Meet the Team: Emmelie
Emmelie (along with Rhiannon) started the Small Biz Big Chat events back in 2022. Get to know her a little better…
Name: Emmelie Coulson
Your small business: Emmelie Coulson Design. I’m a brand designer and illustrator, creating bold and high-energy branding for female entrepreneurs who want to move away from the bland and boring designs. I love using bright colours that create joyful and dopamine filled brands, not just to make me smile but also to add a bit of happiness to the world.
Why is networking important? I think a lot of people see networking as an opportunity to sell more and although it’s definitely one of its purposes, for me networking is more about connecting with other female entrepreneurs, to learn from them, to know that I’m not the only one going through the rough patches. Building that community of like minded business owners is so important, not just to keep you motivated but also to celebrate your successes with!
Your fav thing about running a small biz? Being free to do what I want! Making the decisions on when to work (or not) what to work on, who to work with and how much to charge. When to give myself a pay rise and what direction to take my business into.
Before I started my own business I worked in a corporate role, part time, because I had two young kids. When I came from maternity leave with my second child I wanted to move up in the company but found it a real struggle to do so whilst still working part time - this really pushed me to create a job for myself where I was the one calling the shots!
Your least fav thing about running a small biz? The juggle, definitely the juggle. The juggle of wearing all the hats but also of trying to grow my business and having a young family. The flexibility that comes with running your own business is amazing but it also means that I’m the default person to be flexible when it comes to the kids and childcare. And as an organised person I find it hard to have to reshuffle my plans when one of the kids is off unexpectedly.
Your biggest pet peeve? Wet socks. Living in a house with two young children and a dog, there always seems to be a water spillage and I always seem to be able to step in it, having to change my socks immediately!
Favourite book: The A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series by Sarah J Maas. A fantasy series that starts off loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. It’s the first fantasy series I read and now most of the books I read are in that genre.
Business wise one of my favourite books is You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero - it talks about how we will always stay in the same situation if we don’t stretch our comfort zone and I think that’s something we all need to be reminded of from time to time!
Favourite podcast: I can’t... There’s so many podcasts that I love and listen to regularly. I don’t know if I can only pick one! At the moment I’m a big fan of the Building Your Brand podcast of Liz Mosley.
Your goal for the year: To be more visible - I feel the last year or so I’ve stuck to Instagram for marketing but this year I’ve set the goal to show up in other ways and get more eyes on me. Through podcast interviews, guest blog posts, finding other platforms and by investing and improving my website!
The best piece of business advice you’ve heard? There will be loads of people telling you you ‘should’ be doing xyz for your business but unless that feels like the right fit for you, you don’t have to do anything.
When starting out (or even if we’ve been in business for a while) you look at others for advice and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of following everyone's advice and making it all harder for you.
I love to look over my processes, marketing strategy and other business things and see what I’m doing feels right for me, if it’s an easy task for me or if it’s something I’m doing because I heard somewhere I should.
Where can we find you?
Web: Emmelie Coulson Design
You can also find Emmelie on Instagram and Pinterest.
Image taken by Small Fish Brand Co..