We’re looking forward to introducing you to Emily Steinhilber. Check out our conversation below.
Emily, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Music, always. Especially the kind that messes with the clock—where an album or a voice can fold the whole day in half and leave you blinking, unsure if an hour or a minute just passed. Lately, it’s been Sable Fable— Bon Iver’s newest drop….I listen again and again and again. That album is pure alchemy: it lets time exist and not exist at the same moment. I put it on, and suddenly I’m nowhere and everywhere at once.
But it’s not just the music itself, I lose track of time when I’m deep in the work of curation, chasing down the thread that connects artists, audiences, and the stories we tell each other. There’s something ancient in gathering people for a shared experience. Call it ritual, call it strategy, call it nostalgia for when culture moved at the speed of real life.
Time’s a trickster. I’ve spent evenings swept up in sound and connection, letting the moment unravel whatever clockwork I walked in with. If you want to lose yourself, go where people are all in—nobody’s checking their phone, nobody’s waiting for the next thing. That’s where you surrender to what’s happening and let it carry you, ears first, heart second.
Here’s the weirdest part about working in music and culture: I curate in hopes that everyone else will lose track of time, too. If I’m doing my job right, nobody’s thinking about their to-do list or their parking meter. We’re all on borrowed time….bent, stretched, ungoverned. And when the spell finally breaks, I always find myself exactly where I’m meant to be. Smiling.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Emily 🙂
A Chicago-raised, Seattle-based curator, communications strategist, and proud research nerd who believes in the power of a perfectly placed footnote (and an even better punchline). My academic archive is less dusty shelf, more living record: critical race theory, IMC strategy, music history, cultural storytelling—you name it, I’ve probably annotated it, published it, or slipped it into conversation at a show.
That’s why I built For Emily, By Emily. America right now? It’s a weird moment. Nobody wants to sit still and listen. Half the stories getting told are just brands talking to themselves. My work is about calling BS on that—curating listening spaces (and pages) where the signal cuts through the noise and memory, art, and community actually matter. From critical race theory and music history to the lived experience of Addy Walker—the only American Girl doll I wanted as a kid, and yes, the subject of a Substack deep-dive—I keep my research honest, relevant, and a little bit subversive.
What’s unique about my approach? In the best neurodivergent way possible, I’m allergic to BS. I care about history, lived experience, and cold, hard data—but I’m not here to preserve things in amber. My strategy: celebrate what endures, question what sells, and always make space for voices that break the pattern. If it’s clever, real, and maybe a little unruly…I’m in.
I’m here for meaningful events, sharp conversation, and the kind of creative chaos that reminds people what culture is and how sweet life can be. Stay awhile. Ask hard questions. And if you want, let me show you what’s actually worth remembering. Find me on Substack @stnhlbr or check out my contributions to Earshot Jazz.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Honestly, my entire life feels like its been one long, slow-motion entrance—starting with Chicago, growing up in rooms where the music was already playing and half the magic was just in showing up, coat still on, taking in the scene. My first creative language was sound; my second, undeniably, was style. Nearly a decade in bridal and formalwear taught me: transformation is both an art and a party trick. There’s real magic in watching someone step into a look and suddenly stand a little taller. I love the drama of self-titled couture moments: recently, I wore what I can only call “seafood” color, complete with nautical ropes and a Delusional Bird vintage dress that felt halfway between a mermaid sighting and a Wes Anderson set. (Yes, there are photos. Yes, i’ll attach.)
If you read my Substack, you know the outfit is half the experience. My style changes…sometimes a little chaotic, sometimes precise, always strategic. I treat every setlist and every shoe with equal respect, knowing that depending on my mood, the night’s agenda, or the hemline, I might show up as the main character.
