The TEDxAtlanta conference and year-round programming is fueled by four groups of amazing individuals: speakers, volunteers, attendees and partners. In our Partner Spotlight series, we invite you to meet the businesses that lending us either their time and expertise, or their financial support in service of furthering the mission of spreading ideas that spark curiosity, civil discourse and ultimately a more cohesive community.
In conversation with Claire Angelle, founder of Angelle Consulting.
What inspired you to start Angelle Consulting?
My journey into entrepreneurship was a leap of faith, born more out of necessity than a plan.
In 2018, after years of working in communications and international relations for the French Foreign Service and for the City of Atlanta, I accepted a role with a media group in New York. Just six weeks in, life took an unexpected turn — the company faced financial collapse, and the entire team, myself included, was laid off.
I registered an LLC overnight with the simple goal of staying afloat. To my surprise, Angelle Consulting was profitable from its very first month. What began as a temporary solution quickly evolved into something much bigger. I realized that my passion for amplifying meaningful stories aligned perfectly with the needs of purpose-driven leaders and organizations.
Entrepreneurship is not easy. What were some of your greatest challenges and triumphs?
A few years ago, my family faced a series of deeply personal hardships. In the span of six months, we lost my father-in-law to Covid-19, a colleague tragically passed in violent circumstances, we welcomed a family member struggling with mental health issues into our home, and we had to say goodbye to our beloved family dog. In the middle of it all, I had just hired my first full-time employee. It was chaotic, to say the least.
But challenges often breed innovation. We established clear processes at Angelle that allowed me to step back from the day-to-day operations far earlier than I anticipated. In turn, this freed me to focus on big-picture strategy and vision for the company. Although I was forced to cancel commitments and push deadlines, clients, friends, and family all met me with a level of compassion and understanding that I could have never expected. I ended up closer to many of the people around me than I had ever been before, and my business flourished despite the odds.
Tell us about Angelle. What makes it special?
At Angelle Consulting, our core values of care and connection, growth and progress, and transparency and accountability are the foundation of everything we do. We care deeply for each other, our clients, and the world around us, building genuine relationships and respecting boundaries. We believe in always learning and growing, not just for ourselves but to help our clients make a bigger impact. And we value being transparent and accountable, showing up as our authentic selves, communicating clearly, and owning our mistakes.
Today, in addition to client work, we provide pro-bono services to organizations we care deeply about including TEDxAtlanta and the Conscious Capitalism Atlanta Chapter. This dual approach allows us to promote two key aspects of our mission: the importance of storytelling (and sharing impactful stories) and a restorative alternative to traditional capitalism.
How would you describe the TEDxAtlanta partnership experience?
Partnering with TEDxAtlanta has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s given us the chance to connect with a community of changemakers and amplify ideas that truly matter.
The collaboration has sparked new relationships and reminds us why we do what we do. It’s more than just a partnership; it’s an opportunity to be part of something bigger.
The partnership has also created the opportunity to get team members more involved. My colleague Andie Orozco, is deeply involved — she helps place content for TEDxAtlanta speakers and pitches president and licensee Jacqui Chew for opportunities to share her insights more broadly. It’s been inspiring to see Andie take the lead and use her skills to support this collaboration. Her contributions not only strengthen our partnership but also reflect our team’s shared passion for spreading ideas that matter.
Are there specific goals you would like to achieve as part of the relationship?
For us, the most meaningful outcomes of our partnership with TEDxAtlanta aren’t just numbers — they’re about impact. We value the stories we can help share, the connections we foster, and the well-deserved recognition we can bring to TEDxAtlanta as a whole. Whether it’s through successful content placements or new collaborations that come out of this work, our goal is to amplify the voices that make a difference.
Join us at TEDxAtlanta 2025 and be part of the conversations shaping our collective future. This year’s event promises to amplify voices, share stories, and inspire action—aligning perfectly with the incredible work of partners like Angelle Consulting.
Final days to be part of this extraordinary experience before ticket prices increase on January 17, 2025. Buy your tickets today.
Learn more about the changemakers taking the stage at TEDxAtlanta.com.
Péralte Paul lives in the world of words, working to tell people’s stories as a communications professional at a prestigious university following a nearly 3-decade career as a print journalist.
As someone who enjoys experiencing new perspectives, meeting new people, trying new foods, Péralte enjoys traveling overseas by biking and hiking. He’s visited 25 countries, biked across 10 of them, and hiked the equivalent of 990 miles in one year — roughly the length of New Zealand’s North and South islands combined.
Péralte Paul: I knew about TEDx and saw some of the videos of different talks and was drawn to the concept of getting to hear from people from all walks of life encouraging us to think about something new or challenge our own paradigms about the what we accept to be true or how things ought to be. I went to a then-TEDxPeachtree event in the 2010s, but I had the serendipitous chance of working with Jacqui Chew (TEDxAtlanta Licensee and Curator)a few years ago. I was fortunate to have a front row seat into what makes it a unique experience and the philosophy behind the “ideas worth spreading” maxim.
PP: It’s hard to limit it to just one, but for me, as a person whose career is in telling stories and bringing new concepts to the forefront, I think working with the speakers and giving feedback as they refine their talks is what I enjoy the most because it’s an opportunity to not only learn something new and see things in a different way. Maybe even more impactful is that these talks stay with me long after the speaker has left the stage. They affect me to think and act. One other thing I would say is a favorite memory is opportunity to interact with volunteers who come from all walks of life an experiences, but all of course come together in a unified desire to share great ideas and findings with broad audiences.
PP: Committed would be first because, you have to be committed not just to your part in the process that leads to events throughout the year and the main conference, you have to commit to being fully engaged to ensure those depending on your contributions can succeed with their contributions. The second word is opportunity. I have met some of the most interesting people as fellow volunteers — some of whom I’m not sure I would have had the opportunity to meet had it not been for TEDx and our shared interest in exploring ideas that challenge and inspire us. Lastly, I would say fulfilling. It’s a lot of work and planning that go into TEDx events, but it is rewarding to see how one person’s talk can spark conversations and further exploration into what could be possible. For me it’s rewarding to see the speakers engaged in discussions with conference attendees who really connected with the talk and leaves me wondering how many will leave inspired to act and effect change in their corners of the world.
PP: We really are all volunteers. I think to see such a professional event be put together on such a large scale and the caliber of the talks presented, most would assume there’s a big-budget production entity behind it all. But it’s team of committed volunteers.
PP: “See How the Rest of the World Lives, Organized by Income,” by Anna Rosling Rönnlund. This talk is a fascinating exploration of what we consider home and normalcy through race, class, and economics via the visuals of housing, everyday activities, and cultural norms. It’s a critically moving presentation of the disparities from country to country and how economic class shapes the day of what we consider ‘standard.’
PP: From the different talks I’ve watched, I am often reminded of the things I’ve learned and an underlying realization that big, bold ideas, and new ways of thinking can be garnered anywhere and everywhere in the most unexpected of places. Joining TEDx has made me become more open to hearing perspectives that I might not necessarily agree with. I still might not agree, but I am more open to understanding the “how” and “why” behind their views.
PP: Without a doubt. The biggest thing is collaboration. In hey both teach me how to be a better leader to my own team [and] a better communicator. So, it does teach me a lot. Not only how to lead a team but also how to find the leaders within the team and help them grow and keep that loop going. We’re all helping each other. Building each other up to our full potential. That’s something that I’ve learned over the years and especially through TEDx.
PP: You get to have fun and work with volunteers and make great friends.
