We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassie Goldring a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later? Give us the backstory – when did you start your business, where were you at life-wise/career-wise. What would starting later or sooner have been like for you? What would have changed about your experience and looking back do you wish you had started sooner, later or at the same time? 

I truly believe that everything in life happens the way it should. For me, this sentiment is reflected in my very nonlinear professional path, which led me to eventually start my own boutique creative consulting business this year — Levitate Creative. 

Looking back at all the trials and tribulations, success and failures, new jobs and new colleagues I’ve experienced over the past 9+ years, I’ve come to realize that timing really is everything in life. I would not have had the courage, the relationships, or the confidence to take the leap and go on my own had I not had the array of experiences and learnings from working across so many different types of companies, roles and industries. 

As a new graduate who had just moved to NYC, I was dead set on starting my career in the entertainment industry and scored a job at United Talent Agency (UTA) in the mailroom, eventually making my way onto a TV Talent agent’s desk. It was there that I learned fundamental skills that have served me immensely throughout my career: i.e. how to deal with an array if personalities, keeping up in a fast paced, ever-changing environment, how to not take things personally (this was a big one, especially in an agency environment), how to advocate for myself, organization and time management, balancing work and life – the list goes on and on. While I eventually decided that the agent path wasn’t for me, I look back on this period as an experience that shaped my work ethic, and ultimately has come full circle as I work with many of the major talent agencies with Levitate Creative and understand the inner workings of that world. 

After UTA, I transitioned into sales and worked at a variety of different types of companies – two startups (one in tech which was acquired, and one in interior design that went under), The New York Times, and eventually Conde Nast as the first hire on their partnerships team. These experiences allowed me to more deeply understand my passion for branding, partnerships and experiential marketing, and gain the confidence in my ability to close deals and realize that I can make even the craziest, out of reach idea a reality. 

I often joke that I didn’t have to go to business school because I feel like I lived the class cases in real time. Having worked across so many different types of companies, roles and work environments over the course of my career, I realize that with each stage, not only did I mature as a person, but I developed more confidence and clarity in my strengths and skills. When the

fear of starting my own business started to become overshadowed by feelings of excitement, possibility and energy, I knew that it was time to “jump into the pond!” 

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc. 

Please provide as much detail as you feel relevant as this is one of the core questions where the reader will get to know about you and your brand/organization/etc

It’s been a long term dream of mine to have my own creative consulting company, and I decided to finally take the leap this past year to launch Levitate Creative. Levitate Creative is a boutique creative consulting company specializing in brand building, brand partnerships, experiential and sponsorship sales, talent strategy, and go-to-market strategy. Our work is shaped by culture and 

fueled by connection, and our goal is to help brands drive revenue and awareness via strategic and paid partnerships, high profile talent and experiential strategy. Levitate Creative elevates brands by bringing them to life. 

Having worked at Conde Nast for almost 3 years in partnerships at CNX, the internal creative agency, I was very much drawn to building a company that inspired others to think strategically without sacrificing creativity. I love this idea of elevating brands through connection and innovation, and being at the center of culture. I always keep my finger on the pulse of what is relevant across every industry and bring that mindset to my clients. I believe that a brand is at its most vibrant when you bring it life. I strive to understand the core of a brand, and move the brand not only forward, but up – raising standards, raising expectations, and enhancing the integrity of the brand experience through partnerships, experiences, and storytelling. 

I infuse life into brands via three main pillars: 

1) Creative Strategy – which includes brand building and identity, go-to-market strategy, brand partnerships strategy and experiential strategy. 

2) Talent Strategy – which includes influencer and celebrity strategy and recruitment, procurement and management and affiliate strategy. 

3) Revenue Generation – which includes paid partnerships, outreach and management, collaborations, experiential and sponsorship strategy, outreach, negotiation and management.

Given the wide range of offerings, I work closely with my clients to put together a scope of work that fits their needs, and work as an integral part of their team, leveraging my large personal and professional network across industries to make sure that we achieve their goals. 

I actually have my older sister, Jenna Goldring, to thank for giving me my first free wheeling marketing and branding opportunity. A few years back, she launched The High Confectionary, a microdose edibles company that’s not only GF, vegan and all natural, but snackable and delicious. I helped Jenna build the brand identity, produced photoshoots, and facilitated a partnership with Whitney Port (1.4M IG followers) to join the brand as Creative Director, as well as recruiting other notable influencers. Seeing this brand take off and all of the work we’ve done together come to life has been amazing. It also gave me a foundation to start Levitate Creative and bring this kind of work to other clients and brands. 

One of my proudest moments since starting my company has been the launch of The Room at the Clubhouse, a new live experiences venue in East Hampton. Matt Rubenstein, the Entertainment Director for The Clubhouse, brought me on to help him build a brand around the incredible entertainment venue on the property, where he has thrown amazing concerts and events over the years. He wanted to launch a brand that would resonate with a larger audience, and not get overshadowed by all the other great stuff he has going on at the property. 

In just one month, we launched an entire new brand identity, a website, an instagram, merch, and an entire lineup of events, which kicked off with a 900 + person launch party event with well-known DJ artists Cheat Codes over July 4th weekend. I also built out an entire sponsorship strategy for The Room, and was able to bring on partners such as Olipop, Vacation Inc, Blade, Drink Body, and more. Bringing this new brand to life in such a short time, and see it resonate so quickly with the community, has been amazing. Music and entertainment is also a passion of mine, so being able to work in this space has been a blast. 

I am still in the process of building up my business, and am so excited by what is to come. Whether it’s a larger company, a small startup, or even a celebrity or influencer trying to build their own brand or pursue partnerships, Levitate Creative is where ideas ascend, and can help elevate your brand by bringing it to life across these areas.

What helped you build your reputation in market?

While I think doing good work is obviously extremely important, the person you are and how you treat people is equally imperative. I’ve been on the other end of that snarky email or Slack message, and it never feels good to be treated negatively. People enjoying the experience of working with you is not only the first step to doing good work; it makes the work much more fun. Communication is also a big one for me; even if I don’t have a chance to get back to an email, I always strive to give people a status update, even if it’s a “pass”. Getting ghosted is never a fun experience!

In this same vein, I think it’s really important to maintain connections and build solid, meaningful relationships. One of the reasons I felt confident enough to go on my own is because I really do feel that my relationships and reputation are very strong and I have contacts across many different parts of diverse industries that I can call on when I need to. I also believe in being a team player, giving other people credit and acknowledging them when they do good work; sharing in success is key.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what is the backstory? 

I think this is probably different today (especially in a post-Covid world), but I always felt there was a stigma against having a background with different jobs and a non-linear path. I came up in an environment where a lot of my peers were on a very specific track in finance or consulting, and stayed at their jobs for many many years even if they were miserable. I think your 20s are for figuring out who you are and what you want to do in life; to try different things and find where your passions are. I worked in startup environments, in tech, at a talent agency, and at large media companies. Every single job I had helped me develop a different skill set, strong relationships and unique perspectives. I utilize that diverse experience of having worked on every side of the business in my work today with all of my clients and projects.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/levitate.creative/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassie-goldring-8972a653/

Image Credits
Cortnee Daley, Holland Clement and Lauren Acampora (Levitate Creative Logo Design)