For 15 years, Stacey’s work at a large design firm included design and planning for some of the biggest and most well-respected zoological institutions in the world: SeaWorld, Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Saint Louis Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, San Antonio Zoo, among many others.

Stacey led the design of the AZA Top Honors in Exhibit Design award winner, Heart of Africa, at the Columbus Zoo, and the innovative relocation of small rescue and rehab zoo, Big Bear Alpine Zoo. Her success as a design leader and visionary elevated her to Director of Zoo & Aquarium Planning and Design at PGAV Destinations.

Stacey’s true passion is working with small institutions and focusing on strategic, organization-wide planning for all sized facilities.

Her vast experience including tourism market research, branding strategy, educational and experiential story development, business planning, her personal experiences as a volunteer and non-profit board member, and her completion of Indiana University’s Non-Profit Executive Management Certificate program, influences her successful development of strategic and master plans for institutions of all sizes.

Stacey has participated in and led the master planning efforts at over 20 institutions. Her current and past master planning client list includes:

• Reptile Encounters Australia

• The Texas Zoo

• Bowers School Farm & Johnson Nature Center

• Abilene Zoo

• Flint RiverQuarium

• Chehaw Park & Zoo

• Zoovolution

• Wright Park Zoo

• San Antonio Zoo

• The Living Desert Zoo

• Tulsa Zoo

• Yunnan Safari Park

• Columbus Zoo & Aquarium

• Big Bear Alpine Zoo

• Dolphin Research Center

• Brookfield Zoo

• Milwaukee County Zoo

• Saint Louis Zoo

• Kansas City Zoo

• Georgia Aquarium

• SeaWorld San Diego

Transparency

Trust isn’t given, it’s earned.

This is a lesson zoos and aquariums are learning in today’s skeptical society, and a lesson we live by.  We want you to understand our process, our fees, our deliverables, and our schedule. We want you to trust us, because while we promise to honestly and objectively provide evaluation and advice, sometimes that stuff is really hard to hear. What’s more, we want you to feel comfortable providing the hard feedback to our work, so we can deliver a feasible and creative master plan which allow you to achieve your organization’s mission and dreams.

Affordability

You get what you pay for, right? Not always.

As a small firm, we can focus exclusively on you. And, with our years of experience, we bring efficiency and expertise to give you the biggest bang for your buck. Because when you’re small, every dollar matters. Make the most of your time and money by hiring the best master planner in the business.

Because as hard as you work, you deserve the best.

Creativity

This one’s easy: Creative approaches to all things your future.

We believe in understanding your unique challenges and opportunities, understanding who you are as an institution, and what’s most important, understanding what makes you different and special in the consumer’s mind, today and into the future. Only then can we creatively solve problems and create innovative, new exhibits, shows, programs, marketing campaigns, special events…whatever you need! The sky’s the limit!

Agility

We know that your team wears a lot of hats, and has to be able to respond to a new problem quickly and often without a lot of resources. We value that in you, and we aspire to that as a firm. We come into a project with a plan of attack, but we understand that things come up: personnel changes, new property is bought, new AZA care manuals are released! We promise to roll with the punches and provide you a master plan that will provide framework that functions as agilely.

We all know, the best laid plans…

Logical Reasoning

We base our conclusions and suggestions on evidence and reasoning. For the past 20 years, we have collected data from across the industry related to comparable revenues and per caps, attendance patterns and growth, costs, and visitor behavior. We keep our finger on the pulse of trends and changing perspectives, and apply all of this knowledge to achieve feasible and successful recommendations. Decision-making can be highly emotional, but an approach valuing logic anchors your future to a solid foundation.

focus

With years of experience working for a large design firm, we know first-hand how clients and projects can sometimes get less attention when a designer is spread across multiple projects at once.  As a small firm, we value our clients and approach consultancy as a personal relationship. We respect the time you have given us, and show you that by limiting our distractions. By selecting only a few projects per year, and limiting the overlap of these projects, we ensure that our focus is almost exclusively on you. That means you are getting not only our full focus, but also our full creative energy and ability to reason logically.

When you’re with Felis, it’s all about you.