12 Questions You Should Ask to *Really* Nail Down Your Life Mission

Photo: Create & Cultivate

"What’s your overall goal?”

It's the first question I ask any entrepreneur, client, friend, (just about anyone) who is in the midst of a career transition or looking to start or grow a venture. I follow it up with, “Where do you see yourself in five years? 10 years? Life-wise.” The question is basic and BIG.

But answering that question, or at the very least attempting to answer that question, creates clarity; crystal clear or not, it's an important step in the right direction to figuring out Life with a capital "L." And guess what? Your business is part of that Life. So before nailing down a business mission, start with your life goals.  

You don’t have to have the destination 100% set (if you do, awesome) but you do need a map so that when you get lost or head down a path less traveled and find yourself in parts unknown (which, is inevitable and healthy) you have a map to consult—to help you redirect and continue on. 

Answer these 12 big life questions and you'll find that in the process you'll get further clarity on your business mission as well:

1. Visualize yourself in 10 years. What do you see for yourself? What/who do you see yourself surrounded with? What do you see yourself doing? 

2. What do you feel the most fearful of right now?

3. What are you willing to sacrifice to stay true to you? What are you okay saying “no” to?

4. What areas of your life are humming?

5. What areas of your life do you want to make changes in?

6. What do you wish you were doing more of that makes you happy?

7. What kinds of problems do you enjoy solving the most?

8. What about you makes you uniquely you?

9. What are your values?

10. Who are some other people in your life that you admire? Why? 

11. What are some commonalities in the people that you are drawn to?

12. What aspects of who you are do people find energizing?

Alison Gilbert is a business coach and consultant. She’s helped over a dozen owners and entrepreneurs grow profitable businesses quickly and efficiently, including such companies as Well+Good, Levo League, Maiyet, and Plum Alley. Prior to building her consultancy, she was hire number four and COO of food media company Tasting Table where she grew it into a forty person team reaching a readership of millions.  Visit her site and schedule a free consultation. 

Love this story? Pin the below graphic to your Pinterest board.

This story was originally published on April 22, 2019, and has since been updated.

MORE ON THE BLOG

36 Successful Entrepreneurs Share Their #1 Piece of Advice for 2020 Graduates

The class of 2020 may not get to walk across a stage in their cap and gowns and accept their diplomas due to the current coronavirus pandemic, but their accomplishments are still cause for celebration. Even without the pomp and circumstance of a typical graduation ceremony on school grounds, all the late library study sessions, all the hours spent in the lab, all the unpaid internships deserve to be celebrated virtually.

Needless to say, this year’s graduating class faces a more uncertain future than most, so we asked some of the most successful entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs we know to divulge their number one piece of advice for 2020 graduates. Ahead, Ariel Kaye, the founder and CEO of Parachute, Priscilla Tsai, the founder and CEO of Cocokind, Nicole Gibbons, the founder of Clare, Katerina Schneider, founder and CEO of Ritual, and more, share their wise words of wisdom for this year’s graduating class.

Ariel Kaye

Founder & CEO, Parachute

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Especially now, give yourself permission to explore a new hobby or dive deep into a passion project. Maybe your artistic pursuits or great idea for a business can be the focus of this summer. If I could go back, I would tell myself that it’s ok to not have it all figured out. And really there isn’t a huge rush to get to the finish line. Enjoy the process.”

Sarah Paiji Yoo

Founder, Blueland

“Success doesn't have to be so rigidly defined. When I was graduating, success seemed to mean achieving a certain title or salary or having a huge recognizable impact on the world. Over time, I've realized that for me, I gauge success and professional happiness with questions like 1) Do I love what I’m working on? 2) Am I still learning and growing? 3) Do the people I’m spending time with continue to energize and push me to be better every day? I've loved getting older, as it's become doing less of what I or others think I should do, and having a much deeper understanding of what excites me and is important to me.”

Nicole Gibbons

Founder, Clare

“Don’t feel pressure to have your entire career road mapped out when you graduate. What you think you’ll be doing 10 or 20 years from now is highly likely not what you’ll end up doing. Your career will most likely be a long, winding journey with many detours. Stay curious, explore all of your interests, learn as much as you can and never lose your curiosity because following your curiosity will end up leading you to you venture down incredible paths you could never even imagined!”

Michelle Cordeiro Grant

Founder & CEO, LIVELY

“My advice is to be open-minded and not get in your own way. Immediately after graduating, I went into a three-month training program with Macy's (then named Federated) to learn every aspect of the process from the creation of the product to delivery, at the end of which I was placed in their lingerie category. I was completely heartbroken because I always dreamt of working in ready-to-wear, but after a couple of weeks, I fell in love with lingerie. I quickly learned that it was this amazing place just for women—it's the first thing you put on in the morning and you look at yourself in the mirror and it's this really powerful and confidence-inducing moment. Long story short is don't close the door on something that wasn't ‘your plan;’ be open-minded and true to yourself about what the actual experience is. I'd also warn against being fearful or playing it safe, which we tend to do a lot as women. Instead of fearing the unknown, which there is plenty of at the moment, fear not trying.”

Eunice Byun

Founder, Material Kitchen

“Don't settle for what you already know, but actively seek out experiences where you have to learn something new in order to succeed. It's easy to want to fall back on what you are good at, especially when you want to impress new bosses or colleagues. Putting yourself in those uncomfortable situations where you have to listen and learn will help you see things differently, build a source of confidence deep within, and ultimately help build empathy as you'll have more perspective than before.”

Jean Brownhill

Founder, Sweeten

“My advice to the graduates of 2020 is one of my favorite quotes from Howard Thurman, ‘Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.’”

Meha Agrawal

Founder & CEO, Silk + Sonder

“My best advice is to let go of self-inflicted pressure to have all the answers sorted out. Your first few years after college are merely an extension to learn, create, fail, and rise again. Remember, your first job will surely not be your last job and you always have the freedom to start something new. Be hungry, be curious, and most importantly, be yourself. Surround yourself by people, problems, and opportunities that energize you, and you will have the chance to carve your own path. Know that you can always tweak your resume to tell the story you want to tell—so always allocate time to gut-check how you're feeling in your career checks and course-correct as needed.”

Cassandra Dittmer

Sustainable Stylist, Expert, & Consultant

“I think the biggest question to ask yourself, given the current landscape, is how to add real value to a company. Have a clear vision for who you are, the type of community you are looking to build, and who you want to surround yourself with. Find a job that not only keeps you busy but also keeps you feeling fulfilled and stimulated. You may not start out in your dream job, but be an active participant in your career path. No one is going to pave the way for you so you need to want it for yourself!”

Blair Armstrong

Founder, GILDED

“Completing your program and obtaining your degree is a wonderful accomplishment and important milestone. Try not to let the lack of an official commencement ceremony get you down. Celebrate your accomplishment in an unconventional way and look forward. Some things to work on while the world sorts itself out are learning new skills, finding a mentor, and considering volunteer work if you have the time. Be persistent and don’t give up on your plan.”

Chriselle Lim

Co-Founder, BümoBrain

“Your degree got you this far. Focus on building up your network and get as much experience as possible. You might not land your dream job right out of college but remember that your first job doesn't mean that it's your last. We all gotta start somewhere!”

Joan Nguyen

Co-Founder, BümoBrain

“Having worked in education for over 10 years, people actually never ask me where I went to school or what I studied. I think that more than your degree or major, the most underrated skills are people skills. Your ability to use the way you talk to people to get them to believe in you and trust in you and then backing it up by true action is one of the most important skills.”

Ara Katz

Founder, Seed

“Do not be attached to an outcome or any fixed idea of how your life should be. Instead, incessantly question, stay open to the evolution of your ideas, opinions and beliefs and un-think every assumption possible. Seek out those who will challenge you, not just align with you. Live expansively and with an endless curiosity about yourself, our world, and your agency within it. Practice health, honor your body, do not underestimate the importance of words and the power of good writing, and most importantly, be kind.”

Catharine Dockery

Founding Partner, Vice Ventures

“My best advice would be to optimize for future flexibility. Unless you're the sort of person who knows immediately what their five-year plan will look like in five years (I'm not, and wasn't then either!), it makes a ton of sense to focus on building a broad skill set and letting your interests and curiosity drive the way. Coming out of college, I had no idea I'd end up as a venture investor. I'd been an investment banking intern in my junior year and hated it, then joined a sales and trading desk after graduating. At the time, I thought I'd either end up in trading or going back to school to become a psychologist. That sales and trading program truly helped me build skills that I use today, and the last dollars from my bonus ended up going into my first personal venture investment.”

Priscilla Tsai

Founder & CEO, Cocokind

“I graduated during the recession, and the job that I had lined up at Lehman Brothers was no longer there by the time I graduated. I remember my mom telling me that regardless of where I ended up in my first job, even if it wasn't my dream career, the most important thing was to be at a place where I could learn. With that, I reached out to as many companies I could and ended up landing a job that allowed me to do just that. My biggest takeaway from this for recent graduates is to not take learning for granted. You have to know what you don't know and take initiative to build your knowledge base. Don't expect someone to hand this to you. Be hungry and appreciate every learning opportunity you have.”

Ann McFerran

Founder, Glamnetic

“Once you graduate, there is no schedule set by an institution anymore and you’re free to do anything you want. This amount of choice is overwhelming and I went through it as well. I think you should be asking yourself the very hard question of what is your ultimate goal in life, then work backwards from there to see what you need to do to get there. If you don’t have a clear picture of the ultimate goal, try to have a rough idea of the field you want to get into, then narrow it down even more to your desired lifestyle. Ultimately, life is all about learning from experiences. You have to be deeply honest with yourself to find true happiness and success, even if it’s a complete 180 from where you currently are. Don’t be scared! Start with this and commit to work really really hard and you’ll find yourself in your dream career.”

Dianna Cohen

Co-Founder, Crown Affair

"If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, now is a time to test into ideas, and as Phil Knight said: just do it. Send the email to the person you admire. Start the thing you’ve been thinking about in the back of your mind. Great things take time, so start in small ways telling the story or building the universe you want to create. If you’re looking at roles at companies or if the ‘dream’ first job is on hold for a moment, this is the time to say yes to opportunities that might be out of the box. Remember that every experience and relationship can lead to something great down the line, something that you can’t imagine now. Take on the odd project, reach out with a thoughtful email, and offer to collaborate. You never where something will lead. If not now, then when?”

Allison Evans

Co-Founder, Branch Basics

“Use this slow-down to your advantage and take this time to really self-assess. What are my passions? What gets me excited? What am I naturally drawn toward? Don't rush into the next chapter without really making sure it's the right one versus what you/others always expected you to do.”

Lindsey Taylor Wood

Founder & CEO, The Helm

“We are living in uncertain times. In the era of COVID, I’m guessing you’ve heard this a hundred times by now. But not only is it true, it’s also another reason to take a bet on yourself and the ultimate preparation for becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is synonymous with uncertainty and every day is a new Rubik’s Cube. At this exact moment, life is giving you the ultimate masterclass in learning how to turn every obstacle into an opportunity. If ever there was a time to swing as big as you can, it’s now. You truly have nothing to lose.”

Kelly Love

Co-Founder, Branch Basics

“I know for sure, setbacks make you stronger. We've faced major challenges as a company (even came close to bankruptcy!) but we never lost our hope, our vision, or our determination. Remember that difficult times are really just opportunities to learn, be creative, and turn hard work into success. Focus on the bigger picture, and know that it will take time and the occasional failure to get there.”

Kristi Knoblich Palmer

Co-Founder, Kiva Confections

“Be prepared to pivot! You can’t force yourself into a career that just isn’t panning out. Think of school as a great place to grow up and gain life experience. Even if you don’t end up pursuing the career you thought you would, you gained incredible value just by being in a learning environment. Follow the opportunity, even if it isn’t in the field you had planned.”

