Where are you from and how did you get where you are today?
I always had a lot of conviction and what I'd call relentless curiosity. I was on instagram when I was eleven and learned very early on that I could use that platform to see beyond Connecticut suburbia and curate my own world. I was begging my parents to take me to Art Basel when I was 12 – they said no, but that conviction lol. I started my first business when I was 14, selling vintage clothes through pop ups out of my garage and hats I had custom embroidered which I gave to the senior girls in exchange for posting on their instagrams. Kelly Cutrone's 'If You Have to Cry Go Outside and Other Things Your Mother Never Told You' was my bible, I even wrote her an email about it which unfortunately bounced.
I ended up going to business school at University of Miami so I got my Art Basel dream - in fact I worked at a private collector's gallery for 3 years of college. My first summer internship was at Fuckjerry, the same summer they were working on the Fyre Festival documentary and launching their tequila brand, JAJA. I went on to intern for a slew of brands, agencies, tech platforms, and launching my own platform, This is Twenty, interviewing creative women about the advice they'd give themselves at twenty... Substack would have hated to see me coming back then. I fell into community roles in my senior year, which couldn't have been a more perfect time for that to be the buzziest job, it truly summed up everything I wanted to be doing, building brands alongside the people who the product is actually for.
When I graduated, I joined Thingtesting as the sixth employee and first community hire. So much of how I work today is thanks to that role and the autonomy I was given. I created the platform’s first monetized program, Thingdrop, which allowed our users to test new brands at 80% off in exchange for their review. We partnered with everyone from Vacation, to Ghia, to Graza, and Jolie. I took over the curation in 2022, growing the directory from 3,000 to 15,000 brands and drove the first 150,000 reviews organically.
I started writing for Architectural Digest in 2022 too and later for Surface. In November 2023, I created a 30 day tiktok challenge for myself — one video a day, no KPIs. Actually, my second video was about Tulip on launch day! I ended up posting 85 videos in that first month and growing a 12K following. It still feels surreal to say, but TikTok changed my life, it led to a ton of inbound freelance work and in February 2024 I took the leap and went all in on my consultancy, gr8 collab. I now spend my days world-building with design-led commerce, hospitality, and tech brands, oh, and still making video content a year and a half after the challenge began.
If you could peek inside any person’s house (dead or alive) to see how it’s decorated, who would that be and why?
I feel like now we have access to so many people's homes with Instagram and 'content' even if it's just glimpses. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how much the mid-century modern home my parents raised me in has impacted who I am as a person. I would love to be able to go back in time and see the homes my parents grew up in. There are some old family photos and videos, but to be able to walk through, open the kitchen cabinets, and experience the worlds of their childhoods would be so fascinating.
Where do you find your inspiration lately?
I've been finding a lot of inspiration in films recently, especially when it comes to color palettes. My sister works in the industry, so it's been especially fun to bond over together when I previously thought our work disciplines were so siloed – there are so many design references in film and film references in design.
How does lighting play a role in how you design a space?
Lighting is everything! It can really make or break a space and rentals do not make it easy. Thankfully we have Tulip ;) and plug-in sconces, and lamps. I like to mix materials and time-periods with my lighting, I think it adds character to a space.
How would you describe your personal design philosophy?
Design with discernment !!!
Obviously taste and style evolves, but when it comes to my home, I don’t believe in buying things just to fill the space. This makes feeling settled take so much longer, so sometimes I really hate my own philosophy but I think it comes down to being discerning about what you let into your world, what you choose to surround yourself with, from the color you decide to paint the walls, what art you hang on your walls, and having conviction about it. I guess that's really a philosophy for how I live my life, not just design.
What are your current home obsessions?
Frederick's and Mae water coloring set – I've been trying my absolute hardest to get off my screens in the evenings when I'm home. It's pretty hard to paint and scroll TikTok at the same time, fortunately.
Brightland's Everyday Salad Oil – Full disclosure, they are a client, but I've been putting this on everything and experimenting with so many salads since it entered my life.
My cornflower blue rug from Layered. I live in a studio and when I moved in something felt off, and then I filled the room with the rug which is essentially wall to wall in my space and it changed my life.. that sounds dramatic, but it's true. I was nervous it was going to be a lot of blue, but that's the thing about conviction, when you lean in, it rewards you. My projector for movie nights (I don't have a TV, they're such an eye sore), revisiting coffee table books and actually reading them not just looking at the pictures.
Do you have any projects (professional or personal) you're working on right now that you're excited about?
I’m working on my YouTube show, Surroundings, an exploration into the histories and environments that shape creative worlds. Episode one is live with Rafael Prieto – it’s a project for anyone who’s ever wondered, “What makes a space truly yours?”
