Conversations with Chanelle Burt

Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, I graduated from Morgan State University with an Electrical Engineering degree and designed missiles for the military.  While I enjoyed my career, I was always open to other opportunities to earn extra income to help support my mom who at the time was the caregiver for my grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s.

As an only child of a cosmetologist, I recognized early on that it was very possible that I would have to help out financially, so I started a part-time business in the Direct Selling Industry, also known as Network/Multilevel Marketing. I started matching my income as an engineer within 18 months and after 11.5 years, I became the 1st and only Black woman to achieve Senior Vice President status alongside my husband who is also a Senior Vice President.

Throughout my journey, I’ve spoken in front of thousands of people but often wondered how I could help amplify the stories of other women, who may not have the same accomplishments yet had a story that needed to be heard! Stories that many others could relate to which would Empower, Encourage, and Equip more women to rise through the ranks of the company. For 4 years, on every Wednesday night, I hosted a Women Winning Wednesday Call to share the stories of women who were successful in their own right and to offer tips and strategies to help more women win!

In Feb. 2022, during a self-care weekend in Atlanta, God spoke to me and gave me a vision of amplifying the stories of women in various industries outside of my company to help more women thrive without having to figure out everything on their own. After starting interview-style calls on Facebook Live for a few months, our W3 Talk show was born!

While Who’s That Girl? ™️ is our main service of The W3 Network, we also have a podcast coming soon and we curate live and virtual events to Connect, collaborate with, and celebrate the achievements of Women whose names the world may not know yet…until NOW!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
NO! Not at all. This is all new to me. I consider this being in the media/entertainment industry, while at the same time, it’s a women empowerment network! I do not know how to produce an actual show and have gone through/still going through growing pains. Understanding that the team is the most important, one of the struggles was aligning myself with those who believed in MY vision, not what their vision was for what I knew God was telling me to create.

As a black woman, I’ve been questioned why my show is not geared toward only black women. Well, for the last 17 years, I’ve been in a very diverse environment while building my other business, so for me, there was no way that I could be exclusive of any other races, religions, or backgrounds. I know and believe from experience, that there are women who aren’t black that have resources and information that can help all of us achieve the goals that we set for ourselves and our communities and are willing to share.

So, although I’m a Black woman, married to a Black man, daughter of Black parents, and a mother to Black children, I wanted to create an inclusive network of ALL women winning in their respective fields! God outdid himself when he created WOMEN and there’s a lot that can be learned from us all!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
There are two aspects of me! As a Senior Vice President, I’m a marketing arm for the largest direct seller of telecom, energy, and healthcare helping individuals, families, and small business owners reduce monthly expenses. I also provide opportunities for business professionals to capitalize on business trends within trillion-dollar industries.

Now, as the Founder of The W3 Network, we focus on connecting, collaborating with, and celebrating the achievements of Women whose names the world may not know yet. I’m very proud of the connections that have been formed thus far. One of the events that we host once a month is a Wine Down Wednesday Call and there have been collaborations formed for different events including speaking engagements with our attendees.

We believe in collaboration over competition, so these moments make me feel very proud. What sets our show apart from others for sure, is that it not only showcases women who we may have never heard of, but we film at their place of business (if they’re a business owner) instead of having the show hosted in a studio. You get the feel for what they do since we’re in their environment!