Your virtual business partner. Your teacher.
Your shrink. Your truth-teller.

And a few client testimonials

• Emily whipped us into shape. Running a design studio where both partners have a design background and limited business experience is fun but can make growth challenging. Emily has been our teacher and our confidant. Since we’ve been working with her, we have felt completely supported when faced with major business decisions and it has had a significant impact on the studio’s finances. Her skilled RFP writing has helped us land projects we would have had difficulty landing prior to working with her. Investing in her services is one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Her invaluable experience has yielded tangible results in less than a year.Deroy Peraza, Principal + Creative Director, Hyperakt, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions, Proposal Development, Staff Management, and Process Evaluation
• Emily is like a coach, shrink, and business consultant all at once. If you have concerns about your design business (as you should), she’ll tell you the brutal truth, point out red flags, help you chart a solution, and write the most detailed proposals. The wealth of Emily’s knowledge and experience will show through the moment you start talking with her. With a fun personality to top, Emily is our go-to business shrink, I mean, consultant.Julia Vakser Zeltser, Principal + Creative Director, Hyperakt, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions, Proposal Development, Staff Management, and Process Evaluation
• When I saw Emily moderate the Business Principles for Design Principals conference a couple years ago, I felt like she was speaking directly to me. She seemed to know all about my weaknesses and anxieties as a small business owner and clearly possessed intimate knowledge of the demands of being not only other people’s boss, but your own. I knew right then that I had to work with her, and now, I can’t imagine not having done so. Years of experience consulting with designers and creative professionals have armed Emily with the expertise and wisdom to console you in times of difficulty and whip you into shape when you cannot see the bigger picture. She truly understands the often delicate balance of being passionate and creative while remaining a strategic and savvy business person. I have come to rely on Emily’s advice in decisions large and small and she’s helped me transform key ways in which I manage my business. Thanks to Emily’s ongoing input and support, our studio has made some forays into exciting new opportunities with greater confidence, with hopefully many more to come! Agnieszka Gasparska, Kiss Me I’m Polish, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions and Proposal Development
• We initially hired Emily because we were trying to answer some critical questions of which roles we should hire next as were growing.  What we got was the answer to that question and a whole lot more.  We ended up shifting around almost every role within the firm, making us much more effective as a team.  Emily also helped us with our proposal writing, and we won the business on the first proposal she helped us with, scoring a six-figure new client. Craig Johnson, President Matchstic, GAServices: Staff Management and Process Evaluation, Grill-the-Consultant Sessions and Proposal Development
• The benefits of Emily’s insider-on-the-outside perspective are enormous. She knows the business extremely well and draws from years of experience to offer tailored advice. She patiently, logically and unambiguously outlines the pros and cons of all of her every recommendations as they pertain to our firm’s particular needs and interests. She is always current, always teaching us something new. A wonderful resource, a delightful person, highly recommended!Sarah Haun, Senior Associate, Marketing Director, Two Twelve Associates, NYServices: Document Audit, Client Survey, and Proposal Development
• After hearing Emily’s session at the HOW, Mind Your Own Business Conference, we knew she was a good match for our design studio! Emily is passionate about her work, and has an incredible sense for people and how they interact in a workplace. In just 2 days of interviews, we were amazed at how she figured out our business structure, our internal management style, our dedicated staff and their unique personalities, and of course, all our issues! She gave us some valuable pointers on a range of topics which included, partner roles and responsibilities, management style, leadership, teamwork, workflow process, new business practices, and everything in-between. While we have a dedicated team of long-time happy employees, the best lesson learned is that we should always strive to keep improving! While it’s tough to face the truth sometimes, Emily isn’t afraid to dish it out! Behind her easy-going personality, is a brutally honest professional! She really kicked us into gear to take action on our endless to-do lists! Jennifer Bressler, Principal, Hunt Design, CAServices: Staff Management and Process Evaluation
