You’ve pieced your business together through scrappiness, trial and error, podcasts, YouTube, Chat, and ingenuity. Maybe even a course or two. Congratulations—that’s a big deal.
You’re living your dream… in theory. But the dream feels hard. Like, harder than it should be?
This is when customized, deep-dive support and perspective from someone who’s been there, and knows how to guide you through, is a game-changer.
I support art-driven product business owners who’ve built something real, and now feel stuck, stretched, burned out, or simply unsure what the right next moves are.
Together, we can cut through what’s not important (but seems so important!!!), untangle tough decisions, and simplify what feels complicated. FYI, tears and laughter are foundational.
Our goal is a solid, sustainable business you love, that supports the kind of life you want.
I do this work because in 2015, when I needed a “me,” I couldn’t find one — and my life was a lot harder for it.
I created a profitable, culturally significant, cult favorite brand, Em + Friends (originally Emily McDowell Studio), that has sold tens of millions of products worldwide at both wholesale and D2C. In 2022, it was acquired by Barnes & Noble and I parted ways with the company.
The road was paved with a lifetime’s worth of challenges, successes, virality, and pivots, including a company merger, our wholesale distributor filing a surprise bankruptcy, building our own warehouse, revenue doubling literally overnight… talk about highs and lows.
My expertise isn’t just in sales, systems, ops, and marketing, but also in creative direction, product development, manufacturing, and vision — with a not-insignificant side of nervous system support, coaching, and hard-earned wisdom.
★Founder & CEO of a multi-7-figure product business
★Artist, writer, and designer of hundreds of top-selling products
★Global sales to 4,000+ retailers
★Strategic merger with Knock Knock (2018)
★Successful exit via acquisition by Barnes & Noble (2022)
★Deep experience in product development, manufacturing, branding, wholesale, and D2C
★Cool, kind, thoughtful human
If your business feels harder than it should, you’re not imagining it.
You might be here because:
★ Your business is “successful,” but it feels heavy and exhausting
★ You’re overwhelmed by decisions and second-guessing yourself
★ You know something needs to change, but can’t see the path forward
★ You’ve learned a lot of things, but still feel stuck applying them
★ You want growth or sustainability without burning yourself out or betraying your values
There comes a time when you don’t need any more general information.
You need an experienced perspective, real-time feedback, a sounding board, and a trusted partner who can see your business (and life!) as a whole.
That’s where you and I get together.
In our work together, you’ll:
Feel more alive and excited about your business again
Make confident decisions without overthinking
Avoid expensive, time-wasting mistakes (like the time I ordered 25,000 tote bags without specifying how I wanted the handles sewn!)
Focus on what’s actually profitable, not the million other things that seem important
Build a business that fits your life, not the other way around
If it’s part of running a product-based business, we can tackle it.
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What of these 27 to-dos should I work on first? Am I focusing on the right things? What’s smarter for my business: D2C, wholesale, or both? How can I work fewer hours or show up differently without the business imploding? What are my actual goals for the business? Are we growing too fast? How can I turn around declining sales? How do I make sure our growth doesn’t eat all our profit? How much should I be paying myself? I want my life to look like X, how can I design my business to support that? I want to get X off my plate. I work all the time, but I never feel like I’m getting anything done… help!
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Please help me evaluate these new designs, from the perspective of a buyer and/or against my brand’s pillars. I have a half-baked idea, can we brainstorm on it? How many products should I really be releasing a year? When does it make sense for me to follow a trend? How can I differentiate my work in the marketplace? I have X idea, is the timing right for it? Would it be OK for me to release just one of X thing and not do a collection? Can you help make this collection stronger?
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How do I find a quality manufacturer for snow globes/pencils/sticker books? Is this factory I found on Alibaba ripping me off? I want to do everything domestically, help me figure that out? When is it viable for me to manufacture overseas and how do I even… do that? What specs does a manufacturer need from me in order to make a more complex product, and what are the steps? How do I prevent communication mishaps? How can I protect myself in case an entire shipment of mugs arrives broken and I’ve already paid for it? What’s in a vendor agreement? How do I make sure a manufacturer is ethical? Is it a terrible idea for me to order 5,000 bookmarks?
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What do retailers really look for in packaging? What are the packaging mistakes that can kill my orders? Can you help me design my packaging for maximum effectiveness? Is there are better way for me to package this thing? How should I price X when my competitors are all over the place? At what point is a margin too small to be viable in my business? How can I position my work so customers will pay more for it? When would it make strategic sense to charge less than we could? I want to make X product, but it’s really expensive, can you help me figure out if we should do it?