Bethany McDaniel

Founder, Primally Pure

"With fewer job opportunities on the horizon, succeeding in making a living has become more of a necessity for this year's college grads than in years past. Brendon Burchard defines necessity as "the emotional drive that makes great performance a must instead of a preference". Necessity demands action, which can be a blessing and not a curse for those who choose to see it that way. So many great businesses have been born out of past economic downturns (Netflix, Airbnb, and Warby Parker just to name a few!), and my hope for 2020 grads is that they will be motivated by a necessity to succeed within the parameters of the current situation and find creative solutions to voids in today's marketplace."

Ariane Goldman

Founder, HATCH

“So much about business (and life, really) hinges on your ability to deal with the unexpected. Running several has taught me that if you're going to survive you have to figure out a way to adapt to things you can't control without freaking out or being reactionary. It's not easy. Deep breaths help. So does having a strong support system: your team, your family, your friends.“

Emily Bibb

Co-Founder, Curated

"It's a crazy time, but use it to your advantage. Create the 'unforgettable' addition to your resume be it a website or Instagram portfolio. DM the CEO you admire for a virtual coffee as their schedules may be more flexible. Learn the basics for the job you want, such as analytics or SEO. While it might not seem like it now, this time could turn out to be your greatest asset.”

Adiya Dixon Wiggins

Founder, Yubi

“You are graduating in scary, uncertain times. At the risk of sounding cold, lucky you! While canceled internships, delayed start dates and limited job options are frustrating setbacks, they also give you space to focus on creating something new and bigger for yourself and others. There are limitless, interesting problems waiting for you to solve in wonderful ways. Set out passionately in pursuit of solutions and get ready for more success than you ever dreamed possible.”

Genevieve Rudin

Co-Founder, Brass Clothing

"Your first job (and likely your second) will not be your last. Young people take so seriously, to the point of paralyzing themselves and adding stress to their lives, the search for the "perfect" job out of college. The truth is that finding the perfect job is a life-long mission. Learning what you don't like, how to work with others, and what workplace environments jive with your working style is a process. One that will take you through your 20's at the very least. Instead of aiming for the best name in your target industry or the highest salary, go with your gut -- a great boss and rewarding working experience that increases your value and the skills you have to offer is priceless. The big-name firms and lucrative opportunities will follow if you find people and a place that will invest in you early on.”

Lily Galef

Co-Founder, Hilma

"My best advice is, to be honest with yourself about what you enjoy and are good at. I spent a lot of time in my early career pursuing what I thought would be most ‘glamorous’ or ‘cool.' In my mid-twenties I realized that the things I enjoyed doing were not, in fact, glamorous or cool, which was a revolutionary insight that unlocked real growth for me personally and professionally. Look for companies that align with your values, and reach out to them--even if they are not hiring. Ask questions and learn about what it might be like to be a part of that business. If you’re interviewing for a job, ask questions about how an organization thinks about mentorship, and try to find yourself a position where your team will invest in your growth. And if the job you find is not perfect—remember that no job is, and use it to learn as much as you can."

Kendall Bird

CEO & Co-Founder, Frame

“We’re taught in college that the world is filled with endless career opportunities. Then after graduation, you start to realize that your first job is hardly your dream job. This happens to everyone, and my advice to you is to not get discouraged. Try to focus on specific skill sets you are developing and mastering. Whether it’s taking meeting notes, developing processes through excel spreadsheets, or growing the conversational skills needed to deal with customers and clients. These are the skills in your tool kit and on a resume that will get you to your next job or promotion.”

Jess Mulligan

Founder, Winged

“My best advice is to be as relentlessly curious and engaged as possible. There are so many opportunities to learn and network, lean into all of them! You never know if the CEO sitting next to you on that flight might be someone you tap three years down the road for an opportunity. Remember that your education is not even close to being over—it’s only just beginning! Spend everyday asking yourself what makes you want to pop out of bed in the morning. I asked myself that question early on and that self-discovery led me to a career where I can share my passion with the world through natural health supplements and clean beauty products. I wake up every day excited to learn more and help others. Success followed, not because I struggled to push through a work day, but because I had the energy and drive to excel in an industry that reflected the essence of who I am.”

Tai Adaya

Founder, Habit

"Especially in downturn times, it's tempting to go for the 'sure thing' or 'safe career path' but I believe we ultimately always gravitate towards our passions. I initially went into a 'safe' corporate job after graduating from college, but I hated it. I eventually went to work for startup companies in health and consumer products. My side hustles were always in e-commerce and content. I spent a lot of time being afraid of pursuing my passions but kept coming back to them. You have to eventually let go of the fear. Try to take the view that our time on Earth is limited time, is a limited resource. There are no guarantees. What are you going to do with your limited resource?”

Marisa Zupan

CEO, United Sodas

“Never stop asking questions or learning as graduation is just the beginning of your real-world education. You are entering the workforce at a time where we need your generation’s insights, creativity, ideas, and enthusiasm in order to challenge us in the best ways possible. Embrace it. Enter this next phase of your life with courage and hope, taking risks when you can and leaning into the unknown.”

Alix Peabody

Founder & CEO, Bev

“Starting a career is a massive undertaking—but it's one that is built by a series of baby steps one after another. The trick is to simply start walking, and don't stop until you are where you wanted to go, knowing that where you want to go might change. If I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be exactly that, just start. And by continuing to work hard when things seem impossible or get tough, you will learn things not only about your business but about yourself. With every passing day, and every passing year, you will build something more important than the career or the money or the excitement, you will build a foundation in who you are and what you're capable of. That is something no one can ever take away from you. So my advice? Just start.”

Katerina Schneider

Founder & CEO, Ritual

“Don’t get stuck on any one path. Give yourself permission to try things out and find out if they are not for you. And if you do feel like it’s not for you, let go of it quickly. I studied applied mathematics in college, quickly learned I was bad at finance, and now I run a health and wellness company.”

Sarah McDevitt

Founder, Core

“Don’t make decisions based on fear and short-term needs. Be intentional and practical about the work you need to do to achieve your long-term goals. Build your personal life Board of Directors/team of go-to friends or family that know you well and can be a sounding board for big decisions. Go after what you want and try not to compare yourself to others. Celebrate their success and find your own. Resist the pressure from society, family, etc. to choose a certain path if it doesn’t feel right to you. It’s ok to not fully know or understand your dreams and career goals. It’s ok to change your mind and is natural as we learn and grow. It may not always feel like it, but you always have options—choose wisely, or at least recognize things that feel like obligations as choices and you will look upon them more favorably.”

Melanie Travis

Founder & CEO, Andie

“I graduated three months before Lehman Brothers collapsed. With the world in turmoil, I decided to move to Europe and travel. By not rushing into a career path, I left room to explore opportunities, which has paid off in spades. Everything in the world is in flux right now, which creates room for new opportunities to seize. I would encourage recent graduates to look around, don't feel pressured to jump into anything too quickly and make the most of this crazy period. They might end up being the best-prepared class of graduates ever for the world to come!”

Zara Terez Tisch

Founder, Terez

"Growing up, I thought I had my whole life figured out. But life doesn’t always happen exactly the way you expect it will. A few months after I delivered my graduation speech, my boyfriend tragically died while trying to save his friends from drowning at summer camp. The life path that I had known so far, and the life path I thought I would follow, disintegrated. I was broken. My entire perspective on life changed that summer. Instead of convincing myself I was on a surefire path, I started worrying less about what I would accomplish, and more about what I was passionate about.

After finding myself in a West Village leather shop that made custom handbags, my sense of creativity was piqued and that night, I told my parents that I was going to start my own brand and that it would be about self-expression and making people feel good. At the time, I didn’t even know why I wanted to do it. Or why those were my pillars. I just felt a need to. Enduring unexpected loss and grief helped me learn how to pick myself up, move forward, and look for the good in the world. It also helped me embrace the unknown and remember that time is precious, which is why we shouldn’t put off our dreams. We should chase them down, as soon as they come to us.

So in 2008, I quit my job and started my own company out of the basement of the house I grew up in. I quickly realized that I didn’t know everything or basically anything, and that I had to accept learning as I went. But I also found that if you’re determined, you can figure out anything. And that’s exactly what I set out to do."

Shelley Sanders

Founder, The Last Line

“My biggest advice is to be open to newness. Maybe it's not your dream first job, but take the opportunity to watch, listen and learn—then act. I worked for other companies for almost 18 years before I started my own line, and in the end, it was the best decision for me. When you surround yourself with smart people, especially those with different skills from your own, you will be challenged and probably surprised by what you learn and maybe like! I’ve experienced too many risks to even name, but regrets of not trying are far worse, so go for it. And finally, never be afraid of a pivot: if it's not working, move on and always take the opportunity to look back and learn from what happened.”

MORE ON THE BLOG

Ask an Expert: How to Take Back Your Time and Get More Out of Your Days Without Running Yourself Ragged

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“

Start believing that you actually deserve to be happy, regardless of whether or not everything on your to-do list gets done.”

—Whitney A. White, Creator of Take Back Your Time

We've all been known to “rise and grind,” but as we’ve had to learn the hard way, activity is not the same thing as productivity—it's time to bid adieu to the "I'm so busy" mantra. More often than not, attempting to tackle a never-ending to-do list just leads to feeling stressed, burnt out, and, ultimately, unfulfilled.

In this installment of our Ask an Expert series, we asked Whitney A. White, the creator of Take Back Your Time, to share her expert time management tips. Ahead, she breaks down four critical mistakes that are holding you back from living the life that you want and the actionable steps you can take to break these bad habits and get more out of your days.

Scroll on for her tried-and-true tips for maximizing your time, honing your focus, and avoiding burnout. If you missed the conversation, you can watch it in full here, and be sure to tune into our next Ask an Expert conversation on Instagram Live.

Mistake #1: Taking pride in being busy.

“Stop thinking that working like crazy and being exhausted is some kind of badge of honor.”

“When you’re on the verge of burnout, you’re less efficient, less effective, and way more prone to mistakes. You are juggling so many different balls that, at any moment, they could all come crashing down.”

“If you keep doing this, you’ll be trapped in the anxious feeling that everything could fall apart at any moment.”

Step #1: Prioritize outcome over activity.

“Focus on outcomes over activity. When you get off that hamster wheel and focus on outcomes, you can stop being busy and getting the most important things done.”

“Prioritize achieving the goals that really matter and taking pride in accomplishing what you truly want to do.”

Mistake #2: Trying to tackle to never-ending to-do lists.

“Stop feeling like you need to do every single thing that ends up on your to-do list.”

“We all intuitively know that some things are more important than others, but when we’re trapped in the realm of the never-ending to-do list, getting anything done feels like an accomplishment.”

Step #2: Nix low-value tasks.

“Not everything on your to-do list absolutely has to get done. You want to be investing your precious time in the tasks that are truly most important in your life.”

“This will give you the brain space to focus on high priorities that really matter. You will start to feel empowered. Remember, you have a choice in what you do with your time.”

Mistake #3: Thinking only you can.

“Get over feeling like no one else can do as good of a job as you can.” 

“Because you think no one else can do as good of a job as you can, you’re afraid to let go. You end up convincing yourself that you have to do everything yourself.”

“By making this mistake, you walk around with the weight of so many responsibilities on your shoulders.”

Step #3: Delegate, delegate, delegate.

“You are not the only competent person on the planet.”

“When you delegate, you can reap the benefits of applying laser-like focus to the tasks that truly matter to you.”

“True focus feels like you are operating at your peak level and you know that nothing can get in your way.”

Mistake #4: Sacrificing what you can’t get back

“Stop believing that you have to sacrifice your health, wellness, and happiness in the present in order to get where you want to go in the future.”

“When we over-index in one aspect of our lives and neglect the others, we end up feeling unfulfilled because there are parts of ourselves that we’re not letting flourish.”

Step #4: Give yourself permission to prioritize your own happiness.

“Start believing that you actually deserve to be happy, regardless of whether or not everything on your to-do list gets done.”

“Enjoy your life today in the here and now. Invest your time in the ways that you really want to—you don’t want to be grinding all the time just to feel unfulfilled.”

“That feeling of freedom and personal fulfillment is truly priceless.”

