Let's get personal for a second.

I have never been a journaling type person. Maybe it’s the conscious side of me not wanting to waste a bunch of paper or maybe it’s the procrastination side of me (if you guessed the latter, you are correct – although the first fits my conscious values better so we can stick with that). As we come up on one year of providing conscious clothing for an entire year, I have been doing a lot of reflecting.  

Two years ago is when I first dreamt of EMLE, and it now feels like a lifetime ago with lots in between. I went from working in sports marketing in California to quitting my job to move back home to build EMLE in a matter of 3 days. Yes, it only took me 3 days to decide I wanted to pursue EMLE full time. Some call it crazy, I like to spin it and call it chasing my dream and wanting to share my passion for conscious living.  

Don’t get me wrong, it has been far from a breeze. In fact, I’ve had more breakdowns in the last year than I have in the last 25 years of my life. Yes, I am oversharing, but a part of EMLE is transparency and I strongly dislike when people only talk about the good part because without all the breakdowns, I wouldn’t be where I am today. But let’s not focus on the breakdowns. Let’s focus on the growth I’ve had through those hard moments because there will be more.  

Our first photoshoot with Mallorie McBride, photographer and friend, based in Kansas City. This shoot truly made me so excited for the launch of EMLE and what was to come. 

Shooting content in my living room and getting behind the camera became a normal occurrence to post on Instagram.

In August, we decided to hire Kacey Meinecke to shoot our first official product shoot. It was such a different and unique experience for us to work with a professional photographer and models!

To then, organizing styled shoots with Taylor St. John, a Wichita based photographer. Through all these shoots it was a continual learning curve with lots of feedback from the photographers we worked with and models!

Traveling to New York for our first in person market. This changed my perspective on buying and really helped us determine which directions we wanted to take EMLE.

Along side our travels in the last year, EMLE was always in our suitcases. It is a little surreal getting dressed for a memorable event wearing clothes from your own sustainable clothing store. 

We could list hundreds of memories from the last year like dressing my brother in our first unisex piece, having photoshoots with my brother being our photographer, doing shoots with my best friends, doing a giveaway with my best friend, roommate and local Wichita artist, Mary McCoy, and many more. 

With the relaunch of our website and new ways to shop including shopping by our Conscious Scale , we could not be more proud or excited.