We recently connected with Cheyenne Chanel and have shared our conversation below.
Cheyenne , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
That’s easy, a mix of genetics and tradition. If I could only go back to have dinner with my grandparents again; one a dreamer and a builder, the other a teacher and a keeper. Dinner was always at five after a days work in the summer sun; simple but necessary for unfolding basic life lessons.
Raised by a single mother, I learned the skills involved in maintaining many side hustles with the highest quality of service expected. But Summers were spent in the country with my grandparents. Life in the Rio Grand’s Hatch Valley, is never absent of fresh roasted green chile and a pack of Roberto’s flour tortillas on a dining, wood table.
Just a young couple who run away together to get married in Compton (cause that’s what Long Beach lovers did back then), built a life of peace over 50 years. My grandfather inspired us to dream big and wake up every day to complete one task towards the desire end goal. My grandmother emphasized education, developing tangible skills, and most importantly money management. She was the structured mindset behind all of my grandfathers big dreams. They took great pride in being self-sustaining, owning an “off grid” style property with their own small businesses and farm.
The type of people who truly believed the day they stopped working, would be the day they die. Their work ethic was a routine that was ingrained into my childhood, including the mindset of no days off. Sick days were unheard of unless you were physically bedridden. Everyone in the family filled a role in teamwork and daily survival.
I also say work ethic is genetic due to my dad’s personal story. He was an iron worker and leather craftsman. After having four kids, he was in a construction accident that left him greatly impaired, physically and mentally, after falling six stories. Even after his body healed, his mind and memory were severely damaged to the point he could not return to blue collar work. As a man who found his value and pride in his ability to care for his family, he ultimately took his own life.
I do believe experiencing this family tragedy at a young age, along with seeing my mom raise four kids and the influence of my grandparents lifestyle impacted the development my work ethic from a theme of survival. Ironically, I’m now an adult myself and become restless without a project to be working on, personal or business.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
In my daily life I am a Global Health Program Manager for a prestigious university, but my entrepreneurial pursuits are driven by my passions. I enjoy exploring the idea of turning my daily joys into a stream of income, and ultimately a collective lifestyle brand. I now describe myself as a series entrepreneur.
In 2020 my social media account began growing rapidly – along with the number of influencer focused collaboration opportunities. I was able to generate a consistent stream of monetary income thru modeling, music video bookings, influencer event offers, high profile YouTube appearances, and sponsored brand gifts by consistently posting and simply being myself. My alter ego, Cheyenne Chanel, emerged to establish the Instagram account @CheyenneAndOtherThings – serving as the epicenter of my entrepreneurial future as I shared my daily life and personality with the public for marketing purposes.
Over the past three years, my focus was on scaling Starlet, the Rolls-Royce inspired high-rise vacation rental to be listed across Airbnb, Vrbo, and Expedia.
At the beginning of Summer 2025 I focused my energy on expanding my small online clothing brand, taking Cheyenne Chanel, the pop-up to local street markets within Houston. Featured on the shelves at Pearland Town Center, Cheyenne Chanel achieved residency at the new all pink boutique, The Famous Market, in September 2025.
Reflecting my personal and professional style – the clothing retail, sustainable resale, and custom designer brand will cater to women who appreciate luxury taste, lasting quality, and the emboldening experience of Dopamine Dressing. Created through soft touches of cherry blossoms, sheer lace, and pink pearls – the store front environment is aimed at creating a dreamy ambience with high attention to detail.
The next project to launch will be Cheyenne’s Country Kitchen, serving authentic New Mexican food. The menu has been developed to include New Mexico staples like green chili, pecans, Indian fry bread, and pan style enchiladas.
I love to start my days by walking to buy a coffee and enjoying fresh early morning air with my dogs. As much as I love caring for and spending time with my Yorkies, it just made sense to allow them to breed naturally. As a niche within the dog breeding realm, my focus is to provide a standard of care and high quality of daily life to my personal pets, to foster the development of high-quality pups. Named after the dog breed’s big personality, Cheyenne & Fido’s Yorkie Fight Club, is the Yorkshire Terrier breeding kennel created under my canine focused business portfolio.
Being a caretaker for the feisty and bold, yet irresistibly cute dog breed – raised my own awareness of the personal joy I gained from exercising a softer, more nurturing side of my femininity. I learned how much I enjoyed providing a safe, welcoming, and stable environment to foster happiness in others – including my fuzzy companions. The next kennel to be launching out of Cheyenne & Fido is the Black Billionaire’s Club, specializing in pedigree quality-of-life breeding of Giant Schnauzers. Ironically, the breed was recently awarded the 2025 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show’s Best in Show title.
But yeah… serial entrepreneur lol.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
QUALITIES: Passion, Vision, Persistence SKILLS: Creativity, Resilience, Strategic Planning
AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE: Communication, Branding and Marketing, Financial Management
ADVICE:
Just get through the launch, it is such a vital time to identify what’s working and what is not at a high rate. Be patient with yourself as you are building a plane as you flight it. Once the plane levels out, you can breath again. The plane is any new business.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I have found my internal fire reignited several times with the reading of The Inner Level by by Kate Pickett and Richard G. Wilkinson. ‘Till the day I die, I will recommend this book to everyone I meet – because knowledge is one of the greatest gift you can give another.
Having a 60-year old supervisor that vacationed to Burning Man every year and wind surfed on the tops of planes taught me that life wasn’t meant to slow down at 28. At the time I first read the book, my skydiving, senior citizen supervisor (of all people) reflected in human form the books messaging.
The book argues that greater income equality in societies leads to reduced stress, improved mental health, and higher overall well-being for everyone. The book presents evidence that increased inequality heightens status anxiety, leading to psychological effects like low self-esteem, depression, and narcissism, while also weakening social bonds and community life.
Wilkinson and Pickett propose that societies built on equality, sharing, and reciprocity foster greater well-being and offer a path toward achieving these benefits. Being part Native, I deeply appreciated the books positive reference to styles of leadership and governance in historical and current tribal societies.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Cheyenneandotherthings.com
- Instagram: Cheyenneandotherthings
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