By Jenn McKeogh, senior manager, GM News
As General Motors’ Chief Media Officer, Shenan Reed spends her days engaging with media and working to ensure our advertising reaches the right consumers for the right price, in the right place, and at the right time around the world.
Off hours, she pursues an unusual off-the-clock passion: raising and releasing black swallowtail butterflies.
From the ground up
Reed’s butterfly-rearing pastime didn’t come out of nowhere. Long before she dove into the world of advertising, her first love was nature.
“I was born on an Apple Orchard in Upstate New York, and I always had a connection to nature and growing things,” says Reed. “I constantly had my hands in the dirt as a kid, and I still do.”
Today, she lives in Bronxville. N.Y., – a tiny suburban town sitting 15 miles north of Manhattan and best known as the home of Sarah Lawrence College. With a husband who loves to cook and her passion for gardening, the couple started growing fresh herbs and veggies on the small front porch of their condo, where Reed spends her time trimming and propagating plants.
Eight years ago, Reed noticed something odd on her parsley – something “that looked like a tiny black grain of rice.” She brought it inside and into a small enclosure, where she discovered that it was a newly hatched black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar – and she was hooked.
“I just thought this was the coolest thing,” Reed says. “I had recently become aware of the importance of pollinators, so I immediately bought butterfly nets online to see how I could help this beautiful species."
A tiny, pale swallowtail butterfly egg sits on the underside of a parsley leaf in Reed’s porch garden.
Time to hatch
Reed said swallowtails arrive in her Westchester County neighborhood in mid-April each year, where they immediately begin laying eggs on her herb plants. Reed snips the parsley and brings the egg-laden sprigs inside to her indoor parsley pots. After 7-10 days, the eggs hatch.
"Each type of butterfly has one plant they like to lay their eggs on, and that’s what the caterpillars eat when they hatch,” she says. “The caterpillars eat like a typewriter return and grow so fast. They chew plants down to a nub, so you have to grow a lot of herbs to feed them – or you won’t have any plants left.”
The hatchlings spend up to 30 days as a caterpillar, which Reed weighs on a tiny food scale to make sure they’re growing properly, sometimes even naming them. They create and live in a chrysalis for 14-18 days before emerging as butterflies, which Reed and her family carefully release back into the wild.
Today, Reed is a butterfly-raising expert, hatching and releasing 10-20 butterflies each season and using her garden as a teachable moment.
“I put little signs on my plants so the school kids walking by can see them and sometimes watch them hatch,” she says. “It’s a great way to teach about pollinators.”
Two caterpillars munch away on Reed’s parsley (left). An adult black swallowtail butterfly sits in the garden (right).
Taking flight
Reed has worked in the media purchasing and advertising space for more than 20 years – and it seems butterflies were destined to find her.
“I launched my own digital agency in 2001 called – ironically – Morpheus Media. The Morphos butterfly was the color inspiration for the brand,” she says.
After 14 years, she sold her business to work at a few different agency holdings companies before serving as the chief media officer at L’Oreal USA for several years. In 2024, Reed left cosmetics and joined GM to serve as Global Chief Media Officer, leading the company’s media buying and strategy globally.
But this move made sense - in addition to her love of nature, Reed has a long-time passion for cars.
“I grew up working on cars - specifically GM cars. I have a 1965 Pontiac Tempest,” she says. “I’m not as hands-on as I used to be, but I change my own parts when I can.”
Off the clock explores the outside interests of GM employees. To nominate someone for this series, drop us a line at news@gm.com.
Check out more from the series:
As General Motors’ Chief Media Officer, Shenan Reed spends her days engaging with media and working to ensure our advertising reaches the right consumers for the right price, in the right place, and at the right time around the world.
Off hours, she pursues an unusual off-the-clock passion: raising and releasing black swallowtail butterflies.
From the ground up
Reed’s butterfly-rearing pastime didn’t come out of nowhere. Long before she dove into the world of advertising, her first love was nature.
“I was born on an Apple Orchard in Upstate New York, and I always had a connection to nature and growing things,” says Reed. “I constantly had my hands in the dirt as a kid, and I still do.”
Today, she lives in Bronxville. N.Y., – a tiny suburban town sitting 15 miles north of Manhattan and best known as the home of Sarah Lawrence College. With a husband who loves to cook and her passion for gardening, the couple started growing fresh herbs and veggies on the small front porch of their condo, where Reed spends her time trimming and propagating plants.
Eight years ago, Reed noticed something odd on her parsley – something “that looked like a tiny black grain of rice.” She brought it inside and into a small enclosure, where she discovered that it was a newly hatched black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar – and she was hooked.
“I just thought this was the coolest thing,” Reed says. “I had recently become aware of the importance of pollinators, so I immediately bought butterfly nets online to see how I could help this beautiful species."
Time to hatch
Reed said swallowtails arrive in her Westchester County neighborhood in mid-April each year, where they immediately begin laying eggs on her herb plants. Reed snips the parsley and brings the egg-laden sprigs inside to her indoor parsley pots. After 7-10 days, the eggs hatch.
"Each type of butterfly has one plant they like to lay their eggs on, and that’s what the caterpillars eat when they hatch,” she says. “The caterpillars eat like a typewriter return and grow so fast. They chew plants down to a nub, so you have to grow a lot of herbs to feed them – or you won’t have any plants left.”
The hatchlings spend up to 30 days as a caterpillar, which Reed weighs on a tiny food scale to make sure they’re growing properly, sometimes even naming them. They create and live in a chrysalis for 14-18 days before emerging as butterflies, which Reed and her family carefully release back into the wild.
Today, Reed is a butterfly-raising expert, hatching and releasing 10-20 butterflies each season and using her garden as a teachable moment.
“I put little signs on my plants so the school kids walking by can see them and sometimes watch them hatch,” she says. “It’s a great way to teach about pollinators.”
Taking flight
Reed has worked in the media purchasing and advertising space for more than 20 years – and it seems butterflies were destined to find her.
“I launched my own digital agency in 2001 called – ironically – Morpheus Media. The Morphos butterfly was the color inspiration for the brand,” she says.
After 14 years, she sold her business to work at a few different agency holdings companies before serving as the chief media officer at L’Oreal USA for several years. In 2024, Reed left cosmetics and joined GM to serve as Global Chief Media Officer, leading the company’s media buying and strategy globally.
But this move made sense - in addition to her love of nature, Reed has a long-time passion for cars.
“I grew up working on cars - specifically GM cars. I have a 1965 Pontiac Tempest,” she says. “I’m not as hands-on as I used to be, but I change my own parts when I can.”
Off the clock explores the outside interests of GM employees. To nominate someone for this series, drop us a line at news@gm.com.
Check out more from the series: