Chelli Johnson
Creative Operations Manager
Creator of Scarlet Rose West® & Owner of Creative Business Studio®
scarletrosewest.com
Instagram: @scarletrosewest
Q What do you do?
“Chelli gives you space to create. With over a decade in business operations, Chelli empowers creatives to flow in their zone of genius.”
Creative Business Studio® specializes in business operations for creatives. Chelli takes care of people, projects, and processes with precision — so creatives scale smoothly and grow gracefully without compromising the artistry or the creator.
Chelli protects your creativity by taking operational weight off your shoulders. She keeps you out of day-to-day operations, client management, admin work, and constant context switching — so projects don’t slip, clients have an unforgettable experience, and you stay in creative flow.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
Chelli’s approach comes from over a decade of living inside creative businesses — working from graphic & web designer → copywriting & marketing strategist → creative operations director.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
Chelli understands how creatives operate: the non-linear timelines, the subjective decisions, the invisible labor, the emotional weight creatives carry. She holds that with systems, coordination, delivery, and clean execution that protects the work and the people making it.
Q What are you working on right now?
Currently, Chelli serves as the Head of Creative Operations for creative studios!
Q What’s your style?
Chelli loves devoting to creative founders as their right-hand operations director and vessel for their vision. ✨ She’s the Quincy Jones to your Michael Jackson.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Chelli enjoys managing projects, systems, clients and teams!
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” — Lao Tzu
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
― Bruce Lee
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
If you’re looking for your right hand woman and Head of Creative Operations, you’ve found your unicorn!
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Chelli runs operations for creatives who are overworked and overwhelmed managing everything alone. ❤️
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Inquire with Chelli the best day of your life!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
100% chance I’ll never shut up about Quincy Jones.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Naps on naps on naps 😴 Hey, that's Leonardo DiVinci did. 😉 I'm about that nap life too! 💤