Emma Grede has been on a media blitz. Forbes, Inc., CNBC, Glamour, People, Elle—her face, global success, and business philosophy are everywhere as people rave about her companies: Good American ($155 million revenue in 2021), SKIMS ($154 million valuation), and Safely (launched March 2021).
Which is a thrilling fact to report, given she’s a woman of color from the not-so-nice part of East London, raised with her three siblings by a single mom. Grede is living proof that you really can end up miles from where your life began. She’s an example for the millions out there wondering if a path to entrepreneurial success can be forged without a stop by the Ivy Leagues and/or Silicon Valley.
The answer, per Grede’s example, is “yes”—so long as you’re prepared to work hard and devote yourself to creating standout products and immersive experiences for your customers.
During the course of our interview, Grede shared her best advice for early-stage founders, including her decision-making framework, plus how she leveraged kindness and authenticity to forge relationships that contribute to her success.
The School of Life
Grede took a job delivering newspapers at age 13 and hasn’t stopped working since. Despite her average grades in secondary school, she managed to earn a spot among the 26% of accepted applicants to the London College of Fashion. She left the school before finishing the degree requirements but followed her passion for the fashion industry by becoming a producer with Inca Productions, a fashion show and events production company.
“I really loved [fashion] as the means of escapism from where I come from,” she says. “I grew up in East London, which is not that nice—or it wasn’t when I was little. And I think that fashion for me was such an alluring industry because it felt really far from what I knew. It felt glamorous, and I just loved the clothes and the idea of being in Paris. And I definitely envisaged myself being part of that world, being at the shows, wearing the most beautiful clothes, and being able to afford anything that I want.”
“I think that fashion for me was such an alluring industry because it felt really far from what I knew.”
Grede knew she was not a fashion designer at heart. Her strength lay in understanding business and applying that toward the creations of the creatives. At Inca, she secured sponsorships, which ended up making her one of the pioneers in building designer collaborations—strategically pairing celebrities or consumer brands with high fashion labels.
From Inca, she became the managing director for the startup ITB in 2008. The company was a partnership between Saturday Group and Independent Talent Group and focused on representing the interests of fashion brands in the entertainment industry. In two short years, Grede was named CEO after ITB acquired Brand 360 in 2010.
Having arrived at her mid-20s, Grede sat at the helm of a young company with a firm presence in both the fashion and entertainment industries.
“And then I was lucky enough to sell that company,” she says. Grede stayed on as chairman of ITB in the interim position as the company was sold. It was acquired by Rogers & Cowan, a division of the Interpublic Group (IPG).
“At the end of that company, I’d started to put together a lot of talent-based equity participation deals. And I kind of thought, ‘Oh, I should do one of those for myself.’ And that’s where I found myself starting my first apparel-based business, which I did with Khloe Kardashian.”
The company was Good American.
Kardashian Konnection
Ten years in the fashion industry had opened Grede’s eyes to what types of consumers were being served … and what types were not. Despite 68% of U.S. women being plus-sized, few brands cater to them. Her idea was, rather than creating a line just for those plus-sized bodies, to instead build an inclusive fashion line that served the full range of sizes.
Additionally, she’d been a part of fashion initiatives designed to make a house look racially inclusive when it really wasn’t. She wanted to create an authentically inclusive line, where those running the ship and wearing the products included Black and Brown women of all sizes.
Grede did not initially pitch the idea of Good American to Kardashian, though she’s the person she wanted.
“I knew that having a partner who was extremely well-known would be an amazing accelerator for the brand,” she says.
So, she started with who she knew. She called Kris Jenner.
Grede was often in Los Angeles for ITB, meeting with managers and agents to discuss potential collaborations between their clients and the fashion world. She had built a relationship with Jenner over the course of several meetings.
“At that time, 2012–2013, Kris Jenner was a manager. She’s a manager of this incredible family … she would always paint the picture of where are they going, what are they doing, what are the dreams, what are the aspirations, and so I had a really clear idea coming out of ITB and having worked on so many talent equity participation agreements. I was like, ‘Oh, I know that this is something that will be interesting to Kris Jenner because she had graduated her family past that point of just doing endorsements.’”
“She’s a manager of this incredible family … she would always paint the picture of where are they going, what are they doing, what are the dreams, what are the aspirations.”
Grede knew that Kardashian, most of all, would understand the idea for Good American. She felt she would “get” it and want to be involved beyond more than just participating in a photo shoot for a day. So, she pitched Jenner that she had an idea for one of Jenner’s clients—her daughter, Khloe.
