This blog is in collaboration with Firefly Coach, Stacy Kellogg, who recently took part in our Certified Facilitator Programme in Montreal. From personal breakthroughs to maple syrup lattes, she shares what made the experience so powerful - and why it’s not your average facilitation training.
This blog is in collaboration with one of our Firefly coaches, Stacy Kellogg.
When I signed up for the Firefly Certified Facilitator Programme in Montreal, I knew I wasn’t walking into your average training session.
I’ve worked with Firefly before. I know they do things with intention, energy, and always with an element of the unexpected. Because it was a Firefly training run by Founder and CEO Kirsty Maynor, I knew it would be experiential. Kirsty isn’t one to talk at you for four days. She engages you in learning in a variety of ways, and isn’t afraid to shift directions if the energy in the room calls for it.
But the Facilitator Programme still surprised me. Not just in what it taught me, but in how it made me feel. It shifted my confidence, and helped me lead in a way that actually connects. (And it introduced me to squishy stars and a barista named Flavio, but we’ll get to that…)
Lego carpets.
From the moment we began, it was clear we were in for something different. The very first slide read: “I’d rather walk barefoot across a rug of Legos than share a fun fact about myself with a group of people.”
Everyone laughed, and just like that the tone was set - playful, honest, human.
There were seven of us in the room, from different countries, backgrounds and facilitation styles, and yet a sense of safety formed quickly. That was no accident, Kirsty has a way of creating containers that feel both held and open. Where you’re encouraged to bring your whole self, not just your professional self.
One of the first things she told us was “You have permission to get what you need here.” It stuck with me. And over the next four days, I saw just how much we needed different things, and we all found it.
Bring more of yourself.
The structure of the programme was unlike anything I’ve done before. This wasn’t about passively taking in content. It was about doing the work. We facilitated for each other. We got real-time feedback. We moved our bodies. We tossed squishy stars. We talked about our facilitation superpowers - and our facilitation kryptonite.
During my first practice session, I kept the focus on the participants. The feedback I got was gentle but clear: bring more of yourself. I had been facilitating from a place of holding space, but not taking it. So in my second session, I told a deeply personal story, and it worked. I felt seen, and I saw what was possible when you let the personal lead the professional.
That moment changed how I think about my role as a facilitator. It reminded me that facilitation isn’t just about guiding others - it’s about modelling what you’re asking them to do. If you want people to be open and honest, you have to be willing to go there too.
Unexpected teachers.
You expect to learn from the programme leader, and the exercises. But what I didn’t expect was how much I’d learn from the others in the room.
Each person brought their own way of working, from creative movement to art-based sessions to powerful guided reflection. Watching them step up and stretch themselves gave me permission to stretch too. As one of my fellow facilitators, Roya, put it: “The more playful the exercises were, the more I got out of it.” We encouraged each other, took risks together, celebrated small wins and messy experiments and all the ‘aha’ moments in between.
And then there was Flavio. Flavio ran the coffee shop down the hall. Every morning, he made us maple syrup lattes (when in Canada, right?). He truly made the trip that much sweeter, and at the end of the week, on his 30th birthday, we sang him happy birthday. After all, that’s what facilitation is - noticing people, making space and creating connections.
The road we built.
On our final day, we created a visual roadmap of our learning. It wasn’t neat and tidy - it twisted and curved and doubled back on itself. There were guiding stars and billboards with phrases like “be you”, “take a risk” and “less is more”. And at the centre of it was a new kind of confidence. Not loud or showy, but grounded, and rooted in real practice.
Facilitation isn’t about having the perfect plan, it’s about showing up, reading the room and trusting yourself to lead with presence.
That’s what the Firefly Certified Facilitator Programme gave me, and I’ll carry it with me into every room I walk into from here.
As Kirsty likes to say, “What the cosmic waitress serves up is going to be exactly what you need.” And that’s exactly what this programme did.
About the Firefly Certified Facilitator Programme.
The Firefly Certified Facilitator Programme is a four-day, in-person training experience designed for coaches, facilitators, leaders and HR professionals who want to deliver world-class learning experiences with confidence, creativity, and impact.
Led by Firefly’s Founder & CEO Kirsty Maynor, it includes:
Practical training in facilitation and group dynamics
Real-time coaching and feedback
Accreditation to deliver Firefly’s Online Learning Library content (including Courageous Conversations, Authentic Leadership Mastery and more)
Business development support to help you grow your practice
A like-minded peer community that lasts long after the training ends
A flexible model to help you grow your offer or embed Firefly content in your organisation
Whether you’re an experienced coach looking to expand your offer, or an HR leader wanting to build internal capacity–this programme creates space for growth, stretch and transformation.
Ready to bring this to your organisation?
We offer bespoke in-house versions of the Firefly Certified Facilitator Programme for leadership or HR teams who want to embed high-impact facilitation skills at the heart of their culture.
Get in touch to explore what this could look like in your organisation or request the full programme overview and we’ll send it your way.
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