 Shanks' father, Graeme Hislop, twice stood against National Prime Minister Keith Holyoake as a Social Credit candidate, in 1975 and in the 1977 by-election.Prior to entering politics, Shanks worked as a self-employed accountant.She had previously worked as a project accountant for the Westpac Banking Corporation, in retail client services for Newton Investment Management in the United Kingdom, and as a senior auditor for Audit New Zealand.