Podcast Episode Summary

Inspiring Creativity & Community: CultureCon

The Unshakeables — iHeartPodcasts / Chase for Business
Host: Ben Walter
Guest: Imani Ellis (Founder of CultureCon & The Creative Collective)
Co-host: Kathleen Griffith
Release Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of The Unshakeables, host Ben Walter and co-host Kathleen Griffith delve into the extraordinary journey of Imani Ellis, the founder of CultureCon and The Creative Collective. The conversation explores how Imani transformed a small, personal gathering into a nationally recognized and culturally resonant community conference for Black and Brown creatives. The discussion centers on the challenges of scaling an idea into a thriving business, the central role of community, the realities of entrepreneurial burnout, and how authentic connection and self-renewal fuel true innovation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Corporate Crisis Publicist to Culture Creator

• Imani’s Career Origins:

  • Loved her job as a crisis publicist but felt the absence of real community in New York.
  • Started an intimate taco night with friends—each friend brought another, creating a safe, non-work-focused space.
  • The spark: "What are you working on? And it can't be work."
    • Imani Ellis (05:14): “And so I thought, I'm just going to curate what I do not see... I made everyone tacos. And so it was a lot like matchmaking… The rule was they each had to bring one person they could vouch for... So I have one question for you. And it's, what are you working on? And it can't be work.”

• Naming and Scaling Up:

  • "Creative Collective" was the first name—meant as a joke, but stuck.
  • Early events were run by friends, unpaid, purely for connection and joy.

2. The Risk and Reality of Scaling

• First Big Venue—A Make-or-Break Moment:
  • Booked a massive, beautiful greenhouse as the next venue—only to realize it lacked bathrooms, air conditioning, and basic amenities, with no budget left and no refund policy.
    • Imani Ellis (11:20): “She [friend] goes, you didn’t take anyone who does production with you there? And I’m like, nope. How hard can it be?... She’s like, where are the bathrooms?”
    • Imani Ellis (01:01 & 12:21): “I was so scared. I was so stressed because I immediately thought, I’ve gone too big… I was in Union Square and I cried and I really thought, oh this is where your ambition has met your delusion.”
  • The solution: cold-call sponsors and push through—sold out and secured brand/celebrity involvement.

3. Building Culture—Not Just Tapping Into It

• What Makes CultureCon Unique:

  • Not another talking-heads conference; incorporates workshops, brand activations, creative experiences—"Disney World for creatives."
    • Imani Ellis (03:21): “We are expecting 10,000 creatives from around the world to pop up. It’s like Disney World, but for creatives."

• Community as the DNA:

  • Launched for and by Black and Brown creatives; business and event are grounded in the lived reality and needs of this community.

• Perspectives on Cultural Branding:

  • Kathleen Griffith distinguishes between brands born from culture, those that leverage culture, and (as Ben adds) those that create culture.
    • Ben Walter (14:21): “I think there are brands that grow out of culture… and then there are brands that create culture. Now, those are rare.”
  • CultureCon amplifies an existing but underserved need—creating a touchstone for creative community.

4. Navigating Growth, Burnout, and Balance

• Double-Life as Corporate Exec & Founder:

  • For six years, Imani ran CultureCon alongside her full-time job at Bravo.
    • Imani Ellis (18:18): “For those six years, I was living two worlds... I would work at Bravo from 8am until 7pm... and work on CultureCon from like, you know, 6 to 7.”
  • Only left her corporate job when timing and financial readiness aligned.

• Hitting Breaking Point and Inventing the Creative Residency:

  • Burned out after back-to-back, sold-out events; inspired by James Baldwin’s Paris retreat.
  • Created a ‘creative residency’—a self-designed sabbatical focused on "play, stillness, and action."
    • Imani Ellis (20:52): “I know I kind of invented it, actually... The goal was not that the output would be some work of art. I would be the work of art."
  • Returned recharged, reshaping her business mindset and self-care priorities.

• Healthy Obsession vs. Sustainable Rhythm:

  • Entrepreneurs need passion bordering on obsession—but must learn when to move from hustle to sustainability.
    • Imani Ellis (23:05): “It’s not that it’s not hard, but you should have different kinds of problems, I think, because we have to return to the natural order, which is rhythm… At a certain point, it is diminishing returns.”

5. The Transformative Power of Travel and Curiosity

• Travel as Inspiration:
  • Both personal and professional travel fuel innovation; observing how business works in other cultures sparks new ideas.
    • Ben Walter (27:09): "When I travel to new countries, whether it's Asia or Europe or doesn't matter where, I'm always paying attention to how people are transacting business... I get lots of ideas from that."
  • Imani designs creative residencies for others to rest, reset, and restore creative energy—accessible anywhere, not just in Paris.
    • Imani Ellis (30:05): "You can also do creative residency in New York City… It’s just about reframing your approach to your journey."

