One on One with Shannon Amos

In this episode, we talked about her experience of being the daughter of prominent artist, her work in television as a producer, and most importantly her current life work of helping others optimize mental, spiritual, and physical health.

00:37.31
noblemen
Hello everyone and welcome to the out front podcast I am your host Vince Noble hey as always before we get started with these extraordinary conversations. I want to say as much as I love how intellectually stimulating they are they are meant to do far more than that they are meant to stimulate us. They are meant to inspire us and drive us into meaningful action. So as you listen. Our guests are not solely on this show to promote themselves their services or products have in large part to provide significant insights and actionable steps to encourage you and engage you thereby helping to shift you from 1 level to the next. So I encourage you to listen and to think about how you may be positively impacted in some way. No matter who you are. It is my greatest hope that you find tremendous value in today's episode I am certainly super excited today. We have the distinct pleasure of having with us miss Shannon Amos an American producer and writer who sort of followed her father's footsteps in the entertainment industry. She is the daughter of John Amos most of us affectionately know him as.

02:04.35
noblemen
James Evans from the hit seventy s tv show good times and her mother Noel Nickerson both were prominent actors she has appeared in many television series networks and films including BET Network, ESPN, Turner Originals TV One just to name a few, today, She is also widely known as the international holistic health coach and founder of Sumana a luxury wellness travel agency in this episode. We'll be talking all about her newfound passion her business vision and mission some of her experiences of being the daughter of prominent actors some have worked in television as a producer and most importantly, her current life work. Of helping others optimize their mental spiritual and physical health. We certainly have a lot to unpack in this episode. So let's go. So.

 

03:45.94
noblemen
Um, Shannon welcome to the show today.

03:49.24
Shannon Amos
Um, thank you so much Vince I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

03:51.26
noblemen
Hey is it's certainly it it. It's certainly a pleasure to have you on the show today Shannon and so hey so for those who may not know you or all that what you do tell us a little bit about yourself.

04:09.63
Shannon Amos
Ah, well again, my name is Shannon Amos I am currently living in Playa Del Carmen Mexico where I facilitate and host wellness retreats in this new life that I've created and prior to that I was a television producer. For over 20 years in the entertainment industry.

04:30.79
noblemen
Wow Shannon and thanks, it's certainly a pleasure to to have you on the show with us today I know we've we've been trying to s sink this ah interview up for a little while now and you're all over the world on. Ah, you know, great and wonderful things. But um, hey it's certainly a pleasure to to finally you know, get you on the show I think the last time we had the opportunity to speak. We may have talked you know close to an hour and it was certainly a pleasure.

04:56.52
Shannon Amos
Absolutely I enjoy it. Thank you.

05:01.87
noblemen
So, Shannon you know I have to ask upfront what was it like before we get to anything else. What was it like as a child growing up with with prominent actors. You know, um your dad John Amos

05:05.36
Shannon Amos
Um, yes.

05:19.73
noblemen
Um, at home was he much like the good times character. We officially know as James Evans or what.

05:25.95
Shannon Amos
Um, yeah, wasn't a stretch I will admit that his character is not far off from who he is but um, you know there's so many multiple layers to who my father is so while he embodied some of those characteristics. Um, you know that was a fictional character in real Life. He's a very much introverted man um, pretty shy loves to be in a quiet space loves nature and really a renaissance man actually both of my parents I would consider Renaissance people.

05:53.28
noblemen
Um.

05:58.93
Shannon Amos
Um, my mom wasn't an actor I just want to correct that my mother is an artist so she was a creative with her hands and my father being an actor. Um you know, brought that energy of creative spirit into the household.

06:00.51
noblemen
Had her heart.

06:15.29
Shannon Amos
And so it was amazing. Growing up because I got to be around people like Maya Angelou you know having dinner with her in my youth and not even realizing or maybe I was realizing but not to the magnitude of of who she was in the world until I really grew up and having people like Lou Gosset and Ben Vaine and um, other you know, just really prominent amazingly talented people in and out of our home growing up and being exposed to that was was amazing.

