What’s does it mean to be a New Original?

It means you’re forward-thinking. A free thinker. You get outside the box and you pull people along with you. You see a hole in the market and go after it with everything you have. You trust your gut.

Which is exactly what happened when Jaclyn Johnson launched Create & Cultivate. After digging around the internet for answers about what it means to be a woman in business, she came up empty. What she ended up creating is a life and business fuller than she ever imagined.

With double-digit conferences under her belt and plenty more to come this year, American-made luxury eyewear brand STATE Optical Co. caught Jackie in between meetings to chat about what it’s like to be a boss in 2017.

Who has influenced you most?

I am consistently inspired by the women around me, I get to meet so many incredible women who are working hard to shatter the glass ceiling, push each other further and taking on challenges to pave the way.

What is your definition of excellence?

Your own version of getting it right.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

We need women in power, we need women taken seriously and we need real systemic change when it comes to women in power.

Head over to State Optical Co. to read the full profile on Jackie where she shares her key insights to success as their latest New Original ambassador. She also happens to look damn good in glasses.