We caught up with the brilliant and insightful EMMA KATZKA a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

EMMA, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I always wanted to be a fashion designer with my own brand, but spent 7 years after college designing for other designers, as most fashion designers start out that way. In 2015 I got engaged and, while planning my own wedding, I had a vision in my head for the specific bridal crown I wanted to wear. I searched everywhere but unfortunately couldn’t find anything like it. Since I worked in the garment district in New York at the time, I stopped into a jewelry supply store and bought the supplies I needed to try my hand at making the crown myself. I had never worked with metals in that way before, but I had a lot of experience in clothing and accessory design as well as fine art. I was very happy with the way my crown came out, but I didn’t think about creating a business around it until I went to my final dress fitting at a bridal salon in Soho. The salesperson helping me asked if I purchased the crown from their salon, and I thought to myself, “if she thinks it’s good enough to be sold here, maybe I’m onto something,” I spent the next six months creating my first collection and setting up my business from the ground up. Moving to Charleston six months after that only catapulted it!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started sewing at age 6, and have always been interested in creativity and artistry. I went to college for oil painting and started working in the fashion industry as a designer after graduation.

My business now is centered around creating heirloom quality accessories for weddings and beyond that are unique, feminine, and fashion forward. My pieces are for brides who want to feel a little bit special; they are definitely individualists. My favorite aspect of my business is finding new and different materials to create with.

I create one main collection per year and also taken a select few custom clients each month. I love designing for custom clients who trust my vision and allow me to take their parameters and run with them.

Everything we make is created in our small, female-run studio in Charleston, SC. Our team is small but we all get to have our hands on everything that goes out the door, and that I think is truly special.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The last two years up until about a few months ago have been very trying and also a great growth opportunity for me both personally and professionally. Covid completely shut down my business for several months, as most people had put their wedding plans on hold. About 9 months into Covid, I gave birth to my son. Due to our concern over Covid with a newborn, I was not able to hire childcare and had to rely heavily on my production manager to man the ship while I recovered and learned how to be a mom. Throughout my son’s first 15 months, he had multiple mild but unexplained symptoms that required him to go to multiple specialists and therapies. I felt that I had to continue stepping back from my business until things were clearer. I never expected that I would be in the situation where I had to choose between my child and my business, but I felt that I could never live with myself if I didn’t, as his mom, take him to all of his appointments and support him to my fullest. He is now thriving and has been cleared by all specialists, so we were able to hire childcare so that I could return more fully to working in my business. Ironically, those almost two years that I felt absent from my business were also the most fulfilling of my life. They gave me a new perspective on life balance and what is truly important, and they allowed me to view my career as a want, not a need, which has taken the pressure off and allowed me to take more risks without fear of failure.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have always been a perfectionist, and I’ve definitely had to unlearn that habit and instead adopt the mantra of not letting perfect be the enemy of good. In a world where content moves so quickly and the competition is fierce, it’s so much more important to just get your ideas out there and see the response rather than wait until they’re perfect.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emmakatzka.com
• Instagram: @emmakatzkabridal

Image Credits
Janelle Putrich, Makeup by Jami, Haylee Michalski, Brianna Adams