Create + Cultivate Los Angeles Recap

My friend Collins and I booked our tickets for Create + Cultivate Los Angeles back in September.  I had heard great things about the event and would take any excuse to go to Los Angeles, so I purchased my tickets as soon as they went up!  I have been to a couple types of blogging conferences before, but Create + Cultivate seemed different.  I had always heard it was more of an “inspirational” event versus an instructional workshop, and I would totally agree with those assessments.  I left feeling inspired and motivated and got a lot of really good creative ideas.

The day we arrived in LA we quickly changed into a cute outfit and hit Melrose Avenue for some lattes and pictures.  I found the cutest cafe via Instagram called Carrera Cafe where they do personalized latte art.  It was surprisingly chilly in LA so as soon as the sun went down it got COLD.  We arrived at Rolling Greens Nursery for the C + C attendee happy hour where we were able to mingle with people and partake in some yummy finger foods and drinks.

I arrived at the conference bright and early at 8 am on Saturday morning.  There were so many creative booths set up from cosmetics brands to clothing brands and everything in between.  There were literally rows and rows of stops where you could get free samples, buy products, and chat with vendors.  This was great from a networking perspective because you got to chat with marketing and PR people for brands that could eventually lead to collaborations or partnerships. 

The day was packed full of panels and presentations ranging from topics such as Finance 101 to How to Build an Empire.  We got to hear from bloggers, celebrities, and businesswomen on how they got where they are today and different tips and tricks they learned along the way.  A common thread of advice from each of these women was to be authentic, work hard, don’t give up, and learn from your failures and move on.

I truly enjoyed watching the hysteria and behind-the-scenes action of Kim Kardashian West … people were FREAKING out.  It felt so cool to be sitting two rows from KKW and she actually had some really sound advice.  She was really chill and well-spoken and attributed a lot of her success to the fact that she’s a hard worker and doesn’t take sh*% from anyone.

It was a great day of listening to inspiring women talk about building a brand and learning tips and tricks for living your best life.  I’ll be honest, I had a great time outfit-stalking and half the reason I go to things like this is to see all of the different outfits and people-watch.  There were several trends that I saw over and over again, the main one being oversized denim or leather jackets with names or phrases painted or stitched onto the back.  I’m now plotting for a “Pretty In Pink” jacket coming this spring!