Q+A with Emily
What has been your favorite part about designing?
Nothing is more exciting to me than seeing something you’ve drawn and thought about come to life. That is the best part of designing. Making something and watching someone wear it and enjoy it is gratifying and gives what I do meaning. To be creative and love what I do is fulfilling but to have someone else use it and love it is everything.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I find that I am mostly inspired when I travel, learning from other cultures and traditions. But I can easily be inspired in my own city, walking the streets. From a simple shape to a complex geometric architectural high-rise, New York City has no shortage of inspiration. People watching alone is an event. It allows me to brainstorm and really think about how I can make something useful and attractive for the people that surround me.
What are you most passionate about in your business?
I'm passionate about being creative but I am most passionate about the people in my city benefiting from my business. Working with manufacturers in my city is something I knew I wanted to do from the very beginning. It is my purpose to support jobs in my community and build relationships. I hope to be able to form a charity in the future to support people that suffer from home and food insecurity where I live. There would be no better feeling if doing something I love can help support the people that are my neighbors.
What expectations do you have for your brand in the future?
In the very near future my goal is to expand my handbag line. I hope my bags get picked up by every high-end boutique around the world. I hope to be a yearly presenter at New York’s Fashion Week, have my own manufacturing company and a connection to my community through philanthropy.
What was your biggest fear related to starting your business?
That I wouldn’t start a business at all. I had thoughts that I would work for someone else for the rest of my life and regret not working for myself. I feared the possibility of regret in my future. The notion that I would look back at my life and think about how different it could have been if I had just taken the step to pursue my dream made me fearful. I was more afraid of not starting my business than starting and it not working out.
You have to be somewhat fearless to start a business knowing that it might not succeed. It’s important to embrace the possibility of failure. If you fear failing then you would never take risks and no risk, no reward. I think that people would take more risks in life if they didn’t care about what other people thought. I try to remember that everyone is going to have an opinion no matter what and the people that are skeptical of your possibility of success are the ones that harbor the most fear.
My overall perspective on fear is everything you do in life will not be successful or turn out how you envision but if you learn and grow from it then it was well worth it.