This Month in Money Moves: Blavity, ClassPass & Framebridge
Are we rich now or nah?
It must be summer because women are on FIRE.
This month we've seen some major money moves from some of our favorite C&C Alumni. Read below for the inspo you need to finish out this week like these BOSSES. Then, go show these ladies some love on their pages.
#SupportFemaleOwnedBusiness
Morgan DeBaun | Blavity
In our new favorite company memo, Morgan DeBaun announced her Series A round of funding for her media company Blavity INC.
"So are we rich now or nah?"
Morgan and Blavity INC raised $6,500,000 in her first very significant round of funding. This means the company will be able to grow faster by investing in engineering to fuel their many brands, investing in employees, and expanding benefits. There was also a mention of increasing the fruit delivery to twice a week. Which is V. IMPORTANT.
"I’m incredibly proud of how our small team has worked together to consistently deliver on our mission to create a platform, company, and a vibrant ecosystem, with our community at the center." Morgan states to her employees in her company memo. We couldn't be more excited to see Morgan become the media mogul she was meant to be.
Payal Kadakia | ClassPass
Founder and Chairman Payal Kadakia announced this week that ClassPass raised $85M in series D funding. This latest round brings ClassPass’s total funding to $255 million. #GOALSAF
So, what's next for everyone's favorite health + fitness app?
#1 Taking ClassPass everywhere. Time to go international, baby!
#2 ClassPass Live! Hi, taking amazing ClassPass classes from the comfort of your home.
Susan Tynan | Framebridge
Susan Tyran was an early Create & Cultivate supporter and we might be some of the most passionate Framebridge supporters out there. Her custom framing company (seen at many C&C conferences), announced the close of a $30M Series C financing. Launched in 2014, the custom framing company has changed the way consumers custom frame the creative and meaningful pieces in their lives. And every single order is produced in house.
Susan explains to Create & Cultivate, “Now that we have a real business, what we've built speaks for itself. We raised $30M because we built a business consumers love. Every nuanced detail we sweat creating this business translates to successful fundraising. Some people might be able to raise based on swagger, but we did because we built something fundamentally good.”
This new round of financing will go towards innovation, expanding manufacturing and refining the delivery process.
Know more ladies making money moves? Share them below!
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Create & Cultivate 100: Health & Wellness: Be Well By Kelly
THE NEW FITNESS #GOALS.
THE NEW FITNESS #GOALS
Kelly LeVeque is all about Body Love.
She's also a holistic nutritionist, wellness expert, and celebrity health coach based in Los Angeles, California. The founder behind Be Well by Kelly grew out of the approachable nutritionists lifelong passion for health, the science of nutrition and overall wellness. Guided by a practical and always optimistic approach, Kelly helps clients improve their health, achieve their goals and develop sustainable habits to live a healthy and balanced life. Her understanding of food and our bodies reaction to is non-shaming and demystifying.
Talking to Kelly is like talking to a BFF about food.
Kelly is extremely passionate about the science of human nutrition. In her new book, Body Love, she shares her secrets for losing weight, attuning ourselves to our bodies’ needs, and freeing ourselves from food drama.
More from Kelly below.
Name: Kelly LeVeque
Instagram Handle: @bewellbykelly
Congrats on the book! Can you chat through what that experience (from writing to putting it out into the world) has been like for you?
Thank you!! Writing Body Love has been the biggest accomplishment of my professional career. I knew when I received my deal from Harper Collins that it was my opportunity to help thousands of people rebuild their relationship with food and themselves, a heavy responsibility that put a ton of pressure on the experience. It wasn't easy, the manuscript changed a dozen times. I worked nights, weekends and missed so many social engagements. At first, the manuscript was a dense science dive but what I ultimately delivered was a book that mirrored a consulting session with me. Body Love is beautifully simple science that will help you ditch the food drama and feel motivated. And by the time my publication date arrived I was ready to launch it into outer space. My friends, family, and clients rallied around me to celebrate and send me off on a 10 city tour. I haven't had kids yet but I feel like I birthed a book baby; it took 12 months to conceive and grow, it was grueling on my body, my emotions were all over the place and it took another 6 months to figure out how to keep it alive it out and feel normal again. But looking back, it was unbelievably worth it and the best thing I have ever created thus far.
How did you stay "well" through the process of writing it?
