BACON MAGAZINE
Attorney Chanae L. Wood Grew Envision Me From a Community Center Into a Conference

The South Florida attorney transformed a half-day women’s program into a three-day conference, and she built it without stepping away from the law. Photography by Orphée Okito.

Chanae L. Wood, Esq. has spent her career showing that ambition does not have to choose a single lane. She became one of the youngest partners at her South Florida law firm and made history as the first Black attorney to serve as lead municipal attorney for a municipality in southeastern Miami-Dade County. Alongside that career, she built Envision Me, a women’s conference that has grown from a half-day community program into a three-day experience in Aventura. It returns January 22 through 24, 2027, under the theme Envision Joy.

From Overtown to Aventura

The story begins in a community center in the heart of Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. In November 2023, Wood partnered with the local nonprofit Girl Power Rocks to produce a community event. It was so well received that the organization invited her back to develop another program that January. “I remember wondering how I was going to turn around and create something completely new in such a short amount of time,” she says. She credits Ms. Thema and the Girl Power Rocks organization for believing in her and giving her that opportunity.

That January, Envision Me debuted as a half-day program designed to explore everything from health and entrepreneurship to personal development. Almost immediately, Wood saw there was not enough time for all the conversations women wanted to have. “Women shouldn’t have to compartmentalize themselves,” she says. She set out to create a space that recognized every dimension of a woman’s life, and the response carried the program to a conference in downtown Fort Lauderdale and then to its current three-day home in Aventura. Wood formalized the mission through the Envision Me Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for women’s personal and professional growth. Her company, ROM8, continues to play a role in producing the conference.

“The most meaningful measure of Envision Me’s growth is the attendee experience and what happens after women leave the room.”

Chanae L. Wood

The Business of a Bigger Room

Wood runs Envision Me with a founder’s eye on the fundamentals. “As an entrepreneur, I’m naturally inclined to measure growth through numbers, whether that’s attendance, sponsorships, or revenue,” she says. “Those things matter, particularly when you’re building something sustainable.” She also measures growth by whether women apply the tools they receive and make meaningful changes in their lives, businesses and communities.

The 2027 theme, Envision Joy, builds on that mission. “Women are often celebrated for how much they accomplish, manage, and overcome,” she says. “But I want us to also consider whether we’re genuinely enjoying the lives we’re working so hard to build.”

Partner by Day, Founder by Design

Building a conference while practicing law led Wood to rethink balance entirely. For a long time, she believed success meant giving every part of her life equal attention, until she realized she was measuring herself against something unrealistic. “What I’ve learned to pursue instead is alignment,” she says. Some seasons her legal career demands more of her. Other seasons belong to preparing for Envision Me, launching a product or growing ROM8, and she prioritizes and delegates accordingly. “Some days, I may only have 60% to give,” she says. “But if that’s genuinely all I have available that day, then I’ve given 100% of what I had.”

That clarity keeps both careers thriving. “I genuinely love practicing law, and I’m proud of the career I’ve built,” she says. “I don’t see entrepreneurship as something I have to pursue at the expense of that career.”

A Glossy New Chapter

Wood’s newest venture, ROM8 Beauty, draws on a passion that began in college, when she started experimenting with makeup. She went on to become a makeup artist and continued doing makeup throughout law school. The brand starts with lip products. “If you asked me to choose one beauty product I could use for the rest of my life, it would probably be something for my lips,” she says. She is candid that the line is in its early stages. Developing it has shown her how many decisions go into a product that seems simple, from formulation and packaging to the applicator, presentation and customer experience. “The same woman preparing for a corporate presentation or attending a leadership workshop may also want a beautiful lip gloss to wear into that room,” she says.

Her social media community of about 66,000 has opened doors to speaking engagements, business relationships, customers and conference attendees. “If I walked into a room filled with 66,000 people,” she says, “would I ever question whether that was a lot of people?”

Build at Your Own Pace

For women who want to start a business without leaving their careers, Wood’s advice is to start where they are, with the resources and time they have available, and give themselves permission to evolve. “You can spend so much time worrying about getting everything exactly right, the logo, the website, the business model, only to realize you’re probably going to reinvent half of those things anyway,” she says. She also encourages women not to underestimate the skills, discipline, relationships and experiences they have gained in their careers.

“You don’t have to abandon something you’ve worked hard to build simply because you feel called to create something new.”

Chanae L. Wood