About the Expert: Whitney A. White is the founder of Afara Global, an organization that helps startups, corporate innovation teams, and nonprofits launch and scale new products and services. She is also the creator of Take Back Your Time, a transformational coaching program designed to help business leaders get on a clear path to achieving the goals that matter to them most. Follow her on Instagram.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

MORE ON THE BLOG

Ask an Expert: What to Do When Your Revenue Is Significantly Slashed, According to a CEO

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“

I haven’t taken a paycheck since February, its more important to me to think about the company long term.”

—Dr. Heather D. Rogers, founder and CEO, Doctor Rogers RESTORE

In this edition of our Ask an Expert series, Dr. Heather D. Rogers, the founder and CEO of Doctor Rogers RESTORE, joined us on Instagram Live to chat about everything from how to keep your business alive to how to get your best at-home skin.

For the uninitiated, Dr. Rogers is a dermatologist and CEO who is managing both her practice and her business in the midst of this crisis. She is seeing patients, hand packing orders, and wearing more hats than ever before—all while giving up her salary.

Scroll on for some highlights from the conversation—including why you should focus on your mission—and follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to tune into the next one.

Your Brand Pillars Matter

“Being a brand right now, you really have to have very clear ideas of what your pillars are. Don’t start a company unless you can say why you are different and what you bring to the marketplace in three sentences. If you’re trying to bring something better to market and help people, that is something there is always space for.”

Less Is More When It Comes to At-Home Skincare

“When you’re at home, don’t overdo your skincare. Don’t do 15 masks a week, don’t over-exfoliate. Make sure you wash your face, moisturize your face, and wear sunscreen.”

“You should wear sunscreen even if you don’t go outside. When you’re inside, if you’re by a window, you will get UVA, which will break down collagen and give you brown spots—I always recommend a zinc-based sunscreen.”

“When your skin is agitated, less is more.”

Give and Get Support (We All Need It)

“I haven’t taken a paycheck since February, its more important to me to think about the company long term.”

“The really big banks are not going to help you here, you need to find the small banks that you can build a relationship with who will really go to bat for you.”

“We started a campaign called Help the Healers to give our products to healthcare workers. It feels good for us to do it, it helps the healthcare workers, and its also creating content.”

“I’ve been working really hard to be responsive to needs without being reactive because everyone needs a little more help right now. You need to thank your staff every day and recognize what they are doing every day.”

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

9 Secrets to Working Remotely From Your Apartment—and Loving It

Photo: Vlada Karpovich for Pexels

If working from home has become your new normal, then you’ve probably come to the same realization that we have: Working from your bed in your pajamas just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Maybe you’ve started missing the office and wearing blazers (and, dare we say, heels?!), but there are plenty of perks to WFH if you do it right. It’s all about creating the right environment, ditching distractions, learning what works for you, and finding your productive streak.

Working from home presents both advantages and disadvantages for any telecommuter, but for those of us who live in an apartment, telecommuting has its own set of challenges. Consider the following tips and tricks to turn your place into a work environment where you can get the job done.

1. Carve out a cozy workspace.

Apartments in cities tend to be tight on space, which can cut down on the available areas where you can work uninterrupted.

The most important thing to do before you start working out of your apartment is to think about where you plan to situate your home office to conduct business effectively. Identify potential workspaces that lie outside regular traffic patterns. Working at the kitchen table might be fine if you live alone, but if you live with a spouse or roommate or have children, you need a place away from the action.

For example, rethink your underused rooms. Consider using a small guest bedroom, place a cubicle panel or screen in a corner of your own bedroom, or modify a walk-in closet to accommodate a desk and bookcase. Wherever you set up your office, you’ll need to make sure you have excellent Wi-Fi and cell phone service in order to conduct business—so a room in the center of a brick building might not be conducive to your productivity.

2. Decorate your space.

Just because your space is small doesn’t mean you have to skimp on decorating. Turning your own quiet nook into a place with personality can increase your desire to be there for long hours. Hang your favorite photos or works of art, bring in plants, or add knick-knacks and keepsakes.

Studies have shown that certain colors have a direct effect on our mood and productivity. When painting, papering or choosing furnishings for your space, keep these ideas in mind:

• Blue is seen as calming and helps with concentration.

• Yellow and orange can stimulate creativity and make you feel good.

• Light green can be soothing, denoting a connection with nature.

• Red can provide a boost of energy.

• Purple is often associated with wealth and wisdom.

3. Learn how to deal with distractions.

Nothing zaps your productivity faster when working from home than having to respond to distractions. Whether you have kids running in and out, a spouse looking for their favorite shirt, or the neighbors in the apartment above practicing their tap dancing skills, dealing effectively with distractions is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

To drown out barking dogs, traffic on the street, or even your roommate streaming a marathon of their favorite Netflix show, choose noise-canceling headphones that help you focus on the task at hand. Before you sit down to work, turn off noisy appliances or hang a fiberglass blanket over the door to block out noise. Plan ahead for conference calls or phone conversations with potential clients, or make sure to schedule them for times when you know you will be alone.

4. Store inventory off-site.

If you have a business that requires inventory and you don’t have space at home to store the merchandise, consider renting a storage unit. The extra space you’ll find after moving unnecessary items to storage can make it easier to stay organized and keep your personal belongings separate from items required for work.

5. Dress for the office.

While it may be tempting to sit around in your pajamas all day when you work from home, it can help to treat your remote work like traditional employment by wearing designated work clothes. Getting up in the morning and getting dressed for work helps you separate your private life from your professional one, further preparing you mentally for your job.

6. Identify a specific scent with work.

Another way to distinguish time to work from personal time is by designating a specific scent for work. Burn a candle, turn on a diffuser, or even wear perfume during your office hours.

7. Invest in productivity tools.

Make your home office feel more like a traditional office space by investing in appropriate supplies. Choose a notepad and pens—and perhaps even a computer—designated solely for work. Keep in mind that office supplies qualify as expenses related to your home office and are usually deductible at tax time.

The same is true for software. Countless apps and online services are available to help home workers with correspondence and communication, scheduling, collaborating on tasks across multiple projects, or measuring productivity to make sure you’re keeping up. Marketing software can help you enhance your client interactions, and accounting software can help with tracking time and expenses.

8. Give your day some structure.

Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you can’t implement some structure in your workday. Use your peak hours effectively. Consider the time of day when you are most alert and use that time to accomplish your biggest goals. Schedule work time and try to avoid personal activities (or at least relegate them to designated breaks).

At the end of the day, power off your electronics, turn off your work phone and move away from your desk or work surface. Also, avoid taking your laptop to bed to work or working from the couch. This can make it harder to separate work time from personal time and unwind later.

9. Communicate with colleagues.

If you are working for a company, be sure to communicate regularly with your colleagues. This can help you remain connected with company goals and stay up to date on any progress made for team projects. Regular dialogue with co-workers also reminds you that you’re a part of a team and keeps you from feeling isolated.

Working remotely can provide numerous benefits for employees, companies, and even clients. It also can be mightily challenging when space is limited. Take advantage of the work-at-home opportunity by setting up an optimal space, figuring out what keeps you motivated and connected, and sticking with it until each day’s work is done.

Written by Laura Gayle of BusinessWomanGuide.org.

This post was published on January 5, 2019, and has since been updated.

MORE ON THE BLOG

5 Strategies to Get & Stay Out of Debt

Photo: Huy Phan for Pexels

The coronavirus pandemic is causing nearly 9 in 10 Americans to feel anxious about money, according to a new survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education. 54% of people polled cite not having enough money saved as being the number one stressor—but if you’re in a position where you’re able to put some money toward paying off your debts, you 1000% should.

Debt is a four-letter word—and, unfortunately, for many millennials, it’s a fact of life. But it doesn’t have to be that way! With careful, actionable planning, consumer debt can be a thing of the past. In a recent conversation with Sallie Krawcheck, the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest stressed the importance of paying off debt. “Get your credit card debt paid off because it’s leeching out wealth from you,” she cautioned us.

So, with that in mind, we’re sharing five ways to get (and stay!) out of debt, ahead.

Create a budget.

Chances are, not having a budget is what got you in debt in the first place. So this is a great place to start! Use a budget software like Mint or You Need a Budget, or put together a good old-fashioned spreadsheet! List all of your income, then break down each of your expenses into monthly, quarterly, and irregular categories. Aim to allocate 50% to necessities like rent and utilities, 30% to savings and debt repayment, and 20% to discretionary spending like groceries and restaurants. (Hint: the last category is where you should be cutting if you’re in debt!).

Reconsider that auto loan.

Multi-year car loans are a thing of the past. Instead of buying or leasing a car, consider Fair. They let you drive a car for as long as you want for an all-in monthly payment and cancel at any time, with no long-term commitment. Limited warranty, roadside assistance, and routine maintenance are included in the monthly fee, and you can do the whole process from your phone. Buh-bye, auto loan!

Start that side hustle you’ve been dreaming of.

Need some extra cash? Now’s the time to burn that midnight oil on your side gig. Or, if the startup costs are too high, there’s no shame in a part-time gig game. Your goal here is to get out of debt as fast as possible, so put in the work after-hours however makes sense for you!

Make your credit debt work for you.

Let’s talk dirty: Credit card debt is not ideal. But for many of us, it’s a reality. First things first: Call your card company and ask for lower rates on your cards while you pay them off. It doesn’t hurt to ask! If you’re not able to get a low enough interest rate, look into a balance transfer to a zero-interest card and make a “get out of debt” plan that allows you to pay off your card by the time the no-interest promotion ends.

Apply the debt ladder strategy.

If you’re in debt on more than one account, start by paying off the balance on the highest-interest rate account while paying the minimums on your other accounts. When that account is paid off, move on to the next-highest interest rate, and so forth. This method, while at odds with the debt snowball method of debt repayment, allows you to get out of debt while paying the least interest possible. Repeat it until all of your debts are paid off, and then…

Stick to your budget! The only way to stay out of debt is to plan to stay out of debt. So ditch that auto loan, call those credit card companies, and keep yourself in check. Happy planning!

This post was published on May 27, 2019, and has since been updated.

MORE ON THE BLOG

Ask an Expert: How to Handle Your Money in This Crisis, According to a Wealth Advisor

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“The best way to ease our fears and anxiety about money is to get involved. Ask questions. Know what you’re dealing with.”

—Roxana Maddahi, Wealth Advisor at Steel Peak Wealth Management

With money anxiety at an all-time high in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, one thing is certain (despite the volatile state of the markets): We need to close the financial literacy gap for women. According to the 2019 Women, Money, and Power Study, commissioned by Allianz Life Insurance Company, 57% of women wish they were more confident in their financial decision making.

Enter Roxana Maddahi, a wealth advisor at Steel Peak Wealth Management who’s passionate about helping women take the lead in financial planning and helping us realize that it’s not as intimidating as it may seem. In this installment of our Instagram Live Ask an Expert series, we tapped Maddahi to weigh in on how we should be handling our money during COVID-19.

Scroll on for some highlights from the conversation and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to tune into the next one.

Q: I’m currently experiencing a lot of anxiety around money during COVID 19. What can I do to ease my concerns?

A: It’s normal to have anxiety around money right now—26 million people have lost their jobs, most businesses have slowed down, and we have no idea when this will all end.

My advice is: Get involved with your money. Get online access to your bank accounts, your retirement funds, your student loan providers—and talk to the people that help handle your money.

Call your CPA and tell them that you want to be involved and a part of the conversation. Call your financial advisor and let them know what you need, what your goals are, and what your desires are. Don’t be scared, don’t be nervous. There’s no harm in being aggressive and making sure that you’re part of the conversation.

The best way to ease our fears and anxiety about money is to get involved. Ask questions. Know what you’re dealing with.

Q: I’m not invested, where do I start? Is now a good time to be making investments anyway?

A: I do think it is the right time to invest if you’re not invested already. If you want to invest in the stock market, you want to have a timeline of at least five years because markets tend to go up and down and you want to allow for time if there is a pullback (like we’ve seen recently, for example.)

The great thing about investing that’s happened in recent years is that there are very few barriers to getting invested in quality investments. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) allow you to invest in a theme of stocks, making it easy to diversify your overall portfolio. I personally invest my own assets in ETFs because they tend to be less volatile.

