapters based on what they need, but all kind of moving towards that same big picture. Um, and, and that just again, like set me into this 10, 12 years of working in the fraternity and sorority life space and finding creative ways to serve students in, in each of those, those ways.

[00:14:53] Casey J. Cornelius: So two questions for you. One, for those who probably are a little bit more familiar with your story and your trajectory, and, and one for those maybe who aren't. So, we'll, we'll start with the, the more familiar one. I, I assume one of those folks, one of those, those mentors that you mentioned. Uh, is the great and, uh, estimable, uh, Dr.

Kim Vance. Um, she, she had quite a, a family tree at Northern Kentucky University, and I'm, I'm pretty certain that, that you're part of that too. Do you wanna talk a little bit about Kim's impact as well? 

[00:15:23] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes, I would love to. And you know what's. Funny. And, uh, a little bit of a missed opportunity for me is that in undergrad I didn't spend as much time with Kim as I wish I had.

Um, but I was not involved necessarily with Panhellenic. I was very involved in my school. Right. Um, I was a, um, a recruitment counselor one summer, and, and of course as president I interacted with her, but I didn't spend as much time with her as. I wish, you know, I hear my friends who worked for her, actually my husband was an IFC president of hers at one point.

Um, and he's like, yeah, Kim's amazing. But Kim has definitely, you know, since I like, went into the field and. You find your people that you, you stay in touch with and you learn from. Kim is is on that roster, right? I'm, I'm in a group text with Kim and a few other NKU sorority women grads who've gone on to do this work professionally and it is one of the happiest places in my phone.

Um, and of course in person when that's able to happen, but. I, I remember having so much respect for Kim in undergrad and all of our, as some of my friends went on to be advisors of my chapter when I moved away. And while Kim was still at NKU, of course she's moved on to Miami now, but when she was still there, right.

Everyone just, there was always so much respect for Kim because she's brilliant, right? And she's consistent and she built such a special place at N Kku, such a special community. Um, I know everyone says that about where they, they did undergrad or where they love and, um. I'm sure it's true in many places, but I can attest that the KU community is really special because Kim just built such a great place where we respected each other and we trusted each other and we cared about each other and, and we just kind of wanted that experience to be positive for everyone.

So Kim wasn't necessarily anyone in my ear saying, you should do this just because. I didn't ask her at the time, but, Hmm. Um, you know, now she's definitely a affirming, affirming every step of, of my career and, and our, my peers that are so close to her, you know, we, we ask him for any advice we can, we'll, we'll take it.

[00:17:27] Casey J. Cornelius: I, I always love to, to take the opportunity to salute the icons and, uh, yes, absolutely. And Kim is is definitely one. Right. So, um, also, so the, the second question that I had, um, for those who might not be familiar with the, the title leadership consultant. Can you talk a little bit about, I don't want to, I don't wanna dredge up any, like, like bad memories of being on the road, but could you, could you talk a little bit about like what the work of being a leadership consultant for a national organization for your cap delta?

Shout out cap delta, um, is, is like for, you know, like leadership consultant sounds like it's, you know, you, you consult people to make them better leaders, but what goes under that job? 

[00:18:10] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes, great question. And I would, you know, of course, preface this by saying in 2011, uh, we probably did things a little differently than, than we do in 2026, just in terms of knowing a hundred percent, 

[00:18:22] Casey J. Cornelius: knowing 

[00:18:22] Shauna J. Prentice: what works in terms of what type of support and what type of visits are going to kind of be worth.

The resources and have the impact that you're trying to have. But I, I had a wonderful experience. I think there might be people who have their, their horror stories and like, I think I missed one flight that kind of turned into a, a series of comical events to get to this airport when I was in at Delta State.

But, um, you know, otherwise the experience of being a consultant and our title then was actually chapter development consultant. And of course over time that was changed to leadership development consultant and. It, it makes more sense to call it that, but um, you know, we would visit one chapter every four days-ish.

Right? Sometimes it was a three day visit, sometimes it was five days. It, depending on the time of year influence the type of visit you we had. Right. So, um, August and September, a little bit of October, we're doing recruitment visits again in January and February we're doing recruitment visits and we're there.

Either helping the chapter prepare for recruitment, so asking questions about kind of their, their recruitment practice or how they were preparing their chapter, or how, you know, they were going to best promote themselves and talk about their chapter experience during recruitment. Um, or we were actually on the ground during recruitment, just supporting them through the, the RFM of it all and the, through the recruitment parties and helping.

