About Shawn Isakson
I teach early-career engineers the unwritten rules
If your new engineers are strong on the technical work and still guessing at how the company runs, that’s the part I teach. I learned it a piece at a time: ABC TV, an East Texas rig at 24, four years with BP in the Arctic, a Yale MBA, with Distinction in 8 courses, GE Capital, and CEO of a regional law firm of about 50 attorneys.
Up there I decided to go to Yale, which meant giving up a good job at BP. I started at 30, married, with a young family, and came out with an MBA. Then I was a vice president at GE Capital, Energy Financial Services, working on debt and equity financing for energy companies, focused on oil and gas.
I joined a regional law firm of about 50 attorneys as Business Manager and worked up through Executive Director to CEO. I recruited and coached the full executive team, and I introduced performance appraisals for every employee.
Shawn is more than just a strong executive. He is a mentor, a builder of people, and someone who leaves organizations and individuals better than he found them.
Harrison Ward, Cyber Risk Executive, LinkedIn recommendation, September 2025
These days I run Whitefish Media Lab from Whitefish, Montana, and I teach early-career engineers what I picked up across all of it. If you manage new engineers, or you are one, want to get in touch?
Alaska
Then I spent four years with BP at Prudhoe Bay, on the Arctic Ocean, in project and production roles, going back and forth between the field and Alaska meeting rooms. After corrosion shut down part of the field in August 2006, I led the emergency restart that brought about 200,000 barrels a day back within about 100 days. Then I led the $100M first phase of the pipeline replacement, 3.1 miles plus facilities with a team of about 500, through startup on its 18-month schedule.
I was 26, and the people around me had about 20 more years of experience than I did. I signed the pig that went in to fill the new line. What got it done was knowing who decided, who needed to know, and how to put a clear recommendation in front of them.
Butte, ABC TV, East Texas, Alaska, Yale, GE Capital, the law firm
Where I picked up the rules
I grew up in Butte. One grandfather went from the CCC and the Army to barbering. The other was a Marine sergeant who drove for Intermountain Bus Lines. My dad was a CPA and my mom sold radio and TV ads. I studied engineering at Montana Tech, where I was elected Student Body President, and from 18 to 22 I also worked at ABC TV, rising to Senior Board Operator.
Fresh out of school I landed in ExxonMobil’s Major Projects Division and felt completely lost, and it took me years to get my confidence. At 24 I was the company man on a rig outside Nacogdoches, East Texas. The superintendent ran the site, and the crew had worked rigs for years. That’s where the 1am Call happened.
Now
What I do now in Whitefish, Montana
I run Whitefish Media Lab LLC in Whitefish, Montana. The employer side of this work is new, and I’m looking for the first few engineering teams to try it with, so you won’t find client logos here yet. What I can point you to is the operating record above and the campus work below. I also take interim CEO and COO roles with owner-held and PE-backed companies. My full operating record is on LinkedIn. Here’s what I offer, depending on who you are.
If you manage new engineers. How Companies Actually Run starts as a paid pilot for one cohort of your early-career engineers, built around where your own people get stuck. There’s also a two-week readiness assessment that maps where your managers and new engineers see things differently. More on the employers page.
If you run a university career center. Career-fair coaching and resume labs on campus, like the work I’ve done as a volunteer at Montana Tech, for schools whose engineers walk up to recruiters with no idea what to say first. See the universities page.
If you’re an engineer early in your career. Foundations is my online course, with video lessons on how a corporation works, the role of HR, performance, promotion and more. See Foundations.
If you’re planning an event. I talk about what new engineers need to know and what their managers can do about it.
Campus work at Montana Tech
Montana Tech is my alma mater, and my campus work there is volunteer. In September 2025 I spent three days on campus running a LinkedIn and professional branding session, a leadership roundtable with the elected student government, and a career workshop and resume lab. I also had working sessions with the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students, and a full day coaching students one-on-one at the career fair.
In those 72 hours I met so many students, reviewed dozens of resumes, and took LinkedIn headshots in the hallway with my phone. Every one of them asked me some version of “Am I enough?” I went back for the September 2026 career fair with walk-up office hours in the student union and a “Last Stop Before the Fair” spot outside the career fair doors.
I serve on the Montana Tech Foundation board, and I founded the Isakson Scholars scholarship at Montana Tech. I’m also the Yale Alumni Association delegate for the Yale Club of Montana. To be clear, Montana Tech isn’t a client and hasn’t endorsed anything on this page. If you run a career center, would a visit like this be useful on your campus?
After the September 2025 visit, Montana Tech Career Services sent my follow-up note to all students. If you’d like to see what that note covered, ask and I’ll send it over.
Connect
Tell me what you’re seeing
LinkedIn is the easiest place to reach me, at linkedin.com/in/shawnisakson, and I’m on X as @ShawnIsakson. If you’d like to see how I think before we talk, the 7 Unwritten Rules guide is free.
If you manage new engineers, I’d really like to hear what you’re seeing with them. And if you’re planning an event, what do you want your audience to take home?