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- From NYC Apartment to Nationwide Movement: Imani Ellis’ CultureCon Story
From NYC Apartment to Nationwide Movement: Imani Ellis’ CultureCon Story
👀 400 Best Female-Friendly Companies, Big Funding for Tech Founders and the Must-Attend Women Entrepreneurship Celebration in NYC
Jasmine Crockett
November 12, 2024
Breaking Boundaries
Women redefining success and inspiring others to reach new heights.
Fueling Growth Through Community: Imani Ellis and the Rise of CultureCon
The craving for community. That’s the why behind Imani Ellis’ explosive success with CultureCon, a “homecoming” for black and brown creatives and entrepreneurs. Its start was to quench her thirst for support as a rising, black communications executive at Bravo. Ellis founded The Creative Collective, a platform for unapologetic authenticity and connection to fuel professional growth. And the vehicle to get there? Events! The mustard seed of her idea started small in her NYC apartment with 10 people to what we now know as CultureCon. |
The annual conference began with 200 attendees in 2017 and now offers a three-city tour (hello: NYC, Atlanta and LA) with ~10,000 attendees! That’s a 4900% increase 🤯 But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows.
When COVID hit, Ellis pivoted. She launched “CultureCon at Home,” a virtual campus that connected over 22,000 creatives across 131 countries plus a series of online master classes coined the Creative Curriculum.
Capitalizing on her agility, Ellis folds in hybrid offerings of in-person and virtual events that elevate creatives of color through conferences, conversation and cultural celebrations.
Because of her side hustle’s sizable success, Ellis left her VP role at NBC in 2022 to lead as CEO for The Creative Collective and CultureCon. She’s putting her full weight behind the cultural and career hub of professional learning to “scale intimacy.” Because in her words: “Everybody is somebody.” And that matters.
Need to Know
Take a deep dive into Forbes World’s Best Companies for Women - 2024. 400 global orgs that hold up for working women. Hilton Worldwide, Netflix and Microsoft rank top 3 for the U.S.
$85K prize fund up for grabs for women IT startup founders! Apply for the Aurora Tech Award by InDrive. App deadline is 11/21.
Angel investment firm, Golden Seeds, is funding high-potential women entrepreneurs. Apply for funding. Your app lasts for the life of your business!
Celebrate Women Entrepreneurship day with #WEDO. Register for the #WEDO2024 Summit in the United Nations Delegate Dining Room in NYC or the live stream on 11/15 from 10 AM - 3:30 PM ET.
BMO & 1871 celebrates WMNFintech 2024 cohort. It’s North America's largest nonprofit fintech accelerator focused on women-founded and women-led startups. Get notified about the 2025 cohort here.
Industry Updates
Attention brick-and-mortar small businesses! 👀 Marketing Brew’s feature on how to get creative on social media to drive foot traffic.
Shift happens. The woman CEO leading the largest Fortune 500 company is now Mary Barra at GM since CVS CEO, Karen Lynch, was fired last month.
At-home cervical screening company, Teal Health, snags a $1.68M Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct to Phase II grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Health.
💪🏻 Women support women. How 50 women investors saved clothing brand, M.M. Fleur, from collapse.
Quote of the Week
Investing in women means investing in the people who invest in everyone else.
Resource Spotlight
📚 Book A new way of getting noticed at work. Hint: You don’t need a 📢. Check out Jessica Chen’s Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons. | 🎧 Podcast | 📝 Article Snag THE 5 tips to lead from visibility as a women leader in CEO Magazine’s How to be a Visible Female Leader in 2024. |
Founder’s Note
Like Imani Ellis, I’m building culture and community before I launch my tech business, Smply, in the home industry. And it’s about what we have in common around home regardless of budget. I’m leveraging social to rally community around the meaning of home - The content, the inspo and the beautiful things that help us enjoy our unique spaces.
Key Insight: :Relate with people on a personal level when you are cultivating a community around your brand. People connect with people, not storefronts or businesses.
Action Taken: Take a beat and sit down to determine how you can best connect with your audience on a personal level. Whether you’re in building mode or troubleshooting a lack of growth, figure out connection points that tie back to the core of your business.
Tip for Fellow Founders: Let your guard down, girl! Don’t be afraid to get personal.
Stay inspired, stay unstoppable,