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I get what my brand is about, but I struggle to clearly share it. I don’t think the visuals and copy on my site cohesively reflect my brand, help? How can I most effectively communicate my brand vision? Oh shit I forgot to have a brand vision. Do I have to be making reels? What kind of email do retailers want to read? How can I get new customers? How often should I be in touch with my existing customers, and what should I say? I’m scared of being too salesy.
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Do I have to do both? If I focus on one or the other, which direction makes more sense for my biz and why? If I shift my focus to one, I’m afraid my biz will implode and I need your help. Why do these snow globes/pencils/stickers sell at D2C, but not wholesale? How do I evaluate the “worth it” math on D2C vs. wholesale? Can I market to both audiences at the same time? When do pre-orders make sense? Can you help me set up a release calendar and a marketing calendar? I have all these new products, which ones should I release together? How important are key accounts, really? How do I set my brand up to be as appealing as possible to wholesale buyers? What do they look for and how do they think?
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When does it make sense to outsource fulfillment, how do I know if I’m ready, how hard will it be, and how much will it cost? How would fulfillment work for my specific situation? My 3PL sucks, what can/should we do? What can I realistically expect from an ops person and what should they be doing in my business? I need to hire an ops person, but all the knowledge is in my head, fuck, help. As our ops needs grow, how should we split up the labor between multiple positions? We’re outgrowing our space and I don’t know what to do.
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What are the most important positions to hire for in my specific biz? How should I handle my difficult employee? How do I set someone up for success and make sure they’re trained well? When do I let someone go and how do I approach that conversation without projectile vomiting? When do I need employees vs. freelancers? Can you give me feedback on this job description?
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How do I know when it’s time to pivot or transition? What would it take for me to be able to sell my company, and is it possible? If yes, how much money might I make, and how would that process work? Are there other, different paths forward for my work if I want to wind down operations, but selling isn’t an option? I have an idea for a pivot, but I need a thought partner; I’m spinning around in my own head over here.
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fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Can I fall back in love with my business, or is it time to hang it up? Is there a change I can make? Is there something here that I’m not seeing? I’m sick of my brand. I loved this job for so long, but I’m not sure it’s right anymore. Everything just feels harder and harder. If I quit, what else could I do? I feel pretty done with this, but I’m terrified of the unknown. I’m worried I’ll just feel like a big failure. What do I even want to do? Help.
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.”
Cathy Zhang, founder & designer, Easy Sunday Club
“Emily is a thought leader, a mentor, and a nurturer in one rare package. 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. ”
How it works:
My client roster is currently full, and I’m not able to take discovery calls right now. If you’d like to be contacted when spots open up, please send me a quick note here.
Free Discovery Call
20 minutes to talk through where you’re at and see if working together makes sense.
Single Strategy Session
$400
60 minutes of focused, practical guidance you can act on immediately. You send me any relevant info in advance, and we dive right in.
3-Month Support Package
$3600
Ongoing partnership, deep strategy, and access to my brain and heart.
This package includes 2 60-minute Zoom calls per month, and light email support/review of documents, copy, art files, anything you want! The investment is $3600, also payable in installments of $1200/month. At the 3-month mark, you can choose to either end the container or keep going.
FAQ: Is this the right fit?
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This work is for product-based business owners who already have something in motion: products launched, sales happening, and real decisions on the table.
Most clients come to me when they’ve outgrown DIY solutions and want experienced, tailored, founder-level perspective to help them decide what to do next.
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This isn’t the right fit if you’re:
Just getting started and haven’t launched yet
Looking for step-by-step instructions or templates only
Primarily seeking accountability or mindset coaching
Not in a position to invest in 1:1 support
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Clients often come with questions like:
“What should I focus on right now, what can wait, and what should I not even be doing at all?”
“Is this product, channel, or idea actually worth pursuing?”
“Am I overthinking this, or missing something important?”
“What would you do if this were your business?”
If you’re wrestling with decisions that feel high-stakes or unclear, this work can help a lot.
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The discovery call is a short, focused conversation to:
Understand where you are and what you’re navigating
Answer questions about how I work
Decide together whether working 1:1 makes sense
It’s not a sales pitch, and there’s no obligation to move forward. I’m not going to try to convince you, and I only want to work with people who feel a full-body yes in their nervous system.
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Yes.
If I don’t think consulting is the best next step for you, I’ll say so — and point you toward more appropriate resources whenever possible.
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Not for this offering.
My pricing reflects the depth of experience, preparation, and attention this work requires.
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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.
Not sure what you need yet? That’s normal. You’re normal.
You don’t need a polished plan or perfect questions. Just be where you are.
No pressure, no prep, no obligations, no weirdness.
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
If you want perspective, direction, and support grounded in real experience, let’s talk.