Q: What about other future planning like retirement and education savings?

A: It’s a great time to explore what your options are if you’re looking ahead to retirement or starting to save for your kid’s education.

For saving for retirement, make sure you’re looking at a qualified retirement plan—a 401k, IRA, a SepIRA. The benefit is that they allow you to put money away before tax, so it’s subtracted from your taxable income. The money that you can put in it now, the more that it will grow and that can be very powerful.

For saving for a kid’s education, I like the 529 plans. They’re easy and accessible and allow you to grow your money without paying taxes on it. You’re able to invest your money, let it grow, and then not pay capital gains tax on it.

The caveat with the 529 plans are that they can only be used for education—for college tuition, books, room and board, and now even private school. If you use them for anything else (say, your kid decides not to go to college), then you have to pay a 10% penalty plus tax if you don’t use this money for education.

Q: Where is the most important area for small business owners to focus their financial energy right now and why?

A: Continue to invest in your employees. If you haven’t already, I would take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to continue to pay your employees.

Everyone who owns a small business knows how difficult it is to hire people, to train people, and to have a group of people that works well together. If you can’t afford to pay your employees full salaries, think about what you can do to keep them onboard until we see that rebound.

You want to be able to crush it after this is all over, so I highly recommend investing as much as you can in your employees and doing all you can to keep them motivated and going during this process.

About the Expert: Roxana Maddahi is a wealth advisor at Steel Peak Wealth Management. She helps millennials plan their financial lives and invest for their futures. She’s on a mission to help women take the lead in financial planning and realize that it’s not as intimidating as it seems.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Drowning in Emails? Here's How 5 Bosses Handle Their Inboxes

Photo: Andrew Neel for Pexels

The inbox is an equal opportunity offender. Emails have no respect for office hours or lunchtime. They wild out at all hours and it's on us to manage them. But how? We asked five women—those who run their own companies and those who freelance—all about their unique inbox management tips. 

Here’s the bad and the good of it: The inbox inbounds will never stop as long as you're making moves. To help you lower your cortisol levels and avoid overwhelm, here's a breakdown of how five bosses HANDLE their inboxes and whittle that number down to zero. (Yes, it’s possible to get to inbox zero!)

TINA WELLS, FOUNDER & CEO BUZZ MARKETING GROUP

Staying on top of and managing emails is a top priority for me. I average about 500 each day. I answer whatever I can immediately. I also have an amazing team at BuzzMG, and I'm fortunate to have an internal shorthand with them, so even just forwarding a note with a meeting request and not having to specify "please set up a coffee meeting with xx" saves so much time.

My team doesn't really use email to communicate. We use Slack and store important files in Dropbox, so it's really easy to do our work and send messages without email.

I swear by Scott Belsky's book "Making Ideas Happen" and make sure I clear out all back burner emails by the last day of the month. I file important notes from clients in specific folders. I also have years worth of sent emails. You never know when you need to find important info!

IVKA ADAM, FOUNDER & CEO ICONERY 

Some of the best advice I ever got had to do with email strategy: When you need someone to get back to you on multiple topics, make each one a separate email with clearly defined and themed email subject lines.  Why?  Because some of the topics may be shorter and easier to respond to than others and you’re not waiting on the person at the other end to gather responses to all topics at once. 

This has helped tremendously to both facilitate efficiency and keep my inbox to a minimum.

JASMINE STAR, BRAND & MARKETING GURU

My business is built on personal connections.  My entire focus is on making sure people feel seen, heard, and known.  As a result, I have set strict hours of operation and engagement.  Yes, that means, I allocate 70 minutes every morning to respond to all email. Other than that time, I don't respond to email until the next day.  Similarly, I set certain times to blog and engage on social media.  I do my best to interact with people who are interacting with me.

KARIN ELDOR, FREELANCE WRITER & CONTENT CREATOR

"Touch it once." This one changed my life. It's exactly that: when you open an email and read it, don't let it sit idly in your inbox. If it will take you less than 5 minutes to reply, then do it on the spot and file it away. Don't start reading the same email more than once, it's a huge time suck. Of course, there are emails that deserve more thought or even a more in-depth reply. In this case, reply right away to confirm receipt, and let the sender know they can expect a response "by EOD," or whatever timeline makes sense.

Then sit down and draft your reply, during your dedicated email time. The point is, because we get in the habit of checking our email on-the-go, while waiting for our favorite Netflix show to cue up, and basically all the time, we end up reading the same email more than once and not doing anything about it. By the way, "touch it once" is a great productivity tip to apply to all tasks, especially for the perfectionists out there! If it will take you 2 minutes, just get it done and move on.

No cherry-picking: When you scan your inbox, don't be selective with what you read and reply to. First, do a quick scan for urgencies. Then open and reply to your emails in sequence, rather than "cherry-picking" the ones you deal with ASAP. This one's a bit tougher to stick to, but you'll see that managing your inbox during scheduled blocks of time throughout the day and blasting through your inbox, is much more productive than dealing with rando emails, all day.

BELMA McCAFFREY, WRITER & CREATOR OF WORK BIGGER 

Unroll.me is an app that lets me quickly unsubscribe from emails that are no longer relevant, and it allows me to roll up some of my emails so I can review them all at once versus reading them throughout the day.

I also just started using Boomerang for Gmail. I can schedule reminders to read certain messages later versus leaving them as unread in my inbox. This eases my stress level because I don't have "unread" messages staring at me reminding me of tasks I need to complete.

Although difficult, I also like to schedule when I check my email throughout the day. I aim for once in the morning, once around lunchtime, and once in the evening. This is less about controlling my inbox and more about controlling how I respond to the inbox. It makes me feel more in control and organized, with 100+ emails a day and all.

This post was originally published on May 14, 2018, and has since been updated.

MORE ON THE BLOG

"Getting the Job I Wanted (and Felt I Deserved) Took Patience and Persistence" With Megan Dunn of Califia Farms

We often look to the iconic leaders of our time for motivation and wisdom, but for many of us, this is purely inspirational and not as applicable to our everyday lives. We truly believe there is more benefit in looking to your left and seeking out a peer-to-peer mentorship with a colleague or friend you admire. Why? Firstly, they will likely have the time to be your mentor, and secondly, their advice will be relatable and allow you to see your path clearly while keeping your mind open to new ideas, identifying new opportunities, and helping you self-advocate. We call them everyday superheroes. In this new series, we talk to the people who are paying it forward, lifting others up and paving a smoother path for the next generation to come.

Have you ever had a professional mentor help advance your career or business? If you answered “no” to this question, then you’re not alone. You’re one of the 31% of women (compared to just 18% of men) who haven’t but it’s time to change those stats. And Megan Dunn, Senior Manager Commercialization at Califia Farms—an independently-owned plant-based food and beverage company—is on a mission to make it happen. After being recently promoted by her female mentor at Califia Farms, Dunn is paying it forward by uplifting her fellow female employee within the company to join her team. But elevating female voices started early for Dunn.

As one of six, her home was centered around the kitchen where Dunn’s mom worked around the clock to feed and nourish the family. It was at the kitchen breakfast bar where Megan finished her homework, called out Jeopardy answers, and, unknowingly, started her journey in community and in food.

So, when she set off to Georgetown University, Dunn was originally set on becoming a doctor but after two summer abroad programs in Argentina and Spain, she pivoted to study Spanish and Environmental Policy. While her work in food doesn’t align directly with her major, her Jesuit education gave her a valuable understanding of the development of the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—and a passion for learning from experience and applying new concepts and perspectives.

After a few years working in Government Affairs and Technology PR, Megan took time out to reflect on her true passions—cooking in the kitchen, traveling, and sharing meals with friends. Soon thereafter, Megan found her home at Califia Farms where she was able to quickly understand the business, grow personally and professionally, and bring her passions into her work.

And now, she is helping others realize their passion too. Read on to learn more about Dunn’s career path, the hurdles along the way, and her advice for other career go-getters to achieve success, too.

On the career steps she took to land her dream job… 

In moving to Los Angeles, I took the time to search out companies that aligned with my personal values and made products that I enjoyed using. While searching for my dream job, I worked part-time doing things that I loved—working at a bakery, selling sourdough and baked goods at the Laguna Beach Farmer’s Market, getting my 200-hour yoga certification and teaching yoga at cross-fit and yoga studios.

Over nine months, I applied to several companies and to Califia Farms three times before I got an interview. I remember the hiring manager telling me that the starting role may not fulfill me, but I knew there was growth in the role, and I was confident I could be a value-add to Califia. In the first two years, I raised my hand at every opportunity and was vocal about my abilities so that when a position opened in the Product Launch Department, I was first in line.

I know it can be difficult to take a time out when forging your career path, to reflect on your goals, and make the decisions that set you up for personal success, but it was this time that got me to where I am today.

On what she studied at school…

I went to Georgetown University to study Biology of Global Health and Medicine, but in my third year, I pivoted to study Spanish and Government with a focus on Environmental Policy. My father is a doctor and growing up I would spend a lot of time in his office, hanging out in the doctor’s lounge at the hospital and traveling on medical missions to provide health care in under-served communities. I wanted to be a doctor, too.

While at Georgetown, I studied abroad in Argentina on a research program studying health care and vaccine development. I loved experiencing a new city, meeting new people, and, frankly, being out of my comfort zone. The next year, I went to Barcelona to study Spanish linguistics and history. It was these experiences that helped me understand that what I liked about medicine was the connection with people and the fulfillment of helping people. 

Switching my major was my first step in giving myself the time-out I needed to think about what I wanted and how I wanted my future to look.

“ In the first two years, I raised my hand at every opportunity and was vocal about my abilities so that when a position opened in the Product Launch Department, I was first in line.”

On the earlier jobs that helped to shape her path… 

Out of college, I worked at a yoga studio in Georgetown, Washington, DC (you may start to see a theme here!) The owner was a boss. She was tough, her classes were rigorous, and she held her employees and teachers to a higher standard. This type of behavior may seem out of place for a yoga studio but what she showed me was how to challenge myself on and off the mat. I met incredible people at this studio, and it was a woman who practiced that got me my first job at a government relations firm.

My first job was as a Legislative Manager at Monument Policy Group. The group specialized in advising on complex policy issues, offering strategic, bipartisan advice with an understanding of national and global trends and culture. Our clients were from all industries, including finance, technology, and aerospace. Ultimately, working in government affairs wasn’t for me but in working across these industries, I stretched my critical thinking skills and left with a better understanding of the complex relationship between business, government, and people. 

On the challenges she faced along the way…

In starting your career, there is real pressure around whether you’ve made the right choices, the expectations of where you should be by a certain age, and stress around how much money you should be making. Whether this is internal or external pressure, the challenges are real.

In the same vein that I like to travel and get outside my comfort zone, I learned that a challenge in your career can be greatly beneficial. You aren’t expected to be perfect. Talk to your manager when you’ve hit a roadblock and explore your options. Many companies are willing to invest in training programs to grow the skill sets of their employees, too. 

There have been moments when I’ve felt like my challenges are unique—I’m the only one who’s felt this way—but you can put money on someone you know experiencing something similar. So, I learned to ask for help. I talked to my friends, I sought advice from mental health professionals and, eventually, I found a strong mentor in the workplace.

On her role at Califia Farms…

As Senior Manager of Commercialization, I work cross-functionally to launch new innovations from Califia. I interact daily with the other leaders at Califia in manufacturing, quality, R&D and product development, sales, marketing, and finance. My job is heavy on project management, critical problem solving, and creative strategy. 

I started at Califia Farms in Customer Operations and Services which included order processing, customer service, data syndication, and various sales support responsibilities. The team was still small and there was lots of work to be done. I raised my hand when help was needed and demonstrated my ability to learn quickly and execute effectively. These two skills are what helped me work my way up the ladder.

I did this with the support of an incredible mentor, one of the founding employees of Califia, she was the hiring manager that believed in me from the first interview. When the position opened in Product Launch, I was promoted to Product Launch Specialist and have since been promoted numerous times, now to Senior Manager.

