Welcome to OUR Creative Cravings Crowdfunding page!
Whether we know each other already or we're just meeting, thank you for being here.
I'm Sari Feingold & I'm Lauren Feingold. We are co-founders of Creative Cravings LLC and co-hosts of Creative Cravings podcast, our self-run show full of food recommendations, creative journeys, and food for thought from us and our guests, on living life to the fullest! We actually started the podcast when we were craving joy and purpose in our own lives. Through our sampler platter of conversations, we have nourished and inspired people all around the world to fulfill their truest cravings in life, working hard to build a community from scratch. We love connecting with others through our shared cravings to crEATe (eat + create), and hope you do as well!
When we first launched this campaign, we were in a season of craving support to bring Season 3 of the show to life. While we're in Season 3 now, we have a craving to keep producing our podcast and showing up for our community in a variety of meaningful ways - that's where you, as our funders, come in :)
Each episode that we release is the product of 50+ hours - from researching / preparing talking points to booking, scheduling, hosting, editing, promoting, and everything in between! We are twin sisters doing it ALL, and with your support, we will hit the ground running doing what we do best - creating, connecting, and collaborating with creatives of all kinds.
Your funds really do fuel our wellbeing and creativity, so we can keep fueling yours.
It's time to get the show on the road! Please keep reading to learn about us, our mission, our thoughtful menu of rewards to inspire your creative cravings, and the reason for doing this crowdfunding campaign for this specific project.
When we secure the necessary funding, every funder will receive an invitation to join our (virtual) finale of Season 3 party. We are already excited to celebrate together!
Creative Cravings LLC Mission
Creative Cravings’ mission is to help you feel both FULL & FULFILLED in everyday life. For us and our community, chasing our truest cravings in life and sharing what we love to crEATe with others is the secret ingredient for living fully and being well.
Sari and Lauren’s Personal Story + Path to Creative Cravings Podcast
Our shared personal mission is to delight and uplift those around us by sharing our creative cravings. Being a human is hard, and we feel most authentically ourselves when we get to inspire, entertain, comfort, and fuel you in the kitchen, in your career, and in life!
There have been many times in our twenties where we would be eating delicious food but feeling empty inside because we were not feeling fulfilled in our advertising careers. Over time, those feelings were... eating at us. Isn’t it ironic how much easier it is to follow our food cravings than it is to actually chase our cravings in life? We decided to pay close attention to what we loved. Through rejection, anxiety, sadness, and insecurity, we both found comfort in listening to personal growth podcasts. Finally, we jumped at the chance to learn directly from one of the best podcasters out there. We knew it was time to create something we craved, with our own flavor: a platform bigger than ourselves to share our love of food, culture, creativity, storytelling, and connecting with people. It’s grown into a welcoming space to taco’ bout... resilience, creative expression, wellbeing, family, friendship, our guests' unique cravings, and ingredients for living life to the fullest. That is why our podcast, Creative Cravings, exists today.
'Subscribe' on Apple, 'Follow' on Spotify and tune in on Amazon, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Listen to Creative Cravings podcast
Why crowdfund?
As we mentioned above, we have been self-funding / bootstrapping our business for a few years. Now it’s time to take IFundWomen’s recommendation to crowdfund as a necessary next step, since we are in the next phase of our entrepreneurial journey. Since our company is somewhere in between beta testing and generating revenue, this strategic move to crowdfund and your combined support will demonstrate to us that we have solid interest and the capacity to expand.
Why crowdfund for a podcast?
Simply put, we did not get paid for producing Seasons 1 and 2 of the podcast, but we did feel our impact - in podcast reviews, in messages from listeners, and in appreciation from all our guests, including dream guests! That driving force inspired us not to give up, but to re-evaluate how we run the show (literally and metaphorically). Investing in our entrepreneurship education, graduating from a podcast accelerator program, forming small affiliate partnerships with aligned brands, and wearing all the hats to bring Creative Cravings business, brand, podcast, website, and community to life has truly been a labor of love. We now have a deep understanding of the podcasting industry landscape. Though podcasting is a $1 billion industry, this advertising stat majorly reflects the voices of those who already have huge audiences and teams of people working with them on their shows. This leaves talented indie podcasters (like us) treading water to keep up, simultaneously looking for a new model to make & raise money for our hard work. Indie podcasters have so much to offer! We don’t want to give up, so we are pivoting by asking for help because we want to be good examples to other indie podcasters who wonder if they will ever “make it.” By continuing to create a successful show, we will be able to set ourselves up to, eventually, pay it forward to indie podcasters by launching a podcast network full of passionate podcasters.
