What Kamala Harris's Stepchildren Ella And Cole Emhoff Really Do For A Living

Kamala Harris has no biological children, but she doesn't consider herself to be childless. After Harris met Doug Emhoff in 2013, she welcomed his then-teenagers into her life. Doug's children, Cole and Ella Emhoff, are now adults leading successful careers in the entertainment and fashion industries. But their relationship with their stepmother was positive from the beginning. After meeting her, Doug's children gave Harris an adorable nickname: Momala. They've been close ever since.

When Harris' reproductive decisions became a talking point during the 2024 presidential campaign, her stepchildren stood up for her. In a resurfaced clip from 2021 shared on X, J.D. Vance questioned Harris' values because she never gave birth. "We are effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies," Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee said on Tucker Carlson's former Fox News show, citing the vice president, Pete Buttigieg, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as examples.

Ella was quick to defend her. "How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?" she shared in a July 2024 Instagram Story (via NBC News). She also included a media statement released by her mother, film producer Kerstin Emhoff, in which she highlighted Harris' role in her children's lives. "Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present," Kerstin said. But beyond her affection for her Momala, Ella also has her to thank for part of her career. 

Ella Emhoff's presence at the 2021 inauguration didn't go unnoticed. She stunned in a knee-length Miu Miu coat that made her go viral. A week later, the then-21-year-old signed a contract with IMG Models, kicking off a career many spend years working towards. "It's not really about shape, size or gender anymore," the late president of IMG Models, Ivan Bart, told The New York Times. "Ella communicates this moment in time. There's a cheekiness and a joy she exudes."

Ella is also an artist with a degree from the Parsons School of Design. She specializes in knit paintings that she often features on Instagram. In addition, Kamala Harris' youngest stepchild gives knitting classes through the Soft Hands Knit Club in the East Village, which she launched in 2023. Her work helped her rack up more than 340,000 followers on the social media platform. 

While not as visible, Cole Emhoff has also carved out a creative career, following in his mother's footsteps. He works as a film producer and an assistant at Plan B Entertainment, the production company co-founded by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston in 2001. In his role, he helped bring to life the Oscar-nominated "Minari" and "The Father of the Bride." However, Cole initially envisioned a different path for himself. In 2017, he graduated from Colorado College, earning a psychology degree with the thesis "Fake News: How Cognitive Biases Interact with Social Networking Sites to Influence People's Perception of Misinformation."

In October 2023, Cole Emhoff tied the knot with Greenley Littlejohn, making sure to highlight their families in the ceremony. They followed tradition by breaking with it. Kerstin Emhoff walked Cole down the aisle, while Littlejohn made the walk with her own mother. Ella Emhoff was Cole's best man while Littlejohn's two brothers were her bridesmaids. "Nothing better than your moms walking you down the aisle and your siblings standing with you," she wrote on Instagram.

And the couple made sure to include Cole's stepmother by asking her to be the marriage officiant. Kamala Harris couldn't have been happier to do it. "It meant so much for so many reasons," she told People. "It was so wonderful that the kids asked me to do it." The vice president also views marriage as a celebration of the coming together of two different families — with everything that it entails. "It was very much with that spirit that we all participated," she said.

Harris hopes they have a happy marriage much like the one she has with Doug Emhoff. "I love my husband. I love our marriage. I want for those two to have a loving marriage where they are best friends," she said. Cole would likely be happy with having a marriage as strong as theirs. "Doug and Kamala together are like almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley. I'm like, 'When is this going to wear off?'" he told The New York Times in 2021.