Two CEOs Walk Into a Conference Room

The original version of this article appeared on Darling. 

Darling and Create & Cultivate have a long-standing relationship. Some might even call it a BFF-work friendship, seeing as CEO Sarah Dubbeldam of Darling and Jaclyn Johnson CEO of C&C have been friends for over five years. 

So when Darling thought it would be fun for the two of them to get together, and have a quick catch-up, we thought, of course! What's better than getting real IRL? 

Sarah, with and Darling managing editor Teresa Archer stopped by our West Hollywood office to meet up with Jaclyn and talk a little about why we love women, supporting female-owned companies, and the memories from the early days.

Teresa Archer: At the beginning of where you started, did you envision where you were going?

Jaclyn Johnson: It’s so funny because I always think the best businesses have no business plan. For me, when I started it was purely happy accident. I got laid off of my job before I started No Subject and the only way to go is up from rock bottom.

I always tell people, for me, it wasn’t like “I have a business plan, I have all this outreach.” It completely happened naturally and the way it was supposed to. Similarly, with C&C I was really young. I was 23, I didn’t know a lot about starting a business. I was the creative, I had all these ideas but I didn’t know about taxes and cash flow — all those things as a business owner you need to know about. So I hit a lot of trials and tribulations early on and really C&C manifested from that. I really wanted to start a community where freelancers could get together and ask, “What are you doing?” and “What’s working for you?”

So it really started out more DIY and retreats, but morphed based on my personal experiences and also the ones I heard from the other women. I saw women really need this advice, they really need a community where it’s giving you hard-hitting facts but also looks like something you want to be a part of; not a gross conference room or a legal zoom.

There’s this drawing of “the path to success” and it shows everybody thinks it’s A to B, but in actuality it’s all winding and crazy and it’s true! I mean we [Sarah and I] have known each other forever and I feel like it’s so funny to see your friends skyrocket like this. Six years ago we were like, “We have ideas!” Now, we have companies!

… the only way to go is up from rock bottom.

Sarah Dubbeldam: Yeah, we started with our mission statement which was just this concept of somehow the world being better. Originally I wanted to write a book, but we thought people have already written books about this kind of thing, so what’s a continual conversation? And we landed on a magazine.

From the beginning I wanted it to be a blog and a magazine. There wasn’t social media then, that came later. We always knew we wanted to do retreats and events and video was kind of a small inkling in my mind and I didn’t know how to do it. I was kind of the opposite [to Jaclyn] I was like, “I need a business plan!” I was an art major and I”m a creative, visionary person and I didn’t know how to do that so I partnered up early on with some people who were business majors at my college.

It was always so complicated and terrible. I had 95 versions of the plan on my computer and I was Googling “business plans” and I’d download these PDFs. Super extensive and some even said, “You just need a 1-sheet and charisma…”

JJ: [laughing] A 1-sheet and charisma! Amazing!

SD: Yeah, I was really confused about how to actually start. Same thing as you, though, we just started online content, which led to the print. It was about taking advantage of opportunity. You have to focus and figure out the shortest path to helping the business grow. That’s the hardest thing: not getting sideswiped by ideas that aren’t what you should be focusing on. Now we’re going into video because its just the most natural next step from the magazine. Darling has become a media company so that we can reach out past print and keep the dialogue we’ve started going in a really active way.

You have to focus and figure out the shortest path to helping the business grow.

TA: Awesome. What’s each of your most precious memories of the early days?

JJ: It’s funny; things sometimes happen at such warp speed that we’ll joke and talk about, “Remember that office we had that was so teeny and weird slash under construction the whole year we were there?” There are so many moments where you never think in a million years you’ll end up where you’ll end up.

I remember getting so excited about signing deals that were $2,000 and I was like, “We’re rich!” I always tell people when you’re first getting started to enjoy the beginning because once you are in it, you are IN it and you can’t even get your head up for five seconds to say, “We’re doing a great job, congrats!”

It’s always so funny to look back on, like original logo ideas. It’s horrifying! But it’s kind of the best, because you think “I can’t believe this is what I did.” All the archives show how far you’ve come.

SD: I think that my best memory of those days is shipping magazines out of my living room…

JJ: Oh, amazing!

SD: Yeah. We had like a million padded mailers in our living room, all the way to the ceiling, tables set up and our interns coming to ship them from our home. Our landlord even came and said, “You’re running a business out of your house, I’m gonna kick you out!”

The second memory is when Anthropologie emailed us to buy magazines and we didn’t know what to do. They ordered a magazine and one day we put a shipping label on that said, “Anthropologie Headquarters.” We realised that they had emailed us and were trying to buy magazines on our site but we had no wholesale set up. They were our first big retailer.

All the archives show how far you’ve come.

TA: Ok, last question. What do you each love about the other person’s brand and company?

JJ: Oooh I love this question! I am obsessed with Darling’s aesthetic, I feel like it’s very on point. I feel like there are very few brands you can look at and say, “That’s so Darling.” You’ve done such an amazing job, from the magazines to the dinners to the photo shoots to the website. You’ve built a brand that has such a feeling, an emotion and cinematic quality to it. I feel like that’s very hard to do, it’s so crowded in the market, it’s hard to differentiate yourself, but that’s what you guys have done.

SD: Thank you! Likewise, because I’m such a visual person I remember first going to your website and remember the colors, the bold font. It’s so clear what you do as a vision. From the beginning it was such a clear mission.

And your events are just gorgeous! I mean, even looking at your Instagram you get such a feeling of, “I wish I was there!” Your attention to detail is just perfect, from invites to the promoters you choose, you’ve made C&C be the coolest “next big thing.” It seems the coolest thing to be at for women in business and influence. You’ve really branded yourself as “We’re the best at this.”

So there you have it. We really, really like them and they like us. Stay in contact with Darling and check them out at Darling Magazine. 

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Comedy Central's First Black Female Host Talks Getting Internet Trolled

Outspoken comedian Franchesca Ramsey is returning to Comedy Central, but this time on her own terms. Yesterday, the network announced that an untitled late night comedy pilot will be executive produced and hosted by Ramsey as part of its 2017-2018 line-up of development shows. 

Well-known to the online community, Ramsey had been making her own hilarious YouTube videos, a mixture of song parodies, impersonations, and socially conscious comedy sketches, since 2006, but it wasn’t until she made “Shit White Girls Say…To Black Girls” and went viral, racking up 1.5 million views in just 24 hours, that Ramsey was really put on the map. The video has 11 million views to date, and it gave Ramsey the confidence to pursue entertainment full time. “Quitting my day job took a huge leap of faith, but I knew I wouldn't be able to pursue the opportunities I was most interested in with a 9-5.” We’re all better off for it. Since then the actress, video blogger, and writer has quickly become of the most exciting voices, in both comedy and social activism, of our time.

Ramsey spent time as a writer and contributor to "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore," where her recurring segment #HashItOut was a stand out part of the Comedy Central show. In 2015 landed her a gig as the host of "Decoded," an MTV News web series that speaks to issues of race and culture. She also still creates original content on YouTube, both for her comedy channel @Chescaleigh and her lifestyle channel Chescalocs, which focuses more on beauty, natural hair care, and styling (the two channels have over 250k subscribers and 29 million views combined), and does speaking engagements at colleges, inspiring and educating (and cracking up) students around the country with her incisive wit and cutting intellect. In short, she’s killing it. But ‘twas not always so. In fact, just a few short years ago, Ramsey was considering giving up on entertainment altogether. “In 2014 my videos weren't doing very well and I had a hard time booking auditions, so I seriously considered abandoning entertainment and leaving NY,” she recalls. “Instead, I got a remote job writing for Upworthy and used that to supplement the few acting jobs I was able to pick up until things started to take off.”

Even now, as accomplished as she is, Ramsey still encounters more than her fair share of challenging moments. “Being a woman of color on the Internet is challenging, let alone being one that openly talks about racism and feminism. I deal with an intense amount of harassment, which at times can be discouraging, but is also a reminder of why these conversations are so important,” she says of the trolls who follow her every move. Ramsey credits her husband, her parents, and her audience for keeping her going when things get rocky. “I'm really fortunate to have people around the world that enjoy my content and continuously reach out to let me know that it's making an impact on their lives,” she says of her devoted fans. A self-described “gym rat,” Ramsey also works out five days a week at 7 am. “It’s when I really let go of everything and just focus on accomplishing whatever my trainer puts in front of me,” she says of her routine.

"BEING A WOMAN OF COLOR ON THE INTERNET IS CHALLENGING."

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Aside from her family and fans, Ramsey raves about her friend and mentor, Tracee Ellis Ross, as an ongoing source of influence and inspiration. “I'm incredibly inspired by her talent, work ethic and humility. She's given me tons of great advice over the years and most recently I got the chance to write for her when she hosted Black Girls Rock for BET,” Ramsey says of Ross, whom she met a few years ago through her YouTube channel. “She's incredibly gracious and a firm believer in supporting and uplifting other women which, is something I think is incredibly important.”

Another thing Ramsey (and we) think is incredibly important? Activism, and specifically, a commitment to intersectional feminism. “It's important to acknowledge our privilege and remember that there are all types of women from a variety of walks of life that face challenges that we do not,” Ramsey says. “If you're truly committed to advocating for women you have to be willing to stand up for all women regardless of race, sexuality, physical ability, religion, class or gender identity, not just ladies that look like you.” For her part, Ramsey is already making a big difference in the steering the current cultural conversation. As for her personal goals? “One day I'd like to be in a position to break and foster new talent,” she says. We have zero doubt that will happen, and probably much sooner than she thinks.

The original version of this article appeared on our site as part of Create & Cultivate 100. 

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Breast In Show: This New Biz Is All About Fake Nipples

photo credit: Just Nips

Have your nipples been in hiding? Buried under a bra? Well, Molly Borman wants to change that if you're game. The founder of Just Nips is on a nipple mission.  

If you track back, Borman has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. “Side-hustles turned to regular jobs, get another side hustle,” says the founder who started her career in the editorial department at Ralph Lauren. She knew she wouldn’t be at the company forever, having watched many colleagues move up through the ranks or on to different endeavors, but Borman hadn’t actualized what her next step would be. Little did she know, it was right in front of her. See, every day at work, she would draw. “I started making a cartoon,” says Borman. “This was my thing, it’s what got me up in the morning, it was my new life plan.” She admits that she didn’t know “how to draw that well” but she chipped away. “Small steps, small steps, small steps,” she shares. “And cartoon me could do whatever she wanted. Cartoon me would be off in Paris and real me would be sitting at a desk.” It was an escape that got her excited. “I was Dilbert,” she says. 

It’s also the creative avenue that kickstarted an exploratory side to Borman. She began going to galleries and shows, leading her to this: “I knew I wanted to do an art show about boobs,” she shares. “I didn’t know what that meant or what it looked like, but I was super interested in this feminist voice I’d been crafting through the cartoon.” 

Her vision for “the nipples” started there. Originally she intended to work with different artists to message the product of nipple enhancers in their varying styles. “It was going to incorporate this super antiquated notion of ‘You’re looking for a promotion? Try these,’ she says. “So unacceptable,” she admits, but that was the “art” of it— flipping the patriarchy's nipple script on its head. All of these ideas were happening simultaneously— the cartoon, the nipples, and her day job at RL. Until her cartoon got picked up by Lifetime and she quit. “They believed in my idea, which changed everything. They also paid for my idea,” says Borman, “which changed everything.” 

Once onboard with Lifetime, the writer turned cartoonist got an animation team, immersing herself in the world of arts and production. “Everything I wanted to do took off from there. It was a crazy catalyst of getting to do what I wanted and getting paid for it, which was incredibly empowering. It took one person to believe in me; I didn’t know I believed in myself.” 

"It took one person to believe in me; I didn’t know I believed in myself.” 

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That one person wasn’t a senior exec or a high-up at Lifetime. It was an assistant Borman met at book club and to whom she casually mentioned her cartoon. “Then it got real and I started pushing myself. I was taking risks and going for it.” 

It was her attitude of “let’s try this,” that got her moving. "I painstakingly took notes about business and what wholesale means,” she says. “There are crazy critical details that make or break a deal. Who do you hire first? What about patents?" Her deep dive into biz learnings at such an intimate level gave her the itch. So Borman called up her mom, told her she wanted to focus on the nipples again, and did. That was the beginning of Just Nips. 

photo credit: Just Nips 

“I got a manufacturer in Michigan,” says the Michigan native, explaining that being a part of Detroit’s revival is also an important part of her journey. And she started test runs in her personal life. 