Two practices that kept me well while writing my book and today include; the #fab4smoothie and personal check-ins! I always start my day with one of the low sugar, meal replacement smoothie recipes from Body Love. The Fab Four Smoothie is known for keeping my clients full, nourished and functioning for 4-6 hours and it 100% helped my survive writing my book, seeing clients and producing content. It was a grueling process and nowhere near perfect; I would miss workouts, lose sleep and meltdown from stress. But, every morning I would take a deep breath, sip my greens and start again. Never underestimate the power of having a chat with yourself and asking yourself "what do I need?" While writing the book, I transitioned from HIIT training to yoga and soulful spin classes with motivational teachers. I needed the positivity and a calm body. I started saying no to media events and nights out opting to sit in my bath and read or have a glass of wine with a friend.
What does wellness mean to you?
Wellness isn't a destination. Transforming our mindset, our nutrition, and our bodies is a journey. It takes practice to be present, to see that big leaps start with small steps and to not get discouraged if we have setbacks. Wellness is the accumulation of the small habits and little steps that make you feel good. Wellness encompasses eating more greens, taking a yoga class, reading a good book, calling your mom and meeting up with your girlfriends to dance the night away. Wellness is the act of giving your life depth, meaning, and purpose so you passionately live it instead of letting it pass you by.
"Wellness is the act of giving your life depth, meaning, and purpose so you passionately live it instead of letting it pass you by."
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Why do you think so many women are struggling with the work/life balance?
Women struggle with balancing work and life because they want it all without ever reframing what giving each 110% looks like. For example, when you have a child you need to recalibrate. It doesn't mean you can't have it all, it just means you need to quantify what the "new 110%" looks like in your "new life as a mom". It also doesn't mean you won't be as successful, in fact, many of my mom clients are more successful because they are more efficient with their time and strategic in their choices. The biggest tool for creating work/life balance is learning to say "no" to things that aren't a priority to make time to execute on your non-negotiables.
Since you describe yourself as an optimist. Do you think anyone can be an optimist?
I am hopeful! :) Personally, I am more motivated by the positivity in my life than I am discouraged by the bumps in the road. (and that isn't because it's peaches and cream over here at the LeVeque house!) I just choose to hang on to the wins, memories, and love and learn from my mistakes as they pass right through me instead of letting them take up space and manifest fear. If fear is the root of pessimism, gratitude is my roundup. Today, people have success without celebrating it and love without living it. My advice is to let it live a little in your heart, it will change your attitude and elevate your mood. No one says is better than Charles Swindoll... "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church ..a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you .... we are in charge of our Attitudes! "- Charles Swindoll
Have you found balance in your own life?
I try to instill balance in my clients (and myself) by using light structure around what to eat and breaking rigid food rules and cleansing habits. Binging and cleansing cycles swing you back and forth like an out of control pendulum ball. Happiness and health are attained when you find balance. Balance isn’t when you stop moving and live a rigid, on-plan, perfect life; you are human, and none of us is perfect. When you are focused on a perfect food day you aren’t present, and most likely you are anxious, irritable and thinking about food all day. Instead, focus on turning off hunger hormones and thoughts about food and know it will be okay to swing a little from time to time. Balance is found with intentional movement to eat clean, sweat and even enjoy a glass of wine with friends. Accept who you are, love who you are and build a lifestyle focused on health, not some abstract idea of “perfection.”
"Balance isn’t when you stop moving and live a rigid, on-plan, perfect life; you are human, and none of us is perfect."
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Where do your drive and passion come from?
I love my job! I previously spent 8 years in cancer and genetics career and liked my job but never loved it. Today, I wake up early to read studies, see clients on weekends and reinvest in my career, business, and growth. I think...If you are doing what you would do for free, you are in the right place!
Who has been a trusted confidante when you've had a rough day?
My husband Chris (@bebaddbychris) is the love of my life, my "be bad" partner in crime and my best friend. He is also my attorney, my editor and my phycologist and.... he honestly hates talking about work but he does it daily because we're a team in life and love.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
It's public knowledge but Chris and I both left big corporate careers to go out on our own as entrepreneurs; I took Be Well by Kelly full time in 2015 and Chris left law to try his hand at screenwriting in 2014. Until recently, our biggest fears have been about survival; Will we make it? Will we be able to pay rent? Was this a big mistake? Our parents thought we were crazy. We could have easily bought a house, had a few kids and just kept our previous careers but instead, we stayed in our apartment, sold our cars and bought a 2005 Toyota Tacoma and worked around the clock to make our dreams come true. I think today we finally feel like we can breathe but our fears are still the same and we still have the Tacoma.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
Success doesn't happen overnight and it's still a job! Whats the saying? "It takes years to make an overnight success." For me, my consulting business started in 2012 and remained a side hustle until September 2015. It took two and half years of working nights, lunches and weekends to build it and have the courage to take it full time. Today, I still do my own accounting, scheduling, emails and I drive all over LA in traffic daily. At least 40% of what I do daily, I don't love or excel at including writing, but it's part of the job because doing what you love requires you to hustle until you are successful enough to outsource.
