On Cultivate What Matters and the end of a season.
Today, the Cultivate team announced that Cultivate What Matters will be closing. Many of you have already reached out.
Although I haven’t been part of the company since it was acquired in 2022, Cultivate has never left me. It was never just a company I founded; it was my heart.
Long before there was a business, there was a garden. And a very unlikely gardener.
Tending that garden, and the children who’ve grown up in it, changed the way I see all of life. I may have started a garden, but it started me.
Alongside the zinnias and tomatoes, there have been dreams planted. Dreams that grew beyond what I could ever accomplish on my own. God used the garden to teach me to believe in what I couldn’t yet see, to prune to make things more fruitful, and to learn – imperfectly – to tend what matters most.
Today’s announcement is deeply sad for me. But no announcement can take away the good things grown.
We’ve been growing good things together since 2009, friends. From Southern Weddings to Making Things Happen to Cultivate What Matters, I praise Him for it all.
The best part of this journey has been you. Your stories, leaps of faith, dreams pursued, relationships strengthened, and meaningful things grown. Today, I’m celebrating all the women who discovered that little by little really does add up – and that the dreams God has given you are worth tending.
Mine included.
These last four years have shown me even more how to live what lasts. They’ve held unexpected endings, the loss of my dad and my best friend, health challenges and renewal, closeness with our children, and learning again that God is faithful in every season.
Through it all, I’ve loved the cultivated life even more. My Season by Season Planner has remained open on my kitchen table. I’ve tended my days with PowerSheets, covered notes to friends in far too many Cultivate stickers, slept in a faded Little by Little t-shirt more nights than I can count, wrapped gifts (and my life) in Tending Tape, and found fresh formation in the pages of my Write the Word journals.
And one of my greatest joys has been meeting so many of you who have stopped me to say hello and share how you’re cultivating what matters, too. Thank you. Your encouragement has been an unexpected gift, especially over these last few years.
Grace, who was born right before Cultivate was, told me that when you lose a person, you spend the day doing things that remind you of them. She said it should be the same with Cultivate. So today, she has declared we should do Cultivate-y things: pick lots of zinnias to give away, make little-by-little progress on a meaningful goal, have a photo shoot with the cats (!), and I should wear all of my Cultivate clothes. So, that’s what we’re doing.
Today I’m sad, and I’m grateful. Grief and gratitude can live in the same heart.
I’m grateful that God allowed me to be a part of this alongside such wonderful women and all of you. I didn’t deserve any of it, but His grace changes everything.
I’m grateful for every teammate who poured her gifts into this mission. Emily, your 17 years have changed the world.
I’m grateful for every woman who invited Cultivate into her story.
And I praise the Lord that the truest parts of Cultivate were never confined to a company. They were planted in hearts.
The flowers fade. Our stuff and our accomplishments won’t last. My garden, which is overflowing with life as I write these words, will fade with the first frost.
To everything there is a season. And sometimes the end of a season is not the end of the story.
After winter always comes spring.
With love,
Lara
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8 Comments
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on at
Lara, you and CWM changed my life. Your Powersheets first met me as a newlywed and they helped me lay a foundation for the marriage and home we were starting. Coming out of a period of trauma, mental health challenges and a low sense of self esteem, your teaching and tools helped grow me into a sense of (God-led, Spirit-dependent) sense of self efficacy that has led to so much fruit in my life. I truly believe anything is possible with little by little steps and that came from you guys. Sad I won’t have these tools to pass along to my daughter as she grows but the intangible message will 100% be passed down! And maybe I’ll pick one of the girls goal planners up in the September sale for her to use down the line 🙂 much love! So thankful that there has been so much goodness to mourn, and so thankful that in the end the Kingdom we inherit cannot be shaken no matter what changes come in this life.
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on at
Oh sweet friend! I was reminiscing on the very first set, a binder if I remember correctly! Gosh you took this mission so far. I’m proud you. Grieving and grateful with you.
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on at
They can stop making Powersheets but Powersheets will always be part of the way I live and think. And that is not an exaggeration. My life has been forever changed by the way you taught me to set goals, celebrate progress, and tend to the important things in life rather than just the urgent things. For the last decade I’ve gotten to practice that alongside your blog and friends in real life…I started as a teenager and now I’m a wife, mama, and business owner. Cultivate What Matters has been a huge paradigm shift for me and will forever impact my brain and my everyday life, continuing on to the next generation. Thank you Lara from the bottom of my heart!!
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on at
Amen. ❤️
Thankful for you.
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on at
I was so sad when I read the news this morning. Write the Word has been a part of my morning for quite some time and I’m always singing its praises. These journals have walked me through so many seasons. I just started the Write the Word – Prayer journal this past Saturday, unknowingly that my mother would pass later that day. God always has a plan and He knew the season I was going to walk through next. I am so very grateful for these journals and will miss them deeply once my stockpile is depleted. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️🙏
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on at
So sad for the end of this season for CWM. I haven’t started businesses or obtained huge things, but Powersheets has held me accountable and helped me grow as a mom, wife and homeschool teacher for 7 years. I will miss them immensely. The Write the Word journals helped me through some pretty dark times (specifically the Psalms journals). I will need to stock up on a few before they leave. The bright colors makes me happy!
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on at
I am admittedly late to the party. Just a few weeks ago I checked out all of your books from the library and my kids are in love with Gracie’s Garden. (As am I!) I got my first Write the Word journal up at our family bible camp this summer (in their bookstore!) and was so excited to have my husband buy it for me. I said, “I’ve kept tabs on this girl, Lara, for years. She’s fully alive.” Then just today I bopped on to get write the word journals for my daughters (perfect for homeschool!) and I read this news. I felt such a grief! I’m relieved that the Write the Word books will still be available, but I think I just feel the gravity of a really good thing in the world… true, noble, honorable…going away. I’m sorry for this loss, Lara. Praise the Lord we believe in a God of redemption and resurrection which keeps all doors open to something new and good. I’m feeling lots of feelings up here in Minnesota for you, and me and for everybody. All our love from Minnesota.
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on at
Thank you for creating Powersheets. I used to think goal was a 4-letter word but I have come to love setting goals through powersheets. I will continue to use the principles even after the planners are gone and the last sticker is stuck. You have changed lives for so many!