Most recently, the People’s Imperial Confederation witnessed a few leadership changes. Let’s explore more into Shallissa’s recent retirement and learn more about the highlights of her army career.
Designed by Master DS
Army Background
Shallisa’s army journey officially started in 2019. While in the community, Sha quickly learned how armies operated and mastered the basics. As her journey through Club Penguin armies progressed, one notable army that contributed to her current success was the Templars. Sha joined the Templars‘ leadership in September 2020, where she gained additional techniques and skills to help her achieve goals throughout her army career.
After leading TCP, Sha decided it was time to move on and retire from the army. She then explored the People’s Imperial Confederation and became more engaged there. Sha joined PIC in January 2021, where she accepted the rank of Fourth-in-Command. Her hard work was immediately noticed as soon as she joined the army. Sha was continuously active within the army and focused on recruiting to contribute to PIC’s growth. She was extremely passionate and eager to help advance PIC and its development.
Due to her multiple contributions to PIC in just under a month, Sha was inducted later in January 2021. However, due to an executive decision by the Confederate leaders, the army went on hiatus in early 2022. This lasted until the beginning of 2023 when PIC decided to reopen for a new generation. This time the leadership was under S/M Legend and PIC creator Sidie9 alongside Hidcre, Langely, and Shalissa.
PIC opening event on February 4, 2023
Achievements under leadership
Throughout Sha’s leadership career, PIC experienced multiple ups and downs, as other armies do. Despite the setbacks, they fueled her determination to prove her worth in the Small Medium Army community and showcase PIC’s strength. This year and the previous year, under Sha’s guidance, PIC achieved multiple victories not only in wars but also in tournaments, even reaching Major status. Some of the tournaments where the Confederates emerged victorious include Beach Brawl III, New Year Bonanza 2024, and the Around the World Cup.
PIC not only became successful and a leading dominant figure in the Small Medium community regarding tournaments, but the army also won wars this year against other notable SM armies including Penguins of Madagascar, Special Weapons and Tactics, and Winged Hussars. Throughout Sha’s entire army career, she has led PIC through eight full S/M wars.
These accomplishments in tournaments and wars weren’t the only milestones PIC achieved under Sha. Another notable historical moment during her leadership was PIC achieving Major status for the first time in the beginning of March. Despite the common struggle armies face in trying to move beyond the S/M classification, the Confederate leaders were able to overcome this challenge. PIC ended up placing fourth in the Top Ten, which is surprising given that they were classified as a S/M army during that time. The army’s rise to Major status demonstrates their consistent hard work and determination in achieving success.
PIC event on CPJourney on February 24
Not only was Sha’s army career successful overall, but her work never went unnoticed. She was nominated for S/M Legend three times from 2021 to 2023 due to her iconic status in the community. Although she wasn’t inducted, being nominated three times is certainly noteworthy. Her contributions and influence in the community were well recognized and continue to be to this day.
leadership changes
On July 28, Sha officially posted an announcement regarding her departure from the leadership and the induction of Kobi as the new Commander in Chief of the army. Sha’s post expressed confidence that PIC would continue to be in good hands with Sweater, Alu, Jojo Teri, and Saber supporting Kobi. Additionally, she announced that her retirement event and Kobi’s induction would take place the following week.
Sha announcing retirement and induction of Kobi
Sha’s Retirement and Kobi’s Induction event on August 3
Alongside Sha’s retirement and Kobi’s induction, it was noted that on August 10, Sweater, another People’s Imperial Confederation leader, announced his retirement. Sweater had also played a significant role in contributing to the success of PIC, alongside Sha and the other leaders.
Club Penguin Armies decided to reach out to Shallissa regarding her retirement to ask for more insight.
Do you believe you accomplished all of your goals before retiring?
When I revived PIC in January of 2023 for its fourth generation, my main goal was to FINALLY WIN AN S/M TOURNAMENT. I’m now retiring with three tournament trophies, all earned throughout my 2023/2024 leadership. In 2024 especially, it has been my goal to see PIC grow and dominate the battlefield. I’ve accomplished my goals there as well, with PIC achieving major status twice and being able to keep it for many months. Just this year alone, I’ve led PIC through 4 wars and emerged undefeated in all of them. We even have our own CPAB emote now which still makes me excited. With PIC’s top ten results throughout my leadership, sizes, success in wars and tournaments, and just overall influence, I’d say PIC has exceeded every goal and expectation I had when returning to leadership.
