Marina Middleton

Middleton is a first-generation Egyptian immigrant. In college she first studied criminal justice, hoping to translate Arabic for the FBI, before switching to marketing and business communications with a minor in fashion.⁠[1][2]

She worked as a senior sales manager at Skip Hop, leading wholesale partnerships, and then at YahooYahooYahoo is an internet brand founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994, with email, search, news, finance, sports, and advertising businesses. It developed from a web directory into a portal, underwent major acquisitions and security incidents, and sold its operating business in 2017, when the original listed company became Altaba. Apollo-managed funds acquired the brand’s operating business in 2021. Yahoo launched the AI answer service Scout in 2026.Open the full entry, including Yahoo News, and at TumblrTumblrTumblr is a blogging and social platform founded in New York by David Karp in 2007, built mainly around images, short posts, and reblogs. Yahoo acquired Tumblr for about $1.1 billion in 2013, after which it passed with Yahoo into Verizon’s ownership; in 2019 Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, acquired Tumblr from Verizon.Open the full entry, building digital media campaigns for Fortune 500 brands.⁠[2][1]

She later founded Empowered Confidence, a consulting business that helped female-founded startups grow, and advised hundreds of female founders.⁠[2][1]

In 2021, Create & Cultivate founder Jaclyn Johnson sold a majority stake in the company to a private equity firm for $22 million; that year Middleton attended her first Create & Cultivate event. She later co-created The Blueprint Mastermind with Johnson and Alli WebbAlli WebbAlli Webb is an entrepreneur, hairstylist and author working in U.S. consumer businesses. She co-founded Drybar and is the founder and co-chief executive of hair-care brand Messy. She also co-founded Squeeze and Becket + Quill and wrote The Drybar Guide to Good Hair for All and The Messy Truth.Open the full entry.⁠[3][2]

By the end of 2023, she and Johnson had bought back majority ownership of Create & Cultivate from private equity; she led the acquisition and has since co-owned the company with Johnson, serving as CEO and partner.⁠[3][1][2]

On February 18, 2024, Johnson published a “Letter from the Founder” on the Create & Cultivate website announcing that she was back at the helm of the company alongside “our new CEO,” Middleton.⁠[4]

On May 8, 2025, the Kendra ScottKendra ScottKendra Scott is an American jewelry designer, entrepreneur and author who founded her namesake brand in 2002 and serves as executive chair and chief visionary officer. She established a foundation supporting women and young people, supports women’s entrepreneurial education, and appears on ABC’s Shark Tank. She has been interviewed by School of Hard Knocks.Open the full entry Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute at the University of Texas at Austin released season 3, episode 18, “Marina Middleton: Creating Impact, Cultivating Connection,” in which she discussed building confidence, personal branding, and breaking barriers as a first-time CEO and a woman of color in business.⁠[5]

In July 2025, Create & Cultivate launched the sold-out Create & Cultivate Festival in downtown Los Angeles, with four stages, about 2,000 expected attendees, a scheduled performance by Doechii, and keynotes by Ciara, Ayesha Curry, and Brittany Snow; Middleton led the launch of the event, the company’s largest to date.⁠[3][2]

She also led the development of CONNECT, an AI-powered matchmaking platform for women, which had 10,000 meetings scheduled for the festival weekend.⁠[1][3]

On March 26, 2026, Hard Knocks Business published an interview short with her titled “She raised 3 MILLION in Venture Capital.”, focused on venture capital: when to raise, how to negotiate terms, and how much equity a founder should keep. The host introduced her as the CEO of Create & Cultivate.⁠[6][6]

In the video she said the company had raised just under $3 million in venture funding plus some money from angel investors. She also said that being a first-generation immigrant made her willing to take risks, and that while raising she reminded herself she was doing investors a favor by giving them a spot on the cap table.⁠[6][6][6]

On March 30, 2026, the events-industry publication BizBash named her to its “2026 BizBash 40 Under 40” list. She was then 35 and based in Boston, had raised more than $2.4 million in venture capital, and was preparing the 2026 Create & Cultivate Festival.⁠[2]

She said founders do not have to raise money and should bootstrap for as long as they can, noting that many profitable businesses have never taken outside money and keep 100% of their equity (video at 00:22).⁠[6]

She said that before raising, founders should understand their space and market, why they are doing it, their competitors, audience, and financials, and how big the company can get (video at 00:32).⁠[6]

She warned that the worst time to raise is when you need money, because nobody will invest when you are running out of it (video at 01:14).⁠[6]

She said control depends more on negotiation than on equity percentage, noting founders who kept control with 1% equity (video at 01:22).⁠[6]

She said the strongest position in a negotiation is being able to walk away, because knowing you can walk away gives you power (video at 01:48).⁠[6]

Create & Cultivate: Official website: https://www.createcultivate.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

Instagram: Public account: https://www.instagram.com/marinaamiddleton/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]