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated by other people's work?
Stop wasting your time watching and emulating others, it isn't where the magic happens, the magic is created when you protect that precious time and live your own life.
I am often asked "how did you come up with the Fab Four?" and "how did you decide to focus on hunger hormones and blood sugar balance?" But the answer is, I didn't choose it. I was simply living my own life, doing my own research and consulting my clients. And in my experience, I found that I could help my clients best when they weren't constantly thinking about food and ate to support the regulation of hunger hormones and blood sugar. The magic came to me when I was immersed in living my life not anyone else's.
"The magic came to me when I was immersed in living my life not anyone else's."
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
I am happy when my clients are happy, healthy and hitting goals. I can talk, write and share until I am blue in the face but nothing compares to the empowerment and success of a client. I will always have my private practice.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
If I had to change jobs with anyone it would be a functional MD, probably Dr. Hyman. Mark Hyman heads up the Cleveland Clinic, is a multiple time best selling author but most importantly, he has the ability to request specific diagnostic testing for patients that nutritionists and dietitians cannot access. Thankfully, I work with multiple functional MD's to get this testing for my clients but it would be a luxury to do it personally since I read and develop my client plans based on these results.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
My business has been in existence since 2012 but I didn't fully step into my purpose until I left my corporate career in September of 2015. Once I made the space to manifest the future things started taking off; within a month I had scheduled meetings with literary agents in New York and by January of 2016 I closed my first book deal but I wouldn't have had that confidence without real world experience.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
My dad told me no one ever has enough money so don't let that keep you from your passion, purpose or family. I don't think he expected me to totally change my life course and career but I will be forever thankful for his advice.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
I try not to dwell on the speed bumps. Whatever it is, it's over and thinking about it isn't going to fix it. I try not to say "should of, could of, would of" that's living in the past and makes me feel awful.
Instead, I just write them off. I created an imaginary "lost time leap year" and a "250k oh shit fund" where I allocate lost money and time. I move on quickly knowing that if I am trying there will be mistakes worth both. Honestly, there is no avoiding the bumps when you are moving there is only moving through them.
"There is no avoiding the bumps when you are moving, there is only moving through them."
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What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
That's a toss up between Kendrick Lamar "Humble" and Bebe Rexha "Meant to Be" depending on the day!
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE WELLNESS LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Health & Wellness: Melissa Arnot Reid
THE SUMMIT MASTER.
THE SUMMIT MASTER.
Nothing can stop her she's all the way up (on the top of Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen).
She may be the first American woman to successfully summit and descend Everest without supplemental oxygen, but Eddie Bauer guide Melissa Arnot Reid has said that “being the first is irrelevant.” As one of the world’s most revered climbers, she has summited Everest 6 times, holding the record for an American woman. (Nepali Lhakpa Sherpa has 7 summits as of 2016, the most of any woman, anywhere.) Despite her near-mastery of the mountain, Arnot Reid remains in humbled by it, all-too aware of its indiscriminate power over even the most skilled and seasoned climbers. Its with this humility in mind that Arnot Reid co-founded The Juniper Fund to provide financial support to families of local workers killed in the mountains of Nepal.
Find out this world class athlete literally climbed her way to the top.
On August 7th of 2017, you and Maddie Miller broke the record for the fastest time to summit each state’s high point in 41 days, 16 hours, and 10 minutes. WOW. Just Wow. And also, why? What compelled the 50 Peaks challenge?
We completed this challenge in August of 2016 after 3 years of planning. It was really Maddie's idea- a way to have an adventure framed within a goal. Our goal was to complete the peaks in 50 days but when it became clear we might be able to get the speed record we decided to go all out (aka, no sleeping).
Mentorship is a huge part of Create & Cultivate? Did you have a mentor? And why is mentorship important to you?
Mentorship is a totally lost art. I never had a mentor and I had to make a lot of mistakes of my own, which is why I have dedicated myself to trying to be a solid mentor for the next generation of young female climbers. I work with a 15, 18 and 22 year old and it is super rewarding to see where they are going with what tools I can share with them.
Is there a climb where you would say you learned the "hardest" lesson?
My hardest lesson came on a climb in 2010 when my partner was killed in an ice avalanche while we were together. I had always felt that I was making safe decisions so I would always be safe but that moment reminded me and taught me that mother nature is in control and all you can do is respect that. It changed the path of my life.
