Emily Cena is a retired 44-year-old lawyer who has a home in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in the mountains of North Carolina.  She was a partner with the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City, Missouri until 1995 when she and her husband moved to the tiny tropical island of St. John. 

She attended William Jewell College on a full academic scholarship, majored in English Literature, and was graduated magna cum laude in 1982.  While in college she spent her sophomore year studying at St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, on an honors program. 

At Oxford she was stroke of the St. Peter’s Ladies Racing Eight and captain of the Oxford University Ladies Judo Team, as well as a member of the Law Society and the Oxford Union.  She attended law school at the University of Virginia and the University of Kansas, where she was graduated in 1986 and was a member of the Kansas Law Review. 

She joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon in 1986 and became the first female partner in the Corporate Finance division, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, hostile takeovers, and capital market finance. 

On St. John Ms. Cena has served as a member of the board of the Historical Society and the Friends of the St. John Library, and she and her husband crew on the legendary gaff-rigged sailboat Breath. 

At 5’ 7” and 122 pounds, she is an excellent example of what the almost-slender woman wants to be: fit, slender, healthy and confident.  Ms. Cena models from time to time on St. John and stays fit by snorkeling, sea kayaking, and mountain hiking.