Emily Mishler of The Cultivated Group: Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup

An Interview With Paul Moss

A Fluid Framework: A business plan doesn’t have to be formal, long, scary, or set in stone. Many of the folks we chat with don’t have formal business education and what’s great? You don’t need one to build a business! A business plan helps to communicate with stakeholders where you’re at, who’s on board, where you’re headed, how you’ll get there, and what you’ll need throughout the journey and upon arrival.

Startups have such a glamorous reputation. Companies like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Uber, and Airbnb once started as scrappy startups with huge dreams and huge obstacles. Yet we of course know that most startups don’t end up as success stories. What does a founder or a founding team need to know to create a highly successful startup?

In this series, called “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup” we are talking to experienced and successful founders and business leaders who can share stories from their experience about what it takes to create a highly successful startup.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Mishler of The Cultivated Group.

Born and raised in the rural Midwest of the United States, Emily Mishler is an intrepid optimist with a keen sense of adventure, eye for design, hand in the start-up world, and heart for philanthropy. She is the driving force behind The Cultivated Group and the world of Esmè the Curious Cat — on a mission to ignite and empower individuals and organizations to: “be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Specializing in business development, creative strategic planning, and fundraising, Emily launched her first company at the age of 22 and has since raised and distributed over $20M of private investment for private clients, for-profit entities and NGO’s.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Absolutely! Thanks so much for having us and for asking. I’ve always been creative by nature, but didn’t always have the confidence to trust myself over the opinions/projections of others. That being said, I’ve always loved a challenge and believe that often, our mindsets are our greatest obstacle. I started my first company at the age of 22, while I was at University, in an attempt to bridge the gap between fashion, philanthropy, and integrated community. It was an incredible learning experience and while it doesn’t exist in its original form or original mission, many of the lessons learned along the way have prepared me to be able to create, build, grow, and scale our companies and also help our clients!

What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?

Absolutely! That’s a really great question. I don’t believe there was one, singular “tipping point” or “aha moment” for me. It was much more of a slow drip over a few years that compounded to the point I knew if I didn’t lean into the adventure of discovering and uncovering what was possible when it came to fulfilling my own potential, I would always wonder. That pursuit of fulfillment and sharing that with others is “truly living” to me. I also had positioned myself through education, exploration, and intentional preparation to be able to “lean in” to this life shift rather than maintaining the “formula for life” many of my peers seemed to be following.

The decision to “step up and do it” was simple, clear, and made with ease. It was not easy, but it was a decision I made with ease because I had taken the time to prepare and consider what my options truly were. The subsequent decisions that reinforced that position have been some of the most challenging and rewarding of my life! These decisions and this journey into the road less travelled takes a lot of courage — more courage than I’d ever employed to date at that point — and this adventure has empowered me to become the person I’ve always dreamt of being. I also realized that in looking back, all of the dots connected seamlessly. Whether I knew it or not at the time, I’d been preparing myself for an adventure and “leap with faith” for a very long time — it took reflection and a lot of intentional healing to be able to recognize that.

Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?

My father was a huge inspiration and influence in my life. He was someone who taught me and in many ways showed me the profound example of living in the courage of our Truth. He was one of my most significant sources of encouragement and inspiration, and I am so grateful I had the time and relationship with him that I did.

What do you think makes your company stand out?

The niche and simultaneous industry-agnosticism is something that’s a bit different! We predominantly work with and serve impact-driven companies, so despite our for-profit business status, many of the tools, systems, and skills we employ and activate with others apply to both for-profit and non-profit businesses.

We have our heart, eyes, minds, and actions set on a mission to bridge the gap between the great ideas, access to opportunity, and taking action to change and preserve this beautiful world in which we live — one challenge at a time.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

For us, it’s all about paying it forward and equipping and empowering others. Our organization is driven and led by the mantra and mission “be the change you wish to see” in the world. Our mission is to connect impactful ideas and opportunities to provide access, action, and ignite equity to change and preserve our world.

Because we believe life happens in the full spectrum and we understand that sometimes founders need the right tools and guidance to activate and ignite their ideas, we recently launched a product offering of download-able business building tools to move the needle in business and life. We’re providing equitable access to business consulting without the hourly fee through a new branch of our companies called The Elevated Method. We’re transforming businesses from the inside-out, creating through purpose with intention: we’re elevating the art of living.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?

Thank you very much! This is a great question. From my experience, cultivating the ability to listen to ourselves and others; exercising courage; and leading with curiosity (rather than judgement or projection) have been instrumental.

Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?

Much of the earlier parts of my life were focused on and fueled by external validation, approval, and seeking attention. What I didn’t realize at the time was that much of the advice I was unconsciously attracting, receiving, and internalizing as truth was fueled by many people who were of the same vein. I wish I would have sought counsel from people who had been in and to places that I wanted to be, rather than people who had the same dreams I did. Learning through the experiences of others can be an incredible tool as we continue to grow!

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

My journey and story is a bit different than others, because when I leaned into the entrepreneurial adventure full-time, I was also completely shifting my lifestyle to travelling the world solo full-time. Regardless of formal business education, the learning curve when you’re first beginning anything is simply that: that of a beginner. Remote work, masterminds, and virtual community at that time certainly wasn’t what it is now, and I had a belief that as I was preparing to publicly “launch” things, I needed to keep them private. That belief was true, but the place that it was rooted in was insecurity and fear of failure. Those fears and insecurities led to my feeling incredibly isolated, un-supported, and alone. Emotionally and physically being in that space was incredibly challenging and while difficult, an experience for which I’m tremendously grateful.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard? What strategies or techniques did you use to help overcome those challenges?

When the going gets tough, sometimes it’s just that: tough. There have been countless times where we’ve been on the cusp of an incredible breakthrough and out of nowhere, seemingly, we’ll be presented with a huge obstacle. I’ve realized that often right before we step into the next, more conscious, connected, elevated version(s) of ourselves and businesses, we’ll often be challenged to see if it is something we truly desire to do, have, or be. And that is such a gift. Once you realize that each obstacle that comes about is an opportunity for you to learn, grow, and become more agile and strong — it becomes much easier to choose to stay relentlessly focused on the ideal and intended outcome. Stay focused. Keep going!

The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy, and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills and celebrations. Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?

This is a really great question — and this answer is likely not going to be one you love to hear. Successfully riding the emotional highs and lows of being a found looks different for everyone, as does the definition and pursuit of success itself. A few things I’ve learned along the way that have been helpful: get to know and understand yourself, be present where you are and have a pulse on where you’re going, and equanimity is a practice, not a destination; as is joy!

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many startups are not successful, and some are very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful startups from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

Absolutely! Thanks so much for asking. From my perspective, two main factors that distinguish successful starts from unsuccessful ones are the ability and strength to employ agility as-needed and a resounding undertone of grit and tenacity. In my opinion, becoming a successful does not require difficulty — it can be handled with elegance, ease, and simple solutions. However, sometimes to get to that point, it can be a learning and growing process — and that’s life. Both of those factors require one to lead with curiosity, trust yourself, trust your team, and the deep understanding and confidence in our ability to overcome obstacles and challenges — remaining on the end-goal despite turbulence.

Rather than focusing on a tech stack, resources, degrees, or capital — I believe for this conversation more so than those assets, it’s incredibly important to talk about the kind of leader and person you’re becoming — and the kind of company you’re building. The character of the leadership and organization, and how that’s reflected through deliberate, aligned action. Especially at the beginning, the people involved are your most important asset whether they’re internal or external stakeholders. And in order to create things with other people, that requires us to communicate effectively, efficiently, and infusing our communication with the kind of energy we want to build and nourish the company with. The way I see it, five things that will really help in the long-run to create a highly successful startup are:

