Emma is at heart a 'history girl' and has a B.A. (Hons) in Modern History and Politics with Economics from the University of Southampton. Life has now gone full circles, as one of her key contracts is as manager of the Old Sardine Factory Heritage Centre in Looe, Cornwall.
After deciding she did not want to go into either teaching or local government as the Southampton careers service suggested, she ran away to the theatre - and set off for a summer at the Edinburgh Festival in 1985 - with the goal of finding a career in 'The Arts'.
This strategy was simple, but effective. From there followed nearly 15 years working for companies such as Pendley Shakespeare Festival, the National Youth Music Theatre, English National Opera, English Touring Opera and Music at Oxford. After initially working in general arts management, she later specialised in arts sponsorship, having been trained at ENO by guru Russell Willis Taylor.
Following the arrival of her three children, Emma transferred her fundraising skills to the more family-friendly hours of the education sector - heading up alumni relations and development at Abingdon School, and later Templeton College, Oxford.
In 2008, she set up a freelance marketing consultancy. She specialises working with small to medium businesses, where she audits their current marketing, works with them to devise an achievable marketing strategy, and helps implement it as required.
From time-to-time, she loves going back in-house to head up one-off marketing projects - most recently for Triaster Ltd, Cornerstone Arts Centre and Plymouth University. So when Karen asked Emma to re-join the Oxford Creativity team after Lilly Haines-Gadd moved on to concentrate on marketing strategies, she leapt at the chance .
Emma lives Cornwall with her husband and two dogs. She now has a blended family of six - aged from 32 to 87. She is eagerly awaiting the hoped-for joy of becoming a grandmother someday.