“And she was like, ‘Cool! When you’re next in L.A., you should pitch it directly to Khloe.’ And I was like, ‘Well, funny you should say that—I’m coming next week.’ I wasn’t, of course. I flew specifically for the meeting. It was those early hustle days. So much of the business, even now, is about building relationships and listening—really understanding what there is a need for, what people want to do. I was lucky that I could make the stars align there with Good American because I knew I had an incredible product and idea, and there was a really addressable market.”
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‘You Can’t Pay Your Way to a Customer’
While Grede’s relationships with the Kardashians have proved helpful to the launch of her businesses, she reminds entrepreneurs that celebrity partnership does not equate to longevity or repeat business. Kardashian might have helped get customers in the door for that first sale—helping Good American report sales of $1 million on Day One—but the product is what keeps customers coming back.
Grede got much pushback from the industry when she went about the business of building a line for sizes 00–24. Manufacturers told her they could not accommodate that size range. Designers said they were only trained to work with Missy sizes. They did not know how to work in Plus. The opposition told Grede her endeavor would be difficult, but she saw this as a challenge to overcome. She knew a way existed to make her idea work; she only needed to keep having conversations and figuring it out.
Eventually, she settled on a prototype of one pair of blue jeans that accommodated the curve of women’s bodies. When she asked people of different sizes to try them on, the feedback told her she’d hit on a winner. They wanted to keep the prototypes and told her they’d never felt like they did when wearing them or hadn’t worn jeans in decades until her prototype.
“I was absolutely clear that I’d created a product that was better than anything else,” Grede says.
Listen and Apply
Grede says her success lies in her ability to truly listen and incorporate the communication she receives. Her companies gather feedback via social media, post-purchase surveys, large focus groups, and testing out new products on all sizes. Grede allows no ego when processing the information, even when it is unpleasant to hear.
“When it’s direct-to-consumer, you have to figure out what is your way of interacting with your customer base with regularity and then what is the way you take what they said back into the business to make decisions,” Grede says.
A more public example of this approach was the feedback received about another company of hers, formerly known as Kimono. Grede launched the company with partner Kim Kardashian West on Sept. 10, 2019. It’s a line of shapewear made in nine different skin shades and a fully inclusive size range.
Consumer backlash over the company name was swift and included a letter from the mayor of Kyoto, Daisaku Kadokawa, for appropriation of the Japanese word. Grede took it all in stride and, in customary fashion, rose to the challenge.
“You don’t get to make your mistakes in private when you’re in business with Kim Kardashian West,” she says. They listened and changed the name of the company to SKIMS.
Diversity and Decisions
In addition to her incredible ability to park ego at the door, listen, and apply customer feedback to the business, diversity and decision-making drive Grede’s success.
“My job is to be able to constantly make decisions,” she says, “and so I like to stay really connected to the businesses that I’m involved with because I can only really make those decisions if I understand what’s going on and hire the best people to work in every part of the company.”
Her husband and fellow fashion powerhouse, Jens Grede (who co-founded and recently launched BRADY alongside Tom Brady and Dao-Yi Chow) first spoke her guiding decision-making philosophy: Make a decision and move on. Grede executes on that philosophy all day, every day, typically relying more on her gut than data. She calls people often, including her competition, to check in, commiserate, and stay in touch.
“I’ll be like, ‘Hey, are you seeing this? Is this happening to you too, or am I in an isolated incident right now?’” she says. “And nine times out of 10, people are really generous with their information and happy you phoned up. I’ve done that so many times, and it’s surprised me.”
Her commitment to diversity is built into the fabric of her business model. Candidate pools for open positions must include a healthy mix of backgrounds to maintain diversity in her workforce. Grede credits the variety as a source of good corporate decision-making because it naturally supplies a wide range of ideas and solutions.
Thriving in Crowded Spaces
In addition to Good American with Khloe Kardashian and SKIMS with Kim Kardashian West, Grede co-founded Safely with Kris Jenner. Safely creates plant-based cleaning products and is Grede’s first foray into a market space that already provides similar products for a similar audience.
So why did Grede feel the need to launch Safely?
Well, like millions of us, she’s a mom living through a pandemic. The need for clean is paramount these days. At the same time, the chemicals in leading cleaning products can pose health hazards nearly as scary as Covid-19. Grede needed to keep her home clean, but she did not want to put her four children at risk by constantly exposing them to the chemicals in most cleaning products. So, Grede took a course of action that so many founders have: She set about finding a solution for her problem.