“There have been moments when I’ve felt like my challenges are unique—I’m the only one who’s felt this way—but you can put money on someone you know experiencing something similar. ”

On what she loves most about her job …

I love working with our innovation team because we are a diverse group of people with varying disciplines, experiences, and knowledge. The things I like to do in my time outside of work like traveling, cooking, and eating support me in my role in launching new products. Traveling and social media help me know what people are cooking in their homes and going outside their homes to experience.

It’s exciting to have your finger on the pulse of what’s trending but I also like to say I work in the future. While products are launching in 2020, we are already working on the products for the next three to five years. The reality of my work challenges me to be flexible and let go of expectations. I find this very fulfilling but if you like a more rigid work structure, the constant variables could pose great challenges.

On the culture at Califia Farms… 

We still have very much a start-up culture at Califia. Our job titles relate to our core responsibilities, but you’ll find that many of us are contributing in other ways. Califia has hired some of the brightest, hard-working people I've ever met. We work hard and we’re proud of the work that we do. Second, we launch best-in-class products that not only taste great and nourish our bodies but contribute to protecting our planet for future generations to come.

In addition to feeling motivated by our core values, I stay because I’ve been able to grow with Califia. I’ve had many friends bounce from company to company to further their career and while that has brought them success, it wasn’t the right path for me. We benefit greatly in our company culture and morale when we lift each other up and celebrate the success of our colleagues. I look forward to passing this forward as I continue my role as a leader at Califia.

“Getting the job I wanted and felt I deserved, took patience and persistence. My mentor helped me navigate through the rewarding, and the tough, times.”

—Megan Dunn

On what her day-to-day looks like… 

Every day is different, but it generally starts with a cup of coffee and emails. I spend a lot of time on the phone discussing project timelines, managing deliverables, and keeping our teams updated with the latest in what’s in the pipeline at Califia.

My most notable task is my weekly product launch call which includes 30 to 40 people tuned in for one hour. If that sounds wild, it’s because it is! Like I’ve said, each person has a lot of responsibilities and it’s important we manage our time wisely, so while launches aren’t always moving smoothly, we get the job done with respect and teamwork. It’s this attitude that helps us get the job done!  

Another part of the day that I really enjoy includes working with our Director of Design and CEO on the packaging because it presents a creative and collaborative outlet that ultimately becomes one of the most tangible deliverables of the product launch cycle—the final package!

On her morning routine…

Giving myself the time and the space to do the things that make me happy is so important in maintaining work/life balance. No matter how busy I am I make sure to set time aside to do the things that are important to me like working out, cooking food, and spending time with my family. Sometimes that means waking up at 5:30 am to get it in before work but it’s always worth it—it’s how I rest and reset.

On her greatest productivity hack…

In this job, deadlines and dates eventually become second nature but that took roughly 6 months to a year of practice before it became innate, so list-making and notes helped me get up to speed! I’m still looking for the perfect system, but I organize tasks by the week using an old-fashioned pen and paper. I am guilty of having too many windows open on my computer screen so tracking tasks on my screen can be tough.

For long term tasks and reminders, I use OneNote to keep track of topics I need to bring up in my weekly meetings which I check off as I go. I also use Wrike, workflow automation, and project management tool, to keep track of important milestones and manage deliverables.  

Time blocking on my calendar has been one of my better productivity hacks.

If I really need to focus on a task or remind myself to check in with a vendor or partner, I’ll schedule time on my calendar to ensure it happens.

“No matter how busy I am I make sure to set time aside to do the things that are important to me like working out, cooking food, and spending time with my family. ”

On reaching inbox zero… 

My inbox philosophy is to scan all incoming emails for the level of importance. I break up inbox time to roughly five sessions during the day that way I'm not always distracted by my email since there’s other work to be done. I find that if I haven’t responded on an important matter, I generally receive a phone call or chat asking for my attention.

About once a month, I do set aside time to go through unread emails, responding to those of importance or archive those that no longer require action. 

On the biggest misconceptions about her job…

I’m an open book and make myself available for calls when it comes to questions about my role.  It’s my responsibility to take the time to make everyone a “product expert” and help them understand the new product pipeline. For this reason, I don’t think there are many misconceptions about my job but I’m open to anyone who thinks otherwise!

On her advice for landing your dream job…

My job can be named many things and may sit in varying departments dependent on the company. If you want to launch products at your company or somewhere else, take the time to research the department structure and hierarchy. This can help you understand the path forward. 

Second, talk to someone that has the role you want. If they are in product launch, they likely have lots of extra work and may need help so don’t be afraid to vocalize what you want and raise your hand. If you are in a different department, ask that person to be your mentor. When the opportunity arises, you’ll be ready and positioned to throw your hat in the ring.  

“I break up inbox time to roughly five sessions during the day that way I’m not always distracted by my email since there’s other work to be done. I find that if I haven’t responded on an important matter, I generally receive a phone call or chat asking for my attention.”

On the traits you need to be successful… 

I find that to be successful in this industry, it’s important to be collaborative, lead with empathy, and be comfortable with change.  

On the best (and worst) advice she’s been given… 

The best advice I’ve received is to react less and create space to think before responding. The workplace is full of different personalities and opinions so it can be hard to check your emotions when faced with a challenging situation. If you feel misrepresented or unheard, take a moment to collect the facts and present what you know to be true. 

The worst piece of advice is harder to remember because I probably let it go in one ear and out the other. I can say that some of the worst behaviors I’ve seen are ones where the individual is put before the group. No one wins when this happens. 

“React less and create space to think before responding.”

On the one person she’d like to power brunch with…

My “power lunch” is one where I can sit and learn from a person who’s work I admire. In talking with someone who truly loves what they do, there is an undeniable passion that comes through which is inspiring and contagious. 

On my birthday turned engagement trip to Italy, my fiancé and I spent a day driving through the hills of Umbria, harvesting grapes, and learning about natural winemaking with one of my favorite producers, Danilo Marcucci. 

It was “power day” of getting our hands dirty, drinking wine, eating incredible food, and conversing with a visionary about his decades of experience in viticulture and cellar work. The work he does with his vineyards and those of his partners come from a true love for the earth and what grapes can do, along with knowledge garnered through years of practice and experience. It was a magical day and I was lucky enough to leave with a rare bottle of wine, one that I am saving for my wedding night!

On the perfect power interview outfit…

I think it’s important to be yourself and represent your personal brand, but you also must respect the type of workplace and industry to which you’re applying. For food and beverage, in Los Angeles, my perfect interview outfit is a pair of well-tailored dress pants or jeans from Reformation or Everlane with a white button-down shirt and an oversized blazer. I’d pair with vegan leather boots and tasteful jewelry. 

On the everyday Superhero who has helped to guide her career journey… 

Marne Evans was my mentor at Califia and while she recently moved on from the company, she continues to be my Superhero. As one of the founding employees of Califia, she is a great example of doing what it takes to get the work done and leaving your ego at the door. She imparted an incredible amount of knowledge onto me and showed me it’s possible to have a fulfilling career while fostering a rich personal life.

On her proudest moment at Califia…

One of my favorite launches was our drinkable Probiotic Yogurts line, made from our cultured Almondmilk and coconut cream with billions of probiotic CFUS. We use a powerhouse probiotic strain called BB-12(R) which is the world’s most documented Bifidobacterium, shown to have beneficial effects on our digestive and immune systems. The R&D team developed this product rapidly and we installed a new production line at our facility in little over a year. This was a huge cross-functional effort and we pulled it off, launching an incredible product. I’ve actually used the Probiotic Unsweetened Yogurt every day since we launched it over two years ago—the only time I don’t have it is when I travel abroad...

In terms of what’s in store, we are always looking to launch products that make it easy for people to go plant-based and bring food back to its original nourishing process. In the end, we care about our futures and that of the planet. In the coming years, you’ll find more personalized and nutritious offerings from Califia that will nourish the whole body and make it easy to take your favorite Califia products with you anywhere.

On the power of mentorship…

My experience showed me how important it is to really listen to the goals and experiences of the person you’re mentoring. It’s one thing to manage and help someone succeed in the day-to-day of their job but it’s another to lead and nurture someone's professional goals. Getting the job I wanted and felt I deserved, took patience and persistence.

My mentor helped me navigate through the rewarding, and the tough, times. In my current position, I am a resource for others that want to grow in the company and can be a champion for their projects and initiatives. You are your best advocate so if you feel like you’re going unnoticed or aren’t feeling fulfilled, seek out a mentor, and make a plan.

MORE ON THE BLOG

MORE ON THE BLOG

Ask an Expert: How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy That Resonates During COVID-19

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

Photo: Vlada Karpovich for Pexels

We’re in the midst of a pandemic, and there is no doubt that emotions are running high. As a marketing agency, it’s our job at Elevate My Brand to know when to adjust and pivot our own, as well as our client’s, marketing strategies. Because of all that’s happening with COVID19, you’ll likely have to adjust your messaging and be strategic in the way you approach your audience. Here’s how.

Step Up Your PR

While now may not be the time to be pushing sales, it’s a great time to step up your PR presence and get your name out there. Times are uncertain, but if anything is true, it’s that we’re all in this together. When COVID-19 started to unfold, the first thing I thought was, “How can I be of service to those who are struggling?”

As a small business owner myself, I saw it as my responsibility to use my expertise to help those around me. So, I wrote an article on 5 Marketing Tips to Stay Profitable During the COVID-19 Pandemic and our team worked their PR magic to push that article everywhere, with one goal: to reach and help as many people as possible during this difficult time. But one and done doesn’t cut it anymore, so we also penned the follow-up article, How to Elevate Your Brand, Strategize, and Execute in These Strange Days to give the next steps and a more positive future-looking perspective on how to approach things now that we’ve been in it for a few weeks. Things are changing rapidly, it’s your duty to support your community with whatever gifts you have. When you start there, you can’t go wrong and it’s clear that you aren’t tone-deaf or tackily selling.

With everyone shifting their focus to digital, now is also a great time to push your message out on socials via content collaborations. Instagram Lives have skyrocketed in popularity, with many large platforms hosting live takeovers, such as Create & Cultivate’s Ask An Expert series, which you have hopefully had a chance to see! Since we’ve all been #WFH, social media usage and engagement have increased over 30% so take advantage of this and reach out to as many sources as possible to see if they are willing to share your message.

Not only will you be helping your community, but you’ll be building brand awareness as well. This means that when things do open back up, you’ll have built some new top of mind awareness that will help you get back on top quicker. 

Adjust Scheduled Content

Running on a schedule makes life so much easier, I know. But in a time like this when life is so unpredictable, it’s important to step back and take things day by day and that includes your marketing strategy as well. If you scheduled content to go out on your social channels and blogs, you’ll definitely want to take a look at it and see if it’s still appropriate for the times. At Elevate My Brand, we have had to pivot a little bit with our blog posts, pushing back topics to make room for content having to do with COVID-19. Sometimes, adjusting your content is as easy as changing a caption for a photograph. Want to post that picture of your product with a group of people? Be sure to let your audience know that this photo was taken pre-quarantine so your followers don’t get upset that you’re not following social distancing rules. 

It takes a lot of work to properly plan and execute a successful marketing strategy, and you don’t want all that hard work to go to waste. While scheduled events and meetings may have been disrupted by COVID-19, that doesn’t mean that they should be canceled. We’re lucky to have technology on our side so that most of these scheduled events can be converted, rather than having to be canceled. Each year I host a women’s networking event called our Elevate Spring Salon, which is a schmooze and booze that supports a different non-profit each quarter. Obviously we can’t proceed as planned, but we have decided to convert the event to digital which should still give us a community feel, support the cause that we’re standing behind and, continue building brand awareness and visibility. P.S. fun isn’t canceled, it’s just converted. 

Don’t Be Tone Deaf 

As I mentioned earlier, emotions are running high right now. Everyone is reacting to the situation in a different way, so it’s crucial that you take note of your audience’s heightened sensitivity during this time. Listen to your community. What is it that they want and need right now? With social media and surveying tools like Survey Monkey, you can actually ask, what a concept! 

Ultimately, you have to trust your instincts. Maybe it’s not the time to push that ad or sell that product. Now’s the time to be authentic and really showcase your brand values. Funny, positive and uplifting content is always welcome, just be sure that you’re being sensitive to the current situation and adding value, not just acting as if nothing has changed. 