You're the first American woman to ascend and descend Everest without supplemental oxygen. What's it like to be the "first" in something? Does that make you feel more pressure to perform?
I think that being first is a little scary but also wonderful because it shows others what is possible.
Everyone always talks about the ascension. But what's the climb down like?
The climb is one thing but the descent is so much more serious- you are already tired and have so much to lose. Each step matters, there and back.
Where does your boundless ability to push yourself come from?
I have a deep personal curiosity of what is possible for me. That keeps me pushing myself and trying new things.
What would you call your superpower?
Perseverance and a real ability to tune out discomfort.
If you could give a room of women one piece of advice, what would it be?
Take the first step. Ignore the end goal, it always seems overwhelming if you are looking 20 miles down the road. Just take the first step and you will be surprised at what momentum you create.
What's your favorite advice you've ever received?
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams- (it's a Thoreau quote). It is my guiding principal. Don't be timid, go after your dreams.
"Don't be timid, go after your dreams."
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How much of a climb is psychical? And how much is mental?
100 percent both. You need to be strong the whole time but you also need to believe in yourself and keep those mental traps from weighing you down.
What do you think you'll be doing as an 80-year-old lady?
I hope climbing on a sunny day with my husband and family. Something outside for sure. I am an outdoor animal, I don't think that will change with age.
What new challenges are you excited to face in your lifetime?
I am always looking for new ways to learn and push my own boundries. Anything where I am learning I consider an adventure.
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE WELLNESS LIST CLICK HERE.
Real Talk: Why Ruthie Lindsey Pulled Back the Curtain on Her Instagram Perfect Life
Life isn't always as it seems.
There is a kind of pain that can squeeze the soul right out of your heart.
Edit: If you let it.
Inspirational speaker, designer, and stylist Ruthie Lindsey spent the majority of her twenties confined to her bed. There was an accident her senior year of high school. There was her recovery. Then, years later, came an insane pain that “shot up her head.” Multiple doctors had no answers. Scans were read wrong for years. Until finally, one figured out that one of the wires from a spinal cord surgery had pierced into her brain stem. Shocked that she wasn’t paralyzed, they operated and removed the piece. A new pain ensued. Nothing helped. And the pain medication dependance dominoed.
But all dominoes can be reset. Picked up. And Ruthie realized she didn't want to live confined to pain; sunlight would be the best antidote. Her life started to change.
But as direct messages rolled in from strangers on social media, those who wrote her that her life looked perfect through the lens of Instagram, she felt a conviction to give people the full context. That story can be found in the below video where Ruthie says of the pain, “I would pinch myself to draw blood because I thought I was living in a nightmare.”
video: Loupe Theory, directed by Max Zoghbi
These days you could throw Ruthie to the wolves and she’d return leading the pack. When we speak, she is in Telluride, Colorado, having travelled there for Mountainfilm, a documentary-based festival held every year since 1979. The theme for 2017 is “The New Normal.” Spoiler: there is no normal and Ruthie would be the first to agree.
“It’s very intentional,” she says of the festival, though this also serves as doublespeak for how she lives her life. “And full of people who want to do good in the world— incredible humans are coming together here to try and make the world better.”
After traveling to Telluride in the fall for a job Ruthie made a pact with herself that “no matter what,” she would be back in May. She’s made it. This is her first year in attendance. “I’m jumping in at the end,” she says, noting friends like BFF and writer Jedidiah “Jed” Jenkins, who has been coming for about eight years. Those friends, including Jed, are currently on a hike, and while she admits she’d like to be with them, she’s also happily in awe at the sight right outside the window. “The view I’m looking at right now is so beautiful. I’m sitting on this couch, looking at glory and it is majestic.”
She’s been traveling for about a month, having arrived in the tiny mountain town from Paris the week prior, and she’ll touch back down to her home base of Nashville once the festival ends. Of the schedule she admits, “It’s not sustainable and after this I’ll take a break. Rest. Get back to routine and that’s my life.” But for now, she’s excited about the festival and "the one little strip in the main area [of town] where everyone knows each other.”
“I got my booklet today,” she says of the programming, mentioning the film Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story. “The documentary is about how he found joy,” she says. “He woke up so grateful to be alive.” After happening upon a dead bear, Garcia poked the animal with his knife, only to find that the bear was concealing a live wire. Garcia was hit with 2,400 volts of electricity, which altered the course of his life forever. There are obvious similarities between them. “You don’t just have to survive,” says Ruthie. “You can thrive after trauma.”
"You don't just have
to survive.
