E10 Quitting Your Job + Building Cheese Plates with Marissa Mullen 🧀🔪�‪�‬ Pollen: For Creative Entrepreneurs with Diana Davis

I love this story about Marissa and creating her cheese plate company so much. 
Following your passion, especially when it leads you off the beaten path, can be terrifying. But if where you are now doesn’t spark your creativity, it may be time to listen to that.. Life is way too short to stay in a job that does not fulfill your soul. 
In this episode of The Pollen Podcast, I bring on Marissa Mullen, founder of That Cheese Plate, to talk about her big leap from working in the music industry to chasing creativity and building her own brand. We also dive deep into the importance of human connection and how to let your creativity flow.
Listen to this episode to learn when it’s time to quit your job and follow your passion! A happy and successful life is more than just money — choose to chase your creative impulses.
🔥Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode: Learn how pursuing your passion is the fast track to success.  How Marissa went from working in the music industry to building beautiful cheese plates that bring her so much joy.  Hear a real story about how following your creative impulses leads you to deeper alignment in your work and life.  📘Resources Achieve the life, career, and clients you’ve always wanted (and fully deserve!). Sign up for Diana’s Camp Clarity Course now! If you’re an entrepreneur looking to fine-tune your business, hit us up at Ascend: the Elevated Entrepreneur Mastermind! Access other courses from Diana Davis Creative Song of Sparrows Barefoot Contessa Untamed by Glennon Doyle Diving In Finding Peace Amongst Life’s Hardest Hurdles with Ruthie Lindsey That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life by Marissa Mullen Connect with Marissa: That Cheese Plate: Website | Instagram | TikTok Cheese By Numbers: Instagram That Cheese Class: Instagram Marissa Mullen: Instagram Connect with me: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram 🎧Episode Highlights [08:34] Meet Marissa Marissa has always been outspoken throughout her professional career. Growing up with an interest in music, she made it her life’s mission to work in the music industry. Interning for the music department at the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon sparked her interest in working in the music department of a late-night show. She worked as an assistant to Jon Batiste on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. [15:28] Starting Her Cheese Plate Journey In her free time, Marissa started making cheese boards to destress and relax. In 2014, she wanted to make a centralized location for inspiration and created a Tumblr called “The Art of Cheese.” She eventually rebranded it into “That Cheese Plate” and moved to Instagram. [19:54] That Cheese Plate After coming up with “cheese by numbers,” Marissa decided she wanted to build on it. When she started the brand, her dream was to write a cookbook. However, several publishers had rejected her, so she started another account called “Cheese by Numbers.” Eventually, she got an invitation to be on the Rachael Ray Show. Listen to the full episode to find out how her brand blew up after guesting on the show! [22:40] Quitting Her Day Job Random House accepted Marissa’s book proposal. Since publishing the book was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, she decided to quit her personal assistant role with Jon in March 2019. After that, she began to focus on her brand by writing and doing events. When the pandemic struck, she connected with her community through Instagram. The book’s initial printing did well, and they have printed 225,000 copies today. [26:01] Resparking Her Creativity After moving into her own apartment, Marissa felt isolated and uninspired. She started therapy and reflected on why she associated her self-worth with productivity. [28:07] Marissa: “You need to take a break in order to feel inspired again. You can’t just keep going like a machine.”
Her second book, That Cheese Plate Wants to Party, is about how cheese plates