We’re going to be in this for a while, even after shelter-in-place orders are lifted. So the faster you can shift your messaging and positioning, the more successful you will be long term, and the less of an uphill battle you’re brand will have when this is truly over.

About the Expert: Laurel Mintz, J.D., M.B.A. is the CEO and founder of award-winning, Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency Elevate My Brand. Laurel’s gift is connecting with people and their stories. After all, companies are made up of people, and stories are just narratives that are the foundation of great marketing. Laurel’s energy has been the driving force behind the agency’s growth since it launched in 2009. Her awards include the 2017 Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation Award, the 2016 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Company award, the Los Angeles Business Journal 2016 Women In Business Award, and more. 

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Opinion: How to Stay Focused on What Matters During Times of Great Upheaval

Photo: Stephanie Stanley

With shelter-in-place orders in effect across the globe because of the novel coronavirus, many have suddenly, and unexpectedly, found themselves without access to the physical spaces (offices; fitness studios; places of worship) and basic structures (daily commutes; relationships; jobs) that previously shaped their day-to-day lives. I know firsthand how unsettling this can be, even without the added anxiety of contracting or spreading a deadly virus that has already infected more than a million people around the world.

In November 2017, I was working at a prestigious corporate law firm when The New Yorker revealed that my employer had retained Israeli intelligence operatives to spy on the women coming forward with their stories about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. The news was particularly disturbing to me as someone who, just a few weeks earlier, had made the difficult decision to come forward publicly to The Washington Post about my own experience with sexual harassment as an 18-year-old intern. 

About two months later, I left to launch the Purple Campaign, a non-profit organization to address workplace harassment in the wake of #MeToo. In a matter of days, I went from having a job in which I was assigned a steady stream of specific tasks—and required to track my time in six-minute increments for billing purposes—to being my own boss in an uncharted foray into social entrepreneurship. I suddenly discovered that the organizational systems I’d relied on for years no longer met my needs, and struggled to prioritize and balance the day-to-day demands of my new career path.

“I was having a hard time focusing on work because I was terrified of the uncertain future ahead of me, both personally and professionally.”

Staying grounded in my work became even more challenging that fall, when I separated from my husband and partner of 11 years and moved out of the house we shared. In the span of a year, I lost the two fundamental structures of my life (my job and my marriage) along with the physical spaces (my downtown office and my home) that contained them. As much as I loved the creative and intellectual challenge of building a new organization, I found it increasingly difficult to translate those abstract goals into day-to-day tasks.

The dramatic societal change currently underway has prompted a flurry of think pieces about how to create a work-from-home schedule and the importance of establishing a morning routine to boost productivity. Don’t get me wrong: this kind of advice is important and useful. Over the past two years, I’ve learned—through a lot of trial and error—how to balance my competing needs for flexibility and discipline. This has included establishing not only a morning routine (which consists of a daily prayer, meditation, and self-led Ashtanga yoga practice) but an evening one, too (which I’ll admit is largely dominated by my elaborate skincare regimen), along with other rituals that keep me grounded.

But while my routines help me start each day with focus and clarity, they haven’t always made it easier to get substantive work done—and that’s especially true when the future I’m working toward feels as uncertain as the present moment I’m living in. I often finished my morning routine only to find it impossible to sit down and focus on the work tasks in front of me. I’d procrastinate by doing other “productive” things instead (going for a run; meal prepping; organizing a friend’s bachelorette party), putting my work off until a deadline loomed, or an email landed in my inbox that demanded a response.

As my one of my work-life gurus Adam Grant wrote in a recent COVID-era column, there’s an explanation for this: people tend to procrastinate “when a task stirs up feelings like anxiety, confusion, or boredom” or when “you’re working alone on tasks that seem ambiguous and meaningless.” As passionate as I am about the work I do at The Purple Campaign, entrepreneurship came hand-in-hand with an underlying anxiety that I didn't fully appreciate when I dove headfirst into it two years ago, and which only increased in the wake of my divorce. I wasn’t having a hard time focusing on work because I lacked good routines—I was having a hard time focusing on work because I was terrified of the uncertain future ahead of me, both personally and professionally.

“Regardless of the tasks sitting on each of our to-do lists right now, we’re all grappling with unprecedented uncertainties.”

Over time, I’ve found a way to get unstuck in such moments: by reframing the task to focus on the people instead of the project. If my to-do list looms large with things that are intimidating or feel “ambiguous and meaningless,” I spend a few minutes focusing on the why behind them: the people affected by the anxiety-inducing or seemingly mundane assignment in front of me. As Grant explains, “we’re more likely to stay on task when we know other people are counting on us,” and re-framing to orient a project around them “can bring focus and meaning” to the work.

A few weeks ago, for example, when I found myself putting off signing the contract for our latest #MeToo Meet Up, I paused for a moment to think about the people behind the administrative task: the individuals who find community and healing at our Meet Up events; the survivors I’ve partnered with to develop the series; the employees at the Outrage who depend on fees from events like ours to operate their small business. The same approach works when I’m faced with a task that feels daunting rather than boring, like putting together the agenda for my first-ever Advisory Board meeting last December.

This global pandemic is affecting us all in both different and similar ways; simultaneously transcending and exacerbating the deep pre-existing socio-economic divides in our society. Regardless of the tasks sitting on each of our to-do lists right now, we’re all grappling with unprecedented uncertainties: the health and safety of our loved ones; knowing when we’ll next see cherished friends and family; finding financial security in an economic crisis. Focusing on the people at the heart of it all isn’t a cure-all solution, but it is a way to reconnect—and hopefully keep moving forward with—what matters most to each of us during this time of great upheaval.

About the Author: Ally Coll is the president and co-founder of The Purple Campaign.

MORE ON THE BLOG

4 Simple Ways to Live an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle (Even If You're Too Busy)

Photo: Daria Shevtsova for Pexels

Did you know 8 million metric tons of trash are dumped into the ocean each year?

This trash also kills around one million marine animals and birds every year. Not a day goes by without pollution of some kind. Whether it’s the fumes from cars, the plastic bag holding our PB&J sandwich, the cheap graphic tee you bought last week, or even the plastic water bottle you bought with your salad on your lunch break.

But no matter how busy your days are, everyone can (and should!), find the time to care a little more about this place we call home. It’s time to do our part to reduce this toxic waste and find smarter ways to keep our planet clean and safe. Not sure where to start? Here are a few tips to kick off an eco-friendly lifestyle, even if you’re busy.

Be Mindful of Fast Fashion

Clothing is an essential part of our everyday life. What we pay for clothing, how we feel in it, and how long it lasts are all important factors to keep in mind when purchasing clothes. Fast fashion is inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest style trends. This allows companies to create cheaply made clothing that will likely not last long for the consumer—ever wash a shirt once and the thread string comes out, or it shrinks three sizes?.

Sustainable fashion is the process of fostering change to clothing products towards greater ecological integrity. There are several ways to become a trendsetter without giving into fast fashion and its grand marketing scheme. A string of companies are popping up around this sustainable drive offering easy ways to consign fashion and buy used clothing—hint Poshmark, thredUP, The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, and eBay. They are all doing their part to promote sustainable fashion at an affordable, not cheap, price. Buying secondhand and investing in clothing that is high quality and made with organic and durable fibers are the best ways we can support this sustainable clothing initiative. Did you know fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world behind oil? Let’s change that, ladies.

Invest in Sustainable Food Storage Containers

Work life consists of various foods and snacks to get you through your day. This includes plastic containers, plastic zip-top bags, maybe even plastic bags as lunch bags. Look for food containers that have silicone lids instead of plastic. Silicone is long-lasting, free of all estrogen-mimicking chemicals that are usually found in plastics, doesn’t contain petroleum, and is not harmful to the environment.

Stainless steel is another noteworthy material to use for storing food. People often forget that stainless steel is a highly recycled commodity. According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, the rate of stainless steel recycling has increased to 90% while plastic recycling remains at 1% with most remains dumped into a landfill. If you tend to bring a big lunch everyday, you might want to purchase a reusable lunchbox. This gives you the freedom to keep all your food in place and cold, while also reducing plastic bag use.

So, next time you make a Target run, take a peek at the containers section to make your ecological footprint a little less toxic. 

Bring Your Learnings Into Your Building

Most office and apartment buildings should be following all recycling rules no matter what, but if you’re in a building where they don’t pay attention, then now is the time to inquire.

Contact the building management company and ask them any questions you may have about how to recycle properly. Make signs, set up bins, and do your part to educate your fellow employees and residents on recycling and how to do it the proper way. Provide lists of resources for people looking to get rid of plastic bags, old toys, clothes, food, or even electronics.

Print out recycling guidelines with handy pictures so people can learn at-a-glance how to appropriately dispose of their trash. Talk to your building manager about implementing these recycling guidelines and ask if you’re able to hold an info session to teach employees or residents about the do’s and don’ts of recycling (once social distancing restrictions are lifted). The more people we educate, the better our quality of life will be.

Reduce Plastic Use Where You Can

We all know plastic is the big criminal here. One of the biggest actions we can take is to stop purchasing plastic water bottles, and particularly, plastic water bottles in mass quantity. Not only does this waste affect our marine life but can also affect public health by spreading diseases and other illnesses as a result of burning waste. 

In 2010, Sarah Kauss founded the company S’well with an important mission in mind. Kauss wanted to rid the world of plastic bottles. She molded fashion and function together to create a product that consumers couldn’t resist. The bottles are designed to keep your beverages cold for up to 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. S’well is a woman-owned company with a strong and clear vision to make the world a cleaner place.

Instead of polluting the Earth every day with more plastic water bottles, reuse your own cute and sustainable water bottle that is entirely yours (and you’ll save so much money). You can take it with you pretty much anywhere you go. It’s the easiest way to make the world a cleaner place.

About the Author: Abbey Adams currently works at a digital marketing company while also maintaining her music blog, blondieandthebeat.com, of six years. Throughout her time as a freelance writer for a women’s magazine she’s learned to share every story and empower as many women as possible. You can usually find her writing in bed binging “Sex and the City” (for the 10th time) or at the gym sweating out her anxiety on the stairclimber.

This story was originally published on July 6, 2019, and has since been updated.

 MORE ON THE BLOG

Ask an Expert: Why Tapping Into Consumer Sentiment Is Key to Success in COVID-19

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

Photo: Courtesy of Jenny Gorenstein

As a brand, it is more important now than ever to listen to and connect with your consumers. We are all isolated and feeling alone in the midst of the chaos of COVID-19. Consumer needs are changing, the economy is heading for a downturn, and there is no way to get face to face with customers, so we have to step up our virtual communities.

In this installment of our Ask an Expert live series, we tapped Jenny Gorenstein, the chief growth officer at Foria, to talk us through how forging connections now can carry brands through COVID-19 and allow them to thrive on the other side. Scroll on to read some of the best advice from the conversation and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to join us for the next one.

Now Is Not the Time to Push Products

“There is no playbook for how to market through a pandemic. We are leading with compassion now more than ever about how we are showing up in people’s inbox and on people’s feeds.”

“It’s not about pushing product right now.”

“Don’t focus on your own brand’s initiatives, show up through goodwill.”

“People just want to know how they can feel more connected to themselves and others and that’s the content we’re putting out right now”

Digital Content Is Key

“We’re all always on our phones. We’re addicted to our phones. That is how we are connecting now. From a brand perspective, there’s a lot of ways to meaningfully connect. Don’t put out things that are overproduced, show up raw, and give things that allow that person-to-person connection. Let people into your homes. Tap into influencers who already have the trust of others and are helping people get through.”

“We scrapped all of our marketing plans, which hurt because you take months building those plans, but we want to create content in the moment. We’re working harder than we ever have because we can’t plan.”

“You want to show up in a way that is resonant with what people are going through and what their life looks like.”

“We have a really playful brand and are leaning into that.”

“We do a lot of content that allows people to pause and take notice of nature around them and that is doing well right now. This is nature’s greatest reset, were all feeling more connected to the outdoors than ever.”

