LAUNE x Emily Neff
Meet Emily Neff! Emily (feel free to call her Em) is a creative based in Paris, France. She got her start in New York City’s direct-to-consumer scene, had a brief pit stop in Italy, and ended up making France her home base in 2021. She’s the founder of Kev Glace, a creative ice cream company; co-author of Finds You Well, a modern Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-esque writing project; a 2024 UNESCO + Women@Dior mentee; and currently is on the team helping bring the Paris Olympics to life.
1. Tell me about yourself. Where are you originally from?
I was born in the suburbs of Chicago, spent a few years outside Cincinnati, then moved to North Carolina in 3rd grade and lived there until college. My parents, brothers, and dog still live there so I go back at least once a year. It was a great place to grow up.
My parents are both from Detroit, so I never identified as a real Southerner. For my 9th birthday present, my mom took me to New York for the first time and it completely changed my life. I fell in love with the city - it felt like I finally belonged to a place. We saw Wicked and ate at Ellen’s Stardust Diner - a completely enchanted alternate reality from the world I knew. Spent all my childhood dreaming of living in Manhattan, and moved there at 18 to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology.
I worked all through school and managed to graduate in 3 years somehow (thanks AP credit + summer community college courses) - while still having a lot of fun, too. Being in a city with that much ambition when you’re just becoming an adult with so much energy was electric - the way I saw it, I was making $12 an hour working in offices with colleagues making 50k+ a year, and they didn’t have to come home and do homework. My mom would warn me about burnout, and I didn’t understand what she meant until much later. This was also peak girlboss movement societally, so my work was very entwined with my identity at this point. It never felt like a choice to slow down or stop.
The best thing I did was study abroad for a semester in Florence. So far, that’s been the happiest time of my life - spent all my time seeing the world and bonding with people who became lifelong friends. It helped me detach a bit from my childhood idea that New York was the only place I could live and thrive.During undergrad, I wanted to try everything and see what stuck. I interned at startups (Glossier, LIVELY), a big corporation (Estée Lauder Companies), and on the editorial side (Refinery29). By the end of school, I knew the direct-to-consumer world was where I felt most at home, and after my time in Italy, travel had become important to me. With that in mind, I ended up at Away on their community team right after graduation. I don’t think I’m allowed to say much about that experience, but I made very close friends there that I still cherish. Being in the weeds with customers every day taught me a lot about life. I also got really into boxing and Barry’s Bootcamp for awhile to get my energy out. From there, I went to Prose, a French-American hair care brand, which was a great work experience and intro to French culture. It was the first role where I could step into my creativity on the social media side and felt like my work was valued by leadership. After 5 years in New York, I was ready for a change and moved to Paris to pursue my Master’s degree. I attended the American University of Paris part-time while consulting on social media strategy for startups, as well as a creative agency (Utendahl Creative, my career would look entirely different without Madison - she’s the best) and the big guys (LVMH). Graduated last year but still need to turn in my thesis... tips WELCOME. It feels like Everest.
Last year my health forced me to take some time off and realized I wanted to head in a new direction. It was that mid-20s moment of - how did I end up here? Did I choose this, or did I just keep following directions? Do I even like social media anymore?
I ended up launching a newsletter (Finds You Well, season 2 in the works), an ice cream brand (Kev Glace), and currently I’m working for the Olympics on the tech side, which is by far the biggest project I’ve ever touched and a huge honor. Dior + UNESCO selected me as one of their Women@Dior mentees for 2024, so that’s also going on this year and it feels surreal getting to learn from leaders in the entrepreneurship space. This all sounds really tidy typed out, but I promise I spent many many hours in bed over the years, spiraling, crying on FaceTime, in therapy, rethinking my life, making hard decisions, wondering when the bad times would end — so if that’s you, keep going. It’s only within the last few months that epiphanies felt like they began shifting into external progress. When feeling lost, I try to repeat “this will make sense later”. So far, it has.
Also - building a career is a group effort, I owe so much gratitude to the people I’ve met over the years. Every single opportunity listed meant someone taking a chance on me, teaching me, watching me fail sometimes, + rooting for my successes (in the best cases). At 26, I don’t feel qualified to give career advice, but I will say being kind, having integrity, staying curious, shaking off rejection, and asking for the things you want feels like maybe the most crucial thing.
2. What brought you to Paris? What do you love about the city?
Short answer: decided to get my Master’s here, got EU citizenship, and stayed.
