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Meet Shannon Jackson

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Jackson.

Shannon, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Houston Texas, in a very bad part of town, what you would call the “Ghetto”, had my oldest daughter at the age of 22 and became a single parent with my oldest daughter, Kayla Hallo. But at a very young age, I was introduced to baking from my grandmother. My grandmother was the best at baking… everything was made from scratch, my passion for baking grew from there. In 2006, Bobby Jackson and I got married while he was serving in the Air Force. I embarked in the field of tax preparation and did that for several years. Our twins, Marianne and Bobby (the 3rd), were born in 2006. When Bobby got out of the Air Force in 2008, we moved to Manitou Springs, Colorado, and have been here since.

My husband enlisted in the Colorado Army National Guard and served for five more years. In 2011, he decided he was going to go to Paragon Culinary School (currently located in the Briarhurst Manor). That is when Victor Matthews and Paragon Culinary School entered my life. My husband graduated from Paragon in 2013, during that time, I started to gain a passion for cooking itself, due, in part, to my grandmother and my husband’s grandfather, Joe Traficanti, who served 30 years as a Mess Sgt. in the Air Force. After graduating Paragon, Bobby started working with Victor Matthew towards opening the Black Bear Distillery in 2014. At that time, I was working at El Paso County, first as a Tech in the food stamps/Medicaid department and then the Child Welfare division.

After three years there, although I enjoyed what I did in the Admin department, I decided I wanted something more. So, I decided to open Shenanigans Cupcakes in 2016. I closed down Shenanigans Cupcakes in 2018 and started Culinary school myself, and continued to grow my passion for Paragon and for Culinary Arts. In the meantime, my husband was working as the assistant distiller at Black Bear Distillery but eventually became General Manager. He would just talk to me about the distillery, and I started to gain great interest in the distillery world. I started helping with events and then advanced to managing social media, scheduling tours and tastings, eventually moving up to PR Manager of Black Bear Distillery.

After I started Paragon, Victor Matthews (Dean of Paragon, World Master Chef & Founder/Master Distiller of Black Bear), would become my mentor in life. While in school, we had bar classes, which established my interest in running the bar. I can use my chef’s background and my spirit knowledge to create drinks (YESSS!!!). My passion for the spirits/bar world is as strong as my culinary passion. I started attending conferences with Bobby & Victor, such as the American Distilling Institute, where I am a Social Media Ambassador for the annual conference and this year will be my second year in that position.

In 2019, I advanced my studies and became the bar manager as well as a PR Manager in the Black Bear Distillery tasting room. I graduated Paragon in June 2019 and in October that year, was nominated and voted in as Communication Director of the Colorado Distillers Guild. So, I am currently PR Manager for both Paragon Culinary School and Black Bear Distillery, as well as Bar Manager for Black Bear Distillery & Communication Director for the Guild. I got to where I am by continuing to learn and challenge myself. I believe that knowledge is power, but the support and teaching of my husband and Victor is also power for me.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all, from my dad’s death to the death of Grandpa Joe (my husband’s grandfather), to the death of my grandmother, to taking care of my oldest who has autism, to my own health issues and all of the other things that come with daily life. But no matter what, I find the strength and motivation from my husband and three kids to move forward. I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have been given and the support from amazing friends & family.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you guys do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
Black Bear Distillery- A historic cabin in Green Mountain Falls, we produce historic grain to glass spirits, from our 1889 Rye Vodka, which is Victor’s great-great-grandfather’s recipe from North Carolina, to Cachaca Style Gold Rum, and our flagship Irish-Style Bourbon. We are extremely proud of our Bourbon, it took us two years to get label approval, a year from the US government and another year from Ireland. We are currently the only product we know of in the US that is allowed to include Irish Style on the label without being made in Ireland. What we are most proud of is the history and knowledge we pass on to the consumers. Tradition and innovation are what set us apart from the rest, we stay with history but do it in innovative ways.

Paragon-an elite culinary school. You could say it is the Navy Seals of Culinary Schools. We learn everything, from cooking on the hotline, baking, service, wine, management, to Masters who paved the way before us. Hands-on training. We are proud of many things, but mostly helping out veterans and doing the mission work, which also sets us apart from everyone else.

Colorado Distiller Guild- A State Guild made up of 75 distilleries at the moment… About two years ago, we created the Spirits Trail, where you can pick up a map from any distillery, visit the distilleries and get a stamp. Once you reach a certain amount of stamps, you will get a special gift, but you only have a year to complete the trail. We are about to launch our 3rd year and we just keep building it. We are so proud that everyone has liked it so much, it became so popular that we are currently one of the largest guilds and trails in the US.

I specialize in Tax Preparation, Social Media, WordPress Websites, Culinary Arts, Front of the House Operations and Bartending

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, as Paragon Culinary School loves to help the vets, and with five Military bases in Colorado Springs, it is perfect. As for Black Bear Distillery, in Green Mountain Falls, a 60-year-old cabin in a super small town, it is great because of the historical value and our motto is “Tradition and Innovation.”

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Shannon Jackson

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