Mike Shanahan grew up in the small town of Harwinton, Conn., raising and showing Polled Hereford and Angus steers in his local 4-H club and on a semi-national level. Helping with his father's commercial restaurant equipment distribution company during the ages of 14-18, Shanahan traveled the country with his dad, working trade shows. The people skills acquired during this time and the education in sales would add many opportunities to Shanahan's passion for cattle and business.

With his involvement in 4-H and enthusiasm for raising cattle, Shanahan went to work for Six Belles Angus Farm in Litchfield, Conn., during his high school years. Working closely with other Northeast Angus operators, such as New York's Heathcote and Rally Farms and Connecticut's Hope Hill and Watchwind Farms, while attending all of the area's annual sales for Six Belles Angus, Shanahan was able to work his way into the Angus breed of cattle one educational and exciting experience at a time.

While working towards a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business at the State University of New York at Cobleskill, Shanahan became involved in many organizations, such as the American Animal Producer's Club, where he came to be the manager of their annual Coby Classic Fall Show Calf Sale in 2002. Shanahan made many new contacts and friends in his early college years, one being Phil Trowbridge of Gallagher's Farm in Ghent, N.Y. In the summer of 2002, Shanahan started part-time with Gallagher's. Throughout the next two years, Shanahan would work closely with Phil, his son, PJ, and Mallory Mort at Gallagher's Farm, while continuing his education. In the spring of 2004, for his college internship, Shanahan traveled around the Northeast promoting the Gallagher's Bulls for the Trowbridges and Morts.

At the end of the spring, after their annual bull sale, Shanahan graduated from Cobleskill and went on to create a company that helps Angus producers throughout the country promote their farm businesses and the genetically superior cattle that they produce season after season.

As the Eastern contract representative for Angus Topics of Illinois, using the newly acquired skill of cattle photography gained through training by the professionals from Canada's Browarny Photography, and by executing a nationwide consulting and marketing plan with some of our country's top Angus farms, Shanahan Cattle Promotions has become one of the strongest Angus cattle marketing connections. Dedicated to the youth and young adults, Shanahan continues to lead the junior cattlemen throughout the northeast, as well as visiting universities, such as Cornell University, as a guest lecturer.