I'm Back. And This Time I'm Building the Whole Dream.
There's something both humbling and electric about typing into this space again.
If you've been here before — welcome back. If you're finding Joy & Moxie for the first time — welcome home. Either way, I'm glad you're here. And I have a lot to tell you.
Me, Serena Riley — April 26, 2026 — 📸 by Paisley
Where I've been
I didn't disappear. I just got quiet here while life got very, very loud everywhere else.
Since I last wrote in this space, I've been laid off twice, bought an 1848 historic mansion with two of my closest women friends, transformed and opened it as a Bed & Breakfast and Events venue, and taken a new position that was intentionally a step back from my typical startup and leadership roles. Add in the loss of my grandfather, my boys entering high school, and the world turning upside down — and it's been a life-changing few years.
Through all of it though, I've been building. I've been learning. I've been dreaming bigger than I ever have before.
And I realized I needed to stop keeping it to myself.
What Joy & Moxie is now
Joy & Moxie still remains my moniker — the phrase that helps me make daily decisions and forge forward through uncertain times. But like me, it's matured. I feel like I've stepped deeper into the Moxie part of it and, if I'm honest, stepped back from the Joy. There are pockets of it, absolutely. But I haven't been as intentional about it lately. Maybe stepping back into this space is a little like an accountability buddy for me, too.
Joy & Moxie is my personal brand — my voice, my story, my living document of what it looks like to build an extraordinary life while showing up fully in every role you carry. It's not a business. It's not a shop. It's not a content calendar or a marketing strategy. It's the truest account I can give of what this season of my life actually looks and feels like — the ambition and the exhaustion, the clarity and the pivots, the moments of pure magic and the moments of profound doubt.
I write here across four areas of my life that are impossible to separate because they all feed each other:
Behind the Magic — the real story of building The Stacy Mansion. Event design, co-ownership, theme weekends, and every beautiful mess in between. This is where I pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to create experiences that make people stop and exhale.
The Woman in the Arena — what it looks like to build a dream while holding down a career, setting boundaries, and refusing to wait for the perfect moment. For the woman who is doing too much and dreaming even bigger.
Whole Life Architecture — on being a mother, a wife, a founder, and a dreamer simultaneously. Why I've stopped chasing balance and started building integration instead.
The Experience Scientist — human experience design through the lens of women. Where twenty years of CX and HX strategy collide with real life, the Stacy Mansion laboratory, and the future I'm building.
The dream I haven't stopped seeing
While it seems like I've already done big things — and I have — I continue to dream bigger. All of these milestones are like stepping stones throughout a stream. Some you cannot see until you wade through the water. Some are deeper set because they've settled into the ground. Some seem impossible to reach because they're just outside of your grasp. Some take longer because the current is stronger than usual. But all of them give me something — a new achievement, a lesson learned, an appreciation, an increased sense of gratitude or patience. They're building my character and adding to my unique storybook.
One thing has always remained true for me, though. I want to create something more. Something for women. A place that is safe. A place where we can breathe. A place where we embody the full definition of being a QUEEN. A place where we can just be.
In my vision, it's a fairy-like place full of natural beauty — lush greenery, wood, fieldstone, babbling brooks, little bridges, and stepping stones. Sunlight unimpeded by traffic and noise and the terrible weight of ordinary life. A place like walking into a storybook, where you fully breathe and release tension you didn't know you were holding.
There are no cars. Only gondolas and bikes and carriages. Fresh air tinged with the smell of pastries, sweet floral gardens, and moss on the rocks of babbling brooks with quaint little bridges. Cobblestone streets lined with cafes, bookshops, boutiques, and pop-up workshops. It's a mixture of some of my favorite movie scenes — Belle's French village, Mary Poppins' animated Jolly Holiday, and every quaint Hallmark town rolled into one. A place designed entirely around the eight areas of women's wellbeing. A place where kindness reigns. Where feminine strength is the currency. Where joy is not something you chase but something you simply are.
I call it Paisley Lane.
AI Rendering of How I Imagine Paisley Lane to Look
It doesn't exist yet.
But my daughter does — and she's who inspired it. Having her was what prompted me to want to make her path smoother. To give her opportunities I struggled to get. Paisley still believes in the magic and believes anything is possible. Parker and Preston have watched how a strong woman makes her own destiny.
I refuse to let any of them believe differently.
What's already in motion
Everything I'm building right now is a brick on the road to Paisley Lane.
The Stacy Mansion is the proof of concept — where I test alongside Danielle and Kim what happens when you design experiences with real intention, watch women walk through the door carrying the weight of their whole lives, and see them leave lighter. Every theme weekend, every event, every carefully considered detail is data. Beautiful, joyful, life-changing data.
EmpowerX is the consultancy I'm building alongside my partner Sarah — bringing CX and HX strategy together with growth marketing expertise to serve women building their dreams. Women supporting women. Strategy with soul. Coming soon.
And Joy & Moxie is where I document all of it. The whole messy, magnificent, terrifying, exhilarating build.
Why now
Because things in the world are hard right now. A hundred years of progress is being tested and eroded in ways that exhaust and deflate even the most hopeful among us. And yet — we still hold hope. That matters.
My boys are reaching adulthood and I want them to be strong allies for those less fortunate and less privileged. My daughter is moving quickly toward her teenage years and I want her to be safe, healthy, and fiercely strong.
Writing is how I process big feelings, emotions, thoughts, and ideas. Creating, dreaming, and learning are things I never want to give up. And sharing my story — so that someone out there knows they're not alone, that they're supported, and that they are capable of becoming more with every experience — that feels more necessary right now than ever before.
So here I am.
Serena Riley, Danielle Ward & Kim Stelzer — The Stacy Mansion’s Opening Season Ball — April 18, 2026 — 📸 Lucky Owl Studio
Come build with me.
Follow the blog. Join the newsletter. Tell a woman you know who needs this space that it exists.
And if you've ever had a dream you haven't said out loud yet — consider this your permission slip.
The road to Paisley Lane is paved in joy and moxie.
Let's walk it together. 🦚