Work With Influencers and Reach Their Communities

“If you don’t have a budget for influencers, that’s okay. I think the organic route is the way to start anyway.”

“Start with gifting product. First and foremost, you want to make sure they love your product and your brand before working together. Try: Affiliate networks and giveaways.” 

“Think about promotions you can do that keep your profit margins but make your products more accessible. If people are curious that gives them a reason to try and once you have them you can get a consumer for life.”

Embrace the New Normal

“Success can come in so many forms you can use Instagram as a means to drive business, you can use Instagram as a means to drive engagement or you can use Instagram as a means to educate.”

“The world of tech has opened up the most amazing toolbox for brands to create dynamic conversations.”

“Lead with the people behind the brand. Lead with heart. Lead with compassion.”

About the Expert: Jenny Gorenstein has focused her career on building innovative and iconic brands and media companies. Prior to joining Foria, she spent 15 years launching InStyle.com's digital ad business from the ground up, helping to grow Refinery29 from $0 to $100M in revenue, and joining pre-IPO Snapchat to take it’s retail business to the next level. Always drawn to mission-driven and early-stage startups, Jenny is passionate about driving cultural currency and sustainable revenue growth. She is a people and idea connector.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Ask an Expert: How to Create Compelling Content and Grow Your Instagram, According to a VP Influencer Marketing

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“

The longer you wait, the harder it is to grow.”

—Rachel Zeilic, VP of Influencer Marketing at WhoWhatWear

With engagement on social up 30% since social isolation started, now might just be the perfect time to be growing your Instagram or finally figuring out wtf to do with TikTok. But in the midst of a crisis, creating good (and respectful) content can feel really difficult. In comes, Rachel Zeilic, VP of Influencer Marketing at WhoWhatWear, to answer all your questions.

Wondering what to post, when to post, what to pay for, or if TikTok is the right move for your brand? Rachel drops lots of advice on our IG LIVE on how to navigate social media in the midst of COVID-19. Tune into this Ask An Expert to make sure you don’t miss a single tip. We bet you’re already scrolling through Instagram, might as well scroll with purpose and grow your brand.

We Want Your (Respectful) Content

“Don’t make any assumptions. Don’t say, Now that we’re all working from home, because that isn’t true for a lot of people.”

“There really is a space for audiences to turning to influencers for comfort for information for distraction, they have a lot of time on their hands right now and time is a precious commodity so let’s serve them.”

“Stay away from anything that is like ‘this is a must-have’ because, if it’s not groceries or masks, it isn’t a must-have.”

“Some things that are performing really well right now is comfy chic, working from home outfits, beauty routines, anything affordable, people are still interested in spring trends, and they also want some escapism.”

“Now is also a time to give things away for free. Even if you’re a brand who could be doing well giving some at-home DIY recipes, people will really appreciate that and remember that when commerce opens up again. More than ever they will remember the brands who stepped up and are giving to the community.”

“This is the first time really in a long time where influencers’ lifestyles are really close to their followers’ lifestyles. They aren’t jetting around the world or wearing designer outfits. So this is a really great time for influencers to connect with their followers in a really relatable way.”

Get On TikTok

“TikTok is not like Snapchat or other platforms where they were popular but there was never really brand integration. TikTok is really different, the way it’s built is really engineered to be successful for brand campaigns. Particularly one feature, the hashtag challenges. That is incredible for creating UGC (user-generated content). To me UGC is gold. If your customer loves you so much that they are creating content, they aren’t an influencer, they aren’t getting paid, if they love the product so much they are creating content that is gold.”

 “I think working with TikTok and ‘TikTokers’ absolutely should be part of your campaign given that the demographic aligns, it is a predominantly Gen Z audience. Also the KPIs of the campaign, you need to understand that currently TikTokers or influencers can’t link out anywhere, so if you’re expecting to see immediate sell-through from your campaign, TikTok is not the place to do it. But its great of awareness, you can reach massive audiences.”

“With regards to brands starting their own accounts on TikTok, it really depends if you can do it in a way that’s native to the platform. It’s really not going to work if you’re using the same kind of content you use on Instagram and other platforms. You should only be investing your time into growing a brand account on TikTok if you can do it in the way that is organic to TikTok.”

“The longer you wait, the harder it is to grow.”

Embrace Pay-to-Play

“Yes, it is a pay-to-play world. That being said, relationships and organic strategy are important to stretch your dollars.”

“It’s worth spending a little money on a consultant who can help you know how to spend your social budget.”

“Influencers assets on paid social perform so much better than campaign assets.” 

“A lot of influencers have dropped their pricing or are more flexible on pricing right now.”

“Paid social pricing is down right now as well. You can make your budget stretch so much further right now.”

Insta Tips & Tricks

“We’ve been saying to influencers, Instead of getting a picture and then thinking, ‘Ugh what is my caption going to be?,’ why don’t you write the caption first and tell a story and then reverse that and think of an image that can convey that story?’ I don’t think they all have to be long, and they shouldn’t be long if you don’t have something to say. But every brand has a story to tell and every influencer has a story to tell and I think that can be great. It’s like micro-blogging.”

Tools to try:

• Planoly

• Unum

• VSCO

• Tezza 

“You should post as often as you can while creating quality content and without seeing a dip in engagement rate. The more you post the more your engagement will be spread out.”

About The Expert: Rachel Zeilic is an O.G. in influencer marketing, starting way back in 2007. She is currently the VP of influencer marketing at WhoWhatWear, running influencer campaigns for everyone from Walmart to Gucci. Before that she was creative Director of Majorelle at Revolve, and before that she founded two labels, Stylestalker and The Jetset Diaries.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Ask an Expert: How to Be a “Taboo” Brand and Speak Out on Topics That Matter

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

Photo: Courtesy of Laura Schubert

Launching a business that’s centered around a taboo topic isn’t easy.

Just ask of Laura Schubert, the co-founder and CEO of Fur, a self-care brand that’s signature product is pubic hair oil. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Today, Fur’s products are beloved by celebs (Emma Watson’s a fan) and the brand’s products are stocked everywhere from boutique salons to big-box beauty stores like Ulta.

But all this success didn’t come easily. “When I was reaching out to partners to create the formula, people thought I was prank calling them—they’d call me a pervert and hang up on me,“ explains Schubert. For today’s Ask an Expert Live segment, we asked Schubert to tell us all about how she’s used her brand’s platform to speak out on topics that matter, give back, and create a sense of community.

Scroll on for a few highlights and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to catch the next installment of Ask an Expert.

Stay True to Your Brand

“During this pandemic, we haven’t changed our messaging that much. We’ve always been a self-care brand and we’re all about self-care rituals that leave space for people to reexamine how they view pubic hair and reframe ideas that they may have about their own bodies and their body hair.”

Use Your Platform to Pay It Forward

“We’ve been giving back to the extent that we can. We gave away 500 Fur oils to healthcare workers—we asked people to send us a picture of their badge—and over 2,000 people got back to us. So, we’re trying to figure out ways that we can give back to people at this time and help people as much as much as we can.”

Create a Virtual Community

“At Fur, we asked ourselves, How can we create community online when we’re all hurting in so many ways? So we started Further Together an Instagram Live series where our community can

About the Expert: Laura Schubert is the co-founder and CEO of Fur. Prior to Fur, Laura was a management consultant at Bain and Company. Interested in starting her own business since graduate school, she honed her skills while waiting for the right idea and the right team to launch a new venture. Fur seemed like the perfect opportunity to create an entirely new beauty category with her sister and close friend, who also happened to have complementary backgrounds.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Ask an Expert: How to Develop Your Brand Voice, Personification, and Tag Line

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

Photo: cottonbro for Pexels

Branding is more important now than ever before with COVID-19. While it may not be the time to be pushing sales, it’s certainly the time to put your best foot forward and showcase your brand values in order to build a community. In order to market successfully during this time, you have to be able to connect with people and their stories. After all, companies are made up of people, and stories are just narratives that are the foundation of great marketing. 

“Buyers make most of their decisions by relying on their two second first impressions based on stored memories, images and feelings.” This quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink,” powerfully expresses how your customers think. In layman's terms, you only get one chance to make a first impression. To find out how to do it right, scroll on to learn more about branding, including developing your tag line and voice.

What Is Branding? 

To begin, it’s crucial that you understand what branding is and what it is not. Branding is not telling people who you are, it’s managing what other people say you are. What will your audience associate with your brand? It’s up to you to create this emotional connection through your branding.

Specifically, branding is the look and feel of a brand, the characteristics, values, tag lines, logos, energy, etc. Branding includes all the ways your company shows up in the world and how you hope a consumer will relate and engage with it on an emotional level.

However, before you can even begin to market your brand out into the world, you must start by building a strong foundation. Here’s how. 

How to Define Your Brand 

Branding Exercise

When establishing your personal or corporate brand, it’s critical to begin by defining what you want your brand to be. This starts with developing a name and logo that speaks to your target market and evokes a specific emotion, adjective or sensory experience. You can go about this in many ways.  When working with a new client, one of the first things we do is take them through a branding exercise that we call “word vomit” that looks a little bit like this: 

1. Write down a list of words, potential names and/or concepts that you might want to start with (this is if you don’t already have your company name).

2. Write down a list of adjectives and emotions you want your potential client to feel when they see your logo or hear your brand name.

3. Go out and find 5-10 logos you like and 5-10 logos you don’t like and describe in detail why you do or don’t like them. The creative process is so subjective, so before we start throwing ideas at the wall, it's crucial that we know what your aesthetic is. Knowing what you don’t like is as important as knowing what you do like.

4. Similarly, determine a list of colors you like and don’t like and types of designs you do and don’t like e.g. I do like minimalist fonts, but I don’t like figures in logos.

This exercise allows you to get clear on your brand values, decide which words you want associated with your brand and, almost as importantly, which words and sentiments you don’t want associated with your brand. This type of exercise can help with buy in and can also spark creativity and should be a lot of fun. 

At the end of the day you get what you pay for, so remember, this logo will live on your business cards, web site, and all marketing materials that you will create for your company, which are the first things a prospect sees, even before they get to know you. So putting your best brand effort first is key.

Brand Book

Let’s just get this out of the way—yes, you absolutely need a brand book. A brand book is a document that outlines every detail about your brand. It’s basically your brand’s DNA. At its most fundamental level, a brand book must include your mission and vision, your logo and colors, your typography, and sample imagery. The best brand book, however, has more than the basics. 

As important as it is to define your brand, it’s equally important to define what your brand is not. What words or phrases are off limits? In order to stay on brand, you must know what it means to be off brand. 

I said it once and I’ll say it again: Branding is not telling people who you are, it’s managing what other people say you are. In order to do this, you must know a little bit about your target audience. What do they like? With your target audience in mind, how can you shape your branding into something they can appreciate and recognize? 

Ultimately, your brand is the foundation for all things marketing, so it’s critical that you get it right from the start and build a lexicon around it so that as you build and scale, the original ethos of the brand remains intact. 

About the Expert: Laurel Mintz, J.D., M.B.A. is the CEO and founder of award-winning, Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency Elevate My Brand. Laurel’s gift is connecting with people and their stories. After all, companies are made up of people, and stories are just narratives that are the foundation of great marketing. Laurel’s energy has been the driving force behind the agency’s growth since it launched in 2009. Her awards include the 2017 Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation Award, the 2016 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Company award, the Los Angeles Business Journal 2016 Women In Business Award, and more. Need help figuring out how to do this for your brand? I can’t wait to talk. Reach out today to get started.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Ask an Expert: How to Make the Most of Social Distancing and Be Productive With Your Extra Time

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“

Don’t allow your inner critic to talk you out of starting. Just start.”

—Stephanie Fleming, co-founder of The Happy Planner

Now, let us start off by saying that we are not here to pressure you into being productive. After all, we’re in the midst of a global health crisis that has disrupted every aspect of our daily lives. One that has taken a serious toll on both our mental health and overall wellbeing, as well as our financial stability. First and foremost, we all need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones.

