We were lucky to catch up with Emma Tuthill recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emma, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My business name is a reflection of the non-linear way I came to brand and website design! My undergraduate education was a combination of fashion design and anthropology, which, broadly, is the study of humans. I’ve always loved – and loved trying – a lot of different things, but I’ve continually felt a pull toward some kind of meaningful intersection between creative work and work that helps people. Now I get to do exactly that by designing brands and websites for helping professionals, like therapists and coaches, along with other creatives.

The name itself – The Brand Anthropologist – was suggested by one of my closest friends and a fellow creative business owner when we were chatting about the unique positioning of our services. So much of the creative process is also collaborative, and I think it’s important to share that I didn’t come up with the concept entirely on my own!

My friend helped me take pride in the fact that I create resonant designs for clients because of my unique background, not in spite of it. When I work with clients, I prioritize connecting with them, not just as business owners, but as humans first. That’s also one of the main reasons I love my work – being able to highlight all the unique and interesting and weird ways my clients show up in the world. For the record, as a self-identified weirdo, I use the word weird with all the love possible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my design business by accident. I realize that might not be the most inspiring origin story on its face! But I think it’s a testament to how trusting a gut feeling can lead you in the right direction.

A close friend and therapist decided to start her own practice, and I suggested that I design her website. I had been working in nonprofit communications for a while and had an educational background in design more broadly, but I had never designed or built a website before. I had no idea what I was doing, but I also knew I could figure it out if I wanted to. And I wanted to.

After her website launched, I got my first referral, which became another referral and another referral and another referral until I realized, “Oh wow, there’s something here if I want to pursue it.” And again, I wanted to. Taking that leap was scary, but I’m so grateful I did it.

Now, my full-time job is being a designer. I have a little tagline for my business that goes, “I support therapists, coaches, creatives, holistic service providers, and more through real and resonant brand and website designs.” I use the words real and resonant because I’m a firm believer in showing up as your authentic self in your business. And I get to help my clients bring that authenticity to their own work, too.

Any time someone comes to me and says, “I don’t know how all of my design inspiration connects” or “my inspiration feels chaotic,” I know I’m in for a fun project. I love being able to find those connections because there’s always a throughline. There has to be! All of those ideas already coexist within that client.

That’s why I genuinely welcome every time a client cries (happy tears!) during a brand presentation because they feel seen. Or when the therapists I work with will tell me that our work together felt almost like therapy for them, too – an opportunity to see everything they offer through someone else’s eyes.

I love being able to do creative work for a living, but I love the human connection at the center of it even more.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My clients, hands down. I want to be real-life friends with all of them. Mutual respect and trust are everything because they make each project a collaborative effort. I tell all my clients (and I really mean it) that it’s an honor to be trusted with the creative direction for their businesses. They put so much of themselves into their work in order to build real, human connections with their own clients, and I get to help them do that.

I also work primarily with other women and queer folks, and most of us have a hard time singing our own praises – myself included. When I get to design a website for someone who is clearly doing incredible things in the world, it’s an opportunity for me to shine light on them in a way they would never feel comfortable doing for themselves.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn to stop pushing myself to my limits. Or, on the flipside, I had to learn how to rest. I grew up as your very classic perfectionist overachiever, which our culture loves to encourage, despite it usually being a coping mechanism of some kind. I didn’t know how to take breaks. I didn’t know how to set boundaries. And, unsurprisingly, I burned out in a flame of glory.

Allowing myself to work slowly and thoughtfully has been essential in building a sustainable business. I also genuinely believe that rest leads to better creative work and better results for clients. So often, I’ll be stuck on some design detail or problem that I just can’t quite figure out. Then, as soon as I let myself take a break, everything clicks into place.

Our brains need rest. Our bodies need rest. And our creativity needs rest, too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thebrandanthropologist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrandanthropologist/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TheBrandAnthropologist/

Image Credits

Portraits by K. Russo Photography