After a move across the country from the San Francisco Bay Area to the DC area, and a life-changing decision to leave behind the corporate world, I spent almost wo years staying home with my two sons. It was just what me, my family, our new life on the other side of the country needed. It didn't take long for my entrepreneurial itch to start, and thus came along Emily James Design. Driven by my love for interior design, I finally decided to turn my hobby into a side hustle and now it’s moving onto a full-fledged profession. Combining my years of business experience in retail with my experience in design and the home decor industry, I have started Emily James Design. If you work with me, you can expect nothing less than exceptional expertise, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of your vision. Let me transform your space into something extraordinary.What sets me apart from other design firms is that most interior designers order, mark up, and sell all of the products used in their designs to the client. This often leads to high minimum spends by the client, markups over retail prices, and less versatility of products available to use. Emily leaves all of the ordering and buying to the client. This leads to less project management for Emily James which directly means savings to the client because I can set lower than average design prices. Don’t worry, if I do have any design trade discounts, those will be shared with clients and those savings will be going straight to the client’s pockets.My design style is best described as timeless elegance meets the perfect blend of California cool and East Coast charm. My passion for historical architecture is at the heart of every design, creating spaces that exude both sophistication and functionality.

Took time off to support my family's relocation from SF to DC and navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Developed and executed merchandising strategies for the Shutterfly and Tiny Prints Cards & Stationary categories, focusing on Holiday, Baby, and Birthday.- Owned overall product assortment, curation, and strategy for areas of ownership within the division. - Analyzed marketplace trends/opportunities, consumer buying behavior and translated insights into exclusive products designed for the company demographic. -Designed seasonal creative briefs and mood boards to provide art direction for both internal and external designers to deliver a best-in-class,100% exclusive assortment.- Partnered with business stakeholders, site merchandising, marketing, engineering, and product managers on business performance, product/process initiatives, and project priorities.- Supported product set-up, features and launches through the full end-to-end life.- Analyzed complex business data to measure and articulate clear recommendations & go forward actions and strategies.

-Managed and executed business strategy that drove a revenue increase of double digit comps year over year, consecutively, from 2014- YTD 2018.- Drove all product development and merchandising strategies for the Holiday and Fall decor/greenery businesses. - Created a best-in-class assortment of exclusive product by working with strategic partners both domestically and internationally. -Led the launch of the faux floral business within Balsam Hill; implemented market research andanalyzed data to create merchandising and business strategy. Sales easily met forecastedoutcome.-Served as creative project manager to plan and execute all Balsam Hill catalogs and monitoringyear end performance results leading to increased profitability and revenue four years in a row.-Effectively edited product development & merchandising timeline, ensuring early and on-time order placement as well as earlier shipments from vendors.-Partnered closely with the Director of Product Development, COO, and the CEO to introducedifferentiated products within existing and emerging categories-Initiated, maintained, and fostered good relationships with vendors and factories, domestically and internationally.

-Successfully launched and maintained brand new holiday décor business within Balsam Hill;grew exponentially, every year, for over four years.-Championed cross-functional partnerships between eCommerce, Merchandising, Marketingand Operations teams, bridging the gaps and forming positive, ongoing relationships.-Part of the first-ever Merchant team at Balsam Brands, I created processes and procedures for the Merchandising function which helped incorporate them into the company culture as well as stream-lined work load and expectations with cross-functional partners and leadership team.

-Managed both Seasonal and Decorative Accessories departments for the Gump’s catalog.-Developed and assorted product for Summer 2013; forecasted to significantly beat plan. -Identified opportunities and recommended new product or concepts for multiple departments.-Revamped seasonal faux floral assortment which led to increased sales year over year that farexceeded the company average.-Created strategies to maintain a profitable balance of core and seasonal products.-Participated in managing the catalog pagination for respective departments.

-Owned five tabletop departments for the “direct-to-consumer” (DTC) channel.-Launched new department in 2011 that exceeded sales projections significantly.-Implemented a new creative strategy for the tabletop catalog spreads; which lead to increased sales that were well above the brand-average. -Developed and sourced a new product concept that led to incremental sales of $800K whenit launched.-Operated without a Sourcing team and solely managed all communication directly withoverseas vendors.-Started and managed the licensee relationship with the MLB and NFL for the Williams Sonoma brand.

-Responsible for assisting the buyer with the tactical execution of assortment building andretail store visuals.-Communicated key marketing changes, signage, in-store promotion strategies andplacement of markdown goods.-Streamlined customer returns process by implementing a web form for store associates; thisbrought valuable data to the Merchant, Quality Assurance and Sourcing teams.