Key Takeaways from Create & Cultivate
It’s difficult to encapsulate the buzzing energy of Create & Cultivate that I experienced for the first time in San Francisco last week. One of my career goals this year was to attend an out-of-state conference and bring back what I learned.
I’ve been following Jaclyn Johnson and what she has created for awhile now--plus San Francisco was on my bucket list of US Cities to explore so it felt kismet that I was able to attend Create & Cultivate in San Francisco. If you follow C&C on social media, you have a general idea of what to expect: powerhouse celebrity speakers, authentic brand activations and Instagram moments galore. The conference did not disappoint. Let me fill you in on a few key takeaways plus what to expect when you attend a C&C conference:
Be Prepared & Go With the Flow: This is probably my number one advice for anything in life. Lol. But it fits perfectly for the abundance of information and sensory overload that is Create & Cultivate. This event goes on for more than 12 hours (8 AM - 8:30 PM). There were multiple floors of vendors, so many incredible panels and speakers plus THOUSANDS of stylish and excited women (and a few men) everywhere! It would be helpful to mentally prepare yourself for the influx of activity. A few tips to prepare for the day ahead:
Center yourself. Before you hit the floor, set your intentions for the day. What do you hope to learn? Who do you hope to meet? Whatever you need to do in the morning to get centered? Do it. You’re in for a whirlwind. I found that I even needed a mid-day grounding practice to keep myself centered.
Prepare your elevator pitch. Who are you? What is your purpose? What does your business do? What are your Instagram handles? You’ll be meeting a lot of people in a short amount of time. Make sure you have a handle on what information you want to convey to your new friends. Have your business cards on hand. Some women even had little gifts or brochures to give out, which I thought was a nice touch.
Bring a phone charger. Don’t bring a laptop. I think I was the only nerd who showed up ready to take notes on my laptop, lol. But the style of the conference is really not conducive for that because of the pace, the type of seating and the fact that you will be receiving all kinds of goodies that you have to tote around in addition to your bag. I found it helpful to take notes on my phone or in the notebook that C&C provided. DO bring a phone charger or portable back up battery. You are going to want to capture all of the Instagrammable moments and you don’t want it to be ruined by a dead phone battery.
Food: C&C had tons of healthy snacks available throughout the day and wait for it...UNLIMITED MATCHA from Jade Leaf. They served breakfast, a salad for lunch and a Beyond Meat Burger for dinner. But the lines were a little long and I was still starving at the end of the day. Take advantage of the snacks and maybe bring a few pieces of fruit with you if you have low blood sugar or if you get hangry.
Activities: If you look at your schedule and wonder: when I am I going to have time to look at all of these vendors and activities? Don’t worry. There will be time for everything. There is time when you are walking from one stage to another and there is bound to be at least one panel that doesn’t resonate with you. Instead of listening to live podcast recording (because hey, I can listen to that later) I decided to explore the activities. One thing you can expect from C&C -- a TON of swag! In addition to the enormous swag bag I took home on the way out, I accumulated lots of samples and goodies throughout the day. I tried to be mindful of what I stuffed in my bag, knowing that I was going to have to fit everything in my carry-on sized luggage on the way home. Some brands I got to interact with in a really fun way included: Living Proof, Rodan & Fields, Biossance,
Panels & Speakers: Get ready to be INSPIRED. I tried to get a seat near the front for every panel because #nerd and attended 8 out of the 10 panels, speakers and workshops. There were 2 “meet & greets” that were only available to C&C insiders and a mentor session that I attended for VIPs only. One little tip that I wish I had done: look up all of the speakers on Instagram and follow them ahead of time. Maybe even save a note on your phone with each of the panels and the speakers’ instagram handles. I couldn’t hear some of the speakers as well as others and ended up sitting on my phone looking people up so I could tag them instead of being fully present. I have a full recap of the panels saved in my Instagram Story highlights, but am sharing a few key takeaways below.
Key takeaways: Throughout all of the speakers there was a common thread. The successful entrepreneurs knew themselves. Believed in themselves beyond all doubt. And didn’t take no for an answer. Intuition and Authenticity were key commonalities.
Giuliana Rancic on success and moving up the ladder. “The first step of success is defining what success means for you and then going out and getting it.” She talked about coming to the country as an immigrant and not knowing the language. She also talked about becoming an entertainment reporter and focusing on your strengths. “Your mind is so powerful. It’s so easy to focus on the bad, so you have to focus on the good.”
One of my favorite panels of the day was one of the first and included Kellie Brown, Chloe Watts, Quigley, Jessica Franklin, Girl & The Bay and Jessica Weizman on creating compelling content in a clickbait world. There were a lot of golden quotes from this panel so I’m going to share a few:
“Sticking to your guns and being yourself no matter what that means to you will put you ahead because there’s only one of you.” -Kellie Brown
“I want to make the internet a happier place. It’s important to be me and be authentic about my good days and bad days” - Girl & the Bay
“What is that why? If your goal is to be authentic than you need to always be doing that and working towards your goals.” - Chloe Watts
On creating compelling longform content (genius): “What I’ve decided to do is to reverse engineer my posts by writing my post captions first, and then decide how I will represent that visually.” - Quigley
Gray Malin spoke on creating authentic brand collaborations with companies like Swell and Away that make sense. He found his niche with his helicopter and drone photography of whimsical beaches and continues to build on this aesthetic through books and collaborations-- you no longer have to be a starving artist.
Julie Solomon on branding: “Brand is a reflection of your own purpose and vibe to the audience you are attracting.” Another great quote from Julie, “Who are you talking to? If you’re trying to talk to everyone, you’re essentially talking to no one.”
This thought from The Skinny Confidential hit home for me, someone who is constantly saying yes to everyone else and pressing hold on my own plans: “If you’re making promises to yourself and you’re not following through with those promises than it outwardly reflects.”
Brandy Pham’s Planoly workshop talked about storytelling. “Facts tell and stories sell.” Successful storytelling on visually-driven platforms like Instagram and Pinterest requires a delicate balance between maintaining a cohesive aesthetic and a consistent narrative that’s defined by your brand guidelines. You can find more from this workshop here.
I also learned that both Jenna Dewan and Kourtney Kardashian are total hippies and I LOVE IT. Jenna is the ultimate manifestor and is truly in touch with her authentic self. I can’t wait to read her new book, “Gracefully You” which comes out October 22. I’ve already got mine pre-ordered (linked below).
Kourtney Kardashian recommends that you look up everything on the EWG website before buying skincare products and I couldn’t agree more. She may not be the MOST relatable (saunas and glam squad before 10 AM every day), but she is doing a great job of taking her influence and doing something purposeful and I actually learned a lot from her.