Long answer: These big life decisions usually come from life completely knocking you on your ass and forcing you to redirect. Moving to Paris can sound so glamorous, but most of the people I know made the leap after intense circumstances that pushed them to make a big change. For me, I was 21, had been living in New York for 4 years, and was experiencing allll those fun early 20s grievances: being broke, underpaid, under-appreciated, over-romanticizing people who simply did not treat me well. (To be fair, I could probably romanticize a root canal at this point. I’m an optimist)
One week, I found out about major pay disparity at work when I was already at my wit’s end, and the French dude du jour who said he loved me a month prior texted me to admit he changed his mind. At 21, this all felt like the end of the WORLD. I left work crying. My best friend from 3rd grade sent me pie on Postmates. To the people who knew me then and stuck around - thank god for you.
That night I went to see The Lion King in theaters to try to cheer up - ended up slipping on the wet tile in the bathroom, had the wind knocked out of me, couldn’t breathe or even cry anymore. Was completely alone with my phone off, just laying on the tile in a white linen dress with dirt stains. I remember thinking this was the ROCK bottom of my life. (Have had much rockier things since then, don’t worry) That Sunday I was walking to yoga, listening to the new Mitski album (sad girl anthems), and read an interview with her where she said, “With a lot of the romantic infatuations I’ve had, when I look back, I wonder, Did I want them or did I want to be them? Did I love them or did I want to absorb whatever power they had? I decided I could just be my own cowboy.” That quote changed my entire WORLD. It forced an epiphany on me - if I kept being impressed by French guys who could cook, I should just move to France and learn to cook. Done. No longer impressive. I thought about how happy I was living in Florence and how disenchanted with the path ahead I felt - I didn’t want to hop from startup to startup, begging to be paid enough to make rent until I became a CMO at 47 or something. Totally valid path, but I wanted something else. So, that day I decided I’d get my Master’s in France. My dad spent time there in the 80s, and I kept meeting French people in New York, so it felt like a sign. I had visited for 4 days during study abroad and thought it might be a place I’d return to.
Thankful for all the rejections and pain along the way, and all the perhaps cringy versions of me that paved the path. It led me here now. 2020 delayed things by 6 months, and a little show you may have heard of with my name came out 3 months before I set foot in the country. I worked full-time and freelanced on top of it for 9 months in order to save 10k to move.
Despite those fun twists, I moved to France on January 6th, 2021 (how affirming is that...) and have been here ever since. Initially I told myself 1 year, because moving someplace with no end date is terrifying. Quickly realized I love it here - my family is Maltese on my dad’s side, so I applied for European citizenship and as of last year, am now a European citizen. A giant blessing. Still hasn’t sunk in that I’m European-American now. New York had been built up in my head since I was 9 years old - Paris, I had no expectations. Didn’t grow up a Francophile, barely passed high school French. I’m glad I moved around at a young age - it taught me I could make friends and a home anywhere.
I love a lot of things about Paris. It’s given me a new appreciation for fresh food, healthcare, public transportation, discovering things from walking instead of Instagram. Paris remains somehow fresh and classic at the same time. I love the detail in everything - finding the architect’s name on old buildings, seeing history commemorated on street signs, or stores that have been around for centuries. There are things that just feel tender and delightful: foosball being called baby foot, lily of the valley flowers on May 1st, Fête de la Musique, Beurre Bordier.
France gets a lot of criticism for its protests, but to me, I have come to appreciate it deeply. You can see it here in how the citizens are cared for - if we’re only causing commotion in the streets when people are dying or an abuser is becoming president, the government is getting away with a lot. Living here has definitely taught me to raise my standards for what we should expect and demand out of life and our governments. I’m glad I lived in New York first because it did make me very hard to crush. Personally, I know I’ll never be French, I’m not trying to be, most days I have patience with my pace of learning the language and culture, and I’m generally at peace with myself. Sometimes you’ll get stares or snide comments here, it’s easier if you remember that just comes with the territory of being a foreigner anywhere. It’s normal to feel the occasional wave of self-consciousness, but don’t let it consume you — it hurts everyone. We all benefit from your wisdom and creativity — imagine if we never got Monet or Didion or Fitzgerald because they were too afraid to share and take up space. I love that many of the great artists and writers once lived here — it’s good motivation to push through.
3. How would you compare New York and Paris?
I see more and more people doing the bicoastal thing between Paris and New York these days because they innately are two cities that complement each other very well.
New York is on the cutting edge of everything. There is always someone doing more than you, always a panel or a concert to go to, there’s the best theater in the world, each neighborhood has a completely different vibe. Everyone’s at the top of their game. Amazing food and people. Nothing works, especially the subway, and there’s always a crisis. It feels like everything is possible there. It wants you to stand out. It’s a great place to be young and learn. If you’re there too long, you may feel broke and behind in life.
Paris prefers to take things at its own pace. It honors tradition, appreciates a well-made piece of clothing or bread, a slow burn friendship. It takes breaks, it says no, it doesn’t stay late, it goes on a lot of vacations. It may take time for things to boot up, but once they do, they work. The metro is on time, the laws are for the people. It feels like walking through a piece of art. It wants you to blend in. It’s a great place to mature and savor life. If you’re there too long, you may feel lazy and judged.
