Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanelle Coleman.
Hi Chanelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story has never been a perfectly straight line, and I think I appreciate that more now than I ever have. I started my career in roles that taught me how organizations actually work—the people, processes, decisions, and details behind the scenes that allow a business to function. Over time, I realized I had a natural ability to see both the big picture and the pieces required to make it happen.
As my career progressed, I moved from managing processes and projects to leading teams, departments, and increasingly complex business operations. I’ve worked across education, nonprofit, technology, music and entertainment, and entrepreneurship. While those industries may seem unrelated, each added something to my leadership toolkit and helped me recognize that my strength wasn’t tied to a particular industry—it was strategy, operations, people, and execution.
Technology became a significant part of that journey and gave me the opportunity to grow into senior leadership, work alongside C-suite executives, lead through periods of growth and change, and help solve complex organizational challenges. I’ve learned that having a strategy is only part of the equation; you also have to build the operating structure that allows that strategy to become reality.
At the same time, I continued making room for the other things I love. Music has always been part of my world, and over the years my involvement evolved into business management and Music & Entertainment Strategy. I’ve been able to bring my business and operational experience into creative environments—helping manage the business behind the talent and making sure great creative ideas are supported by strong strategy and execution.
Entrepreneurship became another chapter when I founded Flavours Candle Co. Building something of my own has stretched me differently—you’re the strategist, decision-maker, investor, problem-solver, and sometimes the person packing the boxes.
Through all of those chapters, my faith and family have remained my foundation and have shaped how I think about purpose, leadership, service, and success. I’ve learned that every opportunity doesn’t have to make sense immediately to have value. Sometimes you’re developing skills, relationships, resilience, or perspective that you won’t fully understand until much later.
This season has also brought a beautiful new chapter personally as I prepare for marriage. I was recently selected as the Texas Weddings Magazine Billboard Bride and featured in the magazine, which made an already special season even more memorable. It’s been fun to celebrate something I’m building personally, not just professionally, and a reminder that growth isn’t only measured by the next career milestone or business accomplishment. There is also value in making room for life, love, family, and the moments happening along the way.
Today, I can see a common thread through experiences that once seemed very different. I’m a strategist and an operator, a corporate leader, consultant, business manager, and entrepreneur.
I’m still building, still learning, and still evolving. I don’t think I’ve reached the culmination of my story yet, and that’s probably what excites me most about this season.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I don’t think I would have developed into the leader I am today if it had been. Earlier in my career, many of my challenges were about getting opportunities, proving what I could do, and navigating situations where my level of responsibility didn’t always match my title, authority, or resources.
As I’ve grown, the challenges have changed. One of my biggest lessons has been recognizing the difference between being capable of doing something and being responsible for doing everything. As a natural problem-solver, my instinct has often been to jump in and fix things. But leadership has taught me to step back, create clarity, develop others, and build systems that allow people and organizations to succeed without me personally touching every detail.
I’ve also learned to trust the process without becoming passive in it. My faith teaches me to trust God’s direction, but faith doesn’t remove my responsibility to prepare, work, make difficult decisions, and sometimes change direction. There have been disappointments, closed doors, mistakes, and seasons when I questioned what was next. Looking back, though, some of the experiences I would have gladly skipped are the very ones that strengthened my leadership, sharpened my judgment, and prepared me for rooms I hadn’t entered yet.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My professional life has evolved quite a bit since my last conversation with VoyageHouston. At the core, I’m a multi-sector Strategy & Operations leader with more than 20 years of experience turning strategy into execution. Today, much of my corporate work is in technology, where I serve in senior Service Delivery Operations, partnering with executives to help translate business priorities into effective operational strategy and execution.
Beyond technology, I work in business management and Music & Entertainment Strategy, supporting creative professionals with the business behind their talent. I’m also the Founder and CEO of Flavours Candle Co., which gives me the opportunity to apply my experience from yet another perspective—as an entrepreneur and business owner.
What sets me apart is my ability to operate at the intersection of strategy and execution. I can contribute to the strategic conversation, identify what may be missing, and then help build the structure, people, and accountability needed to move it forward.
What I’m most proud of is the trust I’ve built across very different rooms. Whether I’m partnering with C-suite leaders, leading teams, representing a creative professional, or building my own business, I strive to lead with integrity, clarity, and a genuine commitment to both the people I work with and the businesses I help move forward.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I tend to gravitate toward resources that strengthen me in the areas that matter most in my life—faith, leadership, business, and financial stewardship. I’m a lifelong learner, so I’m always interested in something that challenges how I think or gives me a different perspective.
From a leadership standpoint, John Maxwell’s The 5 Levels of Leadership has been influential for me, as well as The Leadership Challenge. I appreciate leadership books that go beyond titles and focus on influence, relationships, credibility, and the responsibility we have to develop the people around us.
My faith is the foundation for everything else, so the Bible is ultimately the resource I return to most. Experiencing God has also been meaningful to me, and I enjoy faith-based podcasts and conversations, including Street Preachers with Philip Michael Anthony, that explore how we live out our faith in the real world.
I’m also drawn to business and financial content, particularly resources around building wealth, entrepreneurship, and making sound long-term financial decisions.
What I consume may vary, but the common thread is growth. I want resources that help me become a better leader, make wiser decisions, deepen my faith, and be a better steward of what I’ve been entrusted with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chanellecoleman.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mschanellec