You can thrive
after trauma."
photo credit: Chris Ozer
Thrive is a word that surrounds her like a halo. But for many millennial women wondering how to escape the feeling of hopelessness, whether because of a job or otherwise, there has to be a starting point; feeling stuck is a universal emotion. For Ruthie it started with action. "What I’ve realized,” she says, “is that the emotion doesn’t have to precede the action." She talks about the concept of, “Once I feel better I will… pursue this new job, then I’ll be happy, adventure more, or whatever it is— it’s not true. The action always has to come first, but it’s a choice and a decision. Take the action and trust that emotion will come.”
Ruthie explains that when she the made conscious decision to change her life she first made a list of all the things she loved to do before she had pain. “Each day I made myself do one of those things,” she explains. “At the time, I didn’t care about flowers or doing things for someone else. I felt black and numb and dead inside. Truly. But I made myself get up.”
In that transition period she gave herself one more task as well: “Look for beauty and speak it out loud.” She admits this all initially felt like, “a chore and a job — I hated it.” But there was something deeper at work. “I knew I had to do it,” she says. “There was something in my psyche forcing me.” A few weeks in she started to feel the things she was saying. “I had this image of myself in second grade getting glasses for the first time, and that’s how I felt. I was in awe after two months.” She was simultaneously weaning herself off of the pain medication she had been on for years. It took four months and her marriage didn't survive the detox.
“Look for beauty and speak it out loud.”
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Today, her life looks the opposite from the one she thought she wanted (as well as her life from bed) but therein lies the beauty: a sidesplitting pain can became a sidesplitting giggle. “People confuse happiness with joy,” she says. “Joy comes out of such a deeper well than happiness. Joy comes from digging into those really painful, hard, deep parts.” And Ruthie believes you can manifest the life you want. “I thought I would be married and have babies of every color from every nation and that is not my reality, and very likely might not ever be. But what I do have is so cool, so rich, nothing like I envisioned, but it’s better than what I ever hoped for and so much more beautiful.” At the same time she says, “It’s harder and more painful than I ever dreamed.”
Setting boundaries has been a big part of her story as well— understanding her limitations in a way that many young female millennials are grappling to understand. Millennial burnout is real. Young women feel like they’re replaceable. Ruthie says finding those boundaries has come with “a steep learning curve.” It wasn’t her natural state to say no or draw lines in the sand, but laughs, “My shitty body is the best thing that could have ever happened to me because it won’t let me do things. Everything I do comes at a physical cost. When I was stretching myself too thin, taking on a ton of little jobs, it came at a cost. I wasn’t able to be my best self.” Now she’d rather take a financial hit, instead of a physical or emotional one. “I also know I have the luxury of not supporting a family. It’s just me. I’ve done things for way less money that are life-giving and so much more important than any paycheck.” For anyone who might consider this "high-maintenance," Ruthie maintains it’s not so. “My time is valuable and so is every other human’s time. I’ve learned to take fewer jobs that sit better with me and pay better.” Sit better means that she won’t speak about something that she wouldn’t do, say, wear, or eat. “I just won't." She's firm on this.
"People confuse happiness with joy. Joy comes out of such a deeper well."
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Drawing those lines meant making a plan to only meet with three people per week that wanted something from her. “I was so exhausted and giving out so much. I didn’t have time for my people— or my own time. My body gave me the middle finger and said you can’t do this anymore.”
Now when home, she adheres to a morning routine and finds salve in the presence of friends. “Nothing can interfere with it,” she says. However does admit, “Routine is not my personality type. Not knowing excited me.” But she sticks to it. Before 9am Ruthie can knock out writing, reading (“my prize for writing”), using the app Headspace, and doing a 20-minute Pilates video. “That time is sacred. I schedule time with my friends and that is sacred as well. That is life-giving beneficial time."
It's not all flowers and awe all the time. She wouldn't wish this train ride on anyone else and says that learning self-care is a constant battle. "I don't always live in that place, but that’s what I want to step into the world with. That’s when I am my best self.” It is a means to life dividends. “You can’t love other people if you don’t love yourself well,” she says. “When you learn to live out of that space, everything else is better— you work better, you’re a better employee, a better friend, a better sister.”
Adding, “You get to live your best life when you put out your best life. We think we need to only take care of ourselves. But you don’t need to hoard every beautiful thing that comes your way. If you give freely with your words, time, and knowledge, it comes back so much greater. Nothing was ever really mine in the first place, so if it leaves…it was only passing through. It was a gift. Maybe someone else needs that right now. It’s freeing living out of that place. It’s freedom. It feels like freedom."
top photo credit L to R: Kate Renz, Jones Crow, Sadie Culberson; cover photo: Chris Ozer