Over the weekend, over 2,000 women gathered for the first-ever Create & Cultivate Festival at Rolling Greens in downtown Los Angeles. The event was put on by the brand’s founder, Jaclyn Johnson, and her co-owner and CEO, Marina Middleton.
But this isn’t a typical women’s business conference. With the dress code labeled “festival chic” and “fashion forward,” you know you’re in for something different.
“Business conferences exist, festivals exist, and there’s no real ROI in it for the attendees or the brands on site. It’s just very transactional. So I was like, ‘Okay, what if we created a two-day event that has multiple stages that are different experiences at each stage?’ So you can kind of pick and choose, right? Women in sports, content and marketing and tech, mainstage finance, all of that stuff,” Middletone explained. “So we brought it to life and the things that the audience wants. They want music, they want fun, they want activation, they want to learn. And above all, they want to connect and network.”
To make networking easy, the company’s Connect Program, located in the LinkedIn-sponsored Connect Garden inside the festival, helped match attendees with the right people thanks to an AI-powered app.
“We wanted this festival, but also with like real tangible takeaway,” she continued.
The two-day event held on July 19-20 is the world’s largest festival for women in business, and it was jam-packed with panels, hands-on workshops and programming from over 150 partners like Chase Ink, Beauty of Joseon x Sephora and Sweet July Skincare.
Big names like Ciara, Ayesha Curry, Becky G, Normani, Paige DeSorbo, Sophia Bush, Ashley Tisdale, Chanel Iman, Jhené Aiko, Jordan Chiles, Brittany Snow and more were among the massive list of speakers empowering the attendees.
Ciara served as a keynote speaker on Day 1, sharing how she branched out from being a performer to a full-on businesswoman. She is the co-owner and investor of Ten to One Rum. She is also the founder and CEO of Beauty Marks Entertainment, a production company with a business model built on fully supporting the artist.
The mom of four does have her hands full, but when she’s stressed out, she flips the script and says she’s “blessed out.”
“You can be overwhelmed by good things, and it’s like ‘Hold up, let me check myself.’ Because at least I have things to be overwhelmed with,” she said.
During Curry’s “Glow and Meet” on Saturday evening, her husband, Warriors star Steph Curry, showed up as a silent supporter. The two posed for photos, and he quickly stepped aside for his spouse to meet her fans. Ayesha is the CEO and founder of the beauty and lifestyle brand Sweet July.
To close out Day 1, rapper and singer Doechii brought down the house with a powerful set, performing her hits like “DENIAL IS A RIVER,” “Alter Ego,” “Persuasive” and more.
Create & Cultivate is the largest media and events company that specifically focuses on women.
“We create content, we’re known for our large-scale events, retreats, masterminds and dinners all focused on advancing women,” Middleton explained. “We’ll provide tools, introductions, resources, networking, all of that.”
The company came into Middleton’s life after she was laid off from her job at Yahoo in 2019. The serial entrepreneur was looking for community, and some research led her to Create & Cultivate.
“I found my clients here. I found brands here that I ended up working with here. I found my future business partner here It is so important to just get in the room,” she expressed.
If there’s one thing Middleton wants the women who attend the company’s events is this: your dreams are attainable.
“Whatever she wants to do is attainable,” she said. “I think my personal story of being a first-generation immigrant from Egypt to being an attendee, to being able to buy the business, operate it as the CEO and tell someone, ‘Hey, I want to build a festival and then do it.’ Like, nothing is out of reach. You can do it.”
If you missed this year’s festival, don’t worry about it. Create & Cultivate Festival will return to Los Angeles next year Sept. 19-20, 2026.
The company hosts a variety of events like their Seven Figure Founder Retreat, Supper Club and Mom Retreat. For more, head here.
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