“My first pair I made with erasers from the end of a pencil. And I just sort of wore them,” she says. “I would meet a friend for lunch and it would inevitably come up.”  

“I’ve worn them on first dates to test them out— the first time I wore them on a date they were very crooked,” she laughs. “He [Borman's date] couldn’t stop looking, but he wouldn't say anything, so I finally asked him if he noticed my nipples.” She proceeded to tell him that they were fake and a business she wanted to launch. “I never heard from him again,” she says. 

Those kind of responses only fueled her fire. 

If you’re wondering why-- why is this a product women need? Should we be calling more attention to our nipples? Borman says, “It’s a perky look. 100% aesthetic,” and that no one has called her out for being “anti-feminist.” At least to her face. 

“I never want to push a product,” she explains. “If you don’t like it, that’s awesome. If you’re intrigued by it, awesome. I feel today with feminism it’s more an attitude of 'do what you want.'” 

“Are fake nipples the new fake boobs?” we ask. “I hope so,” she laughs. “They’re so much cheaper.” 

Just Nips are currently available in two sizes: Cold and Freezing. “A big part of the design and manufacturing was to make sure that the sticky part was safe enough for your skin and worked with a lacy bra as well,” she says, noting that you can wear the nipples any way you please: on skin, on top of a bra, under a bra, or on top of sports bra.

Eventually Borman wants to build a community with more products that “don’t have anything to do with boobs but are focused on the message of ‘women can do whatever they want.’” She’s toyed with the messaging of “desexualizing the nipple,” which is very much in line with the #freethenipple movement. “Men look at the nipples and think you’re horny, but they aren’t sex organs. Sometimes you’re just cold. It’s not a boner,” says Borman.

It’s also not for everyone. 

“My mom said she will never wear them. It’s not her look.” Which is totally OK with the nip-preneur. Borman is not deterred at the idea of older generations pushing back against the product. “I hope they do,” she says. “And then I hope they think, I wish we could have done this when we were younger.” 

Though she says it’s 100% aesthetic, she is looking to have more of an impact. “There is an underground market for nipples with the trans community,” she says. “Which is sad, but I’d love to bring this all to light. It’s why I made my nipples super pretty. You also have breast cancer and my true next step is working within the breast cancer community to raise awareness. Or raising awareness about sexual health.” The idea is notably more provocative than a pinned pink ribbon. Think of the conversations they could spark at a brunch.  The branding, packaging, and product also has the potential to bring a bit of laughter to a woman going through something truly awful, like a mastectomy. 

“If I put a smile on someone’s face for one second,” says Borman, “that makes all of the other ‘is it feminist, is it not?’ worth it.” 

Have thoughts on Just Nips? Would you wear them? Sound-off below.

How the VP of Marketing at CB2 Creates Its Swoon-Worthy Appeal

photo credit: CB2 

Alicia Waters is the powerhouse behind CB2's amazing marketing. As the Vice President of Marketing for the brand that attracts consumers young and old, she is responsible for the voice, the look, and the swoon-worthy pics we can't get enough of. Elevated doesn't have to mean $$$. 

Who among the lot of us doesn't covet just about everything in those CB2 catalogs? And guess what? Traditional marketing has changed so much that user-generated content actually now informs what goes into them. If you're feeling curious, you're not alone.  

We picked Waters' brill brain about collabs, campaigns, and hooking an entire world on the CB2 aesthetic. And trust us when we say, you might want their goods in your living room, but after reading the below, you'll definitely want to invite Waters over for tea too. 

What was your very first job and what skill did you learn there that you still use today?

My first job was in sales at a custard shop. It paid $5.50/hour and was my first taste of independence, so was glorious.  Plus lots of free custard -- so what's not to like? I worked there for five years and learned a lot about customer service - i.e. caring for customers when they were disappointed, rewarding best customers in special ways, among other things.  (People can get pretty angry, especially about ice cream.)  On my first week a man threw his half eaten custard cup at the window at me because I had topped it with hot fudge instead of chocolate... that experience alone taught me how to diffuse anger and to implement checks and balances to drive a more flawless operation.

What do you wish more people understood about what you do?

I think most people have an innate sense of how they want to be marketed to.  This points to the fact that marketing really is about psychology and empathy at its core -- and that's what I love about it.  That said, I'm not sure if people realize that marketing decisions are rooted in analytics.  We constantly sift through data to identify segments and micro segments, to dissect / optimize media performance, and to understand the incrementality of various media platforms to make sure we're getting the best return on our dollars.  Even with creative ideas and decisions, we are constantly looking through data to optimize performance.  

"Even with creative ideas and decisions, we're looking through data to optimize performance."

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Which parts of your business come the most naturally to you? What skills have you had to work overtime to develop?

When I joined CB2, I was comfortable with the strategy & marketing pieces, having studied both disciplines in college/grad school and having led marketing teams at other companies.  I truly do like all aspects of marketing, but my favorite marketing activities are collaborations and customer research.

The aspects of the business that were newer to me upon joining CB2 were e-commerce and visual merchandising.  The A/B testing approach of e-commerce has  inspired me to mimic a similar process when testing new marketing vendors. Visual merchandising is an incredibly effective discipline that balances creative/analytical. I've realized that visual merchandising and marketing are cousins, and must work in synch at all times. So we've maximized our cross-functional communication among those two groups as well.

We now live and work in the multi-screen economy. How do you ensure the CB2 vibe is strong through all your channels?

We use a basic content calendar to coordinate messaging across channels.  Our teams are challenged to ensure that our messaging is cohesive -- yet differentiated by channel -- so customers have a real reason to engage with us across platforms.  Not an easy task!  

Marketers need to know how to merge disciplines. It’s not just enough to have beautiful ad anymore. Would you say that marketing and branding need to have a 360 approach and how does social tie into this?

Not too many years ago, our distribution channels were really simple - retail, e-commerce, and catalog.  Now, our distributions model has become exponentially fragmented.  My role has morphed into the voice of the customer (across platforms & fragmented distribution channels), identification of new collaborators and technologies/vendors to test, in addition to my "base" job. When I first started at CB2, customers primarily got their inspiration from print and catalogs ... while both still play a role, clearly that model has blown up! Social media has become the place where our customers start their searches and do research.  We need to be where they are (which means we test out new platforms continuously), providing information and inspiration that informs and excites them. The beauty of social media is the real time feedback ... our customers have impeccable taste and quickly give us a sense of where we need to head.  Programs like #mycb2 (user-generated content) have started to actually inform our catalog shoots (vs. the other way around) as our creative customers use and shoot our product in incredibly innovative ways.

The CB2 collab with Lenny Kravitz drove crazy sales and engagement, which can be hard for any brand to pull off. What do you think you do differently that made that work so well?

Thank you!! I think a key factor in that collaboration's success was that it came from a place of authenticity. The theme and inspiration behind the collection came from Mr. Kravitz himself, whose own extraordinary vision & life shaped every glamorous, sexy piece.  Also, the CB2 design and buying teams gave full rein to Kravitz Design to create the pieces (rather than micromanaging in any way), so they ended up in a place that wasn't watered down but instead true to the original vision.  Our customers care a lot about authenticity. The visuals and tactics we developed fell into line under that same vision. My favorite individual marketing tactic was the social media auction on Instagram. We posted a photo of the sleek Nova Side Table and asked people to bid on the piece by commenting “I want it” in the comments. The person to leave the last comment at the end of the auction won the item. Trick is, we didn't state the end time.

photo credit: CB2

How did the collab with Ross Cassidy come about?

I met Ross through our Webby winning campaign, APT CB2, back in 2014.  Ross was a rising star and Pin influencer who rallied our customer base to create a crowdsourced design of a stunning dining room online that CB2 then built out in real time in a New York City apartment.  I was equal parts blown away by his unequivocal talent and his magnetic charm.  It was clear there was an opportunity to share Ross' design vision with our customers as it felt really fresh and elevated for the brand.  At his first meeting with our head of brand Ryan Turf, he came more than prepared, bringing along full sketches for a Japanese-inspired collection with CB2.  We were smitten, the rest was history. 

Any advice for young women who are looking to stand out in their careers?

My advice is to be authentic to yourself and to work hard. Understand your strengths and find environments where you can shine - run from those that require you to try and be something you are not.  

"Run from environments that require you to try and be something you're not."

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What has been your personal edge and helped you stand out through your career?

A bit of a rule breaker attitude. I have never been a great rule follower.  Today's constantly evolving marketplace, which is always thirsty for new ways of thinking and new models, suits me pretty well.  

The Beyoncé lyric that describes your mood right now?

Don't bore me, just show me - Check On It

As someone who has to travel a lot for work, what are your secret airport hacks?

I always take a photo of my parking spot so I don't forget it, and I pack a few extra ziplock bags and am surprised every trip that they still come in handy.  I wear a scarf on most flights and use it as a pillow if needed, and I bring my eye shade to I can get some zzzz's.  

My favorite airport hack at Chicago's O'Hare Airport (my airport) is that you can order tortas by Frontera (acclaimed chef Rick Bayless's famous restaurant) on an app -- so I can pick them up on my way to my flights or I place an order as I'm landing and then have a delicious meal to pick up/ take home.

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Comedian Natasha Leggero Shares Her Top 3 Social Media Pet Peeves

“I remember when I moved to LA, I didn’t have a cell phone, I didn’t have a computer, I would check my email at the video store,” says comedian, writer, and actress Natasha Leggero. 

“As soon as Twitter came, I started Tweeting all my jokes. It's the great equalizer. But it meant I gave away all the ideas. Now the bigger problem is that people get offended really easily. There are a lot of people online that are looking to take you down at anything. For me it’s been very challenging, I almost prefer to write a TV show instead.” 

That show is “Another Period,” renewed for it’s 3rd season (coming this summer) on Comedy Central. It’s like if "Drunk History" met "Upstairs Downstairs" met "Barely Famous."

“I was sick of playing prostitutes...I felt like most parts I played I wasn’t wearing pants. I really wanted to do a show where women were in control,” the comedian shares. On the show Leggero plays Lillian Bellacourt, defined by her family’s wealth who cares about one thing: becoming super famous. Presumably harder in 1902 without a hashtag where the only viral was cholera. So where does that put Leggero in terms of social media 2017? For one, she recently shared her best tips Straight Talk Wireless. 

"I was sick of playing prostitutes. I wanted to do a show where women were in control." 

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Second, she’s happy to list off a couple pet peeves.

Pet peeve #1: People posting photos of themselves at the gym. "I know they’re really proud of themselves but it’s annoying and makes you feel bad. They’re in full hair and makeup having someone take their photo.” However, she's happy to concede: “Mariah Carey’s gym posts are always the best because she’s in high-heeled tennis shoes.” (Case in point: here and here and here.)  

Peeve #2: “I don’t think anyone has ever flown in a private jet and not done an Instagram photo shoot.” Adding, “Which by the way are very bad for the environment.” (Looking at you Leo.) 

Peeve #3: “Pics of food don’t even register anymore.” 

“It’s very hard to not annoy anyone,” Leggerro jokes, “and I feel hypocritical because of all my political posts." Scroll her Twitter and yes, it's pretty political. “With politics, people get mad. Anything anti-Trump and you all of the sudden get death threats-- it just doesn’t seem funny anymore. With the current admin every single person is a political comic, so I almost want to take a few steps back and come back in a couple of years." Don't actually expect her to take any breaks. In addition to "Another Period," Leggero and husband, fellow comedian Moshe Kasher, will hit the road this summer, continuing their "Honeymoon Tour" at Bonaroo, giving love advice and “fixing people’s relationships.” 

When asked if social media has made it easier for women in comedy, there's a bit of a shrug in her voice. “I would never want to carry around video camera all day and record everything I do. Everyone says, 'Oh standup, that’s the hardest thing in the world,' but for me it’s natural." She brings up YouTuber Cameron Dallas and his tour— "He doesn't perform," she laughs. "It’s an international tour where he meets people.” There’s no shade though. “Doing the road for 15 years is kinda hard… but what I’m doing is a different skill.”

While the world of comedy has been described as fairly cutthroat, for Leggero, it doesn’t feel competitive. And she's happy to love on fellow comedians and friends like Sarah Silverman, Tig Notaro, Maria Bamford and Chelsea Peretti. "Maria and Sarah were both pretty established when I started but they’ve both been super positive. It’s been fun to come up with everyone. If one person can’t do a job, the next person does it. Of course there is competition in a way, but I feel very lucky that I have a TV show and I’m able to hire my friends," she shares.  

