Shannon and her husband Geoffrey then moved to Los Angeles, California where their daughter Grace Victoria was born in 2004.  During this time Shannon dedicated her time to charitable work.  Shannon’s charitable experience began when shortly after graduating University her mother was diagnosed with M.S.  Frustrated and wanting to do something Shannon founded The Hope Ball in Toronto, Canada; an annual fundraising event dedicated to raising funds and awareness for neurological diseases.  The Hope Ball raised over $2 million over a 10-year period.  Every dollar the Hope Ball raised was successfully leveraged into three dollars in external funding.   In total, The Hope Ball contributed over $6 million towards neurological research.  While in Los Angeles Shannon founded Night of Hope to raise funds and awareness for the Lymphoma Research Foundation and raised close to $100,000 at the inaugural event.

When their daughter was a year old, Geoffrey & Shannon moved to New Zealand for the experience and adventure of living in another country before Grace was ready to start school.  Together Geoffrey & Shannon owned 6 restaurants and had the experience of a life time.  Six months before Grace was ready to start kindergarten they received the call to meet with the owners of The Willcox who needed a restaurant in their failing hotel.  A deal was struck that gave Geoffrey and Shannon ownership of The Restaurant at The Willcox.  Within 2 months of opening The Restaurant they were told the hotel would be closing New Year’s Day 2010.  Fierce negotiations began that concluded with the Ellis’s purchase of the failing hotel 10 minutes before the strike of midnight on New Year’s Eve 2009.  

The Ellis’s immediately began their triple bottom line approach to restoring the business of The Willcox.  Welcoming back the local community and giving back to the charities and organization that make up the community (see thewillcox.com/community); achieving the highest level of environmental sustainability for the restaurant and hotel through the S.C. Green Alliance in 2010 and subsequent Good Earth Keeping award in 2012; Top 50 small hotel by Conde Nast in 2011, Top 50 Best Hotel in 2012 by Travel + Leisure magazine and one of the Top 50 Hotels in the World by both Conde Nast and Travel + Leisure magazines in 2013.

In 2016, The Willcox was voted the #7 hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine.  The Ellis’s and their team began looking for other opportunities in the industry and in 2017 purchased a beloved hotel that had been closed for over three years, The Greystone Inn, on Lake Toxaway in North Carolina.  After a major renovation and with the support of their tremendous team and local community, The Greystone Inn was reopened in May, 2018 and her legacy as one of the best resorts in the South was reestablished.  The Willcox and The Greystone Inn have continued to be recognized as one of the top hotels in publications such as Travel + Leisure magazine, Conde Nast Traveler and Southern Living.

1999:  Received the Upper Canada Medal for fundraising from Toronto Western Hospital

2003:  Received a second Upper Canada Medal for fundraising from Toronto Western Hospital

2013:  Finalist in the South Carolina SBA Small Business Person of the Year

2014-2020:  Served on the board for Goodwill Industries of Central GA and the CSRA