Mary Shope, Supervisor District 2
About Mary
DEEP FAMILY ROOTS
I received my teaching certificate and taught 2nd grade in the Mesa Public School System for two years. I left the classroom when art, music, and physical education were removed from the curriculum and “teaching to a test” became the priority.
I then went into real estate and for eight years represented buyers and sellers in marketing, finance, and contract negotiations. As Supervisor, I will use these skills to benefit the citizens of Pinal County.
In 1987 I became a Licensed Massage Therapist and am still practicing today, 21 years later. I developed techniques to relieve neuromuscular pain and then opened a therapy institute to teach those techniques to others. My school was licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education.
I started that business from scratch. I did site locations myself. I went through the zoning requirements myself. I went through the licensing process with the state and city. And at the same time I was preparing the business to open, I was developing the six-month curriculum that would be taught at the institute.
After I opened the doors, I was responsible for paying the bills, hiring and paying staff, and balancing the books. The same year I opened the business, I was selected by Mayor Harry Mitchell to serve on the City of Tempe Massage Examiner’s Board, a three-member panel responsible for developing laws and policies governing massage therapists. I held that post for six years.
When my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, I sold the business and returned to Pinal County to care for her. I wouldn’t trade one moment of the five years we shared together before her passing.
During the past five years I have continued my work as a trigger-point therapist on a contract basis. I also worked part-time in sales audit and bookkeeping for my family’s business, Shope’s IGA grocery store in Coolidge, Arizona until deciding to campaign full-time for the County Board.