Paris is perfect for contemplation and daily life. I live within a 10 minute walk of 5 of my closest friends, as well as my office. I get to expand my mental horizons and practice French, which is a gift. I can afford to live alone, get a glass of orange wine when I want to, travel around cheaply and easily. It’s a good home base. I usually come to New York at least a couple times a year, plan my schedule by the hour, hug everyone, see plays, and throw a party. It fills my cup and keeps me on my toes. Living abroad seems to often be either glorified or overly negated - it does feel somewhere in the middle. There are days where you’re going to a chateau or at a dinner party with people from five countries where you feel on top of the world, and there are other days where you’re spending a holiday alone or missing your family's big milestones at home. Both kinds of days will happen, but I’ve yet to doubt my decision to be here.
4. Tell me about kev glace How was it created?
From January to May 2021, my first five months in Paris, all restaurants were closed due to the pandemic, and the amount of time you could spend outside and the distance you could go from your home was limited. Because of this, I ended up trying a lot of ice cream and walking around, since that’s all there was to do. I realized there was a gap here (which has since gotten smaller - there are some great contenders who have opened since then: JJ Hings, Folderol) - the creative seasonal American ice cream I loved was replaced with chains like Haagen Dazs or Amorino, with only one classic ice cream store, Berthillon. In New York, I loved Ample Hills, Ice & Vice, Van Leeuwen — here, there was nothing similar.
The number one thing I hear from people who move to Paris is how lonely it is, and how difficult it is to make friends. It’s not as extroverted of a city as New York is, for sure. I spent my first two years here in trial and error mode with friendships - which was super time-consuming and emotionally taxing. Now, I have a crew with similar values who I deeply love and trust. But it is not easy to find like-minded people in another country in compatible life stages with complementary interests. I thought, huh - France has the best agriculture, seasonal produce, and culinary traditions. People are feeling lonely, food brings people together - especially something as playful as ice cream. What’s stopping someone from making an ice cream business that combines these concepts?
The concept for Kev Glace was born. I developed it all through my graduate program, and it evolved several times until its current form, which launched officially in July last year. Right now, we’re doing monthly pop-ups around the city, which are communicated via Instagram. It’s a great way to try a completely new flavor and meet warm people, as well as discover local businesses. The name comes from my father who lived in France during the 80s. This is where I get to flex my creative muscles at the moment - I’m self-taught, and each creation is unique to that specific event. Have been lucky enough to find cool people and businesses to collaborate with each month. My first flavor was inspired by Eric Rohmer’s films - white peach, lavender, lemon preserves, cream, St. Germain, and rosé. My friend described it as tasting like a picnic on the Seine - goal achieved. Food can be so transportive, and ice cream is the most versatile and fun food in my mind. I’m enjoying building community and giving back to the city I call home bit by bit. A common thread through my life has been a great love of small businesses - and it feels good to have my own.
5. What is your LAUNE (mood)?
My mood at the moment is rooted. This year is all about taking immaculate care of myself, fully being in this city I call home, spending time with friends who are important to me, making things, working on projects that feel meaningful. I spent a long time working solely in digital, traveling extensively, and never just being in a place or on a schedule. It was a lot of fun for awhile, but also made me feel like I didn’t really exist, was flopping at everything, and my work was meaningless. 2024 is all about getting back to stillness, healing, and peace. I just started listening to The Untethered Soul, which is about how your internal monologue isn’t actually you, it’s an unreliable narrator - and that difficult events happen typically in brief moments, but our brains obsess over them because they enjoy rumination and problem-solving. I’ve been practicing turning off my interior monologue and simply being “in” my life more. It’s very much a “work-in-progress” year, too - being seen while things are still brewing and under construction is also something I’m trying to make peace with. Some days it feels cool to be in the middle of metamorphosis, and others it feels too tender. It’s okay to be perceived and maybe pitied sometimes and have needs and ask for them to be met and say you need help and end up in situations you didn’t expect. The most magnetic people I know are the ones with the least amount of shame. Sharing is a superpower - you are always less alone than you think. The people I root for most are the ones who fell hard and got up. Being vulnerable all over the place in this piece because Paris social media (including mine!) seems marvelous but the day-to-day of it all is often not. Today a receptionist made me cry but I also tried a really good soufflé. Life’s a mixed bag. You’re doing great.