Helping them keep their morale up and kind of keep their eyes on the prize, so to speak. Right. So those are the recruitment visits. And then in the, you know, October, November, it was a little more leadership transition, helping them prepare for elections or being there to help facilitate their actual officer transition process, which was always really cool.

And then sometimes it was just a general chapter check-in, right? Like maybe a chapter hadn't had a visit in a year or two and, and they were just due to. To hear and see from someone at the headquarters level. And, um, you know, I think an interesting secondary impact of the consultant program is the, just the awareness that that would give the chapter of the headquarters in general and, and that the headquarters exist to provide resources and, you know, deliver this experience for you, but also.

That like seeing, I think that I think members develop more of an affinity for their organization and then they want to be consultants, right? Or they want to work at that, or they want to go into fraternity and sorority life. It's like their first interaction with a professional in this space. And you know, usually consultants are, are young and they're right out of school and.

You want to be like them, you want to emulate them. You're like, wow, how do I get to do this? Right? I remember the consultant that visited my chapter, her name was Abby, and I wanted to be like Abby. And so I went on to do that. And so, um, yeah, it was a little bit of, of everything, a lot of time spent with the, uh, leadership of the chapter, right?

Like the president and, and all of the officers spent time with advisors. We would also be freshly out of grad school, like sitting in the fraternity, sorority life office. S chatting with the director or 

[00:21:29] Casey J. Cornelius: Right, right. 

[00:21:30] Shauna J. Prentice: Director to kind of learn, um, you know, what that community was like and what kind of support.

Our chapter specifically needed and how we could be better community partners. And I, you know, it's funny now to look back and, and realize how informative that role was to my whole career, but especially, you know, now being able to, to be in the consulting space with for college, for Life and realizing, you know, what I'm good at, I think is.

Understanding all of these stakeholders have a different perspective and, and different priorities sometimes. And you need to hear them all out and get them either on the same page or find where they overlap. And that's what we were doing as consultants right out of, of undergrad. And you know, you just don't realize that when you're 22, um Right.

But you're doing really cool strategic work and um, yeah, that's what it was like, but it was also, you know, a lot of a basketball game here and there with a chapter or. Doing the fun things and driving from one chapter to another big schools in Ohio. And I was like, I grew up right down the street and I didn't know Ohio was this big, like how are there more schools here?

Um, but you know, there were, and I went. 

[00:22:38] Casey J. Cornelius: You sure did. No, I and I, I think the thing that you just hit on is, is probably the most interesting part of your, your journey. Again, folks, if you haven't yet, for college, for life.com/shauna, so undergraduate student leader, straight outta college, uh, in, in, in service to your sorority, but then.

Campus experience, campus professional experience, organizational experience, professionally association, professional experience. I think all of this kind of brings to you a, a real distinctive tool belt, right? Like where? You know, one of the things that we often say in consulting is this, is, this is where skills meet problems.

And I think that, you know, your, your bio, your intro highlights a couple of those things, right? So you talk about the importance of relationship building, but also strategic thinking. As it relates to solving complex problems. So let, let's kind of just talk about those, uh, one at a time. So, let's start with relationship building.

If someone out there is like, wow, you know, my, my campus or my organization is, is really facing a really, you know, mountainous, voluminous, uh, difficult problem right now. Why is relationship building so essential? 

[00:23:57] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes. I think, you know, the simplest way to talk about it's, I remember a study at some point, and I, I think specifically the study was talking about, um, you know, political differences, but the purpose was talking about how you're more likely to, um, listen to a different perspective from someone that you love or that you trust.

Right? And I think that sounds really obvious, but. It's cool to me that there are studies that prove that, that if someone just knocks on my door and is like, Hey, here's what you should be doing. I don't know. You, I don't, why are you talking to me? Right? Like, what? Why, why would I trust you? But, um, if I know someone or I have established a level of relationship with them or establish some credibility, or they know that I care, then they're more likely to sit and listen.

Right? The guard goes down a little bit. Now you're able to make some progress, I think. Developing a relationship. I don't think you can do that if you yourself aren't curious and asking good questions and saying like, how can I help you? Right? Like, I think you folks might assume or might try to say, Hey, I have all the answers.

Just call me. I'll tell you what to do. Um, that might not be true. You don't, you don't know the unique, uh, issues or complexities or layers of any given problem. And so I think building a good relationship. You know, it started by asking those good questions and then, um, that really allows you to work together with, with whoever your folks are.

And I just, I think if you don't start there, you're gonna have a hard time getting to step two. 

[00:25:32] Casey J. Cornelius: Is it, isn't it so interesting too that that curiosity piece is really foundational in, in just good relationships, right? Like I, I remember recently I was, I was in a, like a 20 minute Uber ride or something like that, and I, I think I started it by just asking the driver, like, how's it going?