Tulip Spotlight: Emma Chozick
Where are you from and how did you get where you are today?
I always had a lot of conviction and what I'd call relentless curiosity. I was on instagram when I was eleven and learned very early on that I could use that platform to see beyond Connecticut suburbia and curate my own world. I was begging my parents to take me to Art Basel when I was 12 – they said no, but that conviction lol. I started my first business when I was 14, selling vintage clothes through pop ups out of my garage and hats I had custom embroidered which I gave to the senior girls in exchange for posting on their instagrams. Kelly Cutrone's 'If You Have to Cry Go Outside and Other Things Your Mother Never Told You' was my bible, I even wrote her an email about it which unfortunately bounced.
I ended up going to business school at University of Miami so I got my Art Basel dream - in fact I worked at a private collector's gallery for 3 years of college. My first summer internship was at Fuckjerry, the same summer they were working on the Fyre Festival documentary and launching their tequila brand, JAJA. I went on to intern for a slew of brands, agencies, tech platforms, and launching my own platform, This is Twenty, interviewing creative women about the advice they'd give themselves at twenty... Substack would have hated to see me coming back then. I fell into community roles in my senior year, which couldn't have been a more perfect time for that to be the buzziest job, it truly summed up everything I wanted to be doing, building brands alongside the people who the product is actually for.
When I graduated, I joined Thingtesting as the sixth employee and first community hire. So much of how I work today is thanks to that role and the autonomy I was given. I created the platform’s first monetized program, Thingdrop, which allowed our users to test new brands at 80% off in exchange for their review. We partnered with everyone from Vacation, to Ghia, to Graza, and Jolie. I took over the curation in 2022, growing the directory from 3,000 to 15,000 brands and drove the first 150,000 reviews organically.
I started writing for Architectural Digest in 2022 too and later for Surface. In November 2023, I created a 30 day tiktok challenge for myself — one video a day, no KPIs. Actually, my second video was about Tulip on launch day! I ended up posting 85 videos in that first month and growing a 12K following. It still feels surreal to say, but TikTok changed my life, it led to a ton of inbound freelance work and in February 2024 I took the leap and went all in on my consultancy, gr8 collab. I now spend my days world-building with design-led commerce, hospitality, and tech brands, oh, and still making video content a year and a half after the challenge began.
If you could peek inside any person’s house (dead or alive) to see how it’s decorated, who would that be and why?
I feel like now we have access to so many people's homes with Instagram and 'content' even if it's just glimpses. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how much the mid-century modern home my parents raised me in has impacted who I am as a person. I would love to be able to go back in time and see the homes my parents grew up in. There are some old family photos and videos, but to be able to walk through, open the kitchen cabinets, and experience the worlds of their childhoods would be so fascinating.
Where do you find your inspiration lately?
I've been finding a lot of inspiration in films recently, especially when it comes to color palettes. My sister works in the industry, so it's been especially fun to bond over together when I previously thought our work disciplines were so siloed – there are so many design references in film and film references in design.
How does lighting play a role in how you design a space?
Lighting is everything! It can really make or break a space and rentals do not make it easy. Thankfully we have Tulip ;) and plug-in sconces, and lamps. I like to mix materials and time-periods with my lighting, I think it adds character to a space.
How would you describe your personal design philosophy?
Design with discernment !!!
Obviously taste and style evolves, but when it comes to my home, I don’t believe in buying things just to fill the space. This makes feeling settled take so much longer, so sometimes I really hate my own philosophy but I think it comes down to being discerning about what you let into your world, what you choose to surround yourself with, from the color you decide to paint the walls, what art you hang on your walls, and having conviction about it. I guess that's really a philosophy for how I live my life, not just design.
What are your current home obsessions?
Frederick's and Mae water coloring set – I've been trying my absolute hardest to get off my screens in the evenings when I'm home. It's pretty hard to paint and scroll TikTok at the same time, fortunately.
Brightland's Everyday Salad Oil – Full disclosure, they are a client, but I've been putting this on everything and experimenting with so many salads since it entered my life.
My cornflower blue rug from Layered. I live in a studio and when I moved in something felt off, and then I filled the room with the rug which is essentially wall to wall in my space and it changed my life.. that sounds dramatic, but it's true. I was nervous it was going to be a lot of blue, but that's the thing about conviction, when you lean in, it rewards you. My projector for movie nights (I don't have a TV, they're such an eye sore), revisiting coffee table books and actually reading them not just looking at the pictures.
Do you have any projects (professional or personal) you're working on right now that you're excited about?
I’m working on my YouTube show, Surroundings, an exploration into the histories and environments that shape creative worlds. Episode one is live with Rafael Prieto – it’s a project for anyone who’s ever wondered, “What makes a space truly yours?”