Shannon Glenn has been a Sleep Consultant for over ten years. She was able to merge her passion for sleep and helping people together to start a successful business. Well before sleep was her business, sleep has always been important to Shannon for as long as she remembers. She was often the first kid to fall asleep at slumber parties and the first to go home as a young adult to ensure she didn’t miss out on her rest. She would even share unasked for information and advice about sleep to her friends and family. Shannon has always believed that sleep is the best remedy for anything; illness, sadness, body repair, stress, memory, and just overall well-being. Shannon is genuinely excited to go to sleep every night because she loves how good she will feel the next day after a good night’s sleep.
Below is an interview with Shannon learning more about how she helps people and why sleep is so important.
Shannon M. Glenn, Sleep Well Sleep Specialists
Tell us how you got into the field of sleep?
I always cared about my sleep, and I knew that I felt better when I had a good night of sleep. So sleep has always been on my radar. Not in an overly focused way, believe it or not, I don’t think or worry about my sleep when I am awake, but around 10pm every night I feel tired and I go to bed. The first-time sleep mattered more to me was when I was in Air Force bootcamp. I served 6 years in the Air National Guard and during bootcamp it is common practice to sleep deprive airmen and airwomen. I averaged about 6 hours a night at most for about a two-month `period and it was the first time in my life that I truly didn’t get enough sleep. I was SO tired!! The first weekend after I graduated bootcamp, while many of my colleagues were out partying and celebrating a little freedom, I went to bed. I literally slept for 20 hours straight! That was my first experience with sleep deprivation. Then fast forward about ten years and I had a baby. My sweet little girl (now 15 years old) has a world to conquer and couldn’t be bothered with sleep!
She had things to do. So from day one, she did not sleep well or long. After 6 months of very broken sleep, I was hanging on by a thread. My husband handled less sleep much better than I do but to be honest we were both miserable. This is when I learned that some babies don’t sleep well and some babies won’t sleep well unless you teach them to. Given my love of sleep, I was bound and determined to teach my daughter to sleep better. So that determination set me off on a journey to find a program that teaches parents how to help their children sleep well. And that is just what we did. By the time our daughter was one years old she was sleeping like a champ and the best part now that she is 15 years old and she cares about her sleep and structures her activities and homework to make sure she gets enough sleep. After our second child was born, I was certain he would sleep well! And he did. So when the opportunity presented itself to me to attend a sleep program and become a Certified Sleep Consultant and I could actually help other sleepless parents and do this as a career, I jumped at the chance. That was 11 years ago when I started my business.
Who do you work with?
I have a team of five Sleep Consultants including myself. We work with babies, children and adults who are struggling to sleep well. Babies who are up every hour or two at night, children who tell their parents they hate bedtime and tell their parents they don’t know how to sleep and adults who lay awake at night while everyone around them is sleeping. So, in a nutshell, we work with people of all ages who desire better sleep. And we work with people all over the world.
What do your programs look like?
Sleep isn’t fixed overnight just like any kind of change, it takes time. For babies, our programs are typically three weeks long, for children the programs are three to six weeks long and for adults the program is at least six weeks long. We have an extensive intake form that we ask people to complete as well as journal their sleep for a few nights and from that information we write a custom step-by-step sleep plan. We provide a 90-minute consultation to discuss the plan and then we offer our clients the three to six weeks of follow up support. The support is daily and weekly contact via phone, email and messaging. Our main goal is to help children and adults achieve the most natural and healthy sleep they can.
I think more people today are aware of sleep being important than ever before. Tell us what sleep does for us?
I could go on and on with this response. Sleep literally effects every aspect of our body. It helps our body fight illness, keeps our metabolism functioning properly. I am a relatively healthy person, but it is almost a guarantee that if I have a bad week of sleep and am exposed to an illness, I will get sick. For children it helps them grow and develop, in fact most growth for children happens when they are sleeping. I remember the coolest thing when my kids were toddlers, they would wake up saying new words they didn’t say the day before. There is a ton of research on how much sleep helps our memory consolidation.
Sleep also works as a detoxer, flushing out our brain and body of toxins. Getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do to live a healthy life.
If there was one sleep tip you could share, what would it be?
That is a tough question to answer with just one recommendation. If I was to give one tip, it would be that sleep is one of the three pillars to a healthy lifestyle, the other two being, nutrition and exercise. While I never want my clients to obsess about their sleep because that can be counterproductive to good sleep, I also recommend that people honor their sleep needs with a consistent bedtime and wake up time. So figure how much sleep you need, when you need to wake up in the morning and count those hours backwards and that determines your bedtime. For example, I have learned I do best with about 8.5 hours of sleep. I have to be awake by 6:30 am so my bedtime is lights out around 9:30/9:45 pm. I am also big believer of living in moderation. What I mean by that is one night of bad sleep or even a couple nights of bad sleep isn’t the end of the world or something to overly stress on. However, creating healthy habits with a consistent bedtime and wake up time can make a positive impact on your sleep.
To learn more about Shannon and her team at Sleep Well Sleep Specialists, visit their website. They offer free 15-minute sleep evaluations. Reach out to them and learn how you can sleep well!
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