“Bringing up other people with you is the idea,” she laughs. “Or at least the people you like.” 

For those who don’t have friends hiring on them shows, Leggero has this advice for those who want to get into comedy. “It’s kind of a bummer,” she shares, “but you simply have to start writing and performing. Even if you can write for three minutes and go to an open mic, it’s really about working. Most of my comedian friends were going up at least five times a week, sometimes more. Sometimes a couple of shows a night. You have to work your material and keeping trying and figure out why you are or aren’t getting laughs. Pay attention to what people are laughing at when you’re onstage. It takes a lot of careful study of yourself. From stage presence to mic technique to making sure your jokes aren’t super hacky. You have to immerse yourself. If you want to have a career in comedy, full immersion.”

So to review: support your friends, work super fn hard, and nix the gym selfies, unless of course,  you're Mariah.  

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How One Vogue-Approved Stylist Became a Shaman

Photo: Alli Parfenov

What is it like to be the well-dressed girl at a cocktail party that also hears voices...and NO they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

My name is Colleen McCann. I am a Shaman, who also happens to wear fake eye-lashes and high-heels to work. Seven years ago amidst a successful 15-year career in fashion I got a ping from the universe to make a huge life shift. I started hearing voices...having premonition dreams....seeing ghosts...and being told by street randos that I was a healer. A what? I said the same thing. This school of thought did not lineup with my mid-west Irish Catholic upbringing. So what was a girl to do? I went full-on Shaman! What’s my street-cred now? I study three lineages of Shamanism (Nordic, Mexican and Peruvian).  I am a Reiki Master, Intuitive Medium, Crystals Expert, Feng Shui student and teach Shaman School.

WHY I SWITCHED:

My initial intention when jumping into the crystal-laden rabbit hole was to “silence” the voices or at the very least deal with my inner-freak. Then it turned into a greater path for wellness, connection with myself, and how I was showing up in the world.  Even though I looked good from the outside I wasn’t exactly happy with my job, I didn’t feel fulfilled in my relationships and felt like something was missing. As I started tapping into my intuition I had more faith in the road I was being led down. The treasure hunt was on!

HOW I SWITCHED:

So exactly where does one turn in a situation like this? I was fucking scared, embarrassed, and uneducated on all subjects of mystical matters.  I listened to the “spiritual bricks” that were hurled at my head and skeptically started on a path of my own personal healing and awakening. After a pit-stop at my friendly neighborhood psychic’s office and finding a spiritual mentor, I did what any brazen New York girl would have done: I traded my high-heels for hiking boots and decided to get educated on all things mystical in the wilds of South America.  To be clear, this wasn’t an overnight process. I worked full-time on set in NYC and basically put myself through esoteric college (again!). PS. I also didn’t tell anyone in my life about my metamorphosis. It’s not exactly a casual happy hour conversation.

SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU START ADDING “HEARING VOICES” TO YOUR REPERTOIRE?

After going through the mystical wringer, I had manifested a whole new calling out of this adventure to reclaim my sanity.  I decided to break the sound barrier on the “slashie mold” and started Style Rituals. I use my fashionista roots AND my spiritual know-how to realign the energetic body with the physical body.  I may still revamp someone’s closet, but now the vamping includes: removal of low vibrational clothing, doing an energy healing, Intuitive Crystal Readings, a heart-to-heart with the clients spirit guides and a good ol’ fashion Shamanic bonfire with your ex-boyfriends t-shirt.  As I fling the doors open I look at someone’s closet as a window to their soul as well as a giant Tarot card reading waiting to happen. I started seeing clients in my already existing tribe of stylists, designers, models, editors, beauty execs, photographers, lady boss VPs, fashion houses and PR teams.

I address the underlying issues in my well-dressed community-- who better than me to truly understand the unique brand of pressure and stress they experience day-to-day? While my clientele has since expanded I started with who and what I knew.

"I am honored to help women remember what makes their heart beat faster." 

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WHAT DOES MY AVERAGE DAY LOOK LIKE:

I have been called racy, outspoken and untraditional in both the fashion and spiritual community, as I compare crystals to black skinny jeans, colonics and Xanax. Well, I say hell-yes and thank-you to being the black sheep in the room! All of my out-of the box thinking around business has allowed me to do what I love everyday and serve my community.  Besides seeing private clients I lead workshops and guest lectures on my favorite subjects: Spiritual Hygiene, Flexing Your Intuitive Muscle, and Crystals.  Fashion and beauty brands hire me to do Intuitive Crystal Readings at their press events…don’t worry I always bring mystical gift bags for the attendees.  I am the House Shaman for GOOP and as such collaborate with them on mystically-minded products, and work as a Spiritual Influencer with many other industry outlets.  PS. I am “Vogue-approved.”

WHAT’S MY JOY:

I am honored to help women re-gain their sovereignty, harness their personal power and remember what makes their heart beat faster.  AND just because the universe has a sense of humor, I also work with women who are spiritually blasting wide open just like I did.  I help them iron out the “kinks” shall we say.

To be in touch with Colleen click here.     

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When Having No Idea What You're Doing Is the Best Plan

Green juice changed Carly de Castro's life.

After moving home to Los Angeles to take care of her mother, who was suffering from terminal cancer, she met up with two childhood friends: Hayden Slater and Hedi Gores. 

She had been using green juice to improve her mom's quality of life, and simultaneously turned her own health around.  At the time, Carly says, "There were very few options for pressed, bottled juice." And so the three set out to open a local juice company, with the mission of making health affordable and available to everyone. 

Pressed Juicery served its first customers in 2010.

"I really wanted to spread the message that one small healthy habit could have a ripple effect,"  Carly says, "and change your whole life." 

The flagship spot was a tiny walk-up in the fountain courtyard of Brentwood Town Center. It ignited a West Coast juice revolution. Eight years later, the company now employs over 500 people and is serving its signature cold-pressed concoctions in over 30 locations. 

We chatted with Carly about being green, not having any business experience when she started, and why she'll always pay attention to what competitors are doing. 

What was the scariest part of opening Pressed?

Having no experience! Neither my partners nor myself had any business experience. In fact we all came from production and agency work. Nothing could have prepared us for the long nights of juicing, learning how to run a retail business as well as food manufacturing. We sort of went into it blindly and it was the best and worst thing we ever did. Being naive kept us optimistic and open, and it also was a very humbling experience.  

Do you remember the first day Brentwood opened? What were you feeling?

I remember it vividly. I had been up most of the night with my partner, Hayden. I stayed with him juicing until about 1am, and he kept going until 4 or 5 so that I could go home and get my rest for our first day open. I worked the shop all day, inviting friends and family to come for free juice samples so that we could make sure the space was full and energized. I felt a lot of things that day- mostly exhilaration that we had managed to open, but also a little fear having people try our product for the first time. Surprisingly, what I remember most is how little people were familiar with pressed juice and how much explaining we had to do about the product. 

Did any of those emotions stick around even as you headed into double-digit locations?

I always feel a pang of nerves when we enter a new location and especially new markets. While we have gained so much great experience with the logistics of opening a store, I still hope for customer satisfaction and want the stores to feel like they fit naturally into their new neighborhoods. The biggest change has been that we have an incredible team of over 500 employees behind us, supporting our mission and making sure that we can have a successful opening every time. That puts my mind at ease (as much as it can be!) and makes it easier to sleep than in the beginning. 

Did you ever think that Pressed could become the phenomena it has?

Honestly, no. I didn't really think that far ahead, and certainly when we opened no one was doing this exact product on this scale, so it didn't occur to me that we could ever get to this size and maintain quality. Luckily I was proven wrong, as our incredible team has grown and made this possible. Our goal was to be the best quality, best tasting pressed juice that we had ever had, and if it was good enough for us, then we felt it was good enough for customers. That is still our standard today, and it's really exciting that it is able to reach more and more people than I ever imagined possible. It really has validated my belief that this is a product that can help change your life. We didn't invent the wheel, we just decided to make accessible something that we believe should be available to everyone. 

Pro Tip: We didn't invent the wheel. We made it accessible. 

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Can you talk about a few mistakes you made in the beginning?

Like I said, we started this business very green. We had no prior experience, so we definitely made some decisions that we thought were "best" for the company but which did not turn out well because ultimately they didn't follow our intention and our model. One example is that for our third location, we decided to introduce smoothies without doing any research into whether customers wanted them. We thought that maybe we needed to offer more to customers, but ultimately they didn't really work. We lost touch with who we were a little. Ultimately, we made a decision to focus on our core competency which was making the best bottled, pressed juices around, knowing that if people want smoothies, they could find them somewhere else, and hopefully they would still come to get juice from us, which we find that they do. Learning to focus and hone in on a very clear mission was a great lesson and has allowed us to scale our business. 

How do you handle competition in the juice space?

For me, as I mentioned it’s important to stay true to our mission and remind myself why we started this company – to make high nutrition a realistic option for everyone.  We are always going to pay attention to what other brands are doing, but we also have to realize we are not going to be everything for everyone and be okay with that too.  At Pressed Juicery we aim to make every decision with our mission in mind, and while I’m not going to say that we’ve never been intrigued or distracted by something a competitor has been doing, the last five years has really helped us realize that staying true to our core values is one of the most important parts of our brand’s success.

Do you think it’s important to build community while building a brand?

Absolutely, the communities that surround our stores are what have truly created the Pressed Juicery lifestyle.  Each of our stores draws inspiration from the surrounding community while remaining true to the brand. We are also extremely dedicated to giving back to our communities.  We regularly participate in local charitable initiatives and are actually launching a larger concept that we will be introducing later this year – I can’t share all of the details at this time but I’m thrilled to be working on such an amazing project.

Looking to the future, what’s next for Pressed? How do you continually evolve the market trend?

Last year we expanded to New York, New Jersey and Las Vegas and this year we’ll be opening additional stores in New York and more locations in existing and new markets including Hawaii and Washington to further support our mission. We’ll also be expanding the availability of Freeze, our vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free frozen treat that is made from only the ingredients in our juices.  It’s the perfect guilt-free summer (or anytime!) treat and is also a great healthy option for kids. I’m so excited for more people to have the chance to try it.  We’ll also be continuing to introduce new seasonal offerings to our menu.  We try to maintain the balance of experimenting with new products while also sticking to our core values and doing what we do best – creating delicious cold-pressed juices. As I mentioned, while our smoothies didn’t work, Freeze did and it’s important to us to continue to experiment but to never lose sight of who we are.  We’re fortunate in that because we are primarily a retail brand, we get so much face time with our customers, so we can really interact with them and get their feedback firsthand in our stores – their input is constantly influencing our new product offerings.

What does “Living Well” mean to you?

Pressed Juicery and The Chalkboard are an extension of myself. The whole idea around "Living Well" is this notion that none of us are perfect, but that all of us have so much to learn and also, so much to teach. If we each opened ourselves up to a little knowledge and self-improvement in all areas of our life-- mental, physical, spiritual- the possibility for health in the most whole sense of the word would be limitless. 

"Living Well" is really a simple concept. It's about spending a few moments each day to set intentions, to make plans or cultivate small habits and ideas that make you feel good. It's not about comparing yourself. No one's life is as perfect as it appears. Our challenge isn't to be complete, but to be kind to ourselves. A green juice a day changed my life in huge ways, but I recognize that that's not the secret sauce for everyone-- maybe it's a mindfulness practice, going on a hike with your dog, a poem a day, cooking a beautiful meal, making thoughtful gifts for friends-- whatever it is that makes you feel full-- DO IT. It can be simple and not stressful, it just takes being gentle with ourselves and remembering that this is a ride full of ups and downs and the best we can do is to challenge ourselves to live honestly and gratefully. 

Mom and business woman. What does the concept of ‘having it all’ mean to you?

Having it all is a myth-- I always feel like I'm searching, which is part of the impetus to reach higher, to be better. Being a mother is the most life-altering, fulfilling thing I have ever done. It is my greatest teacher by far, and I always will put that first no matter what. But having this business makes being a mom a really interesting experience. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad ways. 

"Having it all is a myth-- I always feel like I'm searching, which is part of the impetus to reach higher, to be better."

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The thing I've learned is that you can never be everything to everyone, and you do need to choose sometimes. For me that has meant calling on family, friends and colleagues to step in and help boost me up when I'm struggling in one area. They don't say "it takes a village" for nothing. And I don't take it for granted that I am blessed enough to be able to be involved with my children and to be involved in my business in ways that work with my life. It didn't happen overnight - it takes constant compromise and flexibility. It takes a willingness to ask for help. I feel more powerful now than when I was trying to do it all on my own. It just never works. 

