Emma joined Carlson Private Capital in January 2019, following a successful tenure at Norwest Equity Partners where she played a key role in closing several platform investments and supporting management teams across multiple businesses in the portfolio. Emma's background in family business began at a young age when she became a shareholder in her family's company, Crescent Electric, founded by her great grandfather and recently celebrating over a century of private family ownership. She started her career as a CPA at Deloitte & Touche and as an investment banking analyst at Triple Tree. Beyond her professional work, Emma is involved in her community and currently serves on the board of Cristo Rey High School, a member of the Cristo Rey Network located in Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood. Emma earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame and her M.B.A from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

What was your first job? Other than babysitting my 3 younger siblings from a very early age, my first ‘real’ joob was wrapping gifts at Dayton’s department store in downtown Minneapolis. I’m still a helpful gift-wrapping elf before Christmas!

Where did you grow up? I grew up in St. Paul, MN. I now live on the west side of town but still try to find opportunities to introduce my colleagues to the other side of the river.

Perfect Saturday? I love football Saturdays. If my kids let me sleep until 8am, we’d grab brunch as a family (with my husband Nick) at a favorite local spot, then come home and have friends over to watch Notre Dame beat Michigan.

What word best defines you? Determined

What life event best defines you? In 7th grade, I lived abroad with my family and we spent one year just outside of London. I went to a British international school and met people from all over the world. My worldview widened quickly at a formative age and I believe this experience was pivotal in defining who I am today.

History with your own family businesses? 2019 marked 100 years since my great grandfather founded an electrical distributor company dedicated to conducting business in a Midwestern small town (Dubuque, Iowa). He was committed to building relationships with customers, growing the business account by account, and supporting his employees and community along the way. He instilled these values, the responsibility of continuing a legacy, and stewardship of the business into his 7 children who have passed that down to their 50+ children, and now 60+ great grandchildren — of which I am the oldest. Our family business, Crescent Electric Supply Company, is now in the 5th generation. This experience has brought a personal passion for me into the platform we are building at CPC.

What experience or thoughts translate best to a family/founder business? Growing up through the trials and tribulations of a family business, I learned how to work with many different people and processes to help make sometimes tough and very personal decisions that everyone feels good about. One of the most meaningful learnings for me was to really appreciate and be mindful of a good decision-making process, which is often equally as important as the result.