Press & MEDIA
Downloads, Interview Topics, and Media Inquiries
The hardest move isn't starting over, it's walking away from what still works.
ABOUT ME
Shanelle Porter-Simmons is an author and speaker shaped by a pivotal realization: reaching the end of her goals didn’t mean she was finished growing. After a career defined by individual accountability and high-stakes leadership as a Marine Corps officer and elite athlete, she confronted the same question many high achievers face: what comes next when success no longer feels fulfilling?
That question became the foundation of her book, Try a New Path. Shanelle explores how conformity, doubt, fear, and comfort quietly shape our decisions, and how people can continue to grow long after milestones are reached. Her work invites readers to rethink success, move beyond autopilot, and step forward with clarity even when the next path isn’t fully visible.
Her writing speaks to the moment when effort has paid off, but meaning still feels unresolved.
INTERVIEW TOPICS
Her message is universal. Her focus is on helping women leaders recognize misalignment after achievement and choose a new path when the old one still works, using a practical framework built from real leadership pressure, not theory.
- Success That Still Feels Off
- Competence as a Cage: When Capability Becomes Over-Responsibility
- The Comfort Trap for High-Achieving Women
- The Moment After Achievement: Why Women Disappear After Wins
- Decisions in the Unknown: How Women Leaders Choose What’s Next
- Stop Negotiating With Comfort: The Quiet Choices That Shape a Life
ABOUT THE BOOK
Try a New Path is a practical and inspiring guide for anyone navigating change—by choice or by circumstance.
Drawing from her experiences as a Marine Corps officer, elite athlete, and leader in high-stakes environments, Shanelle Simmons examines how conformity, doubt, fear, and comfort quietly shape our decisions and keep us stuck in lives that no longer fit. With clarity, warmth, and hard-won insight, she challenges the belief that certainty must come before action.
Blending personal storytelling with research-backed frameworks, Try a New Path introduces the Five Pillars of Growth—Knowledge, Physical Fitness, Spiritual Grounding, Circle, and Mindset & Self-Talk—offering readers a clear foundation for moving forward with confidence, even when the next step feels uncertain.
This book is for professionals, leaders, and women in transition who sense there is more ahead but aren’t sure how to begin. Try a New Path shows that growth doesn’t require perfection—only the willingness to start.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS
- Why do so many high-achieving people feel stuck after success?
- How does comfort quietly limit growth—even when life looks good on paper?
- What happens when discipline and achievement stop feeling fulfilling?
- Why do people wait for certainty before making a change—and what does that cost them?
- How can leaders navigate identity shifts during major life transitions?
- What does it really mean to grow when you don’t know what’s next?
EARLY PRAISE
“Shanelle Simmons pulls back the curtain on the questions we all wrestle with—and proves we’re not alone. Try a New Path reminds us it’s not the doubt that defines us, but what we do next.”
— Dr. Wayne Applewhite, Speaker and Co-author of
You Know It’s A Verb, Right?
“From a coaching perspective, what Shanelle offers is transformative—because she doesn’t tell you what to do; she shows what’s possible when you choose honesty over expectation. A powerful companion for clarity, courage, and purpose.”
—Sarah Carter, Executive Leadership Coach and Author of All About Change: How to Successfully Make Personal Life Changes
