Before Nealy Glenn opened The Cordelle nine years ago, she was an actress and writer. She attended the prestigious NYU graduate school for acting and continued to pursue her craft between Los Angeles and NYC for over twenty years. Nealy and her former husband had a successful partnership resulting in the sales of their man-on-the-run thriller THE MISTAKEN to Sony and a dark drama SLIPKNOT to Relativity Media. Occupant Films optioned the rights to their political thriller THE JACKALOPE. Through their collaboration, they were involved in navigating the complexities of the film industry: dealing with major film studios, managers, agents, and lawyers, along with marketing. Little did Nealy know, this was all training for when she became an entrepreneur.
She also produced, wrote, directed, and acted in a short film THE PASTOR’S WIFE. This experience, combined with her success as a photographer, has been instrumental in developing a creative marketing strategy for the two businesses The Cordelle and Saint Elle. Her photos can be seen at Photographer’s Gallery in Los Angeles and at the prominent Beverly Hills Design firm, Buckingham Interiors.
Her knowledge of the film business, from creating and producing to marketing, combined with accomplishments as an artist, has been crucial in the development and success of design and development of The Cordelle.
From Nealy:
“Never did I think my path would cross over into business. Yet when my two friends from college said, ‘Do you want to move to Nashville and buy an old busted up building and turn it into a venue?’ I said, ‘SURE!’ We were all artists: my business partners were musicians, and I was an actress/writer. However, being an entrepreneur, oddly came fairly easy to me due to my family’s long line of entrepreneurial endeavors. Being an entrepreneur was in my blood. However, we all had a lot to learn.”
Throughout the process of construction at The Cordelle, Nealy oversaw budgets, grants, accounting, and communication with the architects and contractors. The Cordelle opened on May 15th, 2014, with 37 events booked before opening. At that point, the business was so successful and busy, the team needed to know more. Therefore, through Pathway Lending’s advising, Nealy attended the 10,000 Small Business Program at Babson College.
Through attaining education from the 10,000 Small Businesses at Babson College and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Preflight in 2018, Nealy was empowered to create change and to empower her team to focus on the fundamentals of business: Finance, Marketing, Research and Development, and Strategic “Big Picture” Thinking. The in-depth study into these topics has been invaluable as their team opened The Saint Elle, which caters to larger events.
Nealy is passionate about helping creatives learn how to do business because this has been her journey. She would love to have the opportunity to inspire others and tell her story.