Can you give us some advice for those who hope to become a leader one day?
One of the most underrated keys to success is persistence. I’ve noted a reoccurring theme of new or revived armies starting off really hyped and successful, but then the downtime sets in and they fall off. Eventually the “omg new army” hype goes away, and operating an army in downtime is much more challenging. Unfortunately no army is an exception to this. I don’t think a lot of people understand that, so when sizes naturally start dropping they lose momentum and motivation. That’s when you see army shutdowns, merges, or leaders losing interest and retiring. Leading an army to success is more than just moments of instant gratification. You need to be persistent and stick with it, even when it feels impossible, or you won’t accomplish anything significant.
What was the most challenging situation you faced during your leadership, and how did you manage to overcome it?
The beginning of generation four in January of 2023 was by far the most challenging leadership position I’ve ever been in. PIC was well known and had obviously been around in CPA before, but we reopened with basically no staff or active members. For reference we maxed 13 with allies at our reopening event. We had a solid leadership, but for a long time it was mostly Sidie and I recruiting, training troops, and rebuilding our momentum. Still, we were maxing anywhere from 5-10 at events and it was really discouraging. We considered giving up multiple times. It took months, and I’d say things didn’t really kick off until our Dark Vikings war towards the beginning of the summer. Once we smoked that Krosive pack it was like something clicked. Our sizes increased, people were more excited, and we had more support from staff and troops. Then we moved on to win Beach Brawl III later that summer. It just took a lot of time and patience, something that a lot of S/M leaders seem to lack. But PIC should serve as a living reminder why it’s important to stick with your army, even when it feels like all hope is lost.
Did you have anyone you looked up to during your leadership? Tell us why you looked up to them and how they inspired you.
Other than Sidie of course, PIC has never really had much support from army veterans and legends that I could look up to for guidance and inspiration. Most of that came from my co-leaders and allies I’ve worked with over the years. Xing was a huge mentor to me before I joined PIC. He taught me how to recruit and lead events, things I really used to struggle with. I admire how he created and Templars and led it to be so successful, and I tried my hardest to do the same with PIC. I’ve looked up to Calgo as well and what he accomplished in ACP. I worked with him a lot, especially during the world war, and I learned tons from him. I’ve always admired his leadership in ACP. Sidie has definitely been my main inspiration though, as anyone willing to subject themselves to 10+ years of CPA is worth listening to LOL. She taught me so much about armies and is the reason why I’ve grown into a strong leader. Now that she leads Templars I’ve been learning even more from her. She never gave up on me and I wouldn’t be where I am in CPA without her. Her guidance has always meant so much to me and I’m very thankful.
What is your most memorable moment in PIC?
Each of PIC’s tournament wins holds a special place in my heart. Beach Brawl III was a defining moment for PIC, as we knew at that point we were very much rivals with SWAT in terms of size and performance. It really just boiled down to who was better, and when all was said and done we finally won our first trophy, ending our second place curse lol. It will always be my favorite accomplishment because it was something I had worked towards my entire leadership. It was a defining moment for PIC that heavily influenced our streak of success in 2024. We worked hard for our New Year Bonanza trophy but it really didn’t register that we could win another tournament until the last possible second. Still, we deserved it as we were the best performing S/M army. Stakes were raised during the Around the World Cup. Having just won two trophies and multiple wars we were predicted to win, so my focus went more onto our size and performance in battles against the major armies. We were able to reach sizes of 20+ throughout the entire tournament, and we even won a room against EGCP during our AUSIA battle. We once again won the trophy and became the second ever army in CPPS history to win three back to back S/M tournaments. We not only made history within PIC, but the wider community as a whole. So those are by far my most memorable moments while leading PIC.
Shallissa has truly become one of the most influential leader figures throughout this year and in past years. It is evident that with the work she has put into PIC, her accomplishments demonstrate her dedication, strategic mindset, and the large impact she has had on the community. We wish Shallissa the best in her retirement and future plans. Additionally, we would also like to wish Sweater success in his future endeavors after his retirement. How do you think the People’s Imperial Confederation will be impacted without Shallissa? Will PIC continue to thrive without her leadership? What were your favorite moments with Sweater and Shallissa?
Mare
Chief Executive Producer