Every day before her daughters left for school, Shannon Love would tell them the same three things.

“Work hard. Be smart. Love everybody.”

It started as a family saying, but over the years it became the way Shannon tried to live her life. Now it has become the heart of her campaign for the Bristol Virginia School Board.

For Shannon, those words are not just a slogan somebody printed on a campaign sign. They reflect the experiences that shaped her long before she ever considered public office.

She was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, outside Cincinnati, Ohio, but her childhood carried her through several different worlds. Her family lived in the city, later moved to Texas, then returned to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky after tragedy struck her father’s family. Her dad left behind a stable trucking company job and went to cutting timber around the coal mines to provide for the family. Shannon saw firsthand what hard work looked like and what financial struggle felt like.

Those experiences still shape how she thinks about Bristol schools and taxpayer money today.

Like many educators, Shannon and her husband Bo spent years raising a family on school salaries and stretching ten paychecks across twelve months. She remembers bartering daycare costs by teaching French classes and leaning on family help during lean years. “You learn how to budget really quickly,” she stated. “That budget squeaks it’s so tight.”

That is why Shannon says Bristol taxpayers deserve a school board member who will be careful, practical, and accountable with public money. “Be Smart” means making sure school funding is used efficiently and effectively for students and teachers, not wasted on unnecessary distractions or bureaucracy.

Education has always been central to Shannon’s life. She comes from a family filled with teachers, she became a teacher and librarian herself, and spent years volunteering with youth programs, church activities, literacy work, and summer educational programs. Even after health problems forced her into early retirement, she never really stopped serving children and families.

Her health struggles changed her life in ways few people fully understand. Shannon and both of her daughters live with a rare autoimmune disease that led to years of doctor visits, insurance battles, treatments, and trips to major medical centers like Johns Hopkins, UNC, and UVA. At one point, caring for her family’s medical needs became a full time responsibility.

Those experiences gave her a deep understanding of what many families quietly carry every day. Some children come to school dealing with challenges nobody else can see. Some parents are overwhelmed before the school day even starts. Shannon understands those realities because she has lived them herself.

What stands out most about Shannon, though, is how naturally she connects with people. As a teenager she worked at a small country radio station in Pineville, Kentucky, where she says she met people from every background imaginable. That experience taught her an important lesson early in life.

“If you stop and just talk to someone you will find that you are gonna have something in common with just about ANYONE you meet.”

That belief still guides her today.

“Love Everybody” means listening to parents, students, teachers, and taxpayers even when opinions differ. Shannon believes people deserve respect, honesty, and somebody willing to hear them out before making decisions that affect their children and their schools.

She says Bristol’s greatest strength has always been its people. The schools, music, churches, traditions, and neighborhoods are what make the city feel like home. Shannon Love believes Bristol schools work best when the community works together, listens to each other, and remembers that every student matters.

Work Hard. Be Smart. Love Everybody.

For Shannon Love, those are not just campaign words. They are the values she hopes to bring to the Bristol Virginia School Board every single day.

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Rural America Rising PAC, a grassroots organization supporting rural Independent and Democratic candidates working to restore political balance in small towns and communities across America.