Social Currency with Sammi Cohen Jaclyn Johnson and Marina Middleton (Create & Cultivate) on How To Sell Out a Live Event, the Future of Community, and Whether Virtual Events Are Dead
Nov 18, 2025
Jaclyn Johnson, founder of Create & Cultivate, and Marina Middleton, its CEO, dive into their remarkable journey of building and reclaiming a powerful community for women in business. They discuss the nuances of scaling events while fostering intimacy, the balance between profit and accessibility, and effective brand partnership strategies. Jaclyn reveals the motivations behind her audacious decision to reacquire the company, and both share insights on why in-person events still reign supreme as they navigate the future of community.
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Design Events For Shareability And Value
- Create & Cultivate grew by offering events that felt tailored to millennial female entrepreneurs and were highly shareable on social media.
- Early focus on valuable, tactical content turned attendees into unpaid marketers and fueled word-of-mouth growth.
Use Data To Create Intimacy At Scale
- Create intimate moments inside large events by using technology to personalize connections and match attendees by intent.
- Build features that help people leave with a set of valuable, relevant contacts rather than vague handshakes.
Combine Big Events With Curated Retreats
- Complement large events with smaller, niche retreats and masterminds to deepen relationships and solve specific business challenges.
- Those intimate programs convert attendees into superfans who repeatedly return to other properties.