06:42.59
noblemen
Yeah that's amazing. So Shannon you know you've kind of followed your dad somewhat. Um you know into television and producing and that sort of thing but there was a bit of ah of a shift as I understand around 2017 so sort of what what ultimately brought you, you know to the work you so passionately do today.

07:03.68
Shannon Amos
You know it was a series of events. Um I had been producing like I said for over twenty years and I wasn't feeling as fulfilled as I thought I would you know even in the pinnacle of my career like I was I was happy and grateful for everything. But. Just wasn't feeling as fulfilled in the work and as television changed and more things were being driven by marketing and by the networks of ideas of who we are and how we're supposed to show up the more I became disenchanted and around that same time. Um.

07:23.18
noblemen
Um, a number.

07:36.78
Shannon Amos
My mother who had been struggling for many years from injuries sustained from a medical malpractice incident finally succumbed to them and prior to her transition while she was in the hospital. Um in the last week of her life I asked her hey mom.

07:44.29
noblemen
Um, a.

07:56.12
Shannon Amos
Do you have any regrets and for anything that you regret regret that you didn't do and she said you know Shannon only that I didn't get to travel and see the world and so we knew that we were going to be cremating her. We knew that she was actively transitioning at that point and so I said well what if I traveled the world and I took your ashes with me.

07:58.61
noblemen
Um.

08:15.36
Shannon Amos
Her eyes lit up and she smiled and she said Shannon go see the world and let the world see you? Yeah yeah.

08:21.10
noblemen
Wow, that's that's amazing yes yeah and so Shannon, I understand right now you you're currently doing the work in and all the way in Mexico tell us a little bit about that.

08:34.36
Shannon Amos
Yeah I took off um after my mom passed I took off and I traveled solo around south east Asia for about a year year and a half and then I ended up in I took I call it my soul sabbatical. So I just took here to to heal and and worked through the grief and I ended up.

08:39.73
noblemen
And.

08:47.93
noblemen
I'm gonna.

08:52.15
Shannon Amos
Um, in Peru and I sat with a shaman in Peru and had my first experience with plant medicine called ayahuasca some people will not be familiar with what that is, but it's now been talked about by will smith in his book Mike Tyson

09:00.22
noblemen
I know.

09:09.68
Shannon Amos
Um, has recently shared his experiences as well as Chris Rock and um, so I think now that it's moving more into the the conversations around healing with psychedelics is moving now more into Mainstream consciousness and awareness and into black culture and.

09:22.85
noblemen
Um, all right.

09:27.81
Shannon Amos
That's what kind of brought me to Mexico I was invited by a friend and I came down to visit I fell in love with it and then I ended up connecting with a facilitator who here who was the protege of the facilitator I sat with in Peru.

09:46.18
noblemen
That sound exciting. You know Shannon I feel like even now you know sort of we are all still very much on this. You know mental Marathon Globally if you will you know with with all ah you know various. Infectious diseases since the pandemic you know here in the Us. The political climate is still yet. You know, probably the most polarizing many of us known in our lifetime you know the impact of high inflation and all this mental. Cumulative effect if you will is certainly beginning to manifest you know in our culture. You know what have you personally found most challenging during these times and how are you dealing with it as well as you know, coaching others to it.

10:30.74
Shannon Amos
No vice I feel like the culture that we've created American society that we've created was designed for machines not for humans and we've been living our lives like machines we're getting up. We're going to the same jobs we're doing the same thing over and over and over in repetitive motion. And you know, no wonder people are exhausted. No wonder people are tired and burned out and frustrated and feeling stuck. It's like we didn't sign up for this right? and I think that there is a serious process of needing to remember who we are and remember what we come from and where we come from.

10:59.20
noblemen
Um.

11:08.93
Shannon Amos
And really to tap into our sole purpose and so my work now having gone through so many changes and also reconnecting with nature reconnecting with indigenous people learning more about ancestral wisdom. And really getting educated about the different tools that are out here to support our wellbeing. That's now what I bring to my clients and bring into my retreats and even my wellness travel.

11:32.23
noblemen
Um.

11:39.40
noblemen
Well, that's wonderful. So Shannon I I heard you once say something that that I'd like to sort of unpack a little bit is that um you know you made a statement. How can you be a light worker.

11:44.75
Shannon Amos
Each.

11:54.20
noblemen
Ah, when you have yet to sit with your darkness and that kind of moved me in a way when I first heard that talk to us a little bit about that.

12:00.89
Shannon Amos
Yeah, you know there is a there is I guess I repeat this a lot and I'll say it again is that healing isn't linear. It's different for each and every one of us as we are to our own thumbprint and I feel like there is a path for each and every one of us for me the path was plant medicine. The path was. You know, really getting reconnected with nature but also there were many steps in that process before I got there. You know when I first landed in Bali um I was introduced really to the practice of meditation and from there I went on to India where I studied yoga in ayurveda and. You know so there were different tools that I was gathering in that process and I think that in the current state of affairs that we find this world in with things always changing and and moving so quickly that it's really important that we slow down and when you slow down.

12:55.78
noblemen
Um.

12:57.35
Shannon Amos
You can really do some serious reflection and that's where we tap into that shadow part of ourselves that the the thoughts and the feelings and all the stuff that we've been consuming and pushing down in our bodies. All that generational trauma that we are holding.

13:10.11
noblemen
Right? right.

13:14.32
Shannon Amos
Yeah, and and until we actually do the work to to bring it up to sit with it to process it and to let it go. We can't you know we can't fully step into helping others. How do we help our families if we're not helping ourselves so it's like that.

13:29.87
noblemen
Um, right right? That's that's amazing in there. So Shanna what? what would you say you know is your single you know, greatest mistake if you was to share.

13:30.46
Shannon Amos
Philosophy of securing your own mask first.

13:41.91
noblemen
And what did it really teach you.

13:42.55
Shannon Amos
I Think that the calling had been there for me for a long time and I chose to ignore it I Chose to do what I thought was what I was supposed to do which would be successful to honor. You know my family's legacy.

13:55.47
noblemen
Um.

13:59.95
noblemen
Um, right.

14:01.30
Shannon Amos
Make money to have a lot of things to have cars and houses and material wealth and yet with all of those things I still felt like I wasn't fulfilled and I think that was probably the biggest mistake wasn't listening to my heart's calling.

14:18.78
noblemen
Wow, that's amazing there. So Sean let's just twist a little bit and talk a little bit about the company you established um and in 2019 suma right yeah a luxury travel company.

14:30.20
Shannon Amos
Um, yeah, yes.

14:31.70
noblemen
Tell us a little bit about that and and sort of you know what was your inspiration for starting a company.

14:34.42
Shannon Amos
Absolutely you know after the year that I did backpacking across Southeast Asia I really did it in a very unconventional way I left with $700 on a one-way ticket and not because I had to I was choosing to because I wanted to see what.

14:48.28
noblemen
Um.

14:51.22
Shannon Amos
What it would be like to just step into flow how far could I go and I ended up being gone for over a year and traveling to 12 countries and what that taught me is that there is infinite abundance in this universe and everything that we need is really here to support us but we have to tap into it and.

14:55.18
noblemen
Um.

14:59.80
noblemen
Um, wow.

15:09.74
noblemen
Um.

15:10.16
Shannon Amos
Along my Journeys I Was you know I was healing and I was receiving all these different tools without even realizing it and by the time I came back. My life had changed in so many ways and I had changed in so many ways that I wanted people that I care about to experience that I wanted people through.

15:27.61
noblemen
Um.

15:28.50
Shannon Amos
Ah know what it's like to detach from all of the stuff and to have a deep cultural experience and a wellness experience and that's how Summana was born and in sanskrit Sumana means to bloom and so yeah, we just plant the seed so you can bloom.

15:38.63
noblemen
Awesome! That's that's wonderful. So a I tell you I'm certainly looking forward to one of those adventures here real soon.

15:52.17
Shannon Amos
Um I love that I love that we want to go to Egypt you got to join us in Egypt or Africa. Um.

15:55.78
noblemen
Ah Wow. Okay, we're gonna have to carve that in the calendar like ASAP right? like right away. So what's the dates on that.

