Seattle Reign FC Legend: Paula Boggs – Musician, Public Speaker, Leader and Advocate

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between Seattle Reign FC and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to Seattle Reign FC’s match against the Kansas City Current on May 8, the club recognized Paula Boggs, a musician, public speaker, leader and advocate. 

Boggs is a lifelong athlete whose love for athletics is deeply engrained in her life. She co-founded the women’s cross-country team as a student at Johns Hopkins University and continues to find joy in the love of elevating women’s sports and athletes. 

A true legend, Boggs has had a multi-faceted and mission-driven career, centered in servant leadership. She served eight years in the U.S. Army and was one of the first women to receive a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. She also became an attorney at the Pentagon and White House Office of Legal Counsel.  

Boggs’s career also includes experience working as Dell Corporation’s vice president and Starbucks Corporation’s Executive Vice President, general counsel and board secretary. In 2007, she formed the Paula Boggs Band, which blends jazz and Americana, touring and releasing a steady stream of music since 2010. 

“You could definitely call my career multifaceted, but there is a through line for every single thing I did; I was centered in mission. Everything I’ve done has been bigger than just me. I find that if I’m focused on just me, it’s not fulfilling," said Boggs. 

She continued, “Perhaps the reason I’m being honored is the sense of service that has led my career path and my life really. This has undoubtedly looked different during each step of my life, but I’ve always been led by a sense of duty and purpose.” 

Her career path was anything but linear, with stops in the Southern Unites States, Europe, California, Texas and Pacific Northwest. According to Boggs, geography has played a major role in her personal and career journey. 

“I think these diverse experiences, plus my ancestry and deep roots in these places, make me who I am. All three legs of the stool, the immigrant, the enslaved and the indigenous are within me, so to speak.” 

Now, Boggs has moved into the next phase of her career – the return to music. Her entire journey, both career and personal, has led to this moment and she’s eager to embrace it as the Paula Boggs Band records their fifth studio album. 

“It's been a 17-year journey of creating and performing music for audiences across the United States and Canada and every bit of it makes me very proud and very excited for what we are continuing to create.” 

As a mentor to many, Boggs notes that the key is finding a support system, especially when you are entering a field where you feel out of place, is to seek a common thread with those around you. 

“I've lost count of the times when I was the first woman, the only woman. The first African American, the only African American. The first openly gay, the only. These things have been themes of my life and they've taught me that you have to find allies no matter what.” 

It’s this philosophy that has allowed Boggs to find a deep sense of accomplishment and gratitude for her experience working as General Counsel for Starbucks. In her role, she had the opportunity to interview hundreds of candidates and nurture a culture of operational excellence and diversity, equity and inclusion. 

“Not many people get to do that, you know? The culture I was able to create there lives well beyond me leaving the company. What I've learned from the people who worked for me is that regardless of whether they are still at Starbucks or not, they continue to carry the values that animate in our culture and transfer them to wherever they work now.” 

Outside of her career, Boggs is deeply proud of being a committed partner of 35 years and her unexpected path to motherhood, as she co-raised her niece with her. 

“My family is truly the gift that keeps on giving and I will always cherish that.” 

Boggs is proud to be honored as a Seattle Reign FC Legend alongside the women that were honored before her and to become part of the Reign FC community. 

"I'm so excited to be honored by the Reign. When a team is at the level of honoring women in the community, it’s a statement to me. It shows that the organization is rooted – it's here to stay in our community. I'm deeply honored to be a part of this.” 

“The Reign will always be inextricably associated with Megan Rapinoe and her larger-than-life persona, her advocacy and her courage. That's what the whole evening means to me. She's retired, but long after her official retirement I believe the Reign and Megan's name will remain forever, inextricably entwined in greatness.”