Shirley was born and raised in San Francisco. She joined Linda Mar in 2016 as a Registered Veterinary Technician after graduating from Foothill College with an Associate in Science degree in Veterinary Technology. Shirley also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science with an emphasis on companion animals from the University of California Davis. 

Shirley has had many different experiences working with animals having worked in a pet supply store, volunteered at various animal rescues and shelters such as the TNR program at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and the Marine Mammal Center, and interned at various veterinary hospitals, including an exclusively exotics clinic and an emergency hospital. 

Shirley has a soft spot for guinea pigs because she regularly volunteers at the annual Guinea Pignic and at her Vet Tech program’s Small Animal Surgery Day where she mentors vet tech students while getting rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits spayed or neutered to become more adoptable. Shirley and her husband also foster kittens and guinea pigs for their local Humane Society and rescues. 

When she is not working at the hospital or volunteering, Shirley enjoys traveling and hiking with her husband and their spaniel-mix dog, Oliver Hiddleston. They are also owned by a pair of guinea pigs and their two cats, Lionel Ritchie and Charles M. Sparks, and several rescued betta fish.