16:06.16
Shannon Amos
Um, well our first Egypt trip is in January January tech through the twenty second that 1 is already full so we are gonna launch a second one but what makes it so special is that we are going to really tap into ancient Kemet and the African history of Egypt. The part of the history. We don't get and.

16:11.93
noblemen
Okay.

16:20.23
noblemen
Um, ah.

16:23.50
noblemen
Cry.

16:25.96
Shannon Amos
We have a guy on the ground there who is so powerful and amazing and is really tapped into the historical truths. So we're going to plug into that energy that frequency and get a lot of wisdom and knowledge too.

16:40.38
noblemen
That's wonderful. That's wonderful I. Really yeah, you know a number of years Actually I've I've been sort of you know doing a great deal of study on as you mentioned ancient Kemet and and Timbuktu all of those things that. Perhaps um, we were we were taught to sort of not investigate or were falsehood and so we didn't explore them So I often say is when you can't get it all in the book you got to go there for yourself and see for yourself. I'm certainly looking forward to that trip.

17:15.31
Shannon Amos
Absolutely absolutely and you know it's it's really interesting part of what traveling has opened up for me in that way and I've been to 53 countries now that um how much propaganda and news. You know, kind of dissuades us from going to places like even Mexico when I came to Mexico people were like. Are you going to be safe. Is it dangerous is the cartel going to be after you and now I feel safer here like we don't have mass shootings in Mexico. Ok, we're not yeah.

17:33.10
noblemen
Um, dry or I all right.

17:41.60
noblemen
Um, right right? right? right? Yeah, right? Yeah, so so.

17:50.58
Shannon Amos
Very different.

17:53.39
noblemen
What is it that individuals can look to experience. Overall you know and in a Sumana experience.

17:58.31
Shannon Amos
You know what we do is we really take the time to curate an experience for each and every person that's traveling with us and so rather than travel on a Rigid itinerary. It's a very free flowing itinerary. Let's say for example.

18:11.54
noblemen
Right.

18:15.11
Shannon Amos
We went to Egypt and and you want to just stay in a spa and get a massage that day and maybe a few people want to go on the nile and go kayaking or maybe they want to take a walk along you know in Cairo or something. It's it's.

18:22.14
noblemen
And.

18:29.63
Shannon Amos
The way that we craft it is so that you can have an experience that is unique to you and you know there are activities we do as a group which are really beautiful and lovely. But.

18:35.56
noblemen
Um.

18:41.20
Shannon Amos
Um, it's very free flowing you you move the way you need to move at the time you need to move and that allows people to really get the rest they need which is so important but also to um, enjoy the experience and not feel rushed.

18:50.31
noblemen
Um, no.

18:53.47
noblemen
Right? right? So So what? what piece of Advice. You know as you mentioned is you know getting Beyond sort of the propaganda that that is oftentime associated with traveling abroad. But but what piece of advice would you give someone that's. Sort of looking to take that leap of faith as you have and then just get out and travel abroad.

19:18.85
Shannon Amos
Yeah, you know, um I say just do it get out of your way get out of your fear and just do it. But some advice I could give is that if you're planning to go to a country go on on a Facebook even if you don't like Facebook to set up an account you know for this purpose and.

19:31.80
noblemen
By group.

19:35.15
Shannon Amos
Look for expat groups in that country. For example, when I came to Mexico I joined like 3 or 4 different expat groups on Facebook and I was able to pretty much ask for anything that I was looking for and someone would answer and um I was also able to tap into communities of expats. That we're already living here. So it was like upon arrival I already knew a few people you know that I had spoken with that. You know, ah that could give me and kind of show me the ropes and it makes life so much easier in that way to have a connection when you arrive.

20:04.74
noblemen
Um.

20:10.15
noblemen
So Shan I know you I know you talked on it a little bit but if you could if you could unpack it just a little bit more about, um you know something you previously said about the indigenous wisdom and plant Medicine retreats. Um.

20:20.79
Shannon Amos
In him.

20:25.28
noblemen
Talk talk to us a little bit ah about that a little bit more what what to expect from that experience a little bit.

