Most businesses never truly monetize – let alone exit. But Jaclyn Johnson did it twice before the age of 35. First, she sold her initial business, and then she scaled Create & Cultivate into a multi-million-dollar brand before successfully exiting.
In this episode, Jaclyn breaks down exactly how she built a thriving community, turned it into a business, and leveraged brand partnerships to scale. She shares why not focusing on monetization at first was a key driver of success and how she strategically built an email list, secured sponsors, and made her events go viral.
If you’re a business owner looking to build an audience, monetize strategically, or scale faster, this episode is packed with insights you don’t want to miss.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
How Jaclyn built and sold Create & Cultivate after five years of community-building
Why the best businesses don’t start with monetization—they start with value
The three key strategies she used to grow her email list
How she secured high-value brand partnerships to fund and scale her events
The strategic decisions that made her events go viral and attract top-tier speakers
What business owners should focus on today to scale their brand faster
Timestamps:
[0:30] Jaclyn’s entrepreneurial journey—building and selling her first business
[2:00] The early days of Create & Cultivate—a side project that took off
[3:19] Why providing value before monetizing was key to success
[5:01] How she used events, content, and email marketing to build a loyal audience
[6:49] Funding free events through brand partnerships—how she made it work
[9:10] The strategy behind viral events and how to create “must-attend” experiences
[12:16] How to secure better brand deals and sponsors for your business
[15:03] The moment Jaclyn knew she was ready to sell Create & Cultivate
[18:45] What goes into preparing a company for acquisition—metrics that matter
[21:32] The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to scale
[24:20] Why selling a business isn’t always as glamorous as it seems
Resources & Links:
Connect with Jaclyn Johnson: [Website] | [Instagram] | [LinkedIn]
Check out Create & Cultivate: https://www.createcultivate.com/
Join the FREE Profit Push Workshop on April 7th – Make a massive cash injection in your business to kick off Q2: https://go.virtualbusinessschool.com/profitpush?am_id=ashlyn8172
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The Kelly Roach Show is your business podcast that gives you quick, actionable trainings for business growth, sales growth, and leadership. Kelly teaches about the entrepreneurial mindset and how to leverage building an unstoppable team with high performance strategies for rapid and sustainable business growth.