Meet Our Team
Donna Shannon: Career Coach, Author and Speaker
Who is a better authority on job searching than the grumpy HR person who never passed your resume on to the hiring manager? For eight years as a recruiter, Donna Shannon did exactly that – designing hiring processes meant to illuminate the majority of candidates in the simplest way possible. It was her job to make the fast judgments that impacted hundreds of candidates – usually negatively – without a second thought.
However, while working at Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver, Donna noticed that these process-driven decisions often cut the best candidates. They simply didn’t understand how the hiring game worked. In 2004, Donna started teaching workshops to help people get through the hiring maze and make the right impression on the hiring managers. She established her own side business, Coyote Visions Employment Solutions, to provide coaching services to a select group of clients.
By 2005, Donna left her corporate recruiter position at RMPBS to join the Starkey International Institute for Household Management. In her new role as the Placement Specialist, she worked directly with candidates to help them gain management positions in some of the most luxurious private homes in the United States. In addition to screening candidates, Donna became the chief resume writer, candidate coach and go-to person for choosing the right candidate for a position. With a real understanding of the service heart that drives the private service professional, Donna helped them plan their careers in the luxury lifestyle management industry.
In 2007, Donna left the recruiting world to join Blue Sun Biodiesel in Golden, Colorado while continuing to teach job searching workshops on the side. However, the drive to help job seekers never went away. In 2009 she published her book, Get a Job Without Going Crazy: a Practical Guide to your Employment Search.
Donna left Blue Sun Biodiesel in 2011 to pursue her consulting business full-time, changing the company’s name to The Personal Touch Career Services. She is one of a handful of career coaches in the United States who works specifically with the private service industry, as well as offering guidance and practical tools to traditional business candidates. Donna continues to teach classes throughout the Denver metro area, and has presented at conferences in Dallas, San Francisco, Tampa and San Diego.
Ms. Shannon holds a degree in Music Business Management from the Art Institute of Colorado. Currently, she is attending additional Business Management courses through Regis University in Denver.
While Donna manages many of the creative visions for The Personal Touch Career Services, Ryan Shannon holds oversight of the day-to-day operations of the business. As the COO, Ryan reviews plans for the company’s direction and maintains control of the financial department.
Ryan joined the team in 2009, bringing expertise logistics, distribution and customer service through his nine years of corporate experience at Johns Manville in Englewood, CO. In addition to addressing customer concerns, Ryan handles the internet marketing and logistics for The Personal Touch Career Services’ books and services.
Staff Writers
Latricia Friend:
With over 10 years of experience in resume writing, interview coaching, and self-marketing techniques, Latricia has worked with clients at all levels in a variety of fields, including management, professional, and administrative. An active member in the Domestic Estate Managers Association (DEMA), she specializes in private service – she knows what Principals are looking for and will position you to stand out among a field of candidates.
Danielle Bilbruck:
With a background in the entertainment industry, Danielle understands the demanding nature of many non-traditional work environments. Today, she is a freelance writer on a career site for women, the Career Girl Network. Her strengths are social media, sales, recruitment and coaching.
Carrie Bunting:
A Career Services Adviser with Pima Medical Institute in Denver, Carrie is especially well-versed in job searching strategies for the medical industry. In addition to her technical resume writing skills, she believes in helping the candidate discover their own personal strengths, interest and confidence in the job search.
Diana Cordova:
Diana spent many years working for a large Fortune 500 company in sales, marketing and promotions. Recently, she ran the marketing for a large Denver Chamber of Commerce. As a marketing professional, she understands the importance of a professional presentation as well as the need to show off your individuality. While she can write resumes for all industries, she has extensive experience with marketing, project management, sales, HR, banking, IT, management and events management.
Case Drury:
Case believes in the power of personal story as told through the resume. As part of her work with the Denver Public Libraries, Case helps people from all walks of life with their resumes and resources for their job search. Case has lived in France and Belgium and is fluent/near fluent in Spanish and French.
Delana Reilly:
For over 6 years, Delana provided Career Services to technical and creative careers. In addition to working directly with job seekers, she has considerable experience in recruiting. In other words, she knows what the employers are looking for as well as being able to guide her candidates through the hiring process. Her expertise includes Commercial Design (graphic design, video production, industrial design, fashion, and media arts) and Technician/Skilled Trades.