Has this concept shifted from your early twenties till now? 

It's constantly shifting, but to put it most simply, all of the things I've learned about balance and flexibility since that time were pretty much the opposite when I was in my early twenties. My main priority was proving myself, even if it meant being stressed out most of the time. In fact, in my mind a stressful lifestyle equaled ambition, so you can imagine how UNwell I felt. I left New York City when I was 25 and coming back to California, losing my mother and starting Pressed Juicery was all a part of my process in learning to live a more authentic, balanced, healthier life. 

I had my first child just after my 27th birthday, and I had no idea what to expect. No one can prepare you for the joy, the all-nighters..the sacrifices you will make in the name of parenthood and just how much it redefines who you are. At the time, the company was young, not even a year old, and it was a roller coaster ride at home and at the office. But like I mentioned earlier, I had to learn how to ask for help, to delegate, and to make some pretty major choices about how I wanted to live my life. I still make those choices every day, but as I get older what changes the most is how much I continue to learn about myself. I’m finding that I take self-knowledge very seriously. Self-care, self-awareness, self-love - these things can seem selfish but they allow me to be a better wife to my amazing husband, a better mother, sister, daughter, business partner, friend. And since I’ve started doing the work, my first realization was that we are all doing the best we can, and that is enough. That is plenty.

"We are all doing the best we can, and that is enough. That is plenty."

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Arianna Schioldager is Create & Cultivate's editorial director. You can find her on IG @ariannawrotethis and more about her on this site she never updates www.ariannawrotethis.com

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Brooklyn Decker On Why Tech Is More Supportive Than Hollywood

Photo credit: Smith House Photography 

When Brooklyn Decker and Whitney Casey, CEO and founder of Finery, the new online platform that's been described by users as "the Clueless closet on steroids," took the C&C stage at SXSW last Sunday, they broke down the realities of being women in tech. 

Alas, truth bombs are kind of Decker's MO. Of her friend and the company's Chief Design Officer, Casey told the Austin audience, "There is always one girlfriend in everyone’s life who will tell them the truth and that is Brooklyn Decker."

“It’s brutal,” chimed in the actor. “But it’s the truth.”

A former anchor who has won two Emmys and is a published author, Casey said she's had plenty of bad ideas before Finery. And when it came to bringing the idea to Decker, she came armed with a Powerpoint presentation. “Yes," she said, "for my own friend, because I knew she would want to know.” Decker did. (It worked.) 

What unfolded, power point by power point, was a service that might revolutionize the way women shop and dress. With patent pending technology that harvests data that already exists online, Finery skips over the manual labor part of an creating an online closet. At its simplest Finery culls through your email (and thereby every purchase you've ever made) and loads it into a virtual closet. 

“There’s all sorts of software to manage your finances, your travel, your music, but we found the millennial women will spend more than 250-300,000 dollars on clothes in their lifetime," shared Casey. "So why isn’t there something to manage your wardrobe that’s not analog? Some sort of tech that could find anything you’ve ever purchased and put into a wardrobe?” Therein is the meat of Finery, the world's first wardrobe operating system, and the reason Brooklyn came onboard.

But making a career shift is difficult for anyone-- let alone someone doing it under the public microscope. 

"Modeling to acting is the most cliché transition one can make," Decker shared about her first career switch. "The biggest challenge is that you’re making big mistakes on a pretty big stage. You don’t have the luxury of making mistakes in private or on a small scale." But in a way it prepared her for this next role. "It would be silly or ignorant of me to say that it hasn’t opened a ton of doors, but people are instantly skeptical and people instantly doubt you. I certainly don’t come from a tech background. You have to work that much harder and find women who are willing to help you along the way and teach you-- teach you how to pitch to a VC, for instance, because how does one learn how to do that?" the Austin-based actor asked. 

Photo credit: Smith House Photography 

It's something they did, first going the traditional $ route— approaching VCs. 

"It did not go well," said Casey. "One asked us to set him up on a date. So we decided to go with angel investors-- they are all women." Women like Miroslava Duma and Decker herself who is an investor in the company. “Also,” added the author, “because they wanted 30 percent of the company.”

"Luckily with women in technology— it’s an incredibly supportive environment," said Decker. "Without those women I wouldn’t have been able to make the transition.” Beta users include Man Repeller Leandra Medine and Lauren Santo Domingo.

Casey told the crowd that figuring out your bottom line when you’re first starting is all about looking into the future. “You have think about the company when it is wildly successfully,” shared the CEO. “Look at what 20 percent of that success means. You also need to think about your employees. As a startup you’re not going to be able to hire the people that you want without giving them equity. And as a startup you want everybody there to have equity because when things do go wrong you can look at them at say, ’This is your company too.' That’s our mantra. Everybody who enters is part of Finery. And the more you give to a VC the less you have to recruit really great talent. The more you keep giving away, the less your employees are gonna get. You always have to be thinking about your employees first.”

"You always have to be thinking about your employees first.”  

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"It was disheartening to realize the kind of things I needed to do to get into these VCs,” shared Casey. “Calling a friend of a friend of a friend… what if I didn’t have those friends? It should be a meritocracy. Money should be available for every good idea out there. I found that was not the case.” 

Even the connections Brooklyn and Whitney did have, didn't mean they'd it was a shoo-in. Sometimes they would't even open the Finery deck. 

“I have this crazy thing that everyone should have called MixMax. I know when you open my email and I know when you’ve opened up a link,” said Casey. This service gave the pair a competitive edge when walking into pitch meetings-- they knew if they had to start at the beginning or if they could launch into why Finery is different and why it will be successful. Their other bit of advice? Decker told the C&C crowd, “Be incredibly well-researched on the market that you’re entering. Understand it so well and it will help you prepare for any meeting.”

“You have to sit back listen. And then do your own spiel. Know every single one of your competitors so you know your value add,” said Casey. “Your value prop[ostion] is the most important.”

Photo credit: Smith House Photography 

Despite the uphill VC climb, neither women were deterred. In fact, Decker told the crowd that she's been invigorated by the community of women she's encountered. 

“Coming from the Hollywood side of things I have never seen a more supportive bunch of women than I have seen in tech. They really do come together. It’s difficult as a young female, but you can do it.” 

"I have never seen a more supportive bunch of women than I have seen in tech."

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Decker brought up tech investor Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund focused on female founded consumer technologies. “She has no skin in our game, but as a female in technology she wanted to introduce us to other people. That’s what women are doing. When she [Draper] invests in a company, she tells them once you’re successful you must invest in other female-run, female-founded companies. That’s a really strong choice. And it’s a place we want to get with our company.” 

“Look we can’t all be founders, we can’t all have money to invest," Casey elaborated. "But we can all buy from women, use products that women make, and then we will all be successful.” She also told the crowd: "If I were a young woman right now I would learn how to code." Simple, but truthful advice. 94% of tech startups are male. It's up to us to change it. 

“Women are successful because they support each other,” added Decker, who also gave attendees some pertinent info. Not everyone has access to capital or app developers, but the actress explained, “There are now apps to help you build apps. They provide a standard map. It won’t be super innovative but it will show proof of concept. Also, in all of these big cities there are development bootcamps now. The whole point is to give people jobs. If you have a startup idea and you’re far enough along, I highly recommend tapping into that resource.” 

As for who Finery wants to tap? Casey wants the average woman who wears 10% of what's in her closet. Decker got a little more specific. “I don’t want to be a total cliché, but Beyonce,” the Chief Design Officer said about her dream user. “She has so many events, has her kid, two more on the way. She’s our user, she’s our girl.” 

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Meet the Woman Who Left Oprah to Write Her Own Story

“I feel very wrapped up in cords. As a 30-year producer, I am ashamed,” jokes Sheri Salata, former President of OWN, now co-founder of Story, a brand and media company launched nine months ago with lifelong friend Nancy Hala. 

We’re sitting in the Garden Room at Salata’s Los Feliz home. She moved in about a year ago. On the coffee table is podcasting equipment (“ordered on Amazon and here in two days,” she says) and a pile of books, including one on meditation, that aren’t there for show. They’ve been thumbed many times; covers creased, fingerprints on all pages. 

The women are on single-syllable name terms with each other: “Nance” and “Sher” as they affectionately call each other, have been friends for 26 years. They met in Chicago through Nancy’s ex-husband, Chris, who worked with Sheri at the time at an advertising agency. Chris brought her home to meet his then-wife. “Sure enough,” says Nancy, “I walked in the door, put my stuff on the table, and it was instant friendship affinity.” 

The women bonded over a love of books, stories, Bruce Springsteen, and cocktail hour, launching what Nancy calls “our 26 year conversation that we’re still having today.”

Outside of that first meeting, their story really starts with stories—a book club, in which they were the only members. “We were very serious about it,” says Nancy, recalling the first books they chose: Mona Simpson’s "Anywhere But Here" and Wally Lamb’s "She’s Come Undone." At the time Sheri lived in a tiny studio apartment and they’d walk to Barbara’s Book Store (“not there anymore”) to buy their books (“with great ceremony and ritual”) and then walk across the street to Bird Place Bar to discuss, with pen and paper in hand. “And then we started writing stories,” says Nancy. “It is the greatest joy in the world for me,” says Nancy, “to tell Sheri something, or to listen to her tell me something because we unpack it from every angle. She’s the one person in the world who does not care that I repeat myself, because I do. Sheri loves to hear all different iterations of the same idea.” 

“I do,” chimes in Sheri. “I do. I just love the details of stories.” 

Story in all its forms has been part of their “friendship DNA.” Today, they are proud to be developing a company that is “very authentically our own.” 

“We wanted to do the things we loved. Work with people we really enjoy. We wanted to spend our days happy and excited. It makes so much sense that the focal point would be storytelling. That is the one thing that we both have been orbiting in our careers for decades,” explains Hala.  

Careers, which, have been rather storied themselves. Sheri has always been a go-get-‘em worker, lapping up the midnight oil her entire life. She walked in the Oprah door in 1995, rose through the ranks to role of executive producer—the consummate storyteller, crafting one story after the next for audiences all over the world. When she made the decision to finally exit, she walked out of the door as President of OWN. These are not small-career potatoes. This is the whole Thanksgiving meal. Plus dessert. The kind of career trajectory that we champion. 

Hala has been a storyteller in her own work as well. A writer and brand storyteller, she ran her own company while raising two kids solo. A single mom by the time her children were four and seven, Hala knew that she wanted to be able to stay home. So she started what she dubs “my own little writing company.” 

“I think Sheri had anxiety for me. I didn’t have a steady paycheck coming in. I was very entrepreneurial. When you’re self-employed there is very much a dance of cash flow. So I got used to that quite quickly. I had to knock the mortgage out every month, I had two kids to raise, make dinner every night. And I had to write a bunch of articles, annual reports, and ghostwrite books so that I could keep the family going. After a while, you just get used to the shifting sands. But what I really liked that I could work 4-5 hours a day. I didn’t need to be in the office.” 

Hala also had the ability to write on subjects she and Salata joke, she knew, “nothing about.”

“You were pullin’ the rabbit out of the hat, man,” says Salata. “And quite successfully.” 

They laugh about one particular 5,000-word piece. “I was asked to write an article on commodities. As I was saying yes, I had the phone to my shoulder and I’m typing on my laptop 'What is a commodity?'” 

“I so admired her,” says Sheri. “I could see in my friend this totally fearless quality that I didn’t have myself. I was a little bit of a safe Susie, going in with my lunch pail.”  80-90 hour weeks and a 24/7 mentality were her norm. “Nancy was always the most understanding,” she says of their friendship during that time and her dedication to her career. 

It’s why they gel. “We’re in concentric circles,” says Sheri. “In the middle, we’re super alike, find the same things funny, like the same kind of storytelling, and adore one another.” In the outer parts they are admittedly different.

She refers to their initial talks as the “chardonnay dream conversations,”—the some days, the one days.

The “one day” is now. 

###

While we’re chatting Sheri can’t help but produce. “Nance,” she says, “can you scoot your chair around a little this way, just so the eye line is better for her?” she says referring to me. “It’s gonna bother me.” Nancy scoots. We all settle back in. 

Nancy has just come from a morning workout of intense interval training. As such, she’s moving “slower” than usual. It’s all part of the life the pair is actualizing at “Belle Vie.” The “name” of Salata’s new home replete with white bright walls, a lit fireplace warming the living room, a kitchen island that makes you salivate, and a pool so blue it could be called Sinatra. In the formal dining room, the co-founders have taped up their first month of content. Nancy likes to look at it on the wall; it helps them visualize and understand how the stories will weave together. Two English bulldogs (Sheri’s), a cocker spaniel (Hala’s) roam the home. 