1. A Mission and Vision: From concept to formation, to implementation, chances are your dreams are going to grow. At The Cultivated Group, we believe that if your dreams include only you, they’re too small. If that’s the case, you’re going to need more incredible, intentional, aligned, passionate, and purpose-driven people around you and in order to move things forward, effective communication will be critical. Two incredible tools to communicate and align your team are your mission and vision statements. These communicate why your organization exists (mission) and what you will accomplish (vision). As we worked with clients, we recognized that this isn’t as common-practice as we’d hoped and to fill a growing need, we put together a few free resources at The Elevated Method — one of which is a Mission & Vision Statements Guide!
2. A Fluid Framework: A business plan doesn’t have to be formal, long, scary, or set in stone. Many of the folks we chat with don’t have formal business education and what’s great? You don’t need one to build a business! A business plan helps to communicate with stakeholders where you’re at, who’s on board, where you’re headed, how you’ll get there, and what you’ll need throughout the journey and upon arrival. We have a thorough (and fun!) workbook to get you started: here!
3. A Strategic Plan: 5–10 years down the road, do you know exactly where you’ll be? Good, us either. Building out a strategic plan isn’t about mapping out every single piece of the company’s journey you’re build, but it is about orienting your compass to True North, plotting out the next few moves (years) of the journey on a map, and communicating that to everyone who needs to know. This provides a pulse on the direction you’d like to go, and a basic framework of how you plan to get there with measurable success milestones along the way. Curious? Here’s a quick template to get the juices flowing!
4. Accountability: As you’re building your dream, self awareness and development is key. Developing, deepening, and growing into a relationship with yourself — an understanding of yourself, your preferences, what you’re good at, what you’re not, and who you need around you to transform is the difference between learning and dying at some points. A community of mentors/advisors who have been where you want to go and are willing to aid you in shortening the curve can be an incredible tool in helping to keep you accountable and on-track. They don’t need to be industry-specific, although sometimes that’s helpful, but they do need to have the capacity and ability to be radically honest in their communication with you, and a desire to help you grow and learn. Check your ego at the door and buckle up because if you lean in, you’re about to embark on one of the most challenging and fulfilling journeys of your life!
5. Perspective: It isn’t always luxury travel and glamour at the beginning of the journey. As you learn and grow, your dreams, goals, metrics, and self will continue to elevate. Even if things get weird, challenging, or downright depressing: you have a choice. You always have a choice. Every second of every day, you get to choose how you respond to every situation you’re presented with and in that, there is so much power. Lean into the perspective and understanding that you have the power to choose how you respond to each situation that is in front of you, and you have the strength and ability to make that choice in the direction you want to go and build. Suffering is not a prerequisite for success. Choose the kind of adventure you want to have!

Let’s imagine that a young founder comes to you and asks your advice about whether venture capital or bootstrapping is best for them? What would you advise them? Can you kindly share a few things a founder should look at to determine if fundraising or bootstrapping is the right choice?

Prior to delivering any kind of advice, I would recommend seeking to better understand the inner-workings of the organization, its short and longer-term goals, metrics, and strategic business-building frameworks. Raising any kind of capital can be a very time-intensive process on the front end, and there are a lot of things on the front-end you can do, test, and framework-out in order to get more of a clear sense of the direction that’s best for you. Feel free to use any of the free resources we have here that are focused on business-planning, building, and fundraising — and don’t hesitate to reach out to our team if you have any questions!

What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Something I’ve often seen is allowing the fear of looking “not enough” to overpower our ability to ask good, meaningful questions and truly seek aligned solutions. Let me unpack this a little — sometimes, particularly in professional settings, based on the training and “professional development” we’ve received there are “professional standards” and “best practices” by which we do our best to abide. I’ve seen, more than I like to admit, team members and executives not ask questions to things they don’t fully understand because they’re afraid of not appearing like “the boss”. In those situations, a projection of perfection seems to be more of a priority than an effective, synchronized “back of house”. And in those situations that things fall through the cracks, and cultures of chaos and inauthentic leadership are bred. This is, in my opinion, a huge learning opportunity that can be undergone with simplicity and ease, or the hard way. The way of ease, to me, is to seek to understand — to lead with curiosity, intentionality, and care.

Startup founders often work extremely long hours and it’s easy to burn the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to founders about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting a company?

Especially at the company’s inception and through its infancy, you are its most important asset. From emotional, physical, and spiritual perspectives — if you aren’t healthy, the company isn’t healthy. Oftentimes it’s easy to get caught up in stories of the “shoulds”, the projections of others, the accumulation of wealth, and our own ideas of success.

The fact of the matter is, if we don’t look after ourselves and our health, we won’t be around to enjoy the success, benefits, or dreams we’re so desperately and actively creating!

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Thank you! That’s very kind — and a really tough question, especially considering the state of the world at the moment. If I could inspire a movement, as simple as it sounds, it would be one of leading with kindness, consideration, and thoughtfulness.

We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

There’s a guy I’ve recently begun following from the UK named Steven Bartlett that I’d love to learn from and with. His values, exploration, emphasis on personal development, ability to communicate, hunger for growth, and genuine and authentic connection are traits I share and value deeply! I believe the world needs more people with this kind of consciousness.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

The Cultivated Group

Instagram: @thecultivatedgroup

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecultivatedgroup

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-cultivated-group

Website: www.thecultivatedgroup.co

Esmè the Curious Cat:

Instagram: @esmethecuriouscat

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/esmethecuriouscat

Website: www.esmethecuriouscat.com

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!