We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Karrer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve been a lifelong artist, and never considered pursing a artistic career until I moved out to California, seven years ago. Maybe it was the east coast mindset of working a traditional 9-5 that kept me from following my artist heart, but once I landed in Ocean Beach, San Diego, my eyes were opened by my surroundings of other creative entrepreneurs. As I continued making art in California, I experimented in creating fashion (wearable art!) as my creative outlet and couldn’t ignore my clothing selling off the rack every Wednesday at the OB Farmer’s Market. It was then that I saw a clear picture of how I could create a business by creating, AND I could make the world a better place by doing so!

As I started creating fashion, I learned about the devastating effects of the fast fashion industry. As I learned more, I made it my mission to be an alternative to fast fashion with my ethical upcycled clothing. The fashion industry is dominated by fast fashion that is exploiting garments workers and killing our planet, and the world needs more brands to help lead the slow fashion revolution! I wanted to create a brand that consumers can learn from and feel good wearing (with transparent sustainable confidence). With my artistic passion and a clear mission to help lead the slow fashion revolution, eMpulse was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Based out of Ocean Beach, San Diego, eMpulse is an upcycled clothing brand known for uniquely creating fashion from repurposed garments and vintage fabrics. The style of my wearable art is inspired by my coastal California surf/skate lifestyle and has a colorful retro vibe. I am proud to say that my clothing brand is truly sustainable, a term that has lost its value with it’s overuse and greenwashing. We cut, sew and repair garments to give them a second life and save them from ending up in landfills. Upcycling is the only true form of “sustainable” fashion.

After starting my business at the OB farmer’s market and developing my staple styles, I started doing any and all forms of pop-up events. Pop-ups were a great way to test new styles and learn what people liked and didn’t like. I started my website early on in the business, and I eventually went full time with my business in 2019. It has been a slow but steady growth that has lead me to opening up a studio/storefront this year, while continuing to run my online business. I am stoked to have stepped away from weekly farmer’s markets and been able to settle into a permanent shop that I can sew and work from! It is located in Ocean Beach, inside OB Beans Coffee Roasters on Newport Ave!

Growing a small business is not easy and is a freakin’ roller coaster ride! I have bootstrapped my business from the beginning, which is a challenging way to grow a business, but I still own the entire company and am not in any debt. It’s a slower growth format, but my company and community is steadily growing. The two main lessons I’ve learned along the way are: 1.) Set boundaries between personal and business life (make sure to take enough time out where I can fully sign out of work), otherwise you will feel the burn out. 2.) To hustle as hard as you can, but know that you can’t control everything. I had to learn to settle in for the ride!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would keep it coastal, because that’s where my heart is! I would take them for blissy surfs in the morning and a magical sunset surfs in the evening. I would take them to my favorite surf spots along the cliffs around me, and to Blacks beach At Blacks the water always seems to be more clear down there – and full of fish and marine life! I feel like I see dolphins almost every time I go down there.

In between surfs we would grab yummy lunch to bring down to the beach – I loveeee It’s Raw Poke in OB – and just melt in the sand. I have some favorite little beach spots in the cliffs, but we’d probably go out of the OB bubble and hit North County beaches one day. I would probably do a full North County day of surfing and lunch at my fave spot ever- Nectarine Grove! One of my favorite magical beaches is also Windandsea.

One day we would probably take a trip across the boarder to some of my favorite surf spots and eat tacos (lots and lots of tacos). I also love going shopping in Rosarito!

Some of my favorite spots to eat in OB that I would for sure take my friends to are The Joint (best sushi ever!), Ceasarina, Raglans, and La Dona! I love grabbing drinks at Nova, but my favorite dive bars are Pac Shores and AZ.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The community of Ocean Beach is filled with movers & shakers, small business owners, and creatives! I’ve made so many friends that are along the same small business path as myself, and we are each other’s support systems. We learn form each other, share knowledge, vent, and encourage one another. I wouldn’t say there is one specific person along the way, but more that it is my local small business community that I value and would like to recognize.

Website: https://empulseline.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_empulse_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empulseline

Other: TikTok @_empulse_

Image Credits
Joel Aldous, Ski Pierce

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.