Stacey Brass Russell
Stacey Brass Russell
For over 20 years I have been helping people change their thoughts and live better lives.
I stumbled into my yoga teaching career by accident. In my late 20’s I started practicing yoga – it made perfect sense for a health-minded, cosmically spiritual performer. I fell in LOVE with the practices and teaching of yoga and in 2001, right after 9/11, I decided to take yoga teacher training because I thought that I would make a pretty good yoga teacher AND I thought it would be much more enjoyable than waiting tables when I was in between acting jobs. The month I became certified as a yoga teacher I also filmed an episode of Law & Order SVU.
So, let me back up a little. In 1978 I appeared on Broadway in the original production of ANNIE for 2 years. I never even considered doing anything other than being on stage. I got such a rush (and still do) from being on stage singing, acting, and/or dancing because of the way it felt to connect with the audience.
I attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and at the beginning of my sophomore year my father suddenly passed away at 43 and my life was immediately and forever changed.
The next few years brought on more and more difficulty as my mom lost our house and my father’s business and I was abruptly left without any support and a big student loan. I was living in NYC pursuing my acting career and working a lot - on Broadway, in commercials, and in regional theatre but I was still always struggling financially to pay off that debt and to keep up my skills and responsibilities as a working actor. I lived in sublets and on couches and had every kind of temp job you can imagine when I wasn’t performing. My parents instilled an incredible sense of confidence in me and taught me that my struggles were my greatest teachers and only made me stronger.
When I decided to become a yoga teacher I was feeling the need to stabilize, make some real money and take a break from the exhausting and inconsistent life of show business. I started teaching and quickly had a full schedule of popular classes, was promoted to managing a big studio then promoted to teaching the certification training. I was teaching other people how to teach yoga and helping them to have something they really wanted.
I was aware from as early as I could remember that I had the ability to move people. To help them to feel stirred inside of their hearts and connected to their souls.
And then what happened was actually amazing.
I became a wellness expert. I became a go-to person for all things well-being. Students and teachers were coming to me for private lessons, classes, training, and mentoring because I was an anatomy expert, a nutrition expert, and a mindset expert. I made them feel better, I taught them philosophy, and how to teach.
I inspired them to be spiritual in their own way, and taught them how to breathe, how to be confident, how to see the world clearly, and how to turn inward for their own answers.
In 2010 I took a huge risk financially and emotionally and I co-founded my own studio with 2 partners. I learned how to own and operate a small business in the heart of NYC (with a lot of competition around) and then in 2017, I decided to leave what had become an extremely toxic and negative working environment. Right before I turned 50 I made yet ANOTHER major change, took another risk, and trained to become a master-level health, life, and mindset coach.
I witnessed so many of my friends and students staying in bad marriages, jobs they hated, feeling lonely, sacrificing their health, settling, feeling unfulfilled – yet being afraid to make a change. I had already talked to so many people who weren’t doing work that lit them up, who had low confidence, and who didn’t believe they could have anything different. I knew that I needed to expand my field of work to be able to assist people in shifting the way they think and the way they see themselves and the world. I believe that this is what is meant to do, and that change is actually the Universe’s way of reminding us that we are designed to EVOLVE.
After coaching so many individuals I created my signature change system E.V.O.L.V.E. to help people even better understand what I believe are the key elements to being a successful changemaker.
So you may be thinking – OK, I get the life coach part, but where does the business strategy come in?
Well, all through these years I was also running retreats, leading workshops, writing the curriculum for courses and high-level certification trainings, running a business, and perfecting my own ability to share my message and my mission and attract clients.
I am known for my “alignment-based sequencing” of yoga classes - I am a reverse engineering master. I love creating systems and structures and teaching other people how to do the things that I know how to do. So when I started attracting coaching clients that not only needed to make a change, but that wanted to create or launch new businesses, be more successful in their jobs, learn how to express themselves more clearly, and generate more revenue, I created my signature organic service-based business strategy system that has helped hundreds of coaches, creatives, wellness professionals, thought leaders and entrepreneurs declare their mission, develop their brand message, know their niche, create content, launch their courses and programs and learn how to organically create clients and sales by being in service.
I now run a multiple six-figure coaching business, have
a popular weekly podcast show, and created my own Academy so that I can provide the most exceptional level of coaching, teaching, and service to as many passionate human beings as possible.
Coaching is a partnership and it is based on inquiry. As a coach my job is to listen, be curious and help my clients tune in to their desires, break through their limiting beliefs, decide which stories they want to ditch, and take ACTION. And as a business strategist and mentor, I provide high-level intuitive support that helps someone like you to see a vision and outcome for yourself, and then together we work to make it happen.
I have always “walked the walk” that I talk. I invest in high level coaching and trainings for myself and I am never without a coach.
My coaching style and methodology are informed by my training and experience in Transformational Coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Science and Philosophy of Yoga, the Laws of the Universe, and the Psychology of Positive Thinking. Put it all together and what you get is that your thoughts are co-creating your experience with the Universe and you have control of your outcomes. This is what I truly believe.
When I look back at my personal journey I realize that every time that I got to a point where what I was doing was no longer serving me, was not connected to my soul purpose, or using my intelligence and talent in some way, I pivoted.
