Emme, the supermodel, television personality, author, lecturer, creative director for her clothing lines, and nationally recognized women’s advocate for positive body image and self esteem has a clear mission: to awaken the inner magnificence inherent in each of us. It’s no wonder People magazine selected her twice as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" and Ladies’ Home Journal chose her as one of the "Most Important Women in America" and one of the "Most Fascinating Women of the Year." And the accolades don’t stop there: she was honored as a Glamour magazine "Woman of the Year" and as one of Biography magazine’s “25 Most Influential Women.”
Currently, Emme is the spokesperson for Kemin Health's FloraGLO(R) brand Lutein. May 2011, Emme joins the cast of Nora and Dalia Ephron’s off Broadway play LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE. her newest business venture, www.EmmeNation.com, the revolutionary interactive resource forum for women to ignite a body+mind+spirit transformation of their own. In 2010 Emme was in demand as a spokesperson for a leading plus size retailer and served as a body image and media expert on three prestigious panel discussions: the 10th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts Research Institute, discussing girls and media, body image and internet safety, the NEDA & STOP Obesity Alliance discussing how to effectively communicate about weight and health in media and mass culture at Pace University and at The Sundance Film Festival assembled by the Creative Coalition addressing America’s unhealthy relationship with food and the role the of the entertainment industry in creating a positive change.
Emme brought her talent and sparkling personality to Fox as the host of the groundbreaking dating competition series, MORE TO LOVE, from Executive producer Mike Fleiss (The Bachelor and The Bachelorette). Emme burst onto the scene as the world’s first full-figured supermodel and, as host of E! Entertainment Television’s "Fashion Emergency", she quickly became a popular icon not only in the United States, but around the globe. Emme’s television and radio appearances are innumerable, including: The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s The Early Show, CNN’s American Morning, 20/20, The Rachel Ray Show, CNN Headline News’s Showbiz Tonight and The Joy Behar Show, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, NPR, and a frequent guest host of the Joan Hamburg Show on WOR Radio, not only as a fashion expert but advocating for women on important lifestyle issues including body image, surviving cancer, mothering, downsizing and adopting a greener lifestyle.
Always a trendsetter, Emme became the first full figured model ever to land a spokesperson’s contract with a cosmetics company when she signed with Revlon. Her views have set a refreshingly new standard of beauty both here and abroad. World renowned doll creator and designer, Robert Tonner, created the EMME doll, making Emme the first full-figured model to have a high fashion collectable doll sculpted in her likeness. “…hottest product launched…at the American International Toy Fair…” NY Post.
Emme chronicled her extraordinary life and rise to success in her first book, True Beauty (Putnam/Perigee). Emme then shared her passionate perspective on life when she penned her second book entitled Life’s Little Emergencies (St. Martin’s Press). Morning Has Broken: A Couple’s Journey Through Depression, by Emme and Phillip Aronson (NAL), chronicles their struggle and triumph over her then husband Phillip’s depression. What Are You Hungry For? (Harper Collins), Emme’s newest release, is a children’s book that addresses the reality that children have many hungers, including emotional ones. Emme’s status as an influential columnist was evident when she wrote her Ask Emme column for three years at MODE magazine, and in 2008 she began to blog about self esteem issues in the Living Section at The Huffington Post and at iVillage with her Simply Green with Emme, discussing her commitment to the green movement from the perspective of a multi-tasking mom.
Emme is a vocal advocate for people of all ages to be fit and to live a healthy lifestyle while simultaneously combating societal and peer pressure to be something other than what comes naturally. For 20-years, Emme has put women’s and children’s issues front and center. She was the first model to speak to these issues before a congressional sub-committee in Washington, DC and continues to speak out on body image issues and funding the arts in schools. Says Emme, "We live in a society that promotes a desire for thinness at any cost in the quest for the attainment of unrealistic beauty. I want women to know their self-esteem is not contingent upon their dress size and good health is attainable by more than just one body type," and “without art, life would not have taste!”
Emme serves in more ways than one; she is the current past chair of the Ambassador’s Council of The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and is on the advisory boards of Ophelia’s Place (Syracuse New York’s eating disorder resource) and Hearts of Gold (serving New York City’s underprivileged women and children). A tireless advocate, Emme has received numerous accolades and awards for her impact in the business arena as well as her tireless efforts in the not for profit world.
Emme’s popularity as a lecturer is well earned. She promotes and exemplifies a wellness lifestyle, positive body image and self-esteem and self-acceptance as a sought after keynote speaker. She lectures at national business workshops, governor conferences and seminars, prestigious universities including Yale, Harvard, and NYU as well as middle and high schools around the country. A cancer survivor, Emme is vocal about the need to advocate for oneself when dealing with issues of health.
Born in New York City, Emme was raised in Saudi Arabia and returned to the US as a teenager where she attended the prestigious Kent School. Syracuse University awarded Emme a full athletic scholarship where she excelled both academically and as a member of the crew team. Emme was invited to the US Olympic Team trials, as well as several US National Team trials. She was later inducted into the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame and in 2008 was honored as a Letterwinner of Distinction for her significant contribution to women's athletics and to the sport of rowing. After graduation, she spent two years in Flagstaff, AZ where she was a reporter and morning anchor for the NBC affiliate KNAZ-TV.
Emme and her daughter reside in Northern New Jersey.
