Photo: lev radin / Shutterstock
These two are very close.
By Nicole Pomarico — Written on Jan 19, 2021
As Kamala is sworn in as Vice President of the United States on Jan. 20, she'll have the support of her family behind her, but who are the people who will be rooting her on?
You might already know about her husband, Doug Emhoff, who she married in 2014, but just as important are his children with his ex-wife, Kerstin — Cole Emhoff and Ella Emhoff, who are Harris's stepchildren, and who also seem to be incredibly important to her.
It's definitely not uncommon to see the family members of politicians int he public eye, so there's a good chance we'll see the whole Emhoff crew in action as Harris and Biden become the leaders of the country.
Who is Kamala Harris's stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff?
Read on for everything you need to know about Ella Emhoff, and what it's like to be the stepdaughter of Kamala Harris.
Ella Emhoff is an artist.
According to her LinkedIn, 21-year-old Ella Emhoff is currently a student at the Parsons School of Design, studying Apparel and Textiles, and she's set to graduate in 2021.
On Instagram, it's very clear that she's passionate about what she's studying and she very often shares what she's working on, including her oil paintings. It's easy to see that she definitely has a lot of talent.
She also designs clothing.
Since Emhoff's focus in school is textiles, it makes sense that she's also into fashion design, and lately, she seems to be big on crocheting — another thing she's chosen to share with her Instagram followers.
She's made jackets, hats, coats, and even a pair of knit shorts, which takes a lot of time and skill to make happen.
Ella Emhoff takes commissions.
Emhoff already has her website all set up, and yes, she does take commissions if anyone is interested.
Her website shares what she offers, complete with prices, and she also takes custom orders, too. She also uses her website to showcase what she can do with her art, including knits, painting, ceramics, and drawings.
Kamala Harris had to miss Emhoff's high school graduation.
In an essay she wrote last year, Harris shared that because she was elected to the Senate as Ella was starting her senior year of high school, she struggled with being away from her — and she ultimately ended up having to miss her high school graduation when it fell on the same day that James Comey testified before the Senate in 2018, something she said upset her deeply but that Emhoff was understanding of.
"Ella was just entering her senior year of high school in Los Angeles," Harris wrote. "This new job meant that I would be splitting time between California and Washington, D.C., and the hardest part was going to be being away from my Ella. I knew I was inevitably going to miss more than a few swim meets. And as you might guess, it ended up being more than swim meets."
Emhoff was in a Bo Burnham music video.
Although she doesn't seem to have too much acting experience, in 2014, Emhoff was in Bo Burnham's music video for "Repeat Stuff," something she posted about on Instagram at the time.
"Spoiler I die," she posted about the video.
Ella Emhoff recently opened up about Kamala Harris in an interview with her brother for the New York Times.
"The level of parenting between the three of them is very different now that we’re both in our 20s and are kind of able to make decisions," she shared. "So with hair and tattoos and things like that, I think they’re all in the realm of like, 'I don’t understand it, but I want you to be who you want to be.' They have good communication between the three of them. They are really a unit, like a three-person parenting squad. It’s really cool."
She also added that she likes that her parents are breaking the stigma of being enemies with one's ex: "It’s a cool dynamic we all have. And I think it is a good model to show that you can have this and this isn’t weird. Like it’s not weird to be friends or have a good relationship with your ex. It’s actually very healthy."
Emhoff couldn't help but touch on Kamala and Doug's relationship during the interview, too. "It’s so insane. It’s like the honeymoon phase forever," she revealed. "Like, the rest of the world gets to see it on social media, but we live that."
She also opened up about what it's like "being in the room" with her extended family, saying, "It’s like you get the most confident, strong personality people, a lot of them being women, and it’s like you’re layering all of them on top of each other and it becomes everyone trying to talk over each other. So it’s a lot of really enthusiastic yelling."
Who is Ella Emhoff's mom, Kerstin Emhoff?
Though Emhoff undoubtedly has Harris in her corner, she and her mom, Kerstin, are very close, and Kerstin frequently posts about her daughter on her own account, including plenty of adorable selfies like the one shown above.
It's so sweet to see that Emhoff has two amazing women in her life like these ladies, and one of them is our Vice President.
Nicole Pomarico is an entertainment and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Cosmo, Us Weekly, Refinery29, and more.