6. What inspires you?
I see art and movies all the time, but I’m truly inspired by daily life. That’s where my Type A side comes out - I feel best when my sheets are clean, meal prep is in the fridge, there’s lemon cucumber water in the morning, fresh flowers in a vase, collagen in my coffee, supplements before bed. Having supportive routines clears my head enough that I have the space to notice the beautiful things - strangers being kind at the boulangerie, the first cherry blossom tree, a really nice waft of steam off a cup of coffee. My camera roll has 130,000 photos in it. I tend to hoard them and curate later in what I decide to share. I check the Timehop app every day - it feels healthy and nourishing spending some time in reflection about where we’ve all come from. It’s so cute seeing what Em 7 years ago was excited or stressed about. She was probably eating a rainbow bagel or something - I love her. I’m drawn to artists, directors, actors, artisans who didn’t have formal training. It feels illegal that you can decide to do something and just do it. Life is damn cool. Moving here and detaching so much of my identity from my work has brought back my creativity from childhood. Now I write every morning, paint watercolors, sew up holes and play with my clothes, make pottery, take film photos, perform reiki, do astrology readings, embroider things and make playlists + itineraries for friends, experiment with matchbox art, phone cases, moodboards. I don’t place any pressure on myself, it just flows. This random piece of pottery I made for some reason blew up online recently. My goal in creating isn’t to be “good”, but it’s fun when people resonate with things. I recently designed a toile de jouy print because my LinkedIn was feeling boring. I just like to experiment. I’m most inspired by the goodness and depth in people. I write and create my best when I’m living well.
7. Describe your style in three words:
90s NYC romcom
8. What’s next for you?
I’m writing my first movie. and I plan to open a physical Kev Glace location when the timing is right. (and a couple of other things I can’t talk about right now - which is the most annoying thing to say but sometimes life is like that. when the polaroid picture is done developing, I’ll share!) The first part of my career was focused on physical product and creating on social media, and in the past year I realized as a kid, maybe I had it figured out all along - life is all about connection, storytelling, and experiences. I spent ten years acting and writing plays with my friends as a child, abandoning it at 18 when it felt smart to go to college for something practical. I’m glad I took the path I’m on, but I do think my younger self had this innate knowledge of what’s best for me that I’m just now finding my way back to at 26. I want to have eras, projects, and constantly challenge myself - not just have a linear career that makes sense on paper. Bringing more joy, perspective, and community to others is always my goal - no matter what I’m doing.
Rapid Fire:
1. Favorite brand?
No brand has consistently excited me in 2+ years - hi late stage capitalism*
*excluding brands I’ve worked with or my friends own — love you guys
2. If you could only wear one designer for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Dior (biased)
3. Favorite restaurant?
Le Doyenné in Saint-Vrain, France
4. Favorite place in the world?
An Italian lake - where I want to retire. Fond of Como, but don’t sleep on Garda. Jamaica Beach in Sirmione is my favorite in the world - crystal clear warm water, Roman ruins, a bar with sweet delicious coffee soft serve, olive trees, families of ducks, babies and dogs and people just enjoying the sun. My friend Gab and I went in 2022 after seeing Lorde perform at a castle in Verona — sometimes the spontaneous trips are the most full of magic.
5. Favorite spot in Paris?
Tekés for dinner
Pristine for lunch
Parc Bagatelle for a picnic
The Water Lilies room at Musée de l’Orangerie for reflection
tea garden at Musée de la Vie Romantique for painting
6. Favorite spot in NYC?
Niconeco Zakkaya (best Japanese stationery)
Sheep’s Meadow
The back garden at Palma
7. Favorite drink spot in Paris?
Classique is the warm cozy Paris bar that you probably always imagined. Also, Les Très Particulier, except I walked out in the middle of a date there recently and have not felt like going back. More of a special occasion kind of spot.
8. If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be with and where?
Jonathan Groff, at NOMA (before it closes)
9. Favorite movie?
Frances Ha, dir. Noah Baumbach (2012)
10. What are your ins and outs for 2024?
In
nuance
consistently making people feel loved and cared for
active listening
red light therapy
eating sugar + not caring
wrinkles scars cellulite
koi fish ponds
women getting funding
IKEA tradfri color-changing lights
snow globes
transatlantic accents
seeking the good
answering your texts
being earnest
Out
cruelty as humor
being judgy about astrology
humble-bragging about being busy
hatefollowing
men making 3 hour war movies
imposter syndrome
secondhand smoke
cynicism masquerading as intelligence
manufactured mysteriousness
paywalls
snail mucin
screentime statistics
good movies that aren’t old being recycled into a limited series
forgetting that you’re apart of a tender and beautiful world
11. What are you loving right now?
Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast
the NYT Mini crossword leaderboard my friend Sam made for us
5 min treatments on the NuFace Mini+ my friends got me ( I love you )
playing roulette every week with the surprise 8 Euro bouquet from my local florist
The new Vampire Weekend album