“When she bought it she half-jokingly named it Belle Vie,” shares Hala, “which is French for beautiful life.”  Salata laughs loudly. “She’s not some fancy lady who names her properties,” explains her friend who has moved into the guest suite on the property in order to really focus on the first year of the company. They are calling this time together “A Year at Belle Vie,” and they’ve already sold a book of the same title to be published by Harper Wave. “Our agent calls it Eat, Pray, Love in your own backyard,” says Hala. 

“The dream for our company is part of the dream for our lives,” shares Sheri. “It’s not separate. It’s an integrated dream. We’re working but we’re living.” It’s all baked into the Story layers. 

"We’re working but we’re living.”

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“For part of our year at Belle Vie, which is foundational to the first year of our company, I’ve brought in the experts, just like the Oprah Show days,” explains Sheri. “We have a love coach and a sex therapist who is part of the team. We do private sessions that we’re chronicling. I think that, honestly, great love is on his way.” Of “those days,” Sheri has nothing but positive feelings, aware that she learned from the best; studied soul with a woman who built an empire. Now she wants to build her own. 

“We realized that to build and sustain a Story Empire, which is what we really want to do, we have to be firing on all cylinders,” Nancy says. “So then we started thinking about getting in the best shape of our lives, focusing on spirituality and happiness, meditating twice a day, eating a clean plant-based nutritional program, working out furiously, losing weight, and again, freedom, growth, and joy.”   

“And,” adds Salata, “to call in soul mate love.” An essential they will not sacrifice. 

But what about the nose to grindstone work? The kind that Sheri spent over two decades of her life committed to? They’re not about that life. At least anymore. 

Set to launch at the beginning of May, Story, will be an umbrella brand. As a daily practice they focus on what they call their “pillars” (Spirituality and Happiness, Soul Mate Love and Great Romance, Health and Wellness) and are considering this their year of radical self-care and transformation. With a print division, a production studio named Orange Dragon, and media company, they’ve have already optioned The Gilded Razor, developing the Sam Lansky novel for TV with Nate Berkus, whom Sheri has known from the Oprah Show, and his husband Jeremiah Brent. In fact, Sheri married them at the New York Public Library. Orange Dragon was launched during the middle of a dinner (ordered by neighborhood favorite Little Dom’s) in Salata’s backyard. “We said, ‘Do you want to throw in with us?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’” A few weeks later they found their first book. 

If this all seems too simple and easy to be true, it’s not. “I come from the school of hard work,” says Sheri, “I worked my ass off. But I don’t think I was right about that. If you are willing to let some things germinate and let timing come together and gather momentum, build from the inside out, I think there is a much easier process that we’re exploring now. It’s really illuminating to me,” she says. “After a fabulous career, I see that I have much more to learn about creativity and innovation and divine timing. There is a freedom and a joy that I’m unpacking that startles me.” 

“It startles me too,” adds Hala. “I’ve known Sheri for a very long time. In Chicago we were really best buds and I think that I had lunch with her twice in maybe 20 years because she wasn’t available for lunch. She’s the kind of person who packs up her lunch pail and reports to duty every day; she takes her job very seriously. She has a mid-western sensibility.”

But now they are in the “land of dreamy dreams.” And damn that time-clock mentality because they are dreaming. Throwing caution to the jasmine-scented LA wind, the pair quit their jobs, sold their homes in Chicago, and leapt without fear. “There’s something in the air out here,” says Hala. “There’s a creative vortex swirling around.” 

Contrary to everything you’ve heard about startup life, Sheri says, “Honestly, we’re not setting out with this huge gigantic strategy. It’s very organic, very ‘let’s see,’ ‘let’s look through our offers here.’” Explaining that the need to make her “mark” in her early twenties, “almost ruined me.” 

“I thought I needed to hurry up and get my business cards printed and get my proper title… in moments of reflection, I tap my younger self on the shoulder and say ‘easy there, it’s all going to come together, it’s all going to be fine. Have fun right now.' ” When asked if she could have come to this realization earlier, she’s frank: “Well, I didn’t.” 

“It’s easy for me to say,” says Salata, “so I’m saying it, because I’ve already made all those mistakes and now I’m in my mid-50s and an entrepreneur for the first time in my life and loving it and seeing things through a different set of lenses. I wasn’t like that when I was younger. At all.” 

She encourages young women to, “Really find out what you like to do. What you’re really looking for is happiness. All of the accolades, accomplishments, and achievements are really going to end up feeling very, very thin if you haven’t made happiness job one.” 

“All of the accolades are going to end up feeling very thin if you haven’t made happiness job one.” 

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She says there is “no question,” that she's missed out on a bit of her own story, but also has a no regrets policy. “I wouldn’t do it differently, but it’s instructive,” she shares. “I get to do it differently today. Because that’s what I have: now.” She also admits that she was never able to achieve the illustrious work/life balance, but it’s a concept that won’t be her part of her life strategy. Instead she’s focused on a fully integrated life. 

“People say you can’t have it all,” says Hala. “I think that is complete rubbish. I think you can have it all and you should have it all. I believe that I can have great romantic love and great business success and great friends and family around me all the time, and the body I want and the life I want.” 

“I totally agree,” nods Sheri, though that “all” never included biological children for the new entrepreneur. For a while she considered adopting a baby from China, but it never came to be. She’s happy as a “dog mom.”  

Both women are reframing with Story, filled with excitement at this entrepreneurial moment in time.  

“Nancy is a gamer, a let’s go, jump off the cliff, Thelma and Louise drive the car right into the canyon,” says Salata. “I like that. I like that all of that is being awakened in me.”

“I’m living this one golden joyride opportunity,” she continues. “Sure, there’s a lot going on, but I feel so alive and I'm becoming so much better at what I do.” Nancy agrees. “You can tell your own really inspired story about what it means to be a fully actualized mother, who is madly in love with and devoted to her children, and also be a force to be reckoned with professionally. You can be the kind of woman who walks into the room and leads the discussion and listens intently, adds value, is super creative and aware of her surroundings, and a shape-shifter. You can be that.”

Cheers to that.  

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Find Out Why This CEO Risked All of Her Money

Would you be willing to risk it all for you biz? That's what Aussie expat Koel Thomae, co-founder of Noosa Yoghurt did. And it's a route we hear many entrepreneurs take. As they say, without passion and risk, there is usually no reward. 

Thomae, alongside co-founder Colorado dairy farmer Rob Graves, launched Noosa in January 2010, with the idea of bringing the sweet, tangy and full-fat yogurt of Australia to America. 

But yoghurt is one the world's oldest man-made foods. So what made Thomae think she could do it better? Considering Noosa was profitable within one year and acquired within four, trusting her tastebuds is only part of the tale. 

Hers is an inspiring success story that includes heart, risk, and yes, getting acquired. But even after acquisition, Thomae stayed on in a different role. Read more about her journey below. 

As someone who bootstrapped her company, was there a part of you that wanted to see how far you could go on your own? How did you know it was the right time to take on an investor?

Koel Thomae: Absolutely. There was part of me that wanted to defy the normal path that most start-ups take with having to take outside investment. It certainly meant we were risking all of our own money but that made me even more determined to work hard to see this become successful. It also gave us the ultimate autonomy in how we grew the business and even though we certainly had our missteps we defined what success was and could take risks that others might not have had the stomach for. By the end of 2013 we knew we had created a real business with legs and that the growth curve wasn’t slowing. We were running the business incredibly lean on the executive level and knew that to protect all of the blood, sweat and tears (and money) that we had invested that it was time to think smarter and faster. The only way to do that was with real capital. The trick was to find someone absolutely aligned with our vision and we’ve been successful in doing that.

Especially as someone who didn’t have to give up a stake early on, was it a hard decision to make?

KT: When you’ve invested your life savings, endured many sleepless nights but can see that your vision has become a reality it can be hard to know when is the right time to give up some of that control. When we welcomed Advent into the Noosa family in 2014, it was a strategic decision that allowed us to grow to scale and get noosa into the hands of more people. It really is a partnership and they’ve allowed us to evolve the brand in a way that stays true to what we set out to do, which at the end of the day is to make bloody delicious yoghurt!

Why do you think it’s hard for startups to get traditional business funding?

KT: There is so much risk in startups that traditional lenders typically shy away from these types of investments. But I think that there can be paths to finding traditional financing through networking and establishing strong banking relationships early on. Noosa is fortunate to be based in Colorado where there is a strong entrepreneur culture in the food realm and both local banks and national banks with strong local branches have really started to become aware of the opportunities in food startups.  

How was the initial transition? And why did you decide to stay on?

KT: The initial transition was very busy as I was still managing sales and marketing. It took time to find the right people to take over these roles and I wanted to see both Noosa and my new teammates succeed so it was a gradual and thoughtful transition. I had given everything to see Noosa become successful and I wasn’t ready to walk away from the next chapter. I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to continue learning and to have endless fun with my ‘baby’ so to speak. 

What is your role in the company now? 

KT: Along with my co-founder Rob Graves, I’m still very much involved in the day-to-day at noosa. In passing the baton on for sales and marketing I’ve been able to re-focus on my true passion which is product and flavor innovation. I love everything about food and it is so fun to stay on top of food and cultural trends, It’s like being a food anthropologist! I’ve created my dream job - I get to travel, eat and dream big!  

Was there ever a point where you thought, I’ve made a massive mistake. And how what did you do?

KT: I think there are very few entrepreneurs who haven’t made some big mistakes. The trick is surviving the financial impact and learning in real time how to recover and make better strategic decisions. Noosa had so many inbound retailers interested in carrying us early on and we didn’t have a firm strategy on how we would grow outside of our home market. You can become giddy in the early days and say yes to every opportunity. Launching with a retailer in a region on the other side of the country where we had zero brand awareness coupled with very few resources to build this awareness and other supply chain challenges was a recipe for disaster. After 6 months and almost $100,000 in losses we pulled out. In many ways I’m thankful that this mistake came early on. It did not sink us and we were forced to stop and think very hard about what was the right strategy to grow Noosa.

"There are very few entrepreneurs who haven’t made some big mistakes."

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How did you successfully navigate a shifting role?

KT: I like to think of my time at Noosa as a working MBA. I have worn so many hats since we launched the business, some things I was good at and others I was completely in the deep end. I think the trick is to understand what your strengths are, learn to leverage others who can fill in for your weaknesses and always have a thirst to learn from your mentors and the good old internet came through in many occasions.

What would you tell young female entrepreneurs about the startup world?

KT: The best advice I’ve ever received was to surround yourself with a good group of mentors. I’d advise young entrepreneurs to do the same. Look for your own network of women who you can learn from and who can help support you. 

How do you see your role at Noosa continuing to evolve?

KT: I am so fortunate to work with an amazing and smart group of people who realize the unique opportunity we have at Noosa. As I said before, I have the best job in the world. I am excited to continue to help push the boundaries on innovation all the while making sure we stay true to our core – and that’s to make bloody good yoghurt.

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Totally Unstoppable: The Rise of Zoey Deutch

Image credit: Isaac Sterling

THERE ARE THREE COFFEES ON THE TABLE. TWO WATERS.

“We have many beverages,” jokes actress Zoey Deutch, “and not enough time.” We’re sitting in the shade at a popular Silverlake restaurant initially made famous by its jam, and though she’s kidding, one glance at her schedule over the last two years, and it’s clear that there’s truth in the comedy.  

Before I Fall, a book adaptation in which Zoey plays the lead, is in post-production. She’s currently filming Why Him?, a comedy in which she plays opposite James Franco and Bryan Cranston. And this month she secured the highly sought-after role of Oona, in the J.D. Salinger biopic, Rebel in the Rye. For Rebel in the Rye. Oscar nominees auditioned for the part. Deutch landed it. 

Working professionally since 14, Zoey candidly acknowledges this hasn’t always been the case; her career thus far has been full of ebbs and flows. “There are so many factors that you can’t control,” she says. “I did a movie called Beautiful Creatures, I didn’t work for a year. I did a movie called Vampire Academy, I didn’t work for a year. I’ve seen both sides.” 

She’s also quick to admit that at the moment she finds success more complicated than failure. “I was surprised by my own reaction after SXSW, I was worried. To be a part of something that people really love… damn. Pressure’s on.”