And they just launched into this, this whole thing about their day and, uh, the, the challenges they were facing. And, and I would just reta ask like. Logical follow up questions like, oh, you know what, what is it about this? Or, tell me more about why. And by the time we got there, 20 minutes later, they're like, this was a great conversation.

Yeah. Shauna, I, I asked like five questions. I didn't contribute anything to the conversation, but like, this was a great conversation. Simply because of curiosity. Like, do you find that too, like that curiosity allows you to be more trusted because you're ending more sentences with questions than you are with periods or exclamation points?

[00:26:29] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, I think so. Because you're creating space, right? You're, you're communicating to someone whether it's like directly and, and verbally. By asking the question or just kind of with those follow up nudges, like you're continuing to tell someone, Hey, this is a space for you to, to share with me what's going on or to talk, or I'm someone you can trust to that is going to listen because you're asking those follow up questions or those nudges, or you seem like you care.

[00:26:54] Casey J. Cornelius: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I, I think that there's, there's definitely a, a link in connection there. I think sort of. A second tier of this conversation around, um, you know, solving complexity is really that notion of strategic thinking, right? So assuming that relationships are present, relationships leading to to, to trust, would you start thinking strategically doesn't, again, I'm, I'm gonna ask the, what might seem like an obvious question, but I'm, I'm just curious, your take of it.

Is that one of those things where a lot of times when people are in, we'll call it crisis E, even if it's like small, see crisis strategic thinking is not typically first thought. It's, it's like, how do I get out of this situation and to nudge them to consider what might be true in six months or a year or three years is like the furthest thing from their mind.

[00:27:49] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, absolutely. Especially like you said, the, the closer you are to something you would consider a crisis, the less interested you are in six to 12 months from now. Right. You are trying to put out a fire, you're trying to, you know, solve 

[00:28:02] Casey J. Cornelius: six days from now, right? Six days. Yeah, yeah, 

[00:28:04] Shauna J. Prentice: yeah. You're like, I can't talk about next week like this is going on today.

No one is at our. Event today mm-hmm. That we spend all this money on, or whatever the situation might be. Right. And so, yeah, I think, I think that's also a, a reason it's important to be thinking strategically before you're in the crisis. Right? Because you are getting ahead of that a little bit if you're already in the thick of it trying to solve an immediate problem.

Well yeah, your answer, your solution might need to be immediate, but that won't be a long-term solution. So, um. Yeah. I think even if it's something that feels immediate, there might be a bigger picture conversation you should be having about, okay, is this a community issue that you're trying to solve? Is this about engagement from other members of your community, other councils in the community?

Well, how are we engaging them throughout the year? Who are we inviting to the table throughout the year? What programs are we having? What opportunities are we creating? Are we visiting chapters and asking their feedback and you know, or, or talking to the staff members, they interact with whomever might be the other players in that the issue isn't just community engagement, no one's coming.

There are probably other layers and other, you know, cracks you're going to discover by asking more questions and thinking strategically, which again, you do best by having already established a relationship that then folks will talk to you about that and be bought into a long-term strategic plan. 

[00:29:28] Casey J. Cornelius: I love it.

No, no. And, and I think that, um, correct me if I'm wrong on this, right? So if we have relationships in place and we have trust, um, and we're dealing with something that is critical, you know, potentially we're seeing as a short term crisis in the process of, of solving that, it might actually uncover through the lens of strategic planning, uh, solutions to future problems that have not yet been unearthed.

Am am I getting, am I getting that relationship and path correct there? 

[00:29:57] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You never know what, where the breakdown may have been. And is it, you know, is it something foundational? Is it something in a process that is missed? Is it something in the communication with your community or your, your leaders, right?

You have to, um, you know, it kind of. Deal with the whole thing and step by step before you figure out what's missing, and you never know at what point that might be uncovered. Um, but if you're, you're always engaged in those relationships and you're always revisiting that big picture and thinking long term, you'll find the right place to plug the solution.

[00:30:33] Casey J. Cornelius: I love it. I love it. Folks, if, if you haven't yet already, please make sure that you visit for college for life.com/shauna. It's S-H-A-U-N-A. Sean, I want to get to our final five questions, but first I have to ask the question. Uh, you know, your bio says that you have three senior dogs, and, um, I'm, I'm never one to, to age shame anyone.

But can you talk about these, uh, more senior canine, uh, companions that you have? 

