Shannon's Love Story

Shannon moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area a decade after graduating from UC Berkeley. She had finally made the decision to settle in the Bay Area. Shannon lived in many cites and other great places after leaving Berkeley. Shannon went to Harvard Business School and after graduation worked for some amazing companies. While she loved her career, she was no longer willing to move anywhere just for the "perfect" job. She felt her heart pull her towards San Francisco.

On New Years Eve day, Shannon hopped into her car and drove from the mid-west to San Francisco to start a brand new chapter. She wanted to establish a fulfilling personal life in the Bay Area. While she had no job nor apartment, she had a strong network of friends. She quickly found a great place to live in San Francisco and a job working at her first e-commerce start-up in SOMA.

While she had many friends in the San Francisco Bay Area from her college days, she didn't want to rely on them exclusively to fuel her social life. Shannon branched out and joined several non-profit art groups. She went to a lot of events and met a lot of new people. She quickly learned San Francisco was one of the easiest places to meet other great people. Her social circles grew and she loved her life in San Francisco.

Like most women in their early 30s, Shannon did a lot of dating—and found it both fun and frustrating. Most of all, she enjoyed de-briefing with friends on their dates the next day. They shared advice, navigated issues, and offered support. She went through peaks and valleys and learned a lot about herself. She loved dating life yet also wondered if she'd finally meet the "one".

When she met "the one", she didn't know it. Shannon was heading to a final job interview, and noticed a man coming out of the elevator. She was immediately attracted. She went along to her interview and was seated in a large office with a panoramic view of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. A few minutes later, who walks in but the man from the elevator! Shannon blushed, and stumbled her way through the interview. As she was leaving the office, she thought that he must be married or taken.

Shannon ended up getting the job. The first year in the new job, she continued dating a lot of other people, yet still wondered if he was available. Over time, she learned he was divorced for awhile and had recently ended a serious relationship. Through their work lives, Shannon got to know him quite well in the work environment and liked how he handled the day-to-day work challenges. It was hard—she had a crush on him, yet couldn't tell anyone. Given he was senior to her, she knew she would have to make the first move for anything to happen.

Shannon knew he was a movie fan, so she made a bet with him around who could sweep the Oscar picks. The winner would be taken out to dinner by the loser. He won, Shannon took him out to dinner—and they married 2 years later. They have been married since 2006.

Shannon still treasures love stories, and always looks for humor from bad date stories. Love is a journey, and Shannon believes all of us have the opportunity to find true love.