She’s referring to the reviews for Everybody Wants Some!!, the latest film from darling director Richard Linklater set in the early 1980s when tie-dye t-shirts were still a thing. Zoey was one of the first to secure a role in a movie that’s been likened a spiritual follow-up to cult-classic Dazed and Confused, and as a career-maker for the ensemble cast. The film follows a group of baseball bros navigating life at a small Texas university. There’s not a lot of baseball. And there aren’t a lot of women. Zoey plays the role of Beverly, a strong-minded theater geek whose role is more than simply to get laid. The New Yorker calls her performance "the only female presence of any depth in the story, but wise beyond her years, and so beautifully played."

It’s an attribute that mirrors IRL Zoey: resolute, sagacious, opinionated, not timid around men. “I tend to peacock,” she says. She’s also a nose-the-grindstone worker. She’s headed back to Austin to do more press for the movie the next morning.

Zoey as Beverly in Everybody Wants Some!!

“Even in the last two weeks,” she says in between bites of brioche toast, “I wouldn’t call myself a workaholic, but you can probably see that I don’t say no. There’s a lot of yes, yes, yes.” 

Yes. She’s right. Zoey is in perpetual motion; it’s hard to throw a stick in her river. But despite her twenty-one years, she understands that you work when the work is there, and when it’s not you “work even harder.” 

****

Two weeks prior to meeting up in LA, we were on a plane back from SXSW. Complete, though welcomed, happenstance. Walking through the airport, a teen whispered to her friend, “She’s famous, OMG.” However, that afternoon, Zoey in long, tan-suede coat, was not the most famous person to board the aircraft. That was Jenna Lyons. Creative Director and President of J. Crew. Business woman extraordinaire with international acclaim. 

Zoey and I start talking gender-bias. She spent the previous day doing press for Everybody. “I’m in this movie full of men,” she says, “and they’re all being asked questions about Rick and their roles, and the first question I’m asked is if I’ll go to prom with someone in the audience.” She pauses. “And of course that’s what Deadline and other outlets pick up.”

"What do you think people are asking Jenna Lyons?" we ask. 

“Oh I don’t know,” she says. “I’m sure she spends the day trying not to be defensive about female-centric questions. But I have no fucking clue.” 

Naturally, we take this as the cue to push on about the hot-button, oft-highlighted gender-bias in Tinsel Town because from an outside perspective, and taking cues from the current press regarding these issues, Hollywood is at a crossroads. While actresses like Jennifer Lawrence are penning open letters regarding equal pay, and the NY Times is running pieces on the pervasive sexism in the industry, Zoey has a slightly different opinion. “I don’t feel like this is the first time it has come up, nor do I think it’s the last time.”

She mentions a documentary she recently watched about the Oscars. “Women who were accepting their awards in the ‘40s were brilliant, hilarious, outspoken— they weren’t timid the way we’ve painted them to be,” she says. “And now, ALL of a sudden, we have our Amy Schumers and Jennifer Lawrences and we act like there is a new breed of woman. I don’t find that to be true. There have always been funny and brilliant women.” 

"THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FUNNY AND BRILLIANT WOMEN."

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Yet she’s hardly blind to the bias. “I see the sexism in Hollywood. I see it. I understand it. I know it’s there. But we’re working toward something better.” Her voice upticks here, slightly unsure if this is the right thing to say; she proceeds regardless. “I sometimes wonder how much talking about it does. Or when might be the right time to shift the conversation.” Adding, “It’s so much easier to say the wrong thing, than the right thing. But I don’t know if 'media-trained Zoey’ is a role I want to play.” 

Image credit: Isaac Sterling

As for women getting paid less in general? She doesn’t mince this thought. “It’s fucked.”

She recalls a wrap party in Canada last year, where a drunk crew member approached her and said: “I know some people are taken aback by how you carry yourself on set, but I really love the way you handle yourself like a man.” 

Does she think this a good thing? It’s unclear. “I’m trying not to be defensive in my life, because it’s really an easy reflex. So I asked him, ‘What does that mean? Really what does that mean?’”

She explains that his answer was as follows: you take no bullshit, you stand up for yourself and other people, and you’re not worried about making sure everyone likes you. “I took it as a compliment,” she says, while recognizing the inherent bias of having someone respect you for ‘acting like man,’ for acting like yourself.

"I DON'T KNOW IF 'MEDIA-TRAINED ZOEY' IS A ROLE I WANT TO PLAY."

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“I was lucky to be raised by people who embraced that element of my personality, and who never tried to break that spirit, but why that has to be classified as ‘acting like a man?’ I can see the issue there.”

What the actress also recognizes is that Hollywood has a representation problem — across the board, and that the way people in the industry get paid, is “very disproportionate.” It’s something she says she’s talked about with her mom. “Second, third, fourth, on the call sheet, you’re not making the eight-figures people think you are. The pay-scale is incongruous — not just for women.”

She thinks people would be surprised to learn that on a big movie, many actors are making $1500 compared to a star's millions. "But no one talks about it. You don’t want to get fired, you don’t want to lose an opportunity.”

She has a slightly different attitude about role discrepancy as well. “Here’s the truth: we hear a lot of people saying, ‘There aren’t enough strong female characters in film, which I don’t agree with. The problem is we don’t have enough real, complex, fucked up, human characters.” 

Though her career is certainly on the rise — Vogue just called her “Linklater’s newest dream girl,” she doesn’t pretend that she’s at a point where she can pick and choose roles with a feminist comb. “I want to work,” she explains. “So I can't sit here and pretend yet that I only pick the parts that portray women in shining lights.” 

This is another moment where she gives the, maybe I shouldn’t have said that look. It’s a self-awareness and honesty most often attributed to press darlings Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley. 

“The irony of an actor being in the public eye,” she says, “is it’s the opposite of what should happen. Actors are fucking crazy, and vulnerable and emotional. To expose those people on a grand scale is comical.” She quickly adds, “To me. I’ve never done an interview in print where I didn’t think, ‘well, that came across poorly.’” 

Well. There’s a first time for everything and everybody. 

---

The original version of this story was published on April 3, 2016

Arianna Schioldager is Create & Cultivate's editorial director. You can find her on IG @ariannawrotethis and more about her on this site she never updates www.ariannawrotethis.com 

Baby & a Biz? Why Mom-to-Be Whitney Port Launched This New Company

She's about to be a new mom, so why was now the right time for fashion veteran Whitney Port to launch a new career? 

Port announced Thursday that she’s teaming up with friend and now business partner Laurenne Resnik to run the creative side of Bloom2Bloom, a two-year-old fashion-foward flower brand that takes a farm-to-table approach to sending beautiful bouquets. The two met last summer at a charity event for Wish Upon a Teen, a non-profit the brand now partners with, and they have big beautiful plans for growing the brand. "There’s something special about giving and receiving flowers for no reason at all," the co-founders share, noting that their favorite occasion to give flowers is "just because." 

We talk to a lot of co-founders and always want to know how and why they chose each other. Laurenne, you’re a floral expert, so why was Whitney the right co-founder?

LR: When Whitney and I met last summer, we started doing some charity work together and immediately hit it off - it really seemed like the perfect fit, especially as Whitney was looking to transition to something outside of the fashion industry. I wanted to work with someone who understands how to build a brand that is timeless, and that seamlessly fits into consumers' everyday life. Whitney is just that person, and flowers were the answer! Whitney has a great eye for design and beautifully translates that talent to flowers and Bloom2Bloom as a lifestyle brand.

Whitney, why was now the right time to switch it up? You successfully navigated the fashion world… what about a bloom business appealed to you?

WP: As Laurenne said, I was looking to transition to something not directly related to the fashion industry and, after meeting and hitting it off with her at a charity event for Wish Upon a Teen last year, I knew it’d be a great fit.

How does a background in fashion lend itself to developing a flower brand?

WP: My favorite part of fashion is the creativity required to build a brand and make a visual statement. This is just as necessary for flowers as it is fashion.

We think a lot about local and sustainable as it relates to food. What kickstarted the curiosity of “where” flowers come from?

LR: When you go to the grocery store, you know where your milk or produce comes from. But how much do you know about your flowers? A significant amount of flowers purchased in the U.S. come from overseas, meaning that you are getting flowers that can be five to seven days old by the time you receive them. We are behind the American Grown flower movement. By working with local, U.S. flower farms, we’re able to turn that time into 24-48 hours max, meaning you’re getting the freshest flowers possible, straight from the farm. We also believe it’s our duty to take care of Planet Earth, and work with farmers who believe the same and take actions to be sustainable where they can.

"We are behind the American Grown flower movement."

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photo credit: Cole Moser 

What have you learned since starting?

LR: We measure success in impact. And in this flower business, we have tremendous opportunity for impact, which is really inspiring. We impact local farmers and everybody who works with them. We have a chance to improve the flower-buying experience for consumers, empowering them with knowledge and making flowers an everyday item, not just a luxury purchase. And we have a chance to impact our community through our give-back program with Wish Upon A Teen. If we are continuously challenging ourselves to make a positive impact wherever we can, then we are moving in the right direction and creating something that matters. We’ve grown a lot since developing this brand and we are learning new things every day!

So can you walk me through the order process? It’s basically a farm-to-table approach to flowers right? How are you choosing who you’re working with and how do you guarantee what’s getting delivered?

LR: Yes! When you order Bloom2Bloom flowers online, they are straight from the farm to your doorstep! I have been working with flower farmers for over five years now. We work closely with the farms to make sure our flowers live up to the Bloom2Bloom brand standard, and we constantly implement a variety of measures for quality control. Under Whitney's amazing creative direction, we create bouquet designs unique to Bloom2Bloom, and work directly with bouquet teams on the farms to hand arrange each arrangement of flowers that are picked, and ship them out to our customers. Because of these close and trusted relationships, we’re able to secure high-quality, beautiful flowers with every order.

I read on the FAQ page that if someone wants monthly blooms to contact you. Are you thinking of expanding into the subscription model at some point?

WP: We have already started a variety of subscription packages, many of which are customized based on customers' needs and who the customer is. Stay tuned for some really unique offerings, from individuals to our great corporate partners. We are here to make it easy for you to get beautiful flowers, whenever you want!

Whitney, you’re about to be a new mom (congrats!!). So how do you think you’ll juggle a new biz and a new baby?

WP: Thank you! I have a lot of strong and balanced women in my life that I’ll be getting advice from and probably leaning on throughout this process. It’s a new experience for me, but I know I’ve got the best support group possible and they will be a key part of balancing these two parts of my life.

I love the idea of partnership with Wish Upon a Teen— it makes a lot of sense. Hospital rooms are one place where people always bring flowers. But this goes beyond just flowers. So why was it important to you both? What about this non-profit spoke to you individually?

Flowers are not a necessity - they are not food or water. They are, though, no matter who you are, a reminder that you are thought of, that you matter, and that someone wants you to smile, right now. And that gesture is utterly human and so invaluable. These teens, they spend so much of their time receiving things they need to survive and to feel well. When we work with Wish Upon A Teen to design a hospital room, it's a chance to give these teens something that reminds them that they are thought of, and that we want them to smile. It's a way to keep that gesture going. When you give the gift of flowers, or treat yourself, it's extra meaningful to know that gift keeps on giving. We believe that bringing happiness to others helps spread happiness elsewhere and that’s what we’re about at Bloom2Bloom - we’re where happiness grows!

"It’s important to offer flowers that fit your sense of style, just like a dress or pair of shoes would."

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photo credit: Cole Moser 

Whitney, as an entrepreneur embarking on her next business venture, what business advice do you have for our readers who are looking to launch?

1. Find a good partner - You hear a lot of people say things like you need to find “the yin to your yang.” As cliché as it might sound, it's totally true! We each bring unique strengths and perspectives to this project. I wouldn’t have dared dive into flowers without Laurenne, who’s a flower industry veteran.

2. Have a clear vision - For us, ‘Fashion-forward flowers for your everyday life’ is our main focus right now. Having a clear vision is key to creating a cohesive, memorable brand and essential when re-launching in such a fast-paced environment.

3. Be part of your community - A value that’s extremely important to us at Bloom2Bloom is supporting the economy. All of our flowers are U.S. grown and farmed locally to ensure that not only does the customer receive their bloom freshly picked, but that it’s created with safe, ethical practices too!

4. Give back in any way you can - Build in social impact wherever possible. We’re so happy to have our partnership with Wish Upon a Teen for our brand. To take the meaning of your work to the next level, you should find an organization that you are passionate about, and come up with ways to collaborate.

Laurenne, what are you most excited about in terms of the building the brand?

