Chelsea Blackwell
Brand + Content Strategist / Designer / Founder of Honey & Co. Creative
Victoria, BC
www.honeyandcocreative.com
instagram @honeyandcocreative
pinterest
Q What do you do?
“I build emotional, strategic, soul-aligned brands for service providers who are ready to be seen clearly. I specialize in branding for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle businesses — from estheticians and pilates studios to interior designers and content creators.”
Through a mix of psychology, storytelling, and design, I craft full brand experiences:
Visual identity, messaging, websites, and content that actually resonate, with you, and the people you’re meant to serve.
The holistic branding work I do goes much deeper than just making things look good. It’s about building a brand that feels like you, connects with the right people, and makes it easier to sell your work with clarity and confidence.
In short, I help people stop blending in online — and start showing up in a way that feels effortless, aligned, and honest.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
In 2017, I booked a one-way flight to Bali after graduating with my bachelor’s and saving up from my serving job. I didn’t have a grand plan, just a gut feeling I had more in me. While living abroad, I stumbled across a design course and fell in love fast. Everything about the creative process just made sense to me. I built my first portfolio from a coworking space in Thailand, cold-pitched clients through DMs, and took every scrappy project I could to figure out what I was doing.
I built the foundation of my business overseas — and brought it back to Canada (along with two Bali rescue dogs) when Covid hit. That’s when things really took off. I started showing up, investing in support, and owning my perspective — which led me to dream clients, a sold-out mentorship program, and a brand positioning course I still get messages about.
Since then, I’ve worked with service providers across beauty, wellness, and lifestyle — helping them refine their messaging, reposition their offers, and build brands that feel aligned with who they are now (not who they were when they first started). I’ve developed a process that blends psychology, storytelling, and strategy in a way that actually feels human – not formulaic.
My background shaped all of this, but what matters most is how I use it now: To help people show up more clearly, confidently, and creatively in their business. Not just with a brand that looks good, but one that actually feels true to who they are.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I don’t approach branding as surface-level design work. For me, it’s about helping people feel seen — and creating a brand that reflects that clearly and intentionally.
What sets my work apart is the combination of strategy, storytelling, and psychology. I don’t chase what’s trending, or throw something together just because it looks “aesthetic.” I care about the why behind every decision — and how the brand makes you feel when you show up in it.
My focus isn’t on making you more ‘marketable.’ It’s on building a brand that’s actually aligned with who you are — your energy, your expertise, your perspective. Because when your brand is rooted in what’s real, it becomes so much easier to show up clearly, connect deeply, and sell with confidence.
Q What are you working on right now?
→ Updating my entire portfolio (yawn I know, but someone’s gotta do it)
→ Finishing up a branding project for Goldie — a sunless tanning studio that makes you feel like sunshine in a bottle
→ Supporting some local creatives with done-for-you content that actually sounds like them (and doesn’t make them want to throw their phone across the room)
→ And mapping out a new mini-series on branding and attachment styles (for the therapy girlies, the deep feelers, and anyone whose brand strategy feels more like a situationship than a secure relationship)
Q What’s your style?
I’m most drawn to brands that feel like little worlds you get to step into and experience as the consumer. More than pretty aesthetics, there needs to be something real holding it all together underneath – a feeling, point of view, a sense of who is behind it.
That’s what I’m always chasing in my work. I create brands that feel like home to the founder. Something they can show up inside of confidently. That reflects their energy, their values, and their vision, and feels like an extension of who they are, instead of feeling like they have to perform or pretend.
That’s where my Holistic Branding Method™ comes in. It blends strategy, story, and psychology to build brands that are both beautiful and rooted in who you are and how you want to be seen.
My design style lives somewhere between cozy and elevated. A little playful, but still thoughtful. I like things that feel grounded and expressive. Not too polished, not too chaotic — just true to the person behind them.