• The money we spent for Emily’s help conducting a document audit and writing proposals paid off! The first new proposal we wrote resulted in a comprehensive brand identity, packaging, and web site project to launch a new consumer product.Fritz Klaetke, Principal/Design Director, Visual Dialogue, MAServices: Services: Document Audit, Proposal, and Contract Development
• When I first found out about Emily, I couldn’t believe that there was someone who provided the services she does. Now, all the hours I’ve spent researching, consulting reference books and colleagues, and writing and rewriting estimates can be spent instead on design. And the best part is that I can now send my proposals with confidence and negotiate from a position of strength, since I know Emily’s work is objective, well-informed, and professional. Thanks, Emily.Scott Stowell, Open, NYServices: Staff Management Audit, Grill-the-Consultant Sessions, Proposal, and Contract Development
• Emily has become one of my most valuable business resources. She combines articulate and thoughtful analysis with a warm and responsive manner. She has the ability to develop proposals that clearly communicate the scope and terms of a project, which ultimately benefits my bottom line.Suzy Jurist, SJI Associates, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions, Proposal, and Contract Development
• The success and growth of my business has been due in no small part to the efforts of Emily Cohen. Not only does she write a perfect proposal every time; she never fails to meet the tightest of deadlines, has valuable insight into a wide range of projects, and rises to every occasion with energy and optimism.Louise Fili, Louise Fili Ltd, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions, Proposal, and Contract Development
• Before I was introduced to Emily Cohen, I used to think that our estimates and contracts were pretty decent. My German partner and I used to spend hours and sometimes days on the perfect estimate — writing, rewriting, changing prices, second guessing ourselves — and then we would have our girlfriends double-check everything one more time. So, for anyone who is not crazy about spending a full day or a week writing a mediocre estimate and contract, and anyone who wants to look very, very professional there is Emily Cohen.Hjalti Karlsson, karlssonwilker Inc., NYServices: Proposal Development
• Emily Cohen is the guardian angel for design companies that think only about design and disregard those trivial aspects of running a studio — staff management, proposal development, client surveys, contracts, and the like.Matteo Bologna, Mucca Design, NYServices: Staff Management Audit, Client Survey, Proposal, and Contract Development
• Emily introduced us to the creative brief process and it has changed the way we do business. I used to think some clients were beyond hope and would turn down working with them. Now I explain that defining needs and goals can often be a project in and of itself, and I can see the relief in their eyes. It’s as if they are saying “a designer who really wants to get to know me and will listen to my problems!” In truth, we were always eager to listen, but now we get paid for it.Sheri L Koetting & Marc Levitt, MSLK, NYServices: Creative Brief Consultation
• I sometimes think Emily is more committed to the future of my business than I am. And I certainly have a lot fewer sleepless nights now that I work with her.Douglas Riccardi, Memo Productions, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions and Proposal Development
• Emily Cohen is an invaluable resource to our design firm, and we can measure the results of working with her. After completing a Document Audit, we have more professional proposals, produced more efficiently, and  we have received a very positive response from potential clients. We have, in turn, either been finalists for review or won the design contract. And that was just the beginning of our work with Emily. Now we work with her on an ongoing consulting basis. Being able to tap into her knowledge and receive her impartial advice is invaluable.Kelly McMurray, Creative Director, 2communiqué, FLServices: Document Audit and Grill-the-Consultant Sessions
• Emily just helped us with our proposal for a fantastic naming and identity job with a high profile arts organization in Florida. When we got down to the final 2 from a group of 10 agencies large and small, the client told us there was a direct correlation between the size of the agency and the quality of their proposals. And we won the job. Hurray! Over the past 6 months or so, Emily has successfully guided us through the proposal process, building a relationship with the potential client, sharing our work and vision before we send out any proposal documents – and figuring out the budget together with the client. And since we started working with her on the proposal documents our hit rate has been pretty spectacular – not only winning jobs, but winning exactly the kind of jobs we want to be working on. She doesn’t muck about. She questions everything, keeps an open mind, makes you work hard and celebrates your positive qualities. If you run a creative studio and want it to work better, Emily Cohen is your woman.Mike Benson, Co-owner, Berliner Benson, NYServices: Grill-the-Consultant Sessions and Proposal Development