The biggest red flag in a job interview, according to a founder—and what impresses her most

Jaclyn Johnson has big plans for her business.

She started hosting events for women entrepreneurs in 2011 and formally launched her company, Create & Cultivate, in 2015.

In the last decade, the founder has scaled the business to host 2,000-attendee gatherings, sold the company for $22 million, bought it back, brought on a new CEO and built the “Coachella for career women” — a two-day festival with programming that includes Doechii, Ciara, Aeysha Curry and Paige DeSorbo.

Johnson, 40, is now Create & Cultivate’s chief creative officer. When she hires someone, she looks for someone who can move fast and work with big ideas for the startup.

One of her favorite interview questions to ask a prospective hire is, “What’s a time that you put a fire out?”

Jaclyn Johnson bought back her company, Create & Cultivate, in 2024 and has been gearing up to host the “Coachella for career women” ever since.

Britt Perkins Photography

Her goal is to see how someone operates and solves problems when thing don’t go exactly as planned. “People who are able to flex and move and adapt quickly are always great for a startup environment,” Johnson says.

Johnson also appreciates people who aren’t afraid to discuss when things go wrong, or mistakes they’ve made and how they’ve since reflected on them. “My green flags are people who can come to an interview and also talk about the good, the bad, the ugly,” she says.