20:29.19
Shannon Amos
Absolutely first off I know that you know we've been colonized into believing that plant medicine is drugs when it's absolutely.

20:39.26
noblemen
Um I.

20:41.80
Shannon Amos
Ah, the opposite drugs are um, you know what the government you know has deemed as such one to um, it is pharmaceuticals they are synthe synthetic medications those are actual drugs what grows in nature and what is in nature. Um, has the technology and the wisdom of plants and and when we look at things like for example, Psilocybin which is the street name would be called Magic mushrooms, mushrooms or fungi and fungi have been on this planet you know for.

21:04.96
noblemen
Um.

21:15.94
Shannon Amos
Probably be well way before man you know they they even say that it probably comes from the stars from stardust um, it holds the wisdom, the innate wisdom and intelligence of hundreds of thousands of years and indigenous people who live in um, in nature.

21:29.60
noblemen
Um, remember.

21:33.97
Shannon Amos
Are very tapped into the plants the herbs the various medicines and and what they can be used for It's scientists that come in and then cultivate it and turn it into um other you know, healing modalities and not to even say that all drugs in western culture are bad because clearly there are some that cure us and help us. But they also usually come with loads of side effects. So um, what we're doing is we're working with indigenous cultures who have been studying and understanding and working with various plant medicines for generation upon generation and we're bringing people into a safe space, a comfortable space. Working alongside our indigenous partners to create and share experiences to help elevate consciousness and some of those things for example are ayahuasca and psilocybin and both help there's scientific evidence now that shows they help relieve ptsd. Um, anxiety depression ocd um, and other there's studies now around alzheimer's Parkinson's and dementia so there are very powerful healing abilities that happen with these medicines. Um. If. You're not prepared or not feeling called to um the work with Psychedelic Plant medicines there are plenty of plant medicines that don't have a psychoactive effect that are also beneficial like cacao and cacao has a molecule called the bliss molecule which is a heart opener.

22:53.34
noblemen
Um, I mean.

22:58.94
noblemen
Um.

23:03.50
Shannon Amos
Gets the blood flowing and it's a great to combine with other Healthcare practices. You can drink it every day. Um, you know it's better for you than Coffee. It's a super ah superfood a Super fruit Um, and it has multiple beneficial you know effects. So ah in a retreat with us. You get to experience on what you choose and you know we're not here to push anybody into anything with ayahuasca or psilocybin I would say if you feel called then we're here for you to support you if you're not ready for that. We're not here to try to make you Ready. We're here to support whatever your wellness needs are.

23:35.60
noblemen
Um.

23:40.93
Shannon Amos
And if it's movement if it's yoga if it's meditation you want to deepen your practice. All of that is available in our retreats.

23:48.57
noblemen
That's certainly amazing and but you know as you said that? So so much you know I think so much education is still needed. Um in terms of you know how do you know? treat. Different ailments from a holistic perspective especially when you know as you mentioned we've been sort of conditioned. Um by primarily big pharma. Um, that did yeah have been conditioned to to think of you know, certain drugs in a certain way. Um.

24:11.61
Shannon Amos
A.

24:21.68
noblemen
So who who would you say would be you know sort of the ideal person in this case for your retreats.

24:28.89
Shannon Amos
I would say someone who is tired exhausted feeling stuck burned out possibly suffering from depression anxiety. Also we have a lot of folks who are seekers who are um, going through a spiritual transition or or tapping into their you know.

24:34.30
noblemen
Um, are you on.

24:46.81
Shannon Amos
More of their spiritual spirituality or um, those who are seeking to expand their consciousness who are ready to you know to grow and ready to step into um their full purpose. We also get people who are suffering from addiction smoking cigarettes. Um alcoholism.

25:03.21
noblemen
Um, and hope.

25:05.97
Shannon Amos
Ah, tobacco drugs. You know hard drugs like ah cocaine and heroin so we see a broad spectrum of people we get moms and dads we have families come in with their adult children. Um, our youngest client was 19 years old who suffered from. Clinical depression and what we're able to do and what we're seeing is that a matter of fact I've had several clients now who've come in with clinical depression. We've been able to move them off of their drugs that had horrible side effects and onto micro dosing with psilocybin.

