Get to know one of the newest members of Topeka South Rotary - Rachel Stamm.
I grew up in Topeka and attended Washburn Rural High School where I spent as much time in the music department as possible, playing piano & flute. I still enjoy playing the piano, specifically any type of show tune or jazz standard. I’m an alumna of Grinnell College, in Iowa, where I received a degree in biology. I was a recipient of a Watson Fellowship, for which I traveled abroad for a year, studying the relationship between eco-tourism and marine mammal conservation. In short, I love whales and animals in general. I moved to Seattle in 1995 where I pursued work as a naturalist. The cost of big city living led me to explore real estate as a career, beginning in 2000.
In 2011, I became fascinated by the problem of the lack of housing after natural disasters in the U.S.. I enrolled in an MBA program in Sustainable Systems and studied emergency housing issues and founded “Close to Home”, a marketplace for alternative housing, which led to a tiny house kit design and a seven year adventure with interesting and passionate people.
I returned home to Topeka in 2021, with my partner, after missing family & the midwest way of life. I worked remotely in real estate contract compliance and am now back in sales with eXp Realty. We live out in SW Topeka, on 5 acres where we can throw a ball as far as possible for our two dogs. When not playing with the dogs, reading, listening to a podcast, or doing some sort of puzzle, you’ll find me riding horses at the Topeka Round-Up Club (where I serve as President of the Board) and probably singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’”, when I think no one can hear me.