[00:30:56] Shauna J. Prentice: Yes, I would love to. And if anyone follows me on social media, they're very well aware of the pups. I do still call them puppies. Uh, they are all about 12 years old. Um, so I've had the beagle my entire life. Her name is Nora Lou, uh, named after Lenora Ashmore Blackton, if you know, you know, CAPTA, um, that her, her whole life and she's blind.

And, um, you know, the smallest of the bunch. And then together, my husband and I have two. Pity mixes, and they're also both about 12. One of them is blind and diabetic. It is a circus in this house at all times. Um, but we love it and wouldn't have it any other way. They, you know, they all have their, their daytime and nighttime medicine routine and they go on their walks and they go to the park.

And just because they're old does not mean they are any less energetic. And that is what I will say. 

[00:31:51] Casey J. Cornelius: I love it. And, and that is the very definition of, of caregiving, especially to our, to our pet, uh, friends. Um, they're, they're members of the family just like, just like human beings. And, uh, I, I know that you show them a lot of love and vice versa as well.

So, uh, Shauna, can I get you outta here on these five, we'll call 'em rapid fire questions, but obviously you can take all the time in the world that you'd like to answer them. 

[00:32:12] Shauna J. Prentice: Absolutely. 

[00:32:13] Casey J. Cornelius: Okay, so let's imagine for a second, I know you're really, really busy and that your calendar is full, but let's imagine for a second that you have an entire day to binge watch anything.

What do you choose? 

[00:32:25] Shauna J. Prentice: That's a great and very timely question. I am about 15 years late to this party, but I am in my first watch of Game of Thrones, so I Oh, 

[00:32:35] Casey J. Cornelius: okay. Started 

[00:32:36] Shauna J. Prentice: five. So I'm dead center. So if you told me I had no plans, tomorrow I am. I'm sitting down and watching that, um, all the way through. I had tried to watch season one a few times back in the day, and I just couldn't follow.

There were too many storylines, too many families, and I got really into House of Dragon and then Night of the Seven Kingdoms, the spinoffs recently, and was able to finally feel like an affinity for some of the families and, and was interested in where their story goes. So I finally gave it another shot, and I am, I'm hooked.

[00:33:07] Casey J. Cornelius: Have you always been in sort of that, and I don't use this term like in a, in a pejorative way, please no one come for me in the, the comments or anything. But in sort of that, that fantasy space, like have, have you always been there or is that kind of a new interest of yours? 

[00:33:22] Shauna J. Prentice: It's new, it's, I've never really been in that, that ballpark.

And my whole family watched Game Off Thrones. Right. My brother read the books and all the things, and I was like, I just, I don't, uh, this isn't really doing it for me. I didn't really get into Twilight. Um, mm. I wasn't a Harry Potter growing up. Uh, and weren't we all, but, um, yeah, I, this is kind of my first fantasy, you know, dabble.

[00:33:44] Casey J. Cornelius: Okay. You called it fantasy too. Okay. I'm not, I'm not the only one. So I was, I was looking for the right genre on it. 

[00:33:50] Shauna J. Prentice: I dunno. 

[00:33:50] Casey J. Cornelius: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, alright. Shauna, what is the most used app on your phone? 

[00:33:56] Shauna J. Prentice: Oh gosh. Most used app. I would have to check my screen time, but I'm gonna assume it's the text messaging app.

I am, you know, I've. Moved a lot. And I think in this field we kind of get used to that When you're on campus or you're right, you kinda have to move around. And I have, I think because of that, just always stayed in touch with everyone I've ever met. And I, you know, I have, like I talked about my group chat earlier with my NKU gals, um, shout out to that, the Valkyrie and chats like that, right?

I, I stay in the group chats and texting my friends who are far away and, you know, most of them. Don't live where I live. And, and that's been true for most of my adult life. And so I would say the text message app, 

[00:34:41] Casey J. Cornelius: it because it ke it keeps you connected to those, uh, those communities that are so important too.

[00:34:45] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah. 

[00:34:46] Casey J. Cornelius: That's awesome. Okay, great. Um, Shauna, who would you most like to have dinner with? 

[00:34:52] Shauna J. Prentice: Most like to have dinner with? I think I would go, maybe this is like a stereotypical route, but like a Michelle Obama or an Amy Poer, or you know, Tina Faye, someone who, uh, just a woman who's done a lot of really cool things and continues to do cool things into their forties, fifties, beyond, I think, uh.

You know, being in a sorority and working for a sorority headquarters and, and being in this space for a long time makes you appreciate the power that women have. And I just think the older women get, I think that they're smart and they're cool and they don't care so much what people think. And there's just a lot to be learned.

Um, and so I would, I would say someone like that who's just continuing to, to do really cool things and, and live life fully, you know, limited adulthood. 

