Emily McDowell is a writer, illustrator, speaker, teacher, advisor, and entrepreneur. She is the founder and former creative director of Em & Friends, formerly known as Emily McDowell Studio. Following the brand's 2022 acquisition by Union Square Publishing, McDowell is no longer with the company. In 2015, she was named one of

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

’s 10 Designers Who are Changing the World. McDowell has collaborated with

Elizabeth Gilbert Elizabeth Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 memoir '' Eat, Pray, Love'', which has sold over 30 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also mad ...

Lisa Congdon Lisa Congdon (born January 17, 1968) is an American fine artist, author and illustrator. She has worked for clients including MoMA, Harvard University, Martha Stewart Living, REI, and Chronicle Books. Congdon is the author of ''Art Inc: The Essen ...

, Sheryl Sandberg’s Option B Foundation, and Knock Knock.

Career

After college, McDowell worked in advertising as a writer and creative director but grew frustrated with the industry and left to pursue her writing and art in other ways. While searching for her next venture, she noticed that the sentiments in classic greeting card did not reflect the real-world experiences of the people she knew particularly surrounding difficult subjects like grief, loss, and illness. Inspired to fill this gap, Emily began to create cards for what she calls “the relationships we really have” McDowell's first popular card went viral on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

of 2012. The card which read: “I know we’re not like, together or anything but it felt weird not to say anything so I got you this card. It’s not a big deal, It doesn’t really mean anything. There isn’t even a heart on it. So basically, it’s a card saying hi. Forget it.” sold over 1,700 copies in one week and provided the springboard for her business. Emily's work was then picked up by

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

and other large retailers. McDowell's first book, ''There Is No Good Card For This: What To Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair To People You Love'', co-authored with Dr. Kelsey Crowe, was released in January 2017.

Empathy cards

McDowell was diagnosed with Stage 3

Hodgkin’s lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

at the age of 24. She has stated that one of the most difficult parts of her experience was “the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.” Her experience as a cancer patient combined with the experience of losing a close friend to cancer inspired her to create a series of greeting cards known as "Empathy Cards" which is her most popular line to date. Empathy cards are designed for people dealing with grief and loss using frank, and often humorous language. McDowell stated that her goal is to create "better, more authentic ways to communicate about sickness and suffering."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Emily Living people American illustrators 21st-century American women writers American businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people)