Emily’s Story
I love medicine. I am outraged by medicine.
The love of medicine started early. I watched my father, who left a successful small business in San Francisco behind for his dream of medical school at age 50, practice child psychiatry and explain synaptic junctions with diagrams on index cards. My startup career landed me at the start of the booming digital health sector in 2009. I continued that joyful work, launching a brand strategy studio for healthcare in 2013.
The outrage was always there, too. It doesn’t take all that long to realize the scale of the problems in our sector, including unsustainable costs, disregard for the humanity of clinicians and patients, and significant failings in health and life expectancy in America. When I woke up in the ICU in 2016 — nearly dead from an amniotic fluid embolism in childbirth, having almost become another statistic in our maternal health crisis — that outrage became personal.
Today, love and outrage are in everything I do. I am full of hope that we can do better — and committed to action. With Uncommon Bold, we help the most impactful healthcare brands authentically grow and succeed. With Procedure, we use books to explore the process of remaking medicine. With my own advocacy, I say thank you to the 32 blood donors who saved my life.
Let’s tip the scale to the side of love.
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Healthcare Brand Strategist
Originally a journalist and then part of the founding teams of health startups Practice Fusion and Doximity, Emily has a long career of impactful storytelling. In 2013, she founded the healthcare brand strategy studio Uncommon Bold, which has led award-winning design, communication, and engagement work with organizations including Blue Shield of California, Lyra Health, and Elation Health.
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Blood Donation Advocate
A serious amniotic fluid embolism nearly killed Emily during childbirth in 2016. She survived in large part thanks to more than 32 blood donations received in a single day. Together with the blood bank, Emily worked to identify, contact, and thank her blood donors after she recovered. She continues to speak and advocate for blood donation around the world with Vitalant, Roche, and others.
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Book Author
Driven to inspire hope and change in healthcare from both her career and patient experiences, Emily authored the books Women Remaking Medicine in 2016 and Artists Remaking Medicine in 2019. Through writing workshops, speaking, and mentoring authors, she works to advance medical writing and creativity in addressing our most challenging healthcare issues.
“I’m enormously grateful for your leadership, sage counsel, and hard work, which have all led to incredible outcomes.”
— Kaitlin Rebella, Head of Lyra Health, Corporate Communications