Meet Our Team
Naje Badu Love
Chief Executive Officer
(Head of Product and Content Development)
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Naje Badu Love, the visionary founder of Journey Up!, brings a profound blend of creativity, leadership, and spiritual wisdom to her mission of empowering marginalized women and their communities. With a heart dedicated to fostering healing, abundance, and holistic wellness, Naje has crafted Journey Up! as a transformative platform to unlock individual and collective potential for growth, success, and happiness.
With over a decade of expertise in project management within the IT software industry and more than 20 years as a life coach, author, artist, producer, spiritual scholar, and wellness entrepreneur, Naje’s multifaceted leadership drives innovation and connection. Her ability to inspire and guide across diverse disciplines empowers Journey Up! to create meaningful, impactful experiences that resonate deeply with our community.
Passionate about spreading love and wisdom, Naje channels her creative and entrepreneurial spirit into every aspect of Journey Up!. By blending strategic vision with a commitment to personal and collective transformation, she leads with authenticity, fostering a space where women can thrive. As our founder, Naje is a catalyst for change, guiding our community toward a brighter, empowered future.
Nicole VanZandt
Nicole VanZandt
Chief Marketing Officer & Chief Operating Officer,
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Nicole VanZandt serves as the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Journey Up!, bringing over 15 years of exceptional client support experience and a solid academic foundation in Business Management. With a proven track record in operations, strategic marketing, and customer experience, Nicole plays a critical role in advancing the organization’s mission of empowerment, healing, and holistic growth.
Her leadership is grounded in compassion, strategic clarity, and a deep commitment to supporting women through personal development, relationship transformation, and emotional wellness. Nicole’s approach to marketing and operations blends innovation with intention—ensuring every engagement with the Journey Up! brand reflects the values of connection, authenticity, and progress.
A passionate advocate for wellness, Nicole believes deeply in the power of healing and transformation—not only within individuals, but across generations. Her personal journey has made her a vocal supporter of breaking generational cycles and building healthier pathways for future leaders. She brings this perspective into every facet of her work, both within the organization and the communities it serves.
Nicole also plays an integral role in Journey Up! Kids, where she helps guide and uplift the next generation of young women and children. Through her own experiences of hardship and triumph, she models resilience and possibility, encouraging children to believe in themselves and their potential to create meaningful, empowered lives.
With vision, discipline, and heart, Nicole is helping to shape the future of Journey Up!, expanding its impact and reach while nurturing its core mission: to inspire growth, support healing, and open doors to what’s possible.
"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." Maya Angelou
The Mission and the Making of Journey Up!
Our Mission
Journey Up! is more than just a platform; it’s a movement. A call to action. A commitment to transformation. Our mission is to help women recognize, embrace, and fully activate their unique gifts and strengths. Through curated content, innovative tools, and an empowering community, Journey Up! paves the way for the realization of bold aspirations. This is a space for those ready to elevate their pursuit of success, happiness, healing, and wellness—physically, mentally, emotionally, and personally.
Journey Up! In the Making
Journey Up! is built on a foundation of resilience, determination, and the unwavering belief in possibility. Born from collective triumph over challenges in health, wellness, career, relationships, and creative pursuits, this platform exists to provide clarity, direction, and transformative tools that ignite personal breakthroughs. Every resource, every insight, and every shared experience is designed to help forge a path toward success, happiness, and lasting growth.
Breaking Barriers: Overcoming Limitations
The barriers faced by marginalized women run deep—shaped by systemic inequities, cultural disparities, and emotional wounds inherited through generations. But many of these limitations are also self-imposed, manifesting as negative self-talk, limiting beliefs, insecurities, and fears. Journey Up! is here to help dismantle those barriers. This is where the "work" of self-discovery, healing, and empowerment takes place. It is a space for rewriting narratives, reclaiming power, and stepping boldly into a future where happiness, fulfillment, and success are not only possible—they are inevitable.
Your Potential, Our Belief
Journey Up! believes in the power of transformation. No matter where the journey begins, the potential for greatness is already within. The decision to step into this space is not a coincidence—it is an intentional act of self-evolution. With each step forward, Journey Up! serves as both a guide and a partner in the pursuit of something greater. This is more than a platform; it is a movement toward a future beyond limitations.
Welcome to the journey inward, upward, and onward.