THE BIG CHILL

WHEN ATLANTA-BASED CBD entrepreneurs Danielle (“Dani”) Gray (on left) and Brandé Elise met nearly four years ago, it was strictly business. Elise, a voiceover artist and red carpet event correspondent, explains that she first connected with Gray, a marketing expert who worked with a roster of high-profile clients, simply to help give her career a boost. But it wasn’t long before chemistry took over.

“At the time, I was just trying to get my brand,” recalls Elise with a laugh. “Voiceover work is what I do mainly, and I needed help marketing myself…. This was before I had an agent and was just trying to figure some things out, and she was really helpful—but I didn’t expect that it would turn into anything else! It was kind of cool—it was like, . I was like, ‘Yeah, thank you!’”