Women's Code / Creative Entrepreneur Business Coaching

Beate Chelette's journey to founding her coaching business began with an unconventional exit. After building an image licensing company focused on architecture and interior photography, she stumbled upon a lucrative niche: celebrity homes. Because top architects and interior designers worked for celebrities, her portfolio naturally accumulated images of properties owned by Madonna, Francis Ford Coppola, Simon Baker, and Terry Hatcher. With her background as a photo editor at L Magazine in Germany, she knew exactly how to monetize this asset. The company became the industry leader in licensing celebrity photography into 76 countries.

When Bill Gates' Corbis—a separate business entity he owned outright (distinct from Microsoft)—was actively acquiring stock licensing companies, they recognized Beate's unique position. "We want to add that to our celebrity licensing business," they said. Her response was firm: "You can't have it unless you buy it." The company had generated approximately $1 million in revenue that year, all from pure licensing without owning the underlying assets. Gates' team paid what Beate describes as "a significant multiple" on gross revenue—high enough that it would allow her to never work again. The deal closed in 2006.

Sitting on beaches with umbrellas in hand initially seemed like the dream. But Beate, self-described as "too competitive," quickly realized the real opportunity: sharing her knowledge. As an immigrant, single mother, and creative entrepreneur who'd successfully sold to Bill Gates, she recognized there was minimal guidance available for women entrepreneurs. "Success comes with an incredible obligation to share the information with other people so others can do what you did," she explains. She launched her coaching business and women's empowerment brand, The Women's Code, focusing on balanced leadership and helping creative entrepreneurs scale.

Beate leveraged her experience with digital tools and audience-building. She started with Infusionsoft CRM, which she calls "the Mercedes Benz under the CRMs," and systematically built her email lists over several years. Her Creative Entrepreneur list grew to approximately 12,000 subscribers, while her women-focused list reached about 5,000—both highly targeted segments. She became very active on LinkedIn, building The Creative Entrepreneur Forum to 41,000 members. In September 2013, she published "Happy Women, Happy World," launching it in multiple formats (ebook, audiobook, paperback) with distribution primarily through her email lists. The book sold approximately 5,000 copies.

Today, Beate works with creative entrepreneurs through one-on-one mentoring, live events, and online courses. She's documented remarkable results: one client went from zero to six figures in just three months (July to October), while another is scaling a six-figure fashion styling business to seven figures. Her second major passion project is corporate training on gender diversity and balanced leadership—positioning gender equality as good for business. With speaking engagements from industry giants like Brendon Burchard, James Wedmore, Brian Tracy, and Lisa Sasevic informing her methodology, she's built a sustainable business around knowledge transfer and women's empowerment.