Shanée was born and educated in South Africa, graduating from the University of Cape Town in 1993 with a Bachelor of Business Science Honours degree in the special field of clinical psychology. After university she pursued a high-pressure career in the corporate world. Her first role was as a planner for a leading retailer, followed by a year working in London. She then changed job and industry in 1999 to join a research firm, eventually heading up a Global Centre of Excellence, and sitting on the board of directors of a global consultancy which was owned by a large multi-national company.

Her primary role was to head up a team, manage large-scale projects for some of the world’s most valuable brands, and provide training and consulting to a network of partners and clients in approximately 100 countries across 5 continents. This allowed Shanée to focus on something she is passionate about – coaching and training others in the pursuit of excellence – and created a foundation of invaluable skills and strategies which are transferrable to the high school context.