Marina Middleton on Leading Teams, Landing Partnerships & Buying Create & Cultivate

From Ice Cream Scooper to CEO

• 🍦 Marina Middleton's early career involved numerous jobs, including scooping ice cream, working at CVS, and bartending, instilling a strong work ethic from a young age.
• 🎓 Despite a surprise pregnancy and divorce at 23, she pursued marketing and business communication, landing a high-paying job at Yahoo.
• 💔 After being laid off from Yahoo in 2019, she initially pivoted to lifestyle blogging but found it unfulfilling, leading to a further pivot into entrepreneurship.

Building a Business Through Bold Moves

• 🚀 Marina founded Empowered Confidence, focusing on events for women, and secured partnerships with Reebok and the YWCA, demonstrating a proactive approach to "shooting her shot."
• 🤝 She emphasizes the importance of providing value to potential partners, focusing on how her goals can help them achieve theirs.
• 💡 The strategy of "shooting your shot" involves preparing outreach, identifying target individuals or organizations, and clearly articulating the mutual benefits.

Acquiring Create & Cultivate

• 🤝 Marina and her business partner, Jacqueline Johnson, initially connected through a DM about starting a mastermind, which evolved into a partnership.
• 💡 The idea to buy Create & Cultivate emerged organically, leading Marina to acquire the company from private equity, a process she navigated with learning and adaptation.
• 🧠 Key lessons from this experience include the importance of learning on the go, acting as if you know, and understanding that not knowing everything is normal when taking on new challenges.

Leadership and Business Growth

• 📈 Leading a team has been Marina's most humbling experience, requiring her to adapt to different personalities and communication styles.
• 🎯 She highlights the need for a solution mindset, resilience, and a focus on the mission rather than personal ego.
• 💰 Scaling a business involves focusing on profitability and margins, ensuring products or experiences are repeatable and can exist independently of the founder.

The Create & Cultivate Festival

• 🌟 The upcoming Create & Cultivate Festival in LA (July 19-20, 2025) is designed as a B2B and B2C experience to foster genuine connections.
• 🤝 It features over 2,000 attendees and 200 speakers, with a unique "Connect" algorithm for matchmaking professionals and facilitating over 10,000 curated meetings.
• 💡 The festival aims to blend business, innovation, tech, culture, and wellness, providing ROI for both attendees and sponsors by creating meaningful interactions and opportunities.