We are here, however, to give you the tools you need in order to be productive if you are looking to launch that business, learn that new skill, or get started on that project you’ve had on the back burner while you’re self-isolating. That’s why we tapped creative entrepreneur and co-founder of The Happy Planner, Stephanie Fleming, to share her tips on the topic for our latest Ask an Expert Live segment.

Scroll on for three takeaways from the conversation and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram so you don’t miss out on the next one.

Create Work-Life Boundaries

“In a situation like this, boundaries are very important. Remember, you are the guardian of your own time so you need to create the boundaries that you need in order to be productive. Create a schedule for yourself but be aware that there are always going to be boundary bulldozers (i.e., Facebook, the news, your kids), just be aware of them, take a deep breath, and recognize that these are difficult times and it’s okay to not be at the top of your game.”

Minimize Distractions

“Set aside a dedicated workspace where you can minimize distractions. If you don’t have the space (some of us live in tight quarters), schedule some time for yourself to use a shared space. Do whatever you need to do to find a distraction-free zone or time so you have the space you need, both mentally and physically, to cross items off your to-do list.”

Just Start

“Procrastination and perfection are the enemies of productivity. Just start the damn thing. Rip the band-aid off. Use Mel Robbins’ 5-second rule and literally countdown from 5-4-3-2-1 and just go. Don’t allow your inner critic to talk you out of starting. Just start.”

About the Expert: Stephanie Fleming is a creative entrepreneur, speaker, optimist, and wellness seeker. Most notably, she is the co-founder of The Happy Planner. What began 20 years ago as a tiny, garage-based business is now an industry-leading lifestyle brand that offers a wide variety of products that inspire customers to live creatively and plan a happy life It’s Stephanie’s mission to create a happy life movement by empowering people everywhere to take control of their own happiness by embracing planning, positivity and all things creative!

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

Ask an Expert: How to Sell Through Video, According to a Business Coach

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

“It is an 80% higher conversion rate when you share services and products on video rather than standard text posts.”

—Tiffany Carter, founder of ProjectME

During COVID-19, you have to step up your social media game—and, according to business coach, Tiffany Carter, video is essential for engaging your followers. Whether you are going live on Instagram, pumping out some quick stories, or posting vids directly to your page, if you aren’t using video, you’re not making the most of your social channels.

In this installment of our Instagram Live Ask an Expert series, we asked the founder of ProjectME to walk us through her best tips for turning videos into conversions. If you’re afraid to go live, show your face on camera, or even just make your videos worth watching, scroll on for her best tips, and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to tune into the next conversation.

Video Is A Must!

“It is an 80% higher conversion rate when you share services and products on video rather than standard text posts.”

“You need to do video every day in your stories.”

“Its vulnerable to be our silly, goofy, awkward selves, but that converts the best.”

Use The EASE Method

E - Energy and Engagement

“You cannot fake energy. Get into the highest possible energy state you can get in for that moment. Do jumping jacks, put on fun music, call a friend to hype you up, whatever it takes”

“Look at the screen as though it is your best friend and use those same mannerisms you would use in real life.”

“The first ten seconds are crucial, especially for pre-recorded videos. It determines if someone will click on or off. Do not start a video with ‘hey, guys,’ it’s basic, it doesn’t work, it’s not engaging.“

A - Authority and Confidence

“You need to establish yourself as the authority in your niche.”

“What we tend to do [when we lack confidence] are weird things like looking down, not getting close to the video, or hair twirling. These nervous habits don’t translate.”

S – Storytelling

“Stories sell. People remember stories.”

“Have a story, it can be a mirco-story, but have a story prepared to share in your videos, something funny, or something that worked really well for you, have some kind of story.”

E - Execution

“You have to tell people what in the hell to do or they don’t do it.”

“If you want people to comment below, don’t only ask them a question but tell them to comment below, point to the comment section.”

“If you’re not so sick of yourself that you’re thinking I can’t say this again or I can’t listen to my voice anymore, then you’re not saying it enough.”

The 3 Es of Content

Good content should do at least one of these three things:

• Educate your people

• Enlighten them

• Entertain them

About The Expert. Tiffany Carter takes the mystery out of making big money while doing something you love. She uses a magnetic combination of her clear-cut communication style that she developed as a TV news broadcaster for NBC and CBS, her business savvy and proven strategies as a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, and her intuitive ability to connect with women on a deeper level, to uncover what’s blocking you from achieving your dream life.

Tune in daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST, for new installments of Ask an Expert. 

Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out. See you there!

5 Things to Do While Self-Quarantining Without Buying a Single Thing

Photo: Alex Gállego for Pexels

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our normal lives have come to a grinding halt. Beyond streaming our go-to TV shows for hours on end, there’s a lot more we can do during this downtime that will help retrain our minds and help us live our life, even beyond this period of quarantine.

So often, when we are looking to grow, change, or shift something in our lives, we are looking outside of ourselves. But, the truth is, everything you need to continue your growth journey is within you—and within arm’s reach. All you need is passion, interest, and a few simple strategies that’ll help you find what works for you. 

Here are some simple things you can do to shift your mindset in order to stimulate growth, without spending a dime.

1. Try cooking a new recipe.

This incredible resource allows you to discover new recipes by listing the ingredients you have in your pantry, fridge, or freezer. If you're at a loss of what to make, this is a great way to shop what you already have and try something new, too.

Personally, every morning, I come up with some type of frittata using leftover vegetables, protein, and eggs. You can also use frozen veggies if you are trying to clean out your freezer. 

2. Refresh your living space.

Beyond spring cleaning, try changing the layout of your space as well. It sounds simple but reorganizing furniture or décor can provide your brain with a really satisfying sense of change (without spending any money on new pieces.) You would be surprised how much this can act as a refresh during quarantine. 

Now that I’m home a lot more, I’ve rearranged three rooms already. It’s been nice to re-think the space I have and make it feel new again. I have also used this time to clean out my pantries, fridge, and my kids’ play areas. I’ve cleaned out so much, I feel like every room is new.

3. Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read (instead of buying a new one).

Psychologically speaking, we get a rush when making purchases. Buying new things, even when we have something similar at home, gives us temporary satisfaction. We can use this time to work on that, challenging ourselves with a "no buy" mandate (because, well, it's sort of the only option) and getting enjoyment from actually using things up.

Instead of focusing on the next purchase, we can simultaneously produce less waste, reduce clutter, save money, and shift our mindsets. Books take up a lot of space in our rooms as well as storage. We are reading a lot more these days and are finding books we forgot to start or stories we want to read again. 

4. Learn a new skill.

I don't suggest putting too much pressure on yourself to be productive during quarantine, but if there's something you've been putting off doing due to a lack of time, now is a good chance to start.

Download Duolingo to work on learning a new language, watch free online videos to help you become more flexible, or bake the bread you've been seeing everyone make on Instagram.

For me, this is improving recipes, testing new ones, and adding twists to ones I use today in order to support immunity.

5. Connect (virtually) with your family and friends.

Throw a happy hour via Zoom. Download Houseparty to connect with your friends. FaceTime with your family during dinner. These circumstances make us truly value the people in our lives.

With Marco Polo, you can leave video messages with friends and family. This allows you to connect face-to-face but asynchronously. I’ve been celebrating birthdays over Zoom and scheduling virtual coffee dates and lunch meet-ups with my friends and family.

About the Author: Nora McCaffrey is the Chief Academic Officer at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She oversees all academic components to IIN’s course offerings. Prior to joining IIN, she trained at the Institute for Culinary Education in culinary arts and ran her own catering business in Brooklyn, NY, providing healthy food options for private events, school events, and meal deliveries. 

To support her health focus, she became an IIN health coach and later decided to join the IIN team. In 2017, she obtained a master’s degree in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. Her experience and education help her to continuously improve and innovate course offerings and learning platforms

Nora is from Brooklyn, NY and now lives with her wife, Helen, and two kids in Maplewood, NJ. As a lifelong foodie, Nora supports local farmers and restaurants to feed her family.  

MORE ON THE BLOG

#SmallBusinessBigInfluence: A Live Discussion on How to Support Small Businesses During COVID-19

We’ve been spending a lot of time at Create & Cultivate HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. We’re committed to helping women create and cultivate the career of their dreams, which is why we’re proud to announce our new Ask an Expert series. We’re hosting discussions with experts, mentors, and influencers daily at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm PST on Instagram Live to cure your craving for community and bring you the expert advice you’ve come to know and love from C&C. Follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram, check out our Ask an Expert highlight reel for the latest schedule, and hit the countdown to get a reminder so you don’t miss out!

Photo: Smith House Photography

It’s safe to say COVID-19 has upended our lives in every possible way. Socially, emotionally, physically, and certainly financially. In times of crisis, businesses are put to the test—supply chains are disrupted and profit margins are compromised. But if there’s one industry that has been impacted the most, it’s small business—and they need our help more than ever right now. 

The Shelter at Home policy has seen all our favorite restaurants, fitness studios, salons, and boutiques close shop across the country. These businesses are the backbone of our country, and we need to support them the best way we can. In times of great uncertainty, success comes down to how you pivot and respond—and now is the time to be swift, not reactive.

For some #realtalk on how to pivot in a crisis, lead with purpose, and promote small business through big influence during these challenging times, we asked three powerhouse female founders—Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted, Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What, and Amber Fillerup, founder of Barefoot Blonde—to join our founder and CEO Jaclyn Johnson for a special roundtable discussion (via Zoom, of course) on the state of the industry and how we can support it. 

Scroll on for some highlights from the conversation and be sure to follow Create & Cultivate on Instagram to find out how to join our next roundtable discussion. If you want to join the movement and support small businesses right now, please visit @SmallBusinessBigInfluence on Instagram.

Jaclyn Johnson, Founder and CEO, Create & Cultivate Deepica Mutyala, Founder and CEO, Live Tinted Danielle Bernstein, Entrepreneur and Founder, WeWoreWhat Amber Fillerup Clark, Founder of Barefoot Blonde

On accept and establishing a new normal…

“I think the toughest part is creating that sense of culture when you’re not together.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

“I didn’t realize how much we accomplished in in-person meetings” – Amber Fillerup, founder of Barefoot Blonde

“Having a morning routine and treating it like normal has been the only way to create a normal.” – Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

“I keep telling myself that we are all human and that’s the number one thing that matters right now.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

On embracing authenticity on social media…

“Now more than ever, people just want to see human.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

“I’ve tried to have the right balance of content that can distract with content that can educate with content that is actually helpful and useful.” — Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

“It’s been an opportunity for us to do weekly newsletters where we profile people from the community who are doing heroic things.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted 

On leaning into charitable contributions…

“Everything has meaning behind it and I want my followers to feel better about their purchases and feel like they are really going to help someone.” — Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

“No matter how much I do, no matter how many people I’m helping right now, I’m still getting hate thrown my way.”— Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

“Every sponsorship I have coming up I’m asking them if we can donate to a charity in need.” — Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

On pivoting during this unprecedented pandemic…

“We’re sold out of two shades and can’t get that back in stock, so its forcing us to get really creative, and something we’ve always wanted to do is merch and there are manufacturers in LA that are still working.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

“At C&C, our whole business is events, so were thinking how can we bring things online.” — Jaclyn Johnson, founder and CEO of Create & Cultivate

“Social media views and engagement have increased by over 30% in the last two weeks. Everyone is spending a lot more time on digital and social media.” — Jaclyn Johnson, founder and CEO of Create & Cultivate

“More than ever, it’s a great time to work with influencers, you just have to be sensitive to what’s going on in our current landscape.” — Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

On putting your employees first…

“I’m trying to feel out my employees because this is really taxing on our mental health, too, and I don’t want to push my employees too much. So, were being really sensitive and taking things slow.” — Amber Fillerup, founder of Barefoot Blonde

“Every morning, we get on a FaceTime call and have our coffee and do a morning ritual where we do our rose and thorn for the week.” — Danielle Bernstein, entrepreneur and founder of We Wore What

“Transparency has been key for us.” — Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of Live Tinted

“I think there is solace in the fact that its everyone and it’s not industry-specific.” — Jaclyn Johnson, founder and CEO of Create & Cultivate

MORE ON THE BLOG