We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Victoria Celeste. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Victoria below.

Victoria , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

One of the most meaningful risks I’ve taken in my career was choosing to step fully into the coaching work that had been unfolding in my life for years.

For a long time, I was doing the work without necessarily calling it coaching. Through my leadership roles, consulting work, and even through my background in fashion and image consulting, people would come to me for guidance. Not just about careers, but about life decisions, purpose, identity, and navigating seasons of transition.

I started to notice a pattern. The conversations were deeper than strategy. People were searching for clarity… alignment… direction.

And I realized that what I was naturally doing for people was part of something much bigger. The risk came when I decided to step out and formalize that work.

At the time, I was already established in my corporate career. Stepping into coaching meant putting my voice, perspective, and experiences into the world in a much more visible way. It meant building frameworks, writing books, launching programs, and creating spaces where people could do the deeper work of understanding who they are and where they’re being called to go.

And like many meaningful risks, there was no guarantee of how it would unfold.

Over time, that work grew. The coaching became more structured. I developed frameworks around alignment, purpose, leadership, and helping people bridge the gap between where they are and where they’re meant to be.

But recently, there’s been another shift.

Over the past season, I’ve experienced what I can only describe as a deeper move of God in my life -one that has refined the work even further.

What began as leadership and purpose coaching has been evolving into something more spiritually grounded. God has been revealing a clearer framework around alignment, obedience, clarity of calling, and the courage it takes to walk in the direction you’re being led.

And that required another level of risk.

Because it meant being even more honest about the foundation of the work -that this isn’t just about strategy or success.

It’s about helping people come into alignment with who they were created to be. God-led work.

Looking back, the risk wasn’t just launching the coaching work. The real risk was saying yes to the evolution of it. Yes, to Ministry.

And what I’ve learned through that process is that when you follow the path you’re being called to walk, even when it requires courage -the impact of the work becomes far greater than anything you could have planned on your own.

That’s the journey I’m still walking today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Victoria Celeste, and at the core of everything I do is a deep commitment to helping people live aligned with who they were created to be.

Professionally, I wear a few different hats. I’m a corporate leader, entrepreneur, certified life and business coach, author, and the founder of 19th & Bell Lifestyle Consulting, a coaching and consulting practice focused on purpose, leadership, and life alignment. I’m also the CEO of Proper Men’s Skincare, a luxury men’s grooming brand, and Celeste Noir Interiors, a design-focused venture rooted in elevated lifestyle aesthetics.

But at the heart of all of it, my work centers around one thing: helping people bridge the gap between where they are and where they know they’re meant to be.

My journey into coaching and consulting didn’t start as a business plan-it started organically. Throughout my career in leadership and consulting, people naturally came to me for guidance. Sometimes it was about career direction, sometimes leadership challenges, and many times it was about something deeper-clarity, identity, purpose, and navigating seasons of transition.

Over time, I realized that what I was doing in those conversations was more than mentorship. It was coaching.

That realization led me to pursue formal training in life and business coaching, and eventually to build 19th & Bell, where I work with individuals and leaders who want to move forward with greater clarity, alignment, and confidence.

Through my coaching work, I provide frameworks, coaching programs, and thought leadership that help people identify what may be holding them back, clarify their purpose, and create intentional strategies for moving forward. My work often sits at the intersection of leadership development, personal growth, and faith-driven alignment.

The problems I help people solve are often the ones that don’t show up neatly on a résumé. Many of the people I work with are accomplished and capable, yet they feel stuck, misaligned, or uncertain about their next step. My role is to help them reconnect with their purpose, remove internal barriers, and step forward with clarity and conviction.

What sets my work apart is that I approach coaching holistically. It’s not just about goals or productivity-it’s about alignment. Alignment with values, calling, and identity. When those things come into focus, everything else begins to move differently.

Recently, my work has been evolving even further as I’ve experienced what I would describe as a deeper move of God in my life. While my coaching has always been rooted in purpose and personal transformation, this season has brought greater clarity around the spiritual foundation of the work I do. I’ve been developing frameworks that integrate leadership, purpose, and faith more intentionally, helping people not only succeed professionally but truly understand who they are and what they’re called to do.

