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Sara Cullen

Founder & CEO at GEM

Sara Cullen is the Founder and CEO of GEM, a company she established in January 2018 in the Greater Los Angeles Area.1 GEM is focused on reinventing daily nutritional solutions for women, with a mission to democratize access to nutrition and radically change the way people nourish themselves.2

Background and Education

Sara holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Development Economics and Near Eastern Studies from Cornell University, which she completed between 2008 and 2012.1

Professional Experience

Before founding GEM, Sara's career path included:

  • Experience in Agriculture and Sustainable Food
  • Participation in Venture for America, a program that exposed her to entrepreneurship3

GEM's Mission

Under Sara's leadership, GEM has developed an unprocessed, plant- and algae-based daily vitamin designed especially for women.2 The company's approach to nutrition is closely tied to environmental consciousness, with Sara stating that taking care of one's body is interconnected with taking care of the planet.2

Personal Philosophy

Sara emphasizes the importance of self-care and maintaining a positive mindset. She advocates for:

  • Prioritizing sleep, proper hydration, and nutrition
  • Investing in friendships and human relationships
  • Developing a positivity practice to overcome self-doubt and imposter syndrome2

Work-Life Balance

Sara maintains a morning routine that includes:

  • Getting outside
  • Physical activity
  • Taking a GEM vitamin
  • Journaling
  • Enjoying matcha or coffee2

She also values spending time in nature without digital devices as a way to recharge and stay connected to her mission.2

Sara Cullen's approach to business and life reflects a holistic view of health, combining personal well-being with environmental stewardship through her work at GEM.

Highlights

Nov 12 · linkedin

At three years old, GEM is at an inflection point where we're redefining what our new culture looks like on and offline. When COVID hit, we got rid of our HQ in LA and went fully remote. Since, we've grown our team to more than 10 people now scattered across the US (in SF, NY, Boston, & Chicago), but had not met each other or gotten the chance to work in person. Last week, we rented a house in Malibu and flew everyone out to gather together for a few days. We spent hours plotting new ways to show up for our customers, brainstorming product ideas, and dreaming about what a new future at GEM would look like. Our team is unified around and motivated by the purpose to help build a platform that makes the choice for health simple, delightful, and accessible for humans (and we hope our planet too). Mirroring the balance we hope to inspire, we also complemented our co-working sessions with a meditative sound bath, yoga, hike, and long sunset beach walks. We brought in a vegan-friendly chef that experimented with new tastes like seaweed caviar and taught us how to make our own spring rolls. (We were in LA after all so only fitting. :)

Our first team retreat left me rejuvenated and inspired – it felt so good to be surrounded by the energy of the team that I’m so fortunate to wake up and build GEM with everyday. The challenge now is – how do we take that energy from IRL and maintain it online in-between our bi-annual retreats? We came up with the idea of individual “office hours” (or open hours for body doubling on tasks where you just want to have the feeling of someone there on a tedious tasks) and lunch + learns – finding ways to create those moments of collaboration and water cooler talk you might be missing in the new slack and zoom culture. I’m curious friends, how else you are building a culture online now in our new remote world? And how does that evolve at each stage of the company?

Looking forward we’re ready to continue growing our team of awesome humans - calling all acquisition experts, growth designers, retention wizards, and community builders. If you know of anyone that’d be an awesome addition to our culture, please share far & wide. (As a bonus, we’re offering a referral $$$, no legal mumbo jumbo so please DM me!) As we approach the holidays, I’m filled with gratitude for this team of awesome humans and optimistic that our future is bright!

https://lnkd.in/gkGDSkt

Nov 2 · linkedin

We're growing our team of super humans to tackle the future of nutrition to help us reimagine the supplement industry with real food solutions that enable us to nourish differently. Our purpose is to simply help make health an easy, sustainable, and accessible choice for all. We're calling all growth marketers, retention and email gurus, video & ad designers, and leaders of eCommerce to help take our mission to new heights.

In addition to some of our full-time opportunities, we're also looking for a freelance packaging designer to help transform our D2C products into retail-shelf ready offerings. Please reach out to me if you know of any awesome humans that might be an excellent fit.

(PS - we offer a referral bonus, no legal mumbo jumbo, for anyone who comes on board full time with us)

Check out our open roles here and share far & wide!

https://lnkd.in/gkGDSkt

Related Questions

What inspired Sara Cullen to start GEM?
How does GEM's approach to vitamins differ from traditional options?
What challenges has Sara faced as the CEO of GEM?
How does Sara balance her work and personal life?
What are some of the key achievements of GEM since its founding?
Sara Cullen
Sara Cullen, photo 1
Sara Cullen, photo 2
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Experience

Founder & CEO at GEM (January 2018 - Present)

Education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in International Development Economics, Near Eastern Studies from Cornell University (2008 - 2012)

Location

Los Angeles County, California, United States