You’ve built a product biz that’s working (congrats!), but you suspect—or you know—it could be working better.
Or you could be working better.
Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed or burned out.
Maybe your business is growing, and you’re coming up against new problems you don’t know how to solve, or opportunities you’re not sure how to take advantage of.
Maybe you’re making stuff up as you go and you keep thinking, “Is this what I should be doing?”
Maybe you’re afraid of screwing it up.
Maybe you’re feeling very aware that you don’t know what you don’t know.
Maybe you’re spending a lot of time working on things you actually hate.
Maybe you find yourself wondering “is there a better way to do this?” Like, daily.
Back away slowly from the black hole of the internet. I got you.
With me as your guide and advisor, you’ll save yourself endless time, money, and struggle, and get the kind of game-changing strategic, creative, operational, and emotional support ChatGPT only wishes it could provide. (Can it wish yet?)
As the founder of Em & Friends, I created or creative-directed over a thousand products that turned our customers into evangelists, led a team of writers and designers, attracted millions of dollars’ worth of global press with a marketing budget of zero, and gained a decade-plus of experience manufacturing domestically and abroad.
Name an experience in the world of products, I’ve navigated it—from creating work that cut through the sea of sameness, to building a warehouse in another state, to working with thousands of retailers worldwide, to re-sewing 15,000 handles onto an entire shipment of malfunctioning tote bags, to learning what it takes to sell an artist-driven brand (twice!).
I’ve had a lot of success—and I also made a lot of exhausting and expensive mistakes along the way. This is not uncommon; no matter how smart you are, in the world of making and selling physical goods, the learning curve is steep, and there’s so much to know, guess, estimate, and decide.
But with me on your team, you won’t have to learn any of it the hard way.
Kate Bowler, multi- New York Times bestselling author and host of Everything Happens
“When we decided to launch a product collection, Emily was our first call for help. Without her expert guidance in what to make and how to make it, we would have given up in frustration. Having access to her knowledge and ideas in this process has been a game-changer.”
Some of the ways I can support you:
Helping you evaluate your business and hone in on what’s working and not working (numbers-wise, and you-as-a-person-wise), to create more space, profit, and sustainability
Creative and strategic thought partnership for everything from product development to marketing ideas
Answering any and all questions in the categories of “does it make sense to…?” and “what did you do when…?” and “am I crazy for…?”
Strategic product planning to help make sure you don’t end up with a storage unit full of 3,000 (scarves, bags, t-shirts only you think are funny)
Sharing everything I know about finding quality, ethical, fairly priced manufacturers in the US and/or abroad (plus all my resources!)
Making sure your packaging sells your products and doesn’t accidentally cause them to fail
Expert creative and strategic feedback on your product collections, copywriting, website, and marketing
Optimizing your product offerings and marketing to both wholesale and D2C customers
Helping you stand out from the competition by honing your brand voice, visuals, product offering, and marketing
Guidance on fulfillment, both in-house and third-party
Support for hiring, roles, and job descriptions
Support around managing employees and freelancers
Strategic counseling around selling your creative company
Facilitating and coaching around bigger life questions, business transitions, and all the ways your humanity and your work are intertwined
Cathy Zhang, founder & designer, Easy Sunday Club
“Emily is a thought leader, a mentor, and a nurturer in one rare package. Having gone through different masterminds and coaching programs over the years, it became easier for me to spot those who are great at marketing but whose programs fell short in substance and relevance, versus those who were successful practitioners in the industry and are genuinely driven (and qualified) to help others. To me, Emily is the real deal. She is someone I wish I had in my corner when I first started my product business, but am so grateful to have 7 years later as I navigate my next business and life transition. After one session with her, she helped me find clarity in the areas I was stuck and gain the confidence that I will figure it out. I can't wait to work with her more!”
Ongoing consulting clients also get access to all my resources, like:
A vendor agreement for manufacturers that would have saved me tens of thousands of dollars (no joke) in my first few years in business
A detailed, comprehensive manufacturing price request checklist, to ensure you get the exact product you want without wasting time and money
Spreadsheets to help you calculate the true cost of a product
My relationships with manufacturers, brokers, other brands, and contacts in the industry. If I ever can’t answer a question, I know someone who can.
“Hey Emily, why are you doing this?”
It’s really simple: I want to offer the kind of guidance and support I needed when I was building Em & Friends, but didn’t exist. I hired plenty of consultants over the years, but each one specialized in one or two aspects of what I needed to know: how to prepare a wholesale collection and work with retailers, or how to put together a warehouse, or how to exhibit at a trade show. There was nobody I could work with who could help with all of it, from manufacturing to sales, and nobody to learn from who’d actually done the thing I was doing, at the scale I was doing it.
Now I’m that person, and I want to share everything I’ve learned, because I know how isolating, overwhelming, time-consuming, and disheartening it can be when you’re trying to figure it all out on your own.
Craig Hetzer, former Publisher, Knock Knock
“Emily quite simply knows a ton about how to make, design, manufacture, market, sell, and distribute gift product. Most importantly, she has the rare ability to step back and critically assess a product from all angles—from concept to design and form, including its effectiveness in communicating and appealing to customers. And, she is not only highly skilled at working with writers, artists, designers, manufacturers, and sales teams, but motivates and cheers them on throughout the process.”
How does it work?
Below are two baseline options for working with me, as a starting point. All sessions are conducted over Zoom.
I also work with my 1:1 clients in customized ways (i.e., in-person intensive, fractional executive, retainer, one call per month); we can work together to create a plan that best suits your needs. Inquire about this here.
Free 20-minute discovery call:
Let’s chat! You can ask any questions you like, and we can see if it’s a mutual fit.
If you’ve read this far, this is also the part where I tell you I also coach entrepreneurs outside the product space, but I don’t specifically advertise it at this time (except for right here). If this is you, and you think you might like to work together, let’s connect and see if I’m the right person to support you.
One-time, 60-minute call:
A great option if you have a handful of questions for me. We can cover a lot in an hour!
If, after we meet, you decide you’d like to continue working together, the cost of this meeting will be deducted and included in whatever package we create.
Investment: $400
An example of a 3-month package (we can design something specifically for you, too!):
One 90-minute onboarding session
Five 60-minute sessions (can be scheduled at any intervals in the 3 months)
Access to all my templates, checklists, manufacturers, and resources
Investment: One payment of $3,600, or 3 payments of $1,200.