Meet Chandra Donelson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chandra Donelson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Chandra , so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

Writer’s block doesn’t knock politely. It barges in, usually when I’m facing a pressing deadline and a to-do list that stretches for miles.

For years, I fought this intrusion with sheer force. I would chain myself to the desk, stare down the relentless blink of the cursor, and delude myself into believing that if I simply stayed busy, the good words would eventually arrive. They rarely did. The output was stiff, joyless, and unusable.

Now, I understand a fundamental truth: Creativity doesn’t send an meeting invite.

My actual flow state is far less professional. It often materializes at midnight, once the house is finally silent. I’m cross-legged on a beanbag chair, wearing an oversized hoodie, free socks from a tech conference, music is blasting through my headphones, and a late-night snack (Rico’s cheese sauce) might be simmering in the microwave. This is my zone. It’s not neat. It’s definitely not Pinterest-worthy. But it is where the magic happens.

When the mental gears grind to a halt, I no longer try to force the engine. I deliberately step away and live a little. I’ll watch my son meticulously construct a Lego set, sink into a long phone call with a friend, or binge watch something on Netflix. And somewhere between the genuine laughter and the comfortable mess, the “perfect phrase” finds its way back.

That is the ultimate trick. Inspiration is not generated by pushing harder but when we give ourselves permission to look away, to recharge (8 hours of sleep) and to write on our own fiercely unique terms.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My professional life is inherently multi-dimensional, a space where public service meets creativity and entrepreneurship. At the core, I am driven by the belief that the seemingly disparate worlds of advanced technology, military strategy, and childhood curiosity are deeply connected—but they are all underpinned by my own hard-won system for personal reinvention.

Professionally, I serve as the Chief Data and AI Officer for the Space Force, a role that places me at the intersection of national defense and cutting-edge innovation. What I find most exciting is the opportunity to shape how the Space Force leverages data and artificial intelligence to secure the ultimate high ground. We are building the foundational architecture for the future, ensuring our Guardians are equipped to make decisions with speed and precision.

Simultaneously, I am an author and entrepreneur. I write the “Data Detective” children’s book series, a passion project born from the desire to make the abstract world of data literacy fun and accessible for the next generation. As a mother, I recognize that critical thinking and information assessment are crucial life skills, empowering children to become intelligent participants in a data-saturated world.

The Story That Fueled Me
What truly defines my drive is a story of catastrophic loss and subsequent triumph. In 2016, I was suddenly forced to rebuild my life from scratch, having lost virtually everything I had worked for, all while navigating the demanding years of new motherhood. This was not just a setback; it was a crisis that demanded complete self-reconstruction.

Over the past few years, I didn’t just rebuild; I engineered a complete turnaround. I discovered how to reinvent myself, defy the odds, and create powerful career momentum by applying principles of strategic thinking and disciplined focus.

Today, I’ve taken the exact principles and methodologies I used to transform my own life and career and turned them into a structured program. I now coach and teach others how to implement their own blueprints for post-traumatic growth, career defiance, and lasting resilience.

My brand is defined by this principle: whether you are navigating the complexities of space defense or explaining algorithms to a five-year-old, true success is built on internal clarity, relentless forward motion, and the ability to turn deep loss into significant leverage.

What is Next
I am currently expanding the “Data Detective” series with a new book focusing on machine learning for young readers. More importantly, I am dedicating a significant portion of my time to my coaching practice, specifically on how to engineer your own career comeback and build true multi-dimensional influence.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back at how I had to rebuild my life from the bottom up, three main things helped me most. These are secrets that anyone can use to change their life or career.

1. Radical Honesty
Reinvention begins not with a new plan, but with an honest assessment of the present. Radical Honesty is the courageous ability to look at your current situation (your strengths, your weaknesses, and your failures, etc.) and acknowledge the objective truth, without assigning blame or filtering it through emotion. For me, this meant accepting the reality of the 2016 loss and admitting what past strategies needed to be permanently discarded. This quality removes inertia and creates the foundation for a truly optimized future.

2. The Power of Intentional Pauses (The Skill)
When faced with chaos or burnout, the natural impulse is to push harder, move faster, and “fix” the problem immediately. This often leads to poor decisions and exhaustion. The most impactful skill I developed was The Power of Intentional Pauses: the ability to deliberately stop, step back, and create space between the stressful trigger and my ultimate response. As a mom and an executive, I learned that creativity and clarity rarely show up under duress; they show up when you give your brain the space to process.

3. The Intersecting Advantage (The Area of Knowledge)
Reinvention isn’t about becoming someone new; it’s about leveraging who you already are in an unexpected context. I call this finding your Intersecting Advantage. Instead of competing head-to-head in one narrow field, you combine two seemingly unrelated skills or passions to create a unique value proposition only you possess (e.g., National Security Data Expertise + Children’s Literacy). This is how you shift from being a commodity to being an irreplaceable leader.

How would you describe your ideal client?

I am looking for the person who is ready to go from telling me what happened to them to deciding what’s going to happen next.

My ideal client isn’t someone who needs to be fixed. They are someone who needs to be launched.

The Three Non-Negotiable Qualities of My Client:
1. They Are Done with the Drama.
They are the high-achiever, the executive, the parent, or the entrepreneur who has had a gut-punch moment: the layoff, the failure, the emotional rock bottom. They are done blaming the economy, their ex, or their history. They are ready for Radical Honesty and know that the story of their pain is now the raw material for their power. They are ready to trade victim energy for leverage.

2. They Demand More than being Placed into a Box.
They have fire in more than one place. You feel trapped trying to be just a C-suite executive, or just a parent, or just an author. You look at your own life and know you are built for multi-dimensional influence. You don’t want “balance;” you want a system that lets you dominate in the boardroom, inspire your kids, and run your coaching business all on your own terms. You need the Intersecting Advantage plan, and you’re ready to build it.

3. They Take the Five-Second Leap.
My client doesn’t wait for permission or motivation. They understand that confidence is an action, not a feeling. They are sick of analysis paralysis. When I give them the Intentional Pause method or the Blueprint for Comeback, they are the person who counts 5-4-3-2-1 and implements the change today. They are ready to move from knowing they should change to executing the how.

If you hear this and your gut says, “That’s me. I’m done being stuck,” then you are my ideal client. You already have the potential. I just give you the system and the strategy to turn your setbacks into your biggest, most audacious success story yet.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chandra_donelson/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandradonelson/
• Other: [email protected]