As someone new to living in Los Angeles, California, I’ve noticed that finding an authentic community in this vast and nuanced city is difficult. However, during my first couple of months of landing in La La Land, I was able to find some reprieve from the isolation through entrepreneur Jennifer Pauline’s With/Creator events, including a dinner celebrating Sherri McMullen, founder of McMullen boutique, 15th anniversary in business, and later a pop-up shopping experience in West Adams. During both events, I was surprised by how women from all different backgrounds and creative functions were able to find commonalities with each other easily.
A year later, more settled in Los Angeles, I joined Pauline in her cozy mid-century modern-styled apartment to break bread with other creators as she hand-selected emerging voices in the creative industry for their Women in Charge series. Before the evening started, she had a few rules; all cellphones must be turned off to stay present; the following rule was to be open to learning something new about others and yourself. Aside from her committed event attendees, personable and attentive staff, and aesthetically pleasing event locations, the magic behind these gatherings is Pauline herself.
With/Creators is a boutique creative studio specializing in community building, storytelling, and experience design. Pauline launched the studio in September 2020 with a singular vision to serve powerfully. After spending seven years building community, curating experiences, and helping create new businesses for Soho House across the globe, she developed a passion for connecting people and humanizing brands, exhibiting this by leading a team across the opening of Soho House Hong Kong, being a key figure in launching the emerging markets division of the business, and spearheading Fashion for Breakfast in Los Angeles.
Her recent venture, With/Creators, a people-centered, purpose-driven business, prioritizes working hand in hand with founders, brands, and creators to develop meaningful relationships with their community by telling stories that matter and designing experiences that people can feel. The boutique studio has proven creative chops and receipts to back up that statement. In just three years, her collective caught the attention and garnered the partnership of major companies such as Netflix, Lululemon, BYREDO, Sephora, and Amazon Prime Video.
Despite the throes of COVID-19 limiting in-person events, the rapid expansion is due to With/Creators’ power to curate intentional and authentic storytelling through community-led programming. I caught up with Pauline to discuss her entrepreneurship journey, community-centric programming, and how to find genuine connections in larger cities like Los Angeles.
ESSENCE: Why did you decide to start your company?
Jennifer Pauline: I spent seven years building community globally at Soho House, and when the pandemic hit, I had an existential crisis. I’ve always been curious about what it would look like if I took my resources and invested them back into my community. More specifically, within marginalized communities, where I felt there was an opportunity to put our personal touch on creating spaces where belonging and visibility took center stage. My friend once said, “Create what you crave,” I did just that.
What’s the purpose and mission behind it?
We’re a people-centered, purpose-driven business. We work hand in hand with founders, brands, and creators to develop meaningful relationships with their communities through storytelling, creative strategy, and designing experiences that people can feel. Ultimately, everything we do is rooted in fostering deep connections and cultivating spaces of belonging.
Why is community important to you?
So many reasons, but I’m an only child of a single mother and have lived everywhere from Cincinnati (where I grew up) to Paris, Hong Kong, Atlanta, New York, and now Los Angeles. The people I’ve met and developed relationships with have been integral to my healing, growth, and life experiences. I learn from them; they hold me accountable and support my journey. Whom you surround yourself with is one of your most important decisions.
Growing up, I always felt like the “outsider” or “other.” I know what it’s like to feel as if you don’t belong, don’t fit in, and don’t see yourself. It leaves you thinking you don’t matter. Community reminds you that you matter. As one of my favorite quotes from Iyanla Vanzant says: “You do wild things when you don’t know you matter.”
As you know, finding an authentic community in Los Angeles is difficult. How does your company foster community and friendship?
We’re always exploring ways to bridge meaningful connections, brand to person, or person to person. If we’re working with a larger client on an event, we’re building community two ways. First, we’re thinking about the overall community experience. Asking questions like What is the guest journey? What are they leaving with? Who is this for, and how are they seen throughout the experience?
Then, based on the overall vision, we’re mindful of who we invest in the project budget—intentionally seeking out diverse small-owned businesses. Those are our “hard skills,” but the soft skills are equally if not more important. How we communicate with people, offering payment terms that recognize the challenges of being a small business, paying people promptly, etc. Community is a thread from the inside out for us. Over 50% of our project budgets have invested in Black, POC, Woman, and LGBTQ+-owned businesses nationwide.
Person to person, when developing more intimate community programming, we’re thinking about ways for people to connect one-to-one. This means we are curators of who’s in the room and being very thoughtful (ahead of time) about how, where, and why we’re engaging them.
Most recently, we brought together emerging voices in the creative industry for our Women in Charge series. I hosted the group of 18 in my home, paired people up based on what we knew about them, and hand-selected prompts from the game We’re Not Really Strangers. It was fun to break the ice and create space for deeper conversation. What happens in the room is magical, but what happens after excites me. This gathering began an object collaboration between a florist and a ceramicist!
Is community sparse in LA?
I don’t think the community is sparse here. It’s challenging to find an authentic, lasting community anywhere, but it does require an investment of time and energy to develop and nurture connections. Some incredible people and organizations are bringing folks together all over the city. Evelynn Escobar and Hike Clerb, Etienne Maurice, Ivy Coco and Marley Rae of Walkgood, Kay Lopez and Latinas Poderosas, Asia White and Suppa Club, Elise Peterson, and Cool Moms, Jordan Risa, and Seen Library, Sarah Kim and By Way Of, Jazzi McGilbert and Reparations Club, Chrystani Heinrich and Compton Girls Club, Faye Orlove and Junior High Los Angeles, Zehra Ahmed and Womxn in Windows, the list goes on.
If you want to find your community, identify what you value and how you enjoy spending your time. Start with a hobby or interest and search social media for groups that foster connection over those things. Geneva is an excellent tool for this and TikTok, but you must be very specific. Our Substack newsletter, Well Noted, is also a great resource; we highlight how people connect with brands, one another, and themselves worldwide.
How is community important for your mental health?
I did a small deep dive into this in our latest Well Noted newsletter. I wanted better to understand the relationship between self-care and community care because we’re in an epidemic of isolation and loneliness.
In May, the U.S. Surgeon General gave an advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. The report says lack of social connection is more dangerous than smoking 15 packs of cigarettes a day. Healthy social relationships are like a massage for your emotional well-being. And while we’re busier now more than ever, it’s essential to prioritize social fitness alongside mental and physical fitness in your overall well-being practice.
Standout events and programming you’ve planned that fostered community?
I’m proud of our design experiences over the past few years. But intimate gatherings are my happy place, and those are the ones that foster community the most. We’ve done some for clients, including the leadership and mentorship lab retreats we’ve done for Lena Waithe’s company Hillman Grad, the hyper-local programming we did for The Gathering Spot before they opened in Los Angeles, and McMullen’s 3-day pop-up in LA to name a few. But we also curate original, intimate With/Creators powered programming that fosters community. Women in Charge is a series that brings together female intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs in the creative industry to build a modern-day support system. I started at Soho House in 2017 and have continued over the years. We also just started a walking club that promotes disconnecting in nature.
What’s next for you and your company?
I see more collaborations with other community-centered organizations, increased social impact, and original programming. We’ll also continue working with brands to develop their community strategies and humanize how they show up IRL.