Coldwater Skin Bar is a great example of what it looks like when strategy and aesthetics come together. Isabelle came to me a couple of years into running her studio from home — ready to grow into a commercial space and call in more of her dream, high-end clients. We built a brand that felt like her vision: laid-back but elevated, intimate but professional. Think: effortlessly California cool. Within a month of launching, she raised her prices, booked out three months in advance, and signed the lease on her dream space.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Creative direction and content ideation — especially the kind that helps a brand “click” in the eyes of its audience. I love helping founders and creatives fully see what makes them unique — and helping them build a brand, site, and content system that reflect that is my zone of genius.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Visibility. I know my work is good, my systems are solid, and my offers are genuinely transformative for the people I work with.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t still struggle with being truly seen online — especially as a neurodivergent, anxious girlie who’s used to doing everything behind the scenes.
Letting myself take up space online isn’t easy. Even though I know it’s the thing that moves everything forward, it still lands at the bottom of my to-do list more often than I’d like to admit.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Posting to my Instagram stories – hands down!
I’m not much of a stories consumer myself, and as a neurodivergent girlie, my business runs on deep-focus work blocks. Jumping in and out to post updates completely pulls me out of flow — even though I know stories are one of the best tools for connection and sales.
If someone could just take what I’m already saying or creating and turn it into simple, story-sized updates, it would free up so much mental space.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
2020 me: Your sensitivity isn’t a liability… It's the reason people trust you. Stop trying to show up like someone who doesn’t feel things deeply – your honesty is magnetic.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Someone who understands branding and nervous system regulation. Because the way entrepreneurship drags up your inner child wounds is not for the faint of heart.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Dream clients in beauty, wellness, interiors, or lifestyle — especially the ones who want a brand that feels like a whole world.
I take clients from strategy to messaging to brand identity to website to a full content plan — all built to reflect who they are now, not who they used to be.
Content is a newer offer for me (as of 2025), but it’s honestly what I’m loving most right now. It’s incredibly rewarding helping clients figure out how to actually show up online — in a way that’s sustainable, true to their voice, and attracts the right people.
I’m also open to creative collaborations, podcast or speaking opportunities on branding, content, or identity — and rebrands for established businesses ready to step into their next chapter.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My favorite projects always start with something like: “I want my brand to actually feel like me — but I have no idea where to start.”
If you’re saying that, you’re probably not new to business. You’re good at what you do and you have a growing reputation as an expert. But now you’re craving a brand that reflects where you’re really at — and where you’re headed next.
You’re emotionally intelligent. Detail-oriented. Deeply human. You care about your work and the people you serve. You don’t want to just slap a trendy aesthetic overtop of your business – you want to build something that’s meaningful.
That’s exactly where I do my best work. I help you create a brand that feels like an extension of who you are — not something you have to perform or pretend your way into.
You bring the heart. I’ll help shape the world around it.
Q: What is your rate?
→ Brand intensives start at $4,400 CAD
→ Semi-custom websites start at $5,200 CAD
→ Done-with-you content strategy starts at $1,200 CAD/month
→ VIP design days start at $2,500 CAD/day
Payment plans are always available — typically in 2 to 4 installments, depending on the project. If you’re the right fit, we’ll find a way to make it work that feels doable for both of us.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Start by filling out the application form on my site or if we’re already mutuals — feel free to slide into my DMs on Instagram @honeyandcocreative.
I love a message that includes:
– A quick intro to you and your business
– What you’re hoping to create (or shift)
– Your timeline + comfort range for investment
– A good meme or an unhinged voice note — optional, but always appreciated
The more honest and specific, the better – no need to overthink it!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Georgia Johnson @georgiajohnstonphotography — she’s the BEST photographer and the mastermind behind many of my brand shoots over the years. She just gets it. Her eye for light, detail, and overall vibe is unreal, and she makes you feel so comfortable and confident on shoot days.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Walk the dogs. Romanticize patio season. Leave town for 48 hours and pretend like I’m the main character.
This member profile was originally published in April 2025.