So if you spot me at a show, I’ll be the one clocking jackets and harmonies with equal intensity, plotting how to make every night feel like a kid in a candy store. That’s my kind of curative magic: a little music, a little wardrobe whimsy, and a reminder that you can be whoever you decide—at least until you change your shoes.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I’d tell her: Keep playing basketball. Don’t worry about looking too competitive, too “boyish,” or not fitting whatever box someone else thinks you belong in. It’s your game, kid. You get to decide how you play and who you get to be everyday. Don’t shrink for anyone else’s comfort. That’s not a problem to outgrow; that’s your edge. I’d tell her: Keep playing basketball. You’re not too “boyish,” and you’re not playing to fit into anyone’s box — you just love the game. But I know why you’ll pull back. Growing up when we did, being a teenage girl meant you were too often treated like something to look at before you were treated like someone to take seriously. It’ll mess with your head,here’s the good news: someday, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will ball so hard and watching them you’ll feel this deep, retroactive vindication — like, Oh. I wasn’t wrong for wanting to be all-in. The world just hadn’t caught up yet.
The best people in life are the ones who show up exactly as they are. Super power number one of you. And listen….your ADHD? It’s a fucking superpower too. It’ll take you years to figure this out, girl, and I wish I could save you some of the confusion. The world you’re growing up in isn’t exactly friendly to kids who move a little faster, think a little louder, dream a little weirder. They’ll put you in weird-but-cool science classes, and you’ll still freeze every time you see those 8×11 multiplication worksheets with a hundred problems to solve as fast as possible. (Spoiler: at 33, you’re still scared of long division. Some things never change.) It won’t always make sense, and you’ll sometimes wonder why you feel “too much.” But all the things that made you feel out of place as a kid are exactly what set you apart as an adult. So keep running at full speed. Keep creating a million worlds all your own. ADHD is not your obstacle— it’s theirs, for they lack whimsy and the world has worn on them. It never was weakness (and I know you knew that in your heart). It’s always been your engine. But here’s the plot twist: you’re actually an analytics and data genius. You’ll grow up to be a no-BS businesswoman and communications strategist, and eventually, a respected, published academic. World building for the better. You’re great. And you’re still funny. You’ll build For Emily, By Emily — a world-building lifestyle listening brand where jazz, fashion, and community live under one roof like they’ve always belonged there. You’ll realize you weren’t just learning to listen to music — you were learning to listen to people, to moments, to the air in a room. You’ll connect invisible threads no one else sees, turn empty spaces into living ones, and remind people of the beauty of just… being. Jazz will teach you how to improvise and lead without saying a word. If I could show you your life now, you’d see it’s full. You’ve got everything you ever dreamed of— a husband who’s madly in love with you (and you with him), a dog, a cat, a little family all your own. Grateful, grateful, grateful..
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yeah. I am exactly who I am online, in person, at a show, or in the group chat. Authenticity isn’t just a value for me—it’s pretty much my baseline setting. I’ve never really had an issue being unapologetically myself, for better or for weirder.
I was lucky to grow up believing that was the right way to move through the world. So what you see…opinions, humor, hot takes, hot mess and all— is exactly what you’d get if we ran into each other at a show or a coffee shop. No secret persona. No “online version.” Just me, every time. Maybe one thing, I talk pretty fast in real life. Ha!
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Yes, I’m doing what I was born to do. My career’s been half curation, half experiment, all heart(with a little chaos sprinkled in for flavor) I was born to work in music strategy and communications, to connect people, community, and energy. I spot the invisible threads, connect the dots no one else is looking at, and turn the everyday into something a little sweeter. There’s no “rule book” for what I do, and if there was, I’d probably doodle in the margins and ignore the boring parts. Maybe that’s neurodivergence, maybe it’s just instinct but I’ve always followed my heart.
I care about quality. I care about sound and memory. I care about the kind of stories that drop you straight back into the exact feeling you had the first time you heard them; that rare, goosebump-level, socioemotional echo.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://substack.com/@stnhlbr
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stnhlbr/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siscoinferno
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Stnhlbr
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/9qiZ48B6duNyyI5UV5
