This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.

As CEO of Blue Swan Human Resources Consulting, Stacey is a business services professional with both corporate and consulting experience in the high tech, legal, recruiting, communications and media, banking, and retail fields. Her background includes more than 25 years in human resources, recruiting, contracts administration, event management, and accounting. Stacey also conducts training workshops for aspiring consultants, and personnel management workshops for small employers.

Stacey is also the Chief Operations Officer of PostgreSQL Experts, Inc., a San Francisco open source software consultancy.

She serves as Treasurer of the Django Software Foundation, and Corporate Secretary of the Django Events Foundation North America.

When not occupied with keeping her businesses running smoothly, Stacey passes her time with reading, watching movies, and doing historical re-enactment.



How did your story with working in the OSS world start?

I run my own company, Blue Swan HR Consulting, working with small businesses on their employee management and compliance issues. My company did some work for PostgreSQL Experts (PGX), which is a Postgres consultancy. One project led to another, and five years later, I’m now the Chief Operating Officer of PGX in addition to continuing to run my own company.

What did you do before becoming a consultant and running your own business?

I had a variety of jobs, mostly administrative and human resources, in law firms. I learned so much about running a business, dealing with contracts, and corporate management - it was terrifically helpful, even if it was incredibly stressful at times. I also worked in client services at Bank of America, where I learned a great deal about finance - and also that I did not want to work at a bank.

What do you love the most about your job?

Working with super-smart people who are developing interesting ideas. Being able to talk about an incredible variety of topics, both work-related and outside interests, and learn new things all the time.

What’s the story behind you working for the Django Software Foundation? What do you do for the DSF?

I’m the DSF Treasurer. I handle all of the money that comes in - sponsorships, donations, etc. - and make sure that sponsorships are paid out promptly and that the bills are paid on time. I hadn’t considered being part of the DSF until last year. I was chatting with Russell Keith-McGee (DSF President) at DjangoCon Australia, and the conversation turned to the challenges of managing the corporate side of a non-profit corporation. I mentioned that I had worked for an attorney who created and managed non-profits for some years, and offered to be a resource. When the elections rolled around, Russ suggested I run for the board, and here I am!

What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?

I’m also part of Django Events Foundation North America, the new foundation that’s putting together DjangoCon US. Working with Jeff Triplett and Craig Bruce to refocus the conference and make it a true community event is terrifically exciting! It’s a huge project, and of course there’s a lot of time pressure, but it’s coming together really well. The community is responding positively to our work, and that’s really rewarding.

What are you the most proud of?

In terms of my professional achievements, starting my own company that’s still growing after so many years. I’m also the first person in the US-born branch of my family to graduate from college, and only one of two college graduates in my generation. In terms of my personal life, being surrounded by amazingly talented and creative people who are a second family to me.

What are you curious about?

History! The stories are always written by the winners, so there are countless unanswered questions about what life was like for those on the other side of history. Also, most Western European history was written by men. I’ve done a lot of research on women in Renaissance Europe, but there’s still so much we don’t know because no one wrote it down. I would love to go back in time for a week and take photos and document everything.

What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?

I read, a lot. Even if I have just a few minutes, I grab a book. There’s never enough time for reading. I also do historical re-creation a bit - I used to do it on a regular basis, but now just once or twice a year. It’s fun to put on a historically accurate Renaissance gown and pretend to be a Duchess for a weekend. I get to dance and swordfight, and it’s a complete and fabulous change from my real world life. I also have an overwhelming fascination with Marvel Comics movies, and a very patient spouse who will talk about comics with me.

Do you have any advice/tips for people who want to get started working in the OSS world?

Jump in and do it! I’ve worked most among the Django and Postgres communities, and can say that the people I’ve dealt with have been friendly and helpful. There are so many online resources to help you get started learning the OSS of your choice, and then connecting with other users through meetups, workshops, conferences, and so on is the best way to go. The encouragement I see for people at all experience levels to develop their skills and contribute to the project is terrific. And even though I’m not an engineer, I still feel welcome in the community and appreciated for the work I do, and that’s a fantastic thing to experience.

Thanks Stacey! :)