Start / Windowsill Chats / Pivot profit and purpose emily mcdowell on reclaiming joy in the creative journey

Pivot, Profit, and Purpose: Emily McDowell on Reclaiming Joy in the Creative Journey

71 min • 15 maj 2024

Margo is joined by friend of the Windowsill, Emily McDowell. As an advisor, thought partner, and coach, Emily McDowell helps save creative entrepreneurs’ time, money, and sanity, and helps product-based brands succeed. As founder of the stationery brand Em & Friends, she created Empathy Cards, a more honest and supportive alternative to traditional sympathy cards, which drew organic coverage by hundreds of major media outlets in 22 countries and inspired a sea change to the industry. As a writer and illustrator, her work has gone viral countless times, and for over a decade, she’s been known for creating products that make people wonder if she’s been reading their diaries. Emily is also the co-author and illustrator of There Is No Good Card for This: What to Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love, and offers unsolicited advice, cautionary tales, and missives from the great adventure of midlife in her Substack newsletter, Unqualified.

Margo and Emily discuss:

Her experiences in going viral unexpectedly
the mental shift from creating for joy to creating for profit and how it affects the process and output
The transition from owning a stationary company to creative coaching
Challenges and revelations in manufacturing
Keeping creativity alive amidst business endeavors
Inclusivity and diversity in creative communities
The psychological and creative benefits of engaging in non-monetizable creative activities
Her experience in exiting/selling a business and having a non-compete agreement
Licensing creative work