What will you use the funds for?
As you probably realize by now, we have made big sacrifices to build Creative Cravings over these 4 years and have had to practice having faith in ourselves every single day. With every courageous step (and leap, like this launch), we lead with intention, empathy, and generosity.
We will use the funds for further development of our business, in the following ways:
- Renting and decorating a space that feels inspiring to record podcasts (we don’t have this)
- Travel expenses to community-driven events where we can connect with new guests
- Upgrading our podcast hosting platform for advanced analytics
- Improved audio / video recording software to enhance technical quality
- Hiring a passionate team (accounting / legal / biz support / sound engineer / editor) at competitive compensation
- Education
- Investing in mentoring an enthusiastic student intern who craves learning the ropes of podcasting
- Upgrading accounts for creative tools that we use to promote episodes and learn from other creators (i.e. Canva Pro / Skillshare)
- Annual / monthly production costs - Squarespace, Google Suite
- All-in-one online entrepreneurship platform to create and scale our creative online workshops
- Ingredients for high quality food content and Cookies for a Cause™
- Prototyping a wellness product idea that will help anxious creatives
- Business banking expenses
- Hosting more listener events
- Treats to fuel Gracie, because she is an excellent podCAT and Executive Purrrrrducer ;)
View Rewards & Fund It!
Who is on your team?
We are a two person team taking on the roles of about 30 people! #tiredtwins
We, Sari and Lauren, are ... executive producers, co-hosts, script / email writers, researchers, audio editors, copywriters, copyeditors, art directors, bookers, website builders, investors, brand strategists, admin assistants, publicists, bakers, recipe makers (and then dish washers), mug artists, videographers and photographers for social media / promotions, project managers, biz operation managers, partnerships directors, mentors, lifelong students, expert googlers, workshop hosts, crowdfunding campaign strategists & creators!!
We have met so many talented people who we would love to invite onto Season 3 and we have learned about a million things in honing each new skill as creative entrepreneurs.
Who is Creative Cravings podcast for?
Creative Cravings podcast is an edu-taining listen for those seeking a spark of joy and inspiration in their day. We bring out the best in our guests, whether they are in the public eye or our personal lives. In our conversations with these inspired entrepreneurs, insightful artists, and curious creatives, we keep it real, we laugh, and we bond over the struggle of paving our own paths. Always keeping our listeners in mind, our motto is: We don't do boring!
Launching this campaign on Women’s Entrepreneurship Day 2021 is so exciting, and feels right!
We have a great variety of impactful, fun rewards to inspire your creative cravings! These are all available with your monetary contributions.
We have quite a range: customizable hand painted mugs, annual memberships to a community of new foodie friends, personalized ukulele lessons, happy birthday serenades, listener spotlights, nominating yourself or someone else as our podcast guest, a cute AF winter dessert recipe, live podcast tickets, a relaxing art class, mentorship with us on bringing your own podcast / creative business to life, custom multi-media sponsorship packages, ways to pay-it-forward, and even more!
No matter which level you contribute at, you will also get a complimentary ticket to our Season 3 virtual launch party!
Thank you for watching our video, reading our story, listening to a taste of our podcast, and browsing our rewards. Please support our campaign, so we can create an epic Season 3 of Creative Cravings podcast in 2022. You know what they say, “Girls just wanna have FUNds!”
View All Rewards
Read about us in Brit + Co!
I'm Ready to Fund This Campaign!
*Important Note: As you scroll through the rewards, you will see that next to each one, we have a suggested contribution level next to it. This is a suggested minimum, which means - if you are so inclined, you do have an option to contribute more at whichever reward you're craving most.