When people engage with my work-whether through coaching, writing, or speaking-they often leave with something they didn’t have before: clarity, courage, and direction.

Out of everything I’ve accomplished professionally, what I’m most proud of isn’t a title or a business milestone.

I’m most proud of my relationship with God and with Jesus. My faith is the foundation of my life and the source of the guidance and strength that shapes everything I do.

I’m also incredibly proud of the fruit I see in my family-my children, my marriage, and the legacy we’re building together.

And beyond that, one of the greatest honors of my life is seeing the impact of the work God allows me to do through others. When someone tells me their life shifted, that they gained clarity, stepped into purpose, or found the courage to move forward-that’s the part that matters most to me.

For anyone who is encountering my work for the first time, the most important thing to know is that everything I do is rooted in helping people live with intention and alignment.

You don’t have to stay stuck.
You don’t have to wonder if there’s more.

Often, the clarity you’re searching for is closer than you think-you just need the right perspective and the courage to take the next step.

And that’s the work I’m honored to do.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience has been a defining thread throughout my life.

One of the most pivotal seasons that shaped me began when I made the difficult decision to leave an abusive marriage shortly after my son was born. That decision required tremendous courage because it meant walking away from the life I had known and stepping into complete uncertainty. In many ways, it felt like I lost everything, my stability, my home, and the future I thought I was building. I was raising my son while trying to rebuild my life.

Not long after that, I experienced a series of losses that deeply impacted me. I lost my aunt in a car accident, then my mother- to cancer, followed by my best friend. Those losses happened across seasons that already required so much strength. There were moments when the weight of grief, responsibility, and uncertainty could have easily caused me to stop moving forward.

But even in those moments, my faith anchored me.

I held onto the belief that God had a purpose for my life and that the pain I was walking through would not be in vain. Instead of allowing those experiences to define my future, I made the decision to keep moving forward-one step at a time.

I poured myself into my relationship with God and rebuilding. I pursued education, developed my career, and remained focused on creating a stable and meaningful life. Over time, that perseverance opened doors I could never have imagined from love finding me again, leadership roles in my career to writing books, and coaching others who are navigating their own journeys.

Looking back, those seasons of hardship became the foundation of my resilience. They strengthened my faith, deepened my compassion, and shaped the perspective I carry into everything I do today.

I often say that my pain was never meant to be in vain. Every challenge and loss helped shape the person I am today and prepared me for the work I now do-helping others find clarity, rebuild confidence, and step into the purpose that God has for their lives.

Resilience, for me, isn’t just about surviving difficult seasons. It’s about continuing to move forward with faith, trusting that even our hardest chapters can become part of a much greater journey, purpose, and call.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn was the belief that strength meant carrying everything on my own.

For a long time in my life, resilience meant pushing forward no matter what. I developed a mindset that survival required constant strength, constant movement, and figuring everything out by myself.

In many ways, that mindset helped me rebuild. On the outside, it looked like perseverance and success. But over time I realized that the deeper lesson God was teaching me was different.

I had to unlearn the idea that everything depended on my effort alone.

There came a point in my journey where I recognized that striving, controlling outcomes, and carrying every responsibility myself was not the life God intended for me. Faith requires trust, surrender, and the willingness to allow God to lead, even when the path isn’t fully clear.

That shift changed everything for me.

Instead of striving to force outcomes, I began focusing on alignment-seeking clarity about what God was actually calling me to do and allowing Him to guide the process. That change didn’t make me less driven; it made my work more intentional and more impactful.

It’s also shaped the coaching work I do today. Many of the people I work with are capable, accomplished individuals who are used to relying on their own strength. One of the most transformative things I help them discover is that clarity and purpose don’t come from constant striving-they come from alignment.

Looking back, unlearning that belief was one of the most freeing lessons of my life.

It allowed me to move from simply surviving to truly living in the purpose and calling God designed for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.19thandbell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/19thandbell/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-celeste-bell-mitchell-5797ab6a/

Image Credits

The Two Proper Men’s Skincare Photos (Only) – Look It’s Irving