[00:35:44] Casey J. Cornelius: Yeah. Although I, I will note that strategically you listed three people, and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna force you to, to choose one, but I noticed that it's gonna be a full table, let's put it that way.

[00:35:54] Shauna J. Prentice: Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. 

[00:35:55] Casey J. Cornelius: Okay. Uh, Shauna, it's the end of the day. You've, you've had a busy day, you know, doing all of the things. Uh, what do you do to wind down? Do you have any sort of rituals or any sort of signals that like, this is the end of the day, it's time to recharge for the night? Uh, what is your ritual?

What, what do you do to wind down. 

[00:36:12] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, I, so I recently got, if, I don't know if you've heard of a brick for your phone, and it, um, it's a little device that you tap. Um, you, you, it essentially locks you out of certain apps on your phone and you can program it. So my phone will go into brick mode at 9:00 PM which means like, Instagram, Facebook, all the social app.

I can no longer tap into unless I, like, physically go to my kitchen and tap my phone, which there's a, there's a little bit of a, a guilt trip involved in that, you know, if I'm like, oh, I'm so down bad for Instagram. I have to go un brick at nine 30. So I let that force me off the apps around nine. Um, and probably I'm just winding down with a little tv maybe right now it's trying to finish it.

An episode of Game of Thrones. Yeah. My, my senior dogs like to bark at me when it's time for a bedtime treat. And that's how we really know it's, it's time for the closing routine. 

[00:37:05] Casey J. Cornelius: Whether you have an alarm set or not, they let you know 

[00:37:07] Shauna J. Prentice: uhhuh. Yep. 

[00:37:08] Casey J. Cornelius: Yeah. No, so it's, it's called a brick app. I, I apologize that I'm late to the game on this.

No, so, so then do you put something strategically in a distant place from, from bed or something like that? That then 

[00:37:20] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah. So it's like a it 

[00:37:22] Casey J. Cornelius: tap into those things. 

[00:37:23] Shauna J. Prentice: It's a magnet and you put it somewhere and mine stays on my refrigerator and my office is on the opposite end of the house, which is nice. So I, my phone bricks at 9:00 AM and then I, I have to unb brick it at some point to get in.

And then same at at 9:00 PM And so if I'm in the middle of the workday, my brick is. You know, physically several rooms away. Um, so I'm, I'm just gonna leave it and I'll, I'll get in there later. And there is a little bit of a gamification to it. It tells you how long your phone has been bricked and it's like, oh, you have been out for, you know, 12 hours and it's like, oh, this is great.

I can't, I've gotta see how far I can, can let it stretch 

[00:37:57] Casey J. Cornelius: as someone who, um, is guilty of, of potentially, you know, rolling over the middle of the night and, and scrolling. Responding to messages. Yeah, that actually sounds like a, a really pleasant way of, uh, making sure I don't, so I'm just making a little note to myself as well.

[00:38:15] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, there you go. 

[00:38:16] Casey J. Cornelius: That's awesome. Uh, Shauna, how can listeners best connect with you? Like is there a particular app or anything that you prefer? 

[00:38:22] Shauna J. Prentice: Yeah, I think, uh, LinkedIn always works. I would say in terms of social apps, Instagram is my most frequent. Um, that's where you're gonna find me, you know, sharing pictures of the dogs or hyping up students or, or colleagues who are doing cool things.

Um, and, you know, always email if you wanna throw it back to, to the, the slower side of things. 

[00:38:44] Casey J. Cornelius: I love it. Alright, well we'll go ahead and put that in the show notes as well. Uh, Shauna, this was such a pleasure. Thank you for, for joining. And uh, folks, if you haven't yet already, please again, make sure that you visit ForCollegeForLife.com/shauna.

If you feel like she could be of service to your organization or to your campus, please let us know. Uh, we'd love those type of partnerships, those long-term strategic planning or relationship building opportunities to tackle those complex problems that you might be facing. Please let us know there. Uh, also two little requests.

As as we, uh, as we get to wrap up today, please make sure that you do the thing with this podcast that you're supposed to do, and that's like, and shared subscribe, but also if you could ensure that you forward this one along to someone that needs to hear it, that it gets into the ears of someone who.

Should learn more about Shauna and her story and her journey. Please also make sure that you let us know if there are any topics or any questions that you might have that you'd like us to cover more in depth in future episodes. We always want this content to be most relevant to you, something that you want to hear.

That is what we are here for. Uh, but until next time, as I say, each and every sign off, we. Really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you today. Uh, we hope you've enjoyed this podcast and until next time, everybody, please be well, we'll talk to you soon.