Meet Courtney Adele | Actress & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Courtney Adele and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Courtney, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When it came to starting Lesecrete, I was on a hiatus with my acting career but I still was trying to find my niche within the entrepreneurship world. I majored in business my first year of college but changed my major over to Theatre Arts being that acting was my first love. I had developed a lashing and hair business my sophomore year of college by literally sacrificing my sleep doing hours of research on starting a business while also working the nightlife and going to class during the day. I created my website, business cards, flyers, creative content, as well as promoted myself. After a while, I kinda lost interest in that specific area of business and decided to wrap it up, of course, I still had customers that would still reach out to me for services but eventually, it died away. Fast-forward, a year later, me and my former friend who turned into a business partner would always talk about ways we can make money but also something that would relate to femininity. One day we were just sitting in my garage, talking and my business partner mentioned we should start a lingerie business so I thought of adding adult toys as well because why not? We thought of lingerie and adult toys being a secret to a woman’s sexuality and came up with “The Secret” in French which is “Le’ Secrete”. We came up with the slogan “Where Pleasure meets the Secret” meaning that our brand is where pleasure (adult toys) meets the secret to your body and sexiness that lies beneath (lingerie). We wanted women to feel comfortable with their sex life no matter what shape or size and the rest is history. I used everything I learned from my former businesses and fully put my all into Le’ Secrete at the time. After all the hard work and success of the brand, unfortunately, my business partner and I went our separate ways. Recently I decided to focus mainly on my acting brand, eventually, I will dive back into entrepreneurship. Next time, it will revolve around something I am solely passionate about and of course with a team to take a lot of stress away.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Since I was a little girl, I was told that I was always a performer. I would sing loud, make different voices of characters, dress up, and even mastered to “fake cry” haha., to get my way of course! I always knew that there was something special about me and that I wasn’t a regular person made up in corporate America. In 5th grade, I played a broom in my very first stage production and was chosen to cover the weather channel for the local news out of the entire school. In 7th grade, my mom enrolled me in acting classes and I continued to attend those classes up until 11th grade. In high school, I joined theater and got to witness the standing ovation of a crowd when playing ‘Effie” in my school replica of the play “Dreamgirls” and till this day that’s when I knew for sure that acting was a career I wanted to pursue. Fast-forward to college, I majored in Theatre Arts and knew that this is what I want to do the rest of my life. Of course, it wasn’t easy…I struggled with depression, heartbreak, losing faith, and let the devil trick me into thinking maybe this career wasn’t for me. Unfortunately, every time I would separate from acting, it was always something that would bring me back to it whether it was someone reaching out to me for a role in their short film/web series or simply me being prophesied in church about my career that no one else in that room knew about. As an adolescent, I was weaker in my faith than I am today. No matter what obstacle I came across, I always prayed, and as crazy as it may sound to people who aren’t faithful in prayer, God will always open up doors for me. I mean I’ve had some mind-blowing things happen in my life that only God could do. I’ve learned to stay strong in faith and that whatever is for you, IS FOR YOU! God will make room for you in rooms you were told were filled up! I learned that everyone is not meant to be a part of your journey and that is completely okay. You have to learn detachment and realize that everyone and everything has a season and reason for your life. I also learned that manifestation is real and that you can create the life you want. Meditate, pray, write down your goals and look at them every day. Do your part and the universe will do the rest. Of course, the first step is stepping out on faith. I just recently stepped out on faith to move to Atlanta and in only 3 months I have booked a numerous amount of independent films. I will also be playing a series regular named Tiana in a web-series called “Dirty” coming soon. I want the world to know that this is only the beginning for me and through all those years of building my craft, I am finally putting it into use without feeling doubtful but with strong faith and optimism this time around.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve just recently moved back to Atlanta about two months ago and I’ve definitely checked out some great spots since my college days here. I am from New Orleans where we have the best-seasoned food and if you want to get as close to that as possible there is a spot in Buckhead called “Louisiana Bistreaux Seafood Kitchen” and when I tell you…Their gumbo and fried fish are off the chain! Like no lie, the food is so good! I like more of a laidback spot where people are having fun but not over the top so on Sundays, my favorite spot for brunch is at “Vision’s Lounge”. They have R&B brunch vibes on the rooftop as well as hookah and you can purchase a bottle of champagne for $30 with your choice of juice which is a great way to end the weekend day drunk with your girls or guy. Also, visit the downstairs bar and ask for “Tehya” she makes the best drinks and has the best service ever! As far as nightlife, my favorite club/lounge is Traffik in downtown ATL. They have a really good selection of music and food. The service and vibe there is really upscale but also humbling to make you feel catered to and wanting to come back. I am still learning the city and where all the hotspots are but be sure to follow me on Instagram where I usually post the vibes and places I purchase really great food from.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely would like to dedicate my shoutout to my mother and grandmother. They have supported everything I’ve ever done no matter how little or big it was. My mom spent thousands of dollars on acting classes, competitions, and headshots during my high school years to support my acting career, and although I kept losing faith she still supported and pushed me to move forward. My grandma taught me to take risks! That probably is the best advice I’ve ever gotten because if I didn’t take the many risks in life that I have taken, I wouldn’t be this optimistic, god-fearing person I am today. I also want to think the motivational speaker, Eric Thomas. During all those days that I felt like I wasn’t trying hard enough, I would play one of his videos on YouTube about turning your dreams into a reality and would feel this fierceness take over me. Now today, I feel unstoppable.

Website: www.courtneyadeleacting.com

Instagram: realcourtneyadele

Facebook: Courtney Adele

Social Media: @lesecrete (business page)

Image Credits
Brittany Smith, Chris Foster, Nelson Cosey, Josh (Four13 Photography)