Her Story
About Shannon
Shannon Agonis serves as head of the heavy metals department at her cannabis compliance testing laboratory in Westfield, Massachusetts. She has worked in cannabis compliance for almost three years and in laboratory and STEM fields for about four years total. Her primary expertise lies in heavy metals testing of cannabis samples, a role she has managed independently for approximately two years after quickly advancing from filling in for another team member. Agonis earned her Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in mathematics in 2023. She values ethical practices and data integrity above all, ensuring all work is correct, thorough, and traceable. Agonis attributes her professional success to the supportive women around her who encourage and inspire her, and she advises young women entering the field to advocate strongly for themselves and remain confident.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shannon
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the other women that I share the room with, those who encourage me to keep going, and those who stand in my corner, those who have my back, and the ones who continue to inspire me and walk me on the journey.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from my CEO, or my boss, and she's also a woman, she's in a male-dominated field, and she always puts emphasis on needing to advocate for yourself as a woman, do not let talks go over you, do not be spoken down to. Really advocate for yourself, over-advocate for yourself, especially as a woman.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Advocate for yourself, over-advocate for yourself, and do not allow us to make you small. You are big. Stay big.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenges in my field, my field specifically, is I'm in a newer field, I'm in the cannabis field, so things aren't exactly completely legalized yet. Rules will vary state to state, so that's a lot of the challenges right now in my specific cannabis field, but even in the STEM field. With things just fluctuating in and out, rules changing, so I think that's probably the hardest challenge to face.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Most important values to me is always being ethical, of course. Any sort of data I do, and data integrity is very, very important to me. That's something I hold very close. Making sure all the work I do is correct and thorough and can be traced back.
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