Shannon DeJong

Founder & CEO, House of Who

Actress, Performance Artist, Writer

First Things First:

“CEO”

You do not have to be a literal CEO (like Shannon) for us to consider you an ArtistCEO. You could be the sole person in your business (like Kerri) or simply the “CEO” of your own life and professional career.

“Artist”

You also don’t have to be any classical definition of “artist”. You may not be a serious actress, painter, writer or whatever - but you’re creative and that’s important to you.

We like to use the words “Artist” and “CEO” as archetypes that capture the two sides of our nature. Creative & Strategic. Feminine & Masculine. These two modes make a whole like yin & yang (the concept from Chinese philosophy that seemingly contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected and interdependent.)

So if you are multi-passionate and find that your passions move in these two arenas, creative and professional - you might just be an ArtistCEO.

What We’re About:

For too long the skills and role of the artist has been devalued in business and culture. We say it’s time for a revolution.

We’re pioneering a new kind of leader - the ArtistCEO. With a highly developed corpus callosum (the band of nerve fibers that joins the right and left hemispheres of the brain!), the ArtistCEO understands themselves and the world from a holistic standpoint. They harness the powers of both the archetypal artist and businessperson to lead with integrity, creativity, focus and depth, making profitable, soulfully-sustainable businesses and lives.

The ArtistCEO Promise:

In fulfilling our ArtistCEO mission, personally and professionally, we commit to:

• Elevate awareness & value of “artist skills,” (such as empathy, agility, flexibility, failure tolerance, trust in the unknown, creativity, embodiment, vision, innovation, and intimacy with the creative process, etc.) and their effectiveness in the corporate & entrepreneurial work environments.

• Champion the belief that greater individualization and integration leads to greater (inspired) productivity.

• Convince/prove to business leaders that honoring people and health leads to greater profit and employee satisfaction.

• Become business leaders ourselves by either founding or taking leadership roles in businesses that live in integrity with ArtistCEO values.

• To help individual ArtistCEO-types make time & space for their Artist-side so they can succeed joyfully in life and work.

• To constantly experiment with how to more deeply and effectively integrate artist skills into our business and lives.

• To constantly experiment with how to make more time for our artist side, or to allow art and business sides to live in harmony

• To share any learnings we encounter with other ArtistCEOs.

About Us:

Shannon DeJong is Founder and CEO of House of Who, Inc., a mission-driven creative agency and brand arthouse in the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes and speaks on topics of truth in branding, female leadership, creative entrepreneurship, and mental health. Drawing on her eclectic background of the arts, corporate america, and Zen Buddhism, Shannon is on mission to wake up the world, and herself, to the truth of who we are. An actress and performance artist, you can also find her taking on a character or turning her life into art onstage and online through ArtistCEO podcast.

Kerri Lowe is the sole proprietor of KAYLOCreative, a business where she merges creativity, healing and personal development to help spiritually-minded women get their creative projects off the ground. Using energy work and a mindbody approach, she helps women move through deep emotional trauma and work through the confusion and crossroads of living a creative, inspired life. She is also a singer/songwriter, poet, and storyteller and the host and editor of ArtistCEO.