LR: I am most excited about our focus on fashion-forward flowers. As a brand, we think it’s important to offer flowers that fit your sense of style, just like a dress or pair of shoes would. We want our flowers to fit into your space and make them uplift the style that already exists.

Favorite arrangement you’ve ever received:

WP:  I didn’t use to like yellow flowers, but one day my husband Timmy showed up and surprised me with yellow flowers and I loved them ever since.

LR: Even though I’ve been working with flowers for years, my husband never misses a chance to surprise me with a bouquet! It’s always a good feeling when he does that. It never gets old.

Flower of the moment:

LR: I love Irises right now. They’re featured in “The Lovely” bouquet we have right now and I can’t get enough of them.

WP: I always love succulents!

A bloom that always makes you smile:

WP: Dahlias - it’s hard not to love their deep colors and lush petals.

LR:  Daffodils always have that effect on me. They remind me of my father and my family so a smile is a guaranteed effect.

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STEM: Heather Lipner

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.

Taking on fast fashion with AR. 

Heather is wearing Keds' Champion Originals.

Heather Lipner, tech maven, has worked in the dude-heavy tech industry for "at least 13 years." As the former creative director of MySpace, co-founder of Uncovet, and founder of Clashist, that oh-so-pop-culture-meme-tastic apparel line approved by James Franco, the entrepreneur has a few tricks up her techie sleeve. 

Drawsta is her latest newest venture. An augmented reality fashion concept that adds an unexpected layer to wearables. “I created Drawsta.com because I love creating products that are allow the customer to really express themselves,” says Heather. With Drawsta, customers can write their own animated text and emojis on t-shirts and share the augmented reality digital experience via social media and/or show how it works in person. It’s also a backlash against the greed of fast fashion. Why change your shirt when you can change the image on said shirt? 

It was during the course of running e-commerce brand Clashist that Heather witnessed “how fast people got sick of fashion trends.” Instead of succumbing to the masses and embracing the world of fast, she instead opted to “let people digitally wear, create, and swipe through different graphics.” 

While Heather loves being able to create new graphics for people to wear, she admits that new takes some adjustment. “Experiencing fashion via augmented reality is new and with anything new it takes a bit longer to pick up then let's say a smiley face on a tee.”

"With anything new it takes a bit longer to pick up then a smiley face on a tee.”

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It’s also the first business she launched without funding. “Doing it all myself is mentally challenging,” she explains, but says her boyfriend, Drawsta’s customers who are “highly influential on what gets designed and built out,” and her “incredibly supportive friends and family," keep her motivated. 

Heather shares that she’s not “into all of the girl boss and girl gang stuff - I think it keeps gender segregated rather than ensuring that men and women are both sitting at the table. We should all be networking together and making sure men see us as women not girls, not in a girl gang, but as equals who want the same things.” 

“We should all be making sure men see us as women not girls.”

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Over her decade plus in tech Heather has accumulated her fair share of lessons. Practically speaking she likes to get the stuff she hates (paying bills and going to the gym) out of the way first thing in the am. She also shares that she doesn't make five year goals. "I let opportunities arise and choose to do or not to do them, instead of getting stuck into a long term plan." But what the future personally holds for the inventor is clear: "Answer honestly, support authentically, share resources and share other women's work." 

We'd put that on a t-shirt. 100. 

Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.

Content Creator: Jessica Bennett

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Content Creator List Here.   

Leading us into battle. 

Jessica Bennett, gender and culture writer and author of Feminist Fight Club, knew she wanted to be a journalist from a young age— 10, she says, give or take a few homework assignments. After scoring an internship at the newspaper in her hometown of Seattle, Bennett worked at the Boston Globe during college, the Village Voice when she moved to NYC, eventually landing her first staff job at Newsweek. 

It was at Newsweek where she started writing about gender politics, spurned in part she says, by “my own inability to rise up.”

“In the height of that frustration,” Bennett explains, “two colleagues and I stumbled upon the story of a group of female staffers who had sued the company for gender discrimination in 1970.” The lawsuit was the first of its kind and paved the way for female journalists everywhere, but their story had been largely forgotten. (herstory, not herstory.) When Bennett and her co-workers realized that not enough had changed for women at work, they agreed there was an important story to unearth. “We ultimately wrote an oral history of their story, and our own, looking at how much (not enough) had changed.” 

It was a piece they believed they’d be fired for writing. Waving a polite middle-finger to your own place of employment isn’t safest way to climb the corporate ranks, but they were in too deep and hoisted the story up the pole. They wove the stories together, citing underlying gender issues in the workplace, a lack of female bylines and cover stories, and limited though high-profile successes, like that of their boss Ann McDaniel, then Newsweek’s managing editor, that mask the bigger problems. They weren’t fired. 

Instead the piece became the lede for a book, the Amazon original series, Good Girls Revolt (which, Amazon cancelled after one season without one woman present) as well as Jessica’s own book, Feminist Fight Club, released early 2016. “The most important step I took to getting where I am today was saying ‘Fuck it,’” she says. “I'm going to fight for what I believe in -- even if it meant losing my job.” The only thing losing, at least if Bennett has a say, is the patriarchy. 

But why fight, a word and mentality that is easily interpreted as aggressive? A word the media tiptoes around when it comes to women. “Women are too often hesitant to use words like ‘fight,’” says Bennett, “for fear that we'll be perceived as ‘too aggressive.’ But you know what? Aggression is OK, and sometimes it's even necessary.” 

“Aggression is OK, and sometimes it's even necessary.”

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She also says she’s “sick of hearing people talk about empowerment and then buy a certain brand of shampoo to attain it.”  

“Empowerment is good—but you don’t magically achieve it, you fight for it. To me ‘fight’ implies action, and I believe in action,” Jessica says. “At least when it comes to issues of equality.” When we ask what “female empowerment” means to her, it’s a simple response we’d never considered. “It means feminism,” she says, “but for people who aren’t comfortable with the word."

It’s why she’s focussed her sights on a new position. “Chief Gender Correspondent, New York Times— a job that doesn’t yet exist, but I’m workin’ on it.” 

As for the fight club, both her own personal group whom she credits as her mentors, and the group at large, she’s ready to march. (Which she did this past Saturday at the Women's March.) To charge ahead. To give up, never. “It looks like we are a whole lot further from equality than I thought. But that's all the more reason we have to continue to fight -- this battle isn't over any time soon.” 

Good thing we've found a leader in Jessica Bennett. 

Beauty: Andrea Brooks

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with Dove, you can view the full Beauty List Here. 

Inspiring confidence through commonality. 

Andrea Brooks, the beauty blogger known as AndreasChoice with almost 5 million followers between her IG and YouTube platforms, has always had a love for "beauty, art, and computers." Which, sounds like a match made in digital video heaven.

In 2008 Andrea decided to start a YouTube channel as a creative outlet while working as a teacher for disabled adults. But the load of working during the day and uploading videos at night, became too much and Andrea had to make her first major choice. She says, "Leaving a job I loved to pursue YouTube full time," was a difficult but highly important step in her career.  

Her vlogging and makeup skills have catapulted her career; "here we are!" she exclaims about her rise to YouTube fame, but it's Andrea's down-to-earth approach (like her "how to hack" series which includes: hacking smelly shoes, body odor, and a messy home-- see how she uses a Dove soap bar in this one) that capture the essence of the video platform is all about. It's not about unattainability. It's about reliability. "I try to make women feel confident and beautiful and liberated in a world that makes it difficult to feel that way," shares the vlogger who worked to find her own voice and confidence.

More from Andrea below.

What are some of the challenges you've encountered along the way?

Sometimes you go into moments where you're uninspired but you still have to try and keep a schedule.

Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?

My audience influences a lot of what I do. I can tell by their comments and messages what they want to see or are going to have coming up soon (Valentine's Day, Halloween, back-to-school, etc.) I love helping then out. 

What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?

To only give attention to the supporters. 

What is your favorite life advice?

Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself. 

"Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself."

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What is a time in your life when you thought, 'I can't do this anymore?'

I have those moments regularly, but I always find a new path that I CAN do ;)

International Women’s Day is coming up. A global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. If you could steer the conversation around International Women’s Day, what would that dialogue be about?

How, as women today we can have the confidence level to achieve what we want, while ignoring the media pressures of what women should be.

How has your relationship to yourself changed in the last five years?

I have been able to overcome challenges that I never thought were possible before. I have grown more confident.

What does female empowerment mean to you?

We have less power than men and still deal with oppression. Women have a more difficult time achieving goals than men do so we need to empower each and stand together to show everyone that when given the chance, we have so much to contribute to this world.

Wellness: Erin Falconer & Geri Hirsch, LEAFtv

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Wellness List Here.

It's their Year of Wellness. 

Geri is wearing Keds' Triple Dalamta Dot Leather.

Sexism. It’s not something you hear a lot about in the blogging world, especially since women are the predominant money makers, but both Geri Hirsch and Erin Falconer, co-founders of LEAFtv both say that they have experienced and been challenged by “sexism, on many occasions.” 

If it exists, they would know. Erin and Geri have been in the blog space for over a decade. “I co-founded LEAFtv due to my love of the digital space,” shares Geri, “and the need for how-to videos.” This was pre-digital madness, “a time when millions didn’t exist.” The early intrepid explorers were, “immediately caught up in the magic of the web,” says Canadian-born Erin. As a lifestyle and wellness destination for millennial women, Geri and Erin became staple digital darlings on the scene; the duo had a bit of magic themselves. They've slowly and surely built a digital brand and platform that now reaches over 8 million readers every month and have the unique advantage of witnessing the last decade's social evolution.

Erin, who is also the Editor in Chief of PickTheBrain, a blog she founded seven years ago, is very frank about the change of social. “I wish I could say that there still exists a truly social experience, but for me it's becoming more and more about algorithms - which is kind of sad. It used to be fun, exciting and I felt like I really made an impact and now, it feels like you have to pay to access your own audience,” which she shares is something she won’t do. 

“Social,” says Geri, “is now a huge part of our marketing and growth overall.” Erin says that “When it comes to social,” the first thing is to stop “thinking of it as social and start thinking about it as a business.”

"Stop thinking of it as social. Start thinking of it as a business."

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It what they've done. Last year the partners got new (glowing) skin in the digital game when they expanded into the subscription model with Year of Wellness, their way of providing people an easy way to live well. “There wasn’t a subscription providing an entire year of products and advice on wellness,” says Geri. “We wanted to be those people.” 

For her part, Erin is “personally thrilled that the era of Wellness is upon us. Starting about 18 months ago we saw a real shift in the content that our audience was responding to on YouTube (with LEAF).” Followers were asking more questions about their routines and certain wellness practices. “We both had the lightbulb moment at the same time: there is a real need for information and access to experiences across the country and nobody was really filling that void in a comprehensive way.” They got to work. Eight months later YOW arrived. 

Geri is wearing Keds' Triple Dalamta Dot Leather.

Which brings us to the overwhelm factor. The balance of staying well while running businesses and keeping up with the internet joneses. 

They cop to the “exhaustion of social media,” but a shared love of wellness and positive feedback from their LEAFtv tribe, as well as being a “tiny part of shifting someone’s world,” is enough to fight through the rapid pace of a changing market, bureaucracy, and their vision. Which includes knowing, says Geri, that “attaining perfection is overrated,” and “striving for it is invaluable.” They're also beholden to their own routines, including mediation, which without Erin says “I just don't think I'd have the calm, the focus or the energy to do what I'm doing.”

"Attaining perfection is overrated. Striving for it is invaluable."

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What is incredibly valuable is their approach to the work and the definitely female future. “It is my solid contention that we have entered the era of the woman,” says Erin. “The internet and all it offers (if we can figure out how to use it the right way) is designed to lift women up. Gone are the days of the classical work hierarchies of oppression for women. Gone are the choices: Work or family. It is an amazing time to be a woman, and I truly believe each and every one of us (specifically most of the people on this list!) has the chance to make a great difference to future generations of women. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it all.” 

Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.

Entertainment: Rachel Bloom

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Entertainment List Here.

Nothing crazy here. 

Rachel Bloom, co-creator and star of the irreverent musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on the CW, grew up with an affinity for four things: singing, dancing, murder, and death.(#bestfriendstatus?) Her years spent in Southern California’s beachy-clean Manhattan Beach were jointly filled with anxiety and a love for musical theater. An outsider at school, those showy tunes were all she listened to until 18, when the theater nut headed from the shores of CA to the smells of NY to major in musical theater at NYU's Tisch program. But everyone experiments in college. During her time at Tisch, Rachel branched out, started performing with Upright Citizen Brigade Theater, and “fell in love with doing sketch comedy.” 

