Today we’d like to introduce you to Ema Davis.
Hi Ema, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started drawing when I was four years old, and it was fueled by my educators, family and friends who would buy me pencils, markers, pastels, notebooks, and more art supplies than a kid would ever need, but that I would always manage to use up entirely. I tried channeling my creativity into comics that I’d write with my few close friends, but somehow in grade school even having a known talent would get you outcast by your peers or bullied into creating something cool for them in exchange for a day of peace. High school is where I grew a need to be able to apply my art in a specific format that everyone could see and enjoy, so I joined Broadcast Media and considered a career in journalism, filmmaking, or animation.
This path took a hard left only a few months before graduating when I saw a friend of mine walking with her graphic design project to her class. It was a giant board with a grid of 100 squares and stylized variations of the letter ‘a’. I asked my Broadcast Media teacher what graphic design was. Before he could actually get into the details, I was sold, knowing that this was the combination of art/creativity and connecting with people that I had wanted. I’m not sure why, but I’m certainly glad it worked out. I wasn’t in college for a year yet before the ‘harshest’ design teacher pulled me to the side to tell me that I had an affinity for design.
Since then, though I’ve worked at many companies, creating brand identities and managing creative teams, I was sure to set up my personal studio early on in 2012 so that I could have a head start on real, professional, paid work under my own name. I graduated in 2014 cum laude from the Art Institute of Atlanta and began designing for a leading healthcare marketing agency, building relationships with the leadership of renowned healthcare systems and pioneers of healthcare technology.
I moved on to expand my experience in a variety of unique industries including but not limited to: highly immersive experiential events and trade shows for global brands, geospatial technology, e-commerce merchant services, technology systems that redefine health information management, and medical and cosmetic services for women.
Before taking on my current roles where I lead the brand for CirrusMD and became an independent partner and creative director with Xapis Media—a video and design agency—I led the brand evolution, strategy, and management at SalesLoft and SugarCRM.
For the past nine years, I have advised and collaborated with department leaders and executives on aligning business goals with custom workflows, managing multi-channel campaigns under various budgets, and creating measurable returns on creative top-of-funnel efforts.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anxiety has played a pretty large role in how I have experienced my life and it remains a struggle today. It pioneers doubts that are irrational and fuels imposter syndrome. It validates the few bad eggs in your life that suggests you aren’t good enough. My physical and mental health suffered quite a bit in college, to the point that I had a panic attack that required my boyfriend at the time to take me to the ER, only to find out that I was incredibly malnourished with a few other health issues and that stress had caused my blood pressure to spike so high that I could have had a heart attack in my sleep. I had lost 25-30 pounds from my already slim frame and my friends could see the bones in my back and shoulders. I had gotten really skinny and weak from not eating enough. I was working several jobs at the time at McDonald’s, Kroger, a paid design internship, and doing freelance on the side. You would think I would have been well-off, but my money was being drained by a lemon of a car that kept shutting down the day after I drove it off the lot from the mechanic and paying interest on my student loans.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create brand experiences for businesses that not only look great but are tailored to telling the story of the business, building a connection between customers and the company, and being scalable so that it grows with the company. Brand identities tend to start with logo design and art direction for the visual identity of the brand and often include website design and marketing collateral. I am known for being the “brand police” at many companies I’ve worked at and pride myself on creating solutions that work for everyone. I think what sets me apart is my awkwardness, to be honest. I think many people tend to see their own vulnerable and weird sides through me since I’m not the best at hiding it, so it lets people know that I’m truly here because I love what I do, I’m good at it and I just want to help.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I have been following Chris Do pretty heavily since a couple of years ago. Any of his Youtube videos or articles are jam-packed with value for creatives that are working for themselves. I consistently get design inspiration from Muzli, Awwwards, Designspiration.net, Pinterest, Behance, Dribbble, and Instagram.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@emadenisedavis.com
- Website: emadenisedavis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
emadenisedavis 
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