6. Innovation Through Community, Play, and Structured Serendipity

• Events Inspired by Social Life:

  • A London house party’s structured/unstructured mix inspired CultureCon’s programming (e.g., four-minute pitch contest, community feedback rounds).
    • Imani Ellis (31:42): “What if we, in addition to having a formal panel, had a little bit more unstructured things?... Four-minute Pitch contest…”

• Personal Joy as a Business Principle:

  • Playtime is essential—some experiences are just for joy, not all must be monetizable.

7. The Future: New Summits and Ever-Evolving Vision

• Expanding Offerings:

  • Launching ‘summits’ at CultureCon: verticals such as sports, AI, founder tracks, job fair, and market for small businesses; over 30 associated events citywide.
    • Imani Ellis (32:58): “We’re launching more summits... sports summit... AI summit, founder summit... business school for the entrepreneur and the creative...”

• On Five-Year Goals:

  • Imani resists rigid long-term roadmaps, preferring to surpass current goals, then set new ones.
    • Imani Ellis (33:57): “I don’t do the five-year thing. I used to… I needed that in my teens and twenties... I have surpassed my goals.”

8. Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

• Imani Ellis (34:29): “Keep your eyes on your own paper. Focus on the art that you’re creating and get advice. But don’t compare your art to someone else’s art. They might have started earlier, they might have more resources, but it’s not over till it’s over.”

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Vision and Fear
  • "Ready is not a feeling, it's a decision, right?"
    —Imani Ellis (09:14)
• On Courage
  • "Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing what you need to do despite being afraid."
    —Ben Walter, paraphrasing (09:14)
• On Authenticity and Branding
  • “The number one thing you can do in your career and your life is to be authentic. Because people can smell BS a mile away.”
    —Ben Walter (15:33)
• On Obsession and Entrepreneurship
  • "You need a borderline level of obsession, and you need to care. If you don't care, literally no one else will care. But I do think there also comes a season where you can also see, am I sustaining?"
    —Imani Ellis (22:27)
• On Burnout and Recovery
  • “I really did that travel experience for myself to come back to my most abundant and creative self. But what I found is that people that followed wanted that itinerary as well.”
    —Imani Ellis (29:29)
• On Comparison
  • “Keep your eyes on your own paper. Focus on the art that you're creating and get advice. But don't compare your art to someone else's art.”
    —Imani Ellis (34:29)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:08] The "warehouse crisis" story—booking too big, no budget, no refund
• [03:21] How CultureCon "reimagines conference space" for creatives
• [05:14] The first Creative Collective meetup—the taco night and its rules
• [09:30] Learning to work through fear and the meaning of courage
• [12:21] The transformational sponsor push—turning a near-disaster into breakthrough
• [18:18] Six years balancing corporate leadership and scaling CultureCon
• [20:52] Invention of the creative residency: Paris odyssey and curriculum
• [22:27-23:05] Healthy obsession versus self-sabotaging hustle
• [30:05] "Residency" as a way of living anywhere; not about place, but about mindset
• [31:42] Bringing social inspiration into CultureCon programming
• [32:58] New verticals and event evolutions at CultureCon
• [34:29] Imani's enduring advice to entrepreneurs

Tone & Language

The episode is candid and warm, blending entrepreneurial real-talk with a sense of vision and possibility. Imani Ellis’s storytelling is reflective, authentic, and often humorous—grounding big ideas in personal anecdotes and practical lessons. Both Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith weigh in with strategic and cultural insights, while always centering Imani’s journey and the themes of community, resilience, and innovation.

Memorable Moments

• The solo warehouse tour and "ambition meets delusion" meltdown.
• Booking a venue without bathrooms or AC—then flipping that crisis into a sold-out event through sheer grit.
• Inventing a "creative residency" for herself, then scaling it for others.
• Reframing traditional networking—bringing house party energy and structured play into a professional conference.
• Refusing to compare herself to other founders—and urging listeners to "keep your eyes on your own paper."

Final Advice

• Build with authenticity and intention; don't force yourself into cultural moments that don't fit.
• Balance obsession with sustainability—rest and creative renewal are business essentials.
• Let play and curiosity drive innovation, both at home and abroad.
• Success is a series of seasons—embrace the rhythm, not just the grind.

For anyone navigating the journey from passion project to lasting impact—especially those building creative or community-centered businesses—this episode is essential listening.