Post NY, back in LA once again, Rachel worked as a staff writer on Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken, but wasn't entirely satisfied. “My first TV writing job was with a bunch of older, more experienced men, and many of them were brilliant but mean to me. I went home and cried a lot during that period.” And she hadn't shook the musical-comedy bug. 

"My first TV writing job was with older, more experienced men. Many of them were brilliant but mean to me."

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Six years ago the first video she posted on YouTube, “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury,” about the sci-fi writer, went viral. For his part, Bradbury reportedly saw said video on his 90th birthday and dug it. A second short, involving a singing "historically accurate Disney princess" who coughs up blood and warbles about a blacksmith with a "daughter-wife, ten-years-old and pregnant," caught the attention of her soon-to-be Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator, Aline Brosh McKenna. It was also the first very public mix of all the things that fascinated Rachel a child. (See above: singing, dancing, murder, and death.) Rachel credits those shorts as the most important step in her career. “Filming what I wrote was immensely important,” she explains. Advice taken from her husband, who many years ago told the actress, "‘Film what you write.’ At the time he was way more experienced than I was," she shares, "so I took his words to heart and it really paid off.”

Even if her road to success was paved with tears, they were not for wont. The CW ordered five additional scripts even before the premiere of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Last January, Rachel won her first Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Comedy or Musical. And Crazy Ex is just that: a cherry musical on top of a dark, modern day comedy. The blunt name of the show ironically pegs women in a role men have long loved to brand them as: crazy. But the use of music, clever dialogue, and conversations amongst female characters that have nothing to do with men, debunk and deconstruct the male-driven stereotype. 

Rachel says that the impetus for the show was always to deal with the contradictory messages women deal with on a daily basis. Telling TIME, “We’re taught to be strong women, we want to be strong women, but both our western ideas of romance and also our own emotions make us crazy. Women are fed all of these contradictory ideas about what love is and what you should and shouldn’t have and you’re supposed to have it all, but you’re also supposed to fall in love.”  

Wise words from a woman who says that “female empowerment means seeing oneself as a citizen of Earth first, and how one's gender informs that second.”

Comedy has always appealed to the songstress. “On a primal level,” she shares, “being funny suddenly made me cooler than I could ever be off-stage. I fell in love with comedy writing due to the creative freedom one could find through structure.”

"Being funny suddenly made me cooler than I could ever be off-stage."

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She’s been very open about her own anxieties, “making it,” and capital F fears. “I have a lot more confidence now. I'm not afraid that every bad idea is an omen of me being a talentless hack,” she says. Quoting an acting teacher who once told her, "Laziness is a form of fear," Rachel says that bit of advice has stuck with her. "It really hit home with me." 

And now, we welcome Rachel, her oddities and talent, into ours. 

Entertainment: Mandy Moore

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Entertainment List Here.

Crushing on the woman who's crushing her career. 

On Saturday morning, wearing a blue sweatshirt with the words, "For most of history Anonymous was a woman," across her chest and a pink "pussy" hat, actress Mandy Moore, joined a reported fellow 750,000 women, men, and children at the Women's March in Downtown Los Angeles. 

Though the pop "Candy" songstress turned Golden Globe nominated actress has received accolades for her current work on This Is Us on NBC, this past weekend Moore took the streets as if to say, This, Is ALL of US. "What a way to celebrate the collective energy of so many people unwilling to sit idly by. One for the books," the award nominee wrote on her Instagram. Not what some would expect from a former TRL charter, but crushing career stereotypes is part of her repertoire.

Moore escaped the standard downward spiral of a young-to-fame pop princess. When critics said she was simply “too nice,” she kept working, at times typecast, but steadily building her acting career. Since her debut in role in 2001 as the voice of a Girl Bear Cub in Dr. Doolittle 2, Moore has been cast in over twenty films. She managed to keep her 2015 divorce relatively private. And steers clear of the pomp and circumstance of Hollywood. Maybe it's that angelic smile that keeps her floating above the drama, or the fact that Moore keeps her head as firmly attached to her shoulders as her feet to the ground. “At 32 years old, I feel a comfort in my own skin and a sense of determination in my choices that I thought I had all along but really I had no idea,” the actress admits. "There’s no substitute for time or the wisdom and clarity that comes with it. I’ve been working hard to quit apologizing for things I have no control over or no business apologizing for in the first place.”

Or perhaps it’s the lessons she’s kept tucked in her toolkit from her teen years in a notoriously sexist music industry. “Surround yourself with GOOD people,” she says. “I’m lucky enough to have a stable and supportive foundation when it comes to my family and friends so I’ve always attributed that as being the most critical piece of the puzzle. Beyond that, always, always, always trust your gut. When in doubt, DON’T.” 

"Always, always, always trust your gut. When in doubt, DON’T.” 

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Those women include a stellar squad of empowered women who, Moore says, have “shown me that there’s so much value in learning how to say no, staying true to your vision and finding the courage to take risks.” And her mom, who sent her daughter a pillow the morning of the Globes embroidered with the phrase, “so believed she could so she did.” That she has. 

At present, the low-maintenance performer's risks include making active and bold choices in her life and career, something that wasn’t always the case. “Like a lot of people,” she explains, “I allowed fear to govern my life for a period. I became exceptionally good at making myself and my needs as minuscule as possible as not to disturb other parts of my life. Once I realized that those broken patterns weren’t leading me where I wanted to go, I leaned into the pain, embraced change and started owning my power.” Whether she’s singing, acting, or marching down Broadway, the choices she’s making are her own. 

The industry, and the viewers who turned out in droves to watch This Is Us last fall, are taking notice. With a radical 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a two-season renewal from the network, things are looking sweet for Moore. But she’s not taking any of it for granted. “Having a job that inspires and challenges me as much as this one does is all of the reward I could ask for. Having said that, this is a WHOLE new world to me and it’s equal parts mind-blowing and humbling. I keep reminding myself to be in the moment and that it’s ok to really appreciate it and not write it off too quickly.” 

We suggest taking a similar approach to Moore and her career, wherever that particular march may take her.

Wellness: Taryn Toomey

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Wellness List Here.

Giving us a master class in feeling good. 

Sometimes life is what happens when you’re on your way to something else. Or in the case of Taryn Toomey, when you’re late to something else. “After years of ‘running to yoga,’ I left my corporate fashion job to pursue yoga teacher training,” says Toomey, who previously worked for both Ralph Lauren and Dior. “That's when I discovered my love for teaching movement.” The “movement” she’s referring to is the genre-defying blend of cardio, yoga, and high-intensity interval training that Toomey developed after a few years of teaching yoga while also longing for “a practice that involved more FIRE and expression.” It's known now as the cult-beloved workout phenomenon The Class.    

Toomey started out modestly, teaching an invite-only version of The Class in the basement of her Tribeca building. But thanks to the yogapreneur's unique blend of targeted muscle-sculpting poses, bursts of high-energy movements, and her secret weapon, moments of soul soaring emotional catharsis, word of The Class spread like wildfire. Toomey credits her mentor, Mama Kia, with whom she studied in Peru, and the birth of her two daughters, with giving her the push she needed to pursue her passion. Her practice also evolved out of a more personal struggle, and as a form of self-therapy. Though she doesn’t go into detail on record, Toomey says she felt a strong need to develop a practice that released pent up negative energy, or what she refers to as “the sludge.” She lists self-doubt and vulnerability as challenges she has faced, explaining “The Class was created because I needed something for survival. It was all about survival.”

“My main goal for the future is to help people FEEL better.”

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It seems that Toomey has not just figured out how to survive, but thrive: The Class with Taryn Toomey, as it's now called, boasts devotees like Christy Turlington and Naomi Watts and is currently taught every day in both Los Angeles and New York City. The latter is a city where Toomey recently opened her first flagship studio in Tribeca, decked out with crystal-embedded floors for optimum energetic flow. She also recently expanded into other wellness-adjacent areas, launching The Airelume, a handcrafted fine jewelry line, The Retreatment, luxury wellness retreats to destinations around the world, and The Layer, seasonal nutritional cleanses with an emphasis on anti-inflammatory and ayurvedic practices.  Toomey credits daily meditation and regular practice of The Class with both her personal and professional growth. “My career in wellness has expanded very quickly and organically,” she says. “I did not originally realize that I could have such an impact on so many people. I now see my ability to inspire, help people discover their intentions and even reach their goals.” As for Toomey’s own goals for the future? She has plans expand The Class to Vancouver and hopes to someday teach The Class live accompanied by one of her favorite musicians.

On a larger scale she says, “My main goal for the future is to help people FEEL better.”

Content Creators: Anne Sage & Caroline Lee, Light Lab Studios

This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Content Creator List Here.   

The side hustle Queens. 

Anne is wearing Keds' Kickstart Perf Leather. Caroline is wearing Keds' Triple Metallic.

If Anne Sage had more time for one thing she’d be writing a novel. If Caroline Lee had more time for one thing she’d being DJ’ing. 

But both ladies, who collectively run Light Lab Studios in Atwater Village couldn't possibly make room for more. Or could they?

Anne’s path took her from Stanford, where she graduated with an English degree to NYC to complete a master's program in interior design. At just eight weeks in she realized it wasn’t for her, took an internship with a small branding agency in the city, nabbing a hands-on education in visual identity and consumer strategy. A decision possibly encouraged by her favorite piece of “real talk” advice. “When I went away to college,” she shares, “a friend told me ‘It’s okay not to like it." That phrase is my constant reminder that we don't have to feel happy about every step in our path.” In 2008, she started her blog. Two years later she moved to SF where she co-founded the online lifestyle publication Rue Magazine. Fast-forward two more years and she was writing Sage Living, an interiors book. Today she manages her online platforms, creates online content for lifestyle brands, and co-owns Light Lab. 

Caroline, the eldest of six has had a “an independent, self-reliant sort of mentality about life,” from the gate. At 15 she started her own piano studio. “Being my own business owner at 15,” Caroline says “definitely ignited a love for being self-employed and getting to be my own boss.” At 19, the photographer behind @woodnote, moved to Australia, something she says was a “doozy of a lesson to experience.” 

“Big moves mean starting over again,” she shares. “I've learned that it takes about three years of endless focus and intention to get a new idea to a place that it is actually profitable slash enjoyable.” She says she knows now that she can’t rush things. 

Though a self-professed serial domain purchaser, the opportunity with Light Lab was too good and when she started looking for creative spaces she saw the potential immediately. It needed a total overhaul and is totally unrecognizable from it’s original state, but Caroline says “In the last five years, I've become more willing to take risks.” She’s also“more interested in collaborating with others who have different strengths than I do— more focused on creating balance.”

That balance is Anne. The duo have partnered on the creative space that serves as a photography studio, an event space, hosting dinners catered by awesome women (and fellow Atwater business owner) like Barrett Pendergast of Valleybrink Road, and the perfect canvas for a pop-up shop. Not to mention, it's a Instagram goldmine with a crush-worthy pink velvet couch and vintage rugs Caroline imports from Morocco through @cococarpets. (What did we tell you about #sidehustles.) Oh, and it has the prettiest pink marble bathroom you’ve ever seen. 

Pink and plush decor aside, both women have seen their share of challenges. “One year after moving to LA, I was pretty sure I was going to throw in the towel. I was lonely, miserable, and nearly broke,” says Anne. During those desperate times, she moved back with her parents in Toronto for a month, unsure if she would return to the west coast. But you know what they say about our darkest hours. While at home she secured her contract for Sage Living. “The whole experience was totally in keeping with the phrase, ‘Things always look darkest before the dawn.’” Anne says.

2017 is her year to start writing fiction again. “Writing was my original love and I’ve got so many stories to tell.” If things go as planned she’ll also be adding a new storyline to her own. “2017 is also my year to start having babies!” 

How they manage to do it all and still find time for more is inspiring for any young entrepreneur who thinks there isn’t enough time. In addition to Light Lab, Woodnote Photography and her rug business, “stubborn as hell” Caroline takes DJ lessons, travels non-stop, plays violin in an LA community orchestra, and often partners with Sseko Designs and Justice Rising through photography to help help educate women in Africa. 

Caroline says that though she’s thought about throwing in the towel on days when it’s all too much, she’d never follow through with giving up or quitting; she has too much to do and more domains to purchase. Like her goal of photographing the first wedding on the moon. “No big deal,” she jokes. Her husband, Jayden Lee, gave her the best advice: “Meet people where they're at, and leave them better than you found them.” Sounds like the lucky free spirit has two sages in her life. 

Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.