Meet Cassandra Manning

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassandra Manning. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Cassandra, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Truthfully, it’s a mix of a hard start to life, a lot of healing, and a stubborn refusal to quit.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

On the topic of resilience, because it’s such a paramount attribute to possess as a business owner:

I grew up in circumstances that weren’t easy — my mother struggled with addiction, I was adopted by my grandparents, and I experienced things no child should. From a young age, I learned that if I wanted something good in life, I’d have to fight for it.

That fight turned into fuel. Over the years, I’ve learned how to bend without breaking. I joke that I’m basically a cockroach — I refuse to die and I refuse to give up. There’s always a way forward, even if it means finding a new one.

When I started my business, I told my husband, “Let’s take a chance on me.” I wasn’t promising perfection; I was promising effort, grit, and a refusal to fail. Not because failure isn’t real — I know it is — but because I’m built to keep getting back up until something works.

I’ve never thought I was the smartest person in the room, but I’m always the one who will learn and keep moving forward. I don’t settle for “good enough.” I push, I adjust, I grow. I challenge myself and go back to the drawing board time and time again.

To me, resilience isn’t about being unbreakable — it’s about staying flexible. It’s knowing that success doesn’t have to look like one thing, and that grace and grit can exist in the same person.

That’s what Thread & Clover is built on — the belief that you can rebuild, reimagine, and keep showing up. Over and over again.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, I’d say the three things that have had the biggest impact on my journey are resilience, adaptability, and a hunger to learn.

Resilience is the one that’s been there since the beginning. I had a rough start in life, and that taught me early on that no one was coming to save me — I had to figure things out myself. So much of resilience is just showing up again and again, even when it’s hard or uncomfortable. My advice for anyone starting out is: don’t wait until you feel ready or confident. Just start. You build resilience by doing the hard things, not by avoiding them.

Adaptability has been huge, especially as a business owner. Things rarely go as planned — products flop, sales dip, life throws curveballs. I’ve learned to pivot quickly and not take it personally when something doesn’t work. It’s not failure, it’s data. As a nerdy stats person, I always go back to the data. The faster you can let go of what’s not working and try something new, the stronger you’ll become.

And then there’s the hunger to learn. I don’t pretend to be the smartest person in the room — I just never stop learning. Whether it’s through podcasts, books, experiments, or mistakes, I’m always trying to understand things better. That curiosity has probably opened more doors for me than anything else.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone early in their journey, it’s this: stay humble, stay curious, and give yourself grace. You don’t have to have it all figured out — you just have to be willing to learn, grow, and keep going.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

My husband, Jace. He’s everything. A constant sounding board, patient listener, and the person who’s given me space to grow into who I am as a business owner.

When I was building Thread & Clover, he never made me feel guilty for the time, the stress, or the uncertainty. He just supported me — quietly, fully, and without judgment. That kind of belief in someone changes you.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned from him are:
• Grace is strength. You can lead, grow, and achieve without being hard all the time.
• Partnership matters. You don’t have to do it all alone to prove you’re capable.
• Steady support is a superpower. Having someone who holds you steady while you build your dream is everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.threadandclover.com
• Instagram: Threadandclovermn
• Facebook: Threadandclovermn