More than 1,500 women gathered at Industry City for Create and Cultivate, an event that brings women together to discuss key topics surrounding entrepreneurship, the digital space, and life as a modern working woman. Presented by Mastercard, the day-long event was hosted by Create and Cultivates’ CEO and Founder Jaclyn Johnson and featured conversations from Amber Heard, Martha Stewart, and Ashley Graham.
An interview with Amber Heard led by I Am A Voter founder Mandana Dayani took place on the main stage. Throughout the panel, Heard discussed how she uses her platform for good. She stated in the interview, “we are a part of a vast army of voices that are not accepting silence.” As an avid activist, Heard led a powerful, enlightening conversation, speaking to the audience about her experience as an actor and growing up.
”It’s one thing to talk about food deserts or unliveable wages or cyclical poverty, but to see face-to-face the people that are affected by the consequences of these institutions is a whole other thing. It taught me that there’s an element of these conditions that was lost on me as a relatively privileged white kid who could get food if I needed it. The flaw is in the institutions, and not a character flaw,” said Heard.
She then went on to say, “If one person’s human rights can be violated, it means all our rights can be violated. We live in an unfair, unjust world—the same tragedies that can happen to others can happen to you. I am in a position where I can amplify voices and raise awareness for people who are forgotten. I can’t think of a more important thing to fight for than our basic human rights and right to health.”
The last panel of the night was an interview with Martha Stewart, which was moderated by founder Jaclyn Johnson. The discussion touched on how Stewart built the empire of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. During the interview, Stewart provided insights on having over 8,000 products in her line, the longevity of her product line and even managed to give advice to women looking to grow a team and find their forever employees.
When asked about her 8,000 plus products, Stewart said, “We found that even though we were giving people the how-to ideas, many people wanted the product, so it was a perfect way expand into product development. We continue to do products in many different categories.”
“I want to see which method of selling works the best. Can we improve those ways of selling?”
She also added, “We’ve been making beautiful, useful, well-made products for a long time, and I want to continue to do that in a big way. We want to be where the customer wants and needs us.” This advice came after Johnson asked about the life of her product line.
In one final note, Stewart left the audience with a parting gift. “Take the reins. Be a strong, willful, self-possessed person. You have to be if you’re going to be in business for yourself. You have to be able to let stuff run off you-you can’t dwell on the problem.”
What a woman! Johnson also asked for her last text to Snoop, which Stewart answered, “I wished his mom a happy birthday!”
In between panels, attendees scoured the several booths spread throughout two buildings. Many were treated to creative headshots from Mastercard’s in-conference studio where they could sit for live sketched portraits and share their business “spark” or idea on an inspirational photo moment wall. An “Out of Office” booth from Alaska Airlines offered 10 lucky winners round-trip flights and customized notebooks we’re distributed by At-A-Glance. There were also booths from Dyson, Ketel One Botanical, Chandon, Living Proof and more.