25:37.84
noblemen
Um.

25:42.77
Shannon Amos
And now they're thriving and when I hear that back from my clients when I have a client that tells me for the last twelve years I've been in misery and I'm finally sleeping I'm finally experiencing happiness and joy. That's what keeps me in this work.

25:59.59
noblemen
Well Shannon you know there's certainly um, a a work um particularly in in the African American and latino community to be done in this area. Um I think I think even now.

26:11.26
Shannon Amos
Um, yes.

26:17.25
noblemen
As as we really begin to see things manifest at at levels that we've never seen before at a much younger age. Certainly um that that um, you know I personally believe that um mental health has to take a priority in America and.

26:23.36
Shannon Amos
Um, yes.

26:36.90
noblemen
And and it it may be needed in a number of different ways and certainly from a holistic natural perspective. You know? Um, yeah, so how do you feel today like with all the the 24 hour news cycle and the internet and social media and.

26:41.40
Shannon Amos
Um, yeah, let's get.

26:54.88
noblemen
All the streaming platforms um have have ah impacted you know mental health of people. You know, certainly you know I don't know if that all those things like go away you you turn all your cell phones in when you get on one of your retreats. So what have you? But how did you feel like you know, although that has.

27:09.60
Shannon Amos
Um, same position.

27:13.21
Shannon Amos
In a huge way because it's programming and when we are consuming that content when we're consuming things that aren't good for us things that sit in our body we're consuming it on a cellular level and that's why the work we're doing is is.

27:13.28
noblemen
Impacted mental health of people.

27:29.24
noblemen
Um.

27:32.26
Shannon Amos
So amazing because we're really working on a cellular level to move that energy to move that programming to expand beyond it so that we can face it release it and let it go um the work that we do is you know from? Well let me go back for a second being black folks. And brown folks in America we're being exposed to so much violence on a regular basis and that's all trauma and we hold that in our body and it manifests in other ways as disease right? So so no wonder more people are having strokes no wonder more people are having heart attacks and suffering.

27:51.61
noblemen
Um.

28:08.80
noblemen
Are I.

28:10.90
Shannon Amos
And attacks and Anxiety. We weren't designed for violence. We weren't designed to consume all this negativity and so yes, we do unplug during retreat. Um and we ask our our guests to but we also want to give you the tools so that when you go back into the world. That you're mindful of what you're consuming that you turn off the news and that you limit you know the programming you're receiving so that you can rewire your brain pretty much and part of that rewiring is also with the medicine because you're literally creating new neuro pathways.

28:40.68
noblemen
Um, and and.

28:46.44
Shannon Amos
And there's more neuro plasticity with the brain so integration integrating anything that you experience. It's going to help you shift into ah a you know higher frequency or vibration or into a better form of Health you have to integrate.

29:02.68
noblemen
Um, right.

29:03.57
Shannon Amos
Those tools into your life. So we also follow up with integration.

29:05.66
noblemen
Awesome! That's wonderful sharing so listen Shannon before we go. How can you know people connect with you. Some of the things you're doing either online or through social media.

29:11.67
Shannon Amos
Ones.

29:18.40
Shannon Amos
Ah, you can go to sumana s u m a n a h dot com and you can see where we are and what we have coming up and you can follow me on Instagram at official Shannon Amos and also our business page is Sumana as. Soulle Sanctuary and sumana luxury travel. So we would love to have you all and really appreciate you. Events. Thank you.

29:40.44
noblemen
Oh that's awesome I appreciate you too and I certainly look forward to connecting with you and you can get on one of these for trips retreats and I'm bringing a whole lot of other folks that I really think would tremendously benefit as a result of that. Um, so hey, thank you once again for joining us today and you know again, it certainly has been a pleasure and please come back and join us sometime.

30:02.50
Shannon Amos
I would love to thank you so much Vincent. You guys have a great day.

30:05.78
noblemen
Thank you.

30:18.58
noblemen
Great share and subscribe on the Apple Podcast or wherever you listen.