Gersh Signs Create & Cultivate Founder Jaclyn Johnson
Gersh has signed Jaclyn Johnson, the business, investment and culture creator behind Create & Cultivate. Deadline reported the signing on 18 September. She remains represented by Entertainment 360 and Ponte Firm.
Create & Cultivate is a global media and events organisation for women. It began in 2011 as a small retreat for 25 female founders in Palm Springs. It now reaches more than two million people worldwide.
That reach is built on newsletters, social video and live events. The newsletter has more than 550,000 subscribers. The brand has 720,000 followers on social media, while Johnson has around 135,000 followers of her own.
The business story behind it is sharp. Revenues hit $14M in 2019. Johnson then sold the company for $22M to a private equity firm, only to buy it back 18 months later with Marina Middleton for a six-figure sum.
Middleton is now chief executive. Johnson serves as chief creative officer. The company has raised $2.6M in venture capital, which is outside funding used to grow young firms.
Johnson and Middleton also co-host the WorkParty podcast. Guests have included Spanx founder Sara Blakely and model and television host Tyra Banks. Johnson works as an angel investor, meaning she puts early money into startups, with a focus on female-led companies. Her own biography says she has backed more than 30 startups and is building a platform called Invest with Cherub.
What makes this stand out is how much of Johnson's work already lives in front of an audience. Newsletters, podcasts and sold-out events put founders on stage. Agency representation — where an agency handles bookings and deals across television, podcasts, books and live work — gives that slate a route to wider slots.
Gersh, based in Beverly Hills, California, describes itself as the fourth largest talent and literary agency in the world, according to its own site. Gersh traces its history to 1949 and founder Phil Gersh.
