Stacy Raye Kellogg was born and raised in Durango, Colorado. Her family on her mom’s side were cattle ranchers, and they’ve lived in Durango for six generations. She graduated from college at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied Business and Women’s Studies. While volunteering at a domestic violence hotline in Durango after college, she realized she wanted to work in the nonprofit sector and enrolled in a Nonprofit Management graduate program in San Francisco. After receiving her master’s degree, she briefly returned to Durango and worked as an Executive Director for a sexual assault center, before following her heart back to San Francisco. During the pandemic, Stacy and her partner moved to Athens to be closer to his parents during lockdown, but fell in love with the town and decided to stay.
Today, Stacy is the founder of Compass Rose Coaching, where she works as a life and leadership coach and a heart-centered workshop facilitator, working with individuals, teams and organizations. She is also a coordinator for Women Owned Athens, a group that formed in 2020 centered around supporting local women-owned businesses. Through WOA, she organized the 2023 Shop Small Crawl, an event that highlighted various women-owned businesses around Athens. She hosts a podcast called Outgrow the Grind, with the same motto as her life coaching: how to take care of yourself in a world that asks you to be selfless.
She is also a member of The Studio Athens’ Speakeasy dance troupe.
Stacy lives in Athens with her partner, Blaine, and their many houseplants.
What do you love most about the work you do?
With one-on-one coaching, I love when I can start to see my clients giving themselves permission. Permission to take those many vacation days that they’ve earned but never taken, or actually take the vacation without taking their work computer. Permission to take a lunch break not in front of their laptop. These little moments when they decide “I’m going to let myself try that.” It’s like a light changes behind their eyes and they’re like, “oh wait, you mean I can do that for myself?” I think it’s really common, especially among women, to be waiting for your boss to see how hard you’ve been working and give you permission to take a break. Or for your partner to say “you’ve done all this, now you can go on this trip just for fun.” Unfortunately, nobody is going to do that. That’s one of my favorite moments: when people start to realize that they can be the one to give themselves permission to enjoy their lives more.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do in and around Athens?
I love the food scene here. Puma Yu’s, ZZ and Simone’s, and Maepole are favorite spots. Plus, we have so many great coffee shops.There are so many creative, talented, musical, foodie people in this town. I love seeing live music– we’re going to see Jason Isbell on Sunday night at The Tabernacle and I’m pumped. I love being able to enjoy the delights of Athens food, music, culture, and the amazing nonprofits here. I’m grateful to get to soak up all the goodness that is created by the people living in this town.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I have so many places on that list. I wanna go to the Maldives and stay in one of those over-water bungalows where you can just belly flop out of bed and into the turquoise water. I’d wanna stay for at least two weeks, so I could really unwind while I’m there. Maybe even for a month or two and embrace it, ride my bike everywhere. That sounds like heaven.
If you could see any band or show, anytime and anywhere, who would you see and where?
Well my favorite venue is Red Rocks. I’m lucky to say my first concert was Ani DiFranco when I was 17, at Red Rocks. My dream show would be seeing Stevie Nicks at Red Rocks.
Do you have a favorite book, or one you find yourself rereading or gifting often?
My latest favorite is by a friend and colleague, Dr. Priya Nalkur. I lead Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) trainings for her company, The Roundtable Institute. She wrote her book this year, it’s called Stumbling Towards Inclusion: Finding Grace in Imperfect Leadership. It’s this beautiful, accessible, open, honest look at how, as leaders, we can be more equitable and inclusive in a way that’s not beating ourselves up along the way or shaming ourselves. It really brings the inclusive leadership into accessible territory that I don’t see a lot of in other spaces.
Do you have a favorite movie? Or one you rewatch often?
I used to say When Harry Met Sally, but then… I’ve read articles about how Meg Ryan gets all these kudos from Billy Crystal’s character for being a “low-maintenance woman” and I didn’t like that very much. When I was a kid, I loved the movie Big Business, with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. I haven’t seen it in like 30 years but I still think about it. It’s got a twins switched at birth storyline with one set of twins living in the city versus living in the country storyline. I’ve always been fascinated by the far-end of both the city and country life spectrums and I’ve enjoyed living in both big cities and small towns! It cracks me up to admit thatI think about a movie from the late ‘80s more than I probably should.
If you could put any message on a billboard?
I would put my slogan: “Your needs matter, your voice matters, your joy matters.”
If you could give advice to your younger self what would it be?
Probably the same thing I just put on my billboard because I didn’t know any of those things for a long time. I was so concerned with trying to fit in, not be different, be helpful, wanting people to like me and being seen as a good person. I’m making up for it now in my 40s, though.
If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?
Maya Angelou comes to mind. I’m sad that Heirloom is closed now, so I’d bring Heirloom back and Maya and I would have a beautiful lunch on their patio.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?
Recharge, sanctuary, and love.
