The Nell Project is dedicated to helping women navigate the intersection of work and life with clarity and intention. Here, we explore the habits, mindsets, and shifts that move us closer to our most aligned, balanced, and fulfilling life – one intentional step at a time.
Welcome to The Nell Project – a space built for ambitious women who want both success and balance.
I’m Chanelle (friends call me Nell), and I’ve spent years exploring what it really means to thrive in both work and life. Along the way, I’ve discovered something important: balance isn’t a finish line. It’s a practice. A process. A project we get to shape and reshape as we grow.
The Nell Project exists because I believe we all deserve room to evolve. To shift priorities without guilt. To build careers we’re proud of while still protecting our well-being. To live lives that feel good on the inside, not just impressive from the outside.
This space is for the women who are a beautiful work in progress – professionals, parents, creatives, caretakers, dreamers. Whether you’re navigating career transitions, chasing big goals, carving out time for yourself, or simply trying to breathe a little easier, you belong here.
My hope is that the stories, tools, and guidance you find here help you get one step closer to a life that feels aligned, intentional, and truly your own.
I’m a former senior executive in media and advertising, a mom to my pup, Lexi, and my son, Beau, and wife to my partner in life, Mr. Watsy and co-host to my bestie on The So Obsessed Podcast. These roles are meaningful, but they’re only part of my story – not the whole of who I am.
For most of my adult life, I lived in the tension between ambition and exhaustion. I chased career milestones at full speed, moved across the world for work, built the kind of résumé that looks impressive on paper – and still found myself running on empty.
By my mid-30s, I had everything I thought I was supposed to want… and yet I was burned out, disconnected, overwhelmed, and lonely. Becoming a mom only magnified the pressure and the sense that I was carrying too much with too little support.
So I began a different kind of journey – one inward.
With the help of coaches, mentors, friends, family, colleagues, books, and the countless resources I reached for during that difficult season, I slowly pieced together a new understanding of balance, alignment, and what it really means to build a life you can thrive in.
These tools didn’t just help me recover – they helped me evolve.
They helped me reconnect with myself.
They helped me rewrite my definition of success.
And they helped me find a version of life that feels steadier, more intentional, and more aligned with who I truly am.
The Nell Project was born from that transformation, from the belief that ambitious women deserve careers they’re proud of and lives they can actually live in. My hope is that by sharing what I’ve learned, I can help other women find clarity, balance, and a sense of self they may have lost along the way.
This is who I am.
A woman in progress – just like you – finding her way, one aligned step at a time.
Because like so many ambitious women, I want a meaningful, high-impact career and a life with space for joy, rest, and connection. I want to do work I’m proud of without sacrificing my well-being, identity, or relationships. In other words… yes, I want it all.
But wanting it all requires support – real tools, intentional priorities, systems that protect your time, and a community that understands the journey. I’ve spent years learning how to create that kind of balance for myself, and I’ve realized how many women are quietly searching for the same thing.
The Nell Project is my way of sharing what I’ve learned and opening a conversation about how we can build aligned, sustainable lives together.
Professionally, I’ve worked across global media and advertising, partnering with leading brands such as Microsoft, Amazon, FedEx, JM Smucker Company and Sprint to name a few. I’ve led teams of hundreds, built strategies across continents, and discovered a deep passion for developing people and helping them thrive.
I’m a Certified Professional Coach and serve on the Board of Directors for Bideawee, where service and leadership intersect in a way that deeply aligns with my values.
My career has taken me around the globe, and in 2019 – at age 36 – I was honored to be named to AdAge’s 40 Under 40 list.
These experiences have shaped my perspective on balance, ambition, and what it means to build a life with intention. They’re the foundation behind why I share, teach, and coach here at The Nell Project.
