Stacy Lellos

Tell us about your career journey and how you ended up here.

I started my career in book publishing and quickly realized my passion was in working in the kid’s space. I made the leap to Scholastic when I got a call saying they needed someone to lead brand management for a certain boy wizard whose 3rd book had just published. From Harry Potter to Hunger Games and Captain Underpants, and many more, I've worked on some of the largest kids entertainment franchises of the last two decades. My roles spanned marketing, licensing, digital, and multi-platform publishing before I made the leap to retail and Toys R Us to lead brand marketing there.

For the last 7 years it was my great privilege to lead KLUTZ, a company helping inspire kids to make and invent and create, and three months ago I took the job of Publisher, Workman Children’s Publishing. Workman is uniquely multi-faceted in that we have both a Curriculum team and a Trade team. Though distinct, one informs the other. How do we educate and inspire children of all ages? These are the things we think about and the types of books we aspire to publish. How do we help kids understand themselves, others, and the universe around them? What can we publish that help children live life with purpose and passion? Our superpower at Workman is finding the authors, illustrators, experts, talent, formats, facts and stories that make these things real for our collective children. What a gift. I don’t take even one day of it for granted.

Describe yourself in 5-7 words.

Passionate, Joyful, Silly, Honest, Resilient, Empathetic, Working Momma

Tell us about a time when you thrived at work, and what you learned about yourself from that experience.

This likely sounds trite, but the truth is I thrive every day at work because I am wildly passionate about what I do. Which is not to say I don’t have bad days or things that drive me batty, but I do realize what an incredible privilege it is to come to work every day and think about how to help kids understand the world around them.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Ideating with my team! I love when we brainstorm together and someone has an idea that another person reacts to with a slightly different spin, that a third person then suggests doing in a modified way and a fourth knows of the perfect author to convey that idea. Bliss!

How about when you "turn off" and go home? Any hobbies or fun activities you are involved in?

I'm a mom of three and my greatest joy is cheering on my kids in whatever activities, sports, musicals, etc. they're engaged in. And after getting my ruptured hamstring repaired (don't ask), I started playing rec soccer like the badass 50-year-old I pretend I am.

Any must-read, must-watch or must-follow recommendations?

Everything Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, Jen Hatmaker and Luvvie Ajayi Jones. I love women empowering other women.

Anything else you want to share with the WIT Community?

I'm grateful to be a part of this community, and I'm looking to become more involved. My two great passions in my career are creating content for children, and supporting and mentoring women.