With 17% of the U.S. market looking for eco-friendly labels when buying cleaning or laundry detergents, Grede knew that Safely would appeal to a small part of the overall cleaning products audience. For those not yet valuing eco-friendly options, she has a question: “Would you be willing to trade up?”
“Most people want something better if they know something’s better,” she says.
“Most people want something better if they know something’s better.”
For other founders looking to break into a crowded space, Grede advises that you know exactly why you’re getting into it. The guiding motivation of providing a safe, clean home for her own children helps Grede as she navigates Safely through the crowded cleaning products space.
Another example of motivation’s importance is Grede’s involvement in the television show Shark Tank. At first glance, this might seem like another crowded space for Grede. The show has been on television for 13 years. Several founders have served as sharks, and they’ve listened to (and supported) a plethora of startups.
But take another look. See anybody else on that shark panel who looks like Grede?
Or how about the lineup of those even being allowed to pitch to the sharks?
“It was only five years ago that I was raising money for Good American,” Grede says. “I know how hard it is for Black and Brown women, especially, to be part of the funding conversation and even be in those rooms where they can be considered. I thought it was important to be a Black woman that is a self-made woman that could be on that show investing in other women. That, for me, was the reason I had to do this. It was a full-circle moment.”
Grede advises entrepreneurs to consider the stage of business they’re in before pitching to investors. Many go too early, she thinks. If you’re just starting out and seeking less than $1 million, then funders typically want to see that you’ve bootstrapped your way into a viable commercial entity first. They want you to have learned the lessons that only come with getting as far as you can on your own initially. Grede says that this will, in turn, open you up to better investors in the long run.
Having sat on both the investing and seeking investment sides of the table, we wondered which Grede prefers.
“When you’re trying to do something on a global scale, where you believe that there is a huge opportunity, it’s fantastic to raise capital. Going back five years, maybe I’d have thought about that totally differently if I was in the same position I am now and I could have just put my own money into it. I wasn’t. It wasn’t a choice that I had back then. Who knows? We’ll see in business number five. That’s the truth of it, right?” she says.
Partnering for Diversity
Grede’s belief in and passion for the power of diversity in corporations isn’t just evident inside her companies. She also works to awaken other businesses to the value that diversity brings. One way she does this is by serving as chairman of the board for The Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit founded by Aurora James.
According to The Fifteen Percent Pledge, Black people make up 15% of the population in the United States. Accordingly, the organization encourages corporations to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.
She notes—not incidentally—that a corporation is better-suited to serve its customers well when it’s making decisions from a diverse standpoint. That means more products sold, which means greater profit for the company.
Grede also points out the massive ripple effect this initiative creates. When Black-owned businesses sell more, they hire more, which in turn creates more wealth in their communities and opportunities for education and improvement.
“When you’re a Black-owned business and you suddenly get a fantastic order from Nordstrom, you are able to employ more people, and we know that Black founders will employ Black and Brown people. They will educate their children. They will have a positive impact in their community.”
“We know that Black founders will employ Black and Brown people. They will educate their children. They will have a positive impact in their community.”
In just one year, The Fifteen Percent Pledge has received corporate commitments totaling $10 billion.
“You really are changing the economic makeup of the country at large by being able to do this,” Grede says.
Mission Accomplished
She wasn’t from the most luxurious neighborhood. She didn’t do well in secondary school nor complete her college degree.
But Emma Grede worked. And she listened. And she operated with integrity while building authentic relationships. She kept her focus on creating good, solid solutions to clearly identified problems for defined audiences. She leveraged the resources at her disposal at every step and filtered it all through a guiding set of principles that demanded valuing diversity and inclusion.
No, she did not earn a degree from the London College of Fashion. She is, however, a sterling embodiment of its mission: to use the subject of fashion to shape lives and drive economic and social transformation.
For Grede, this is the pinnacle of success. “I think if you feel great every day about how you’re using your time, you’re going to be a successful founder,” she says. “You may not make a gazillion dollars, but you’re going to get up every morning and your life will be full of purpose and you’re going to do something you really enjoy and hopefully it makes somebody either a difference to their life or something enjoyable for other people, and that, for me, has to be the starting point of everything. If it brings you money and wealth and opportunity and all of that is really great too, but at the end of the day, we all have to get out and get through the day, and I think that has to be what work is for.”
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Hot Seat With Emma Grede
Q: If you could have dinner with any entrepreneur, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
“Oprah Winfrey. I think that one of the things she’s done so beautifully is that fuse, this unbelievable commercial instinct that she has with the purpose of her life and this idea of spirituality and the podcast and the book club and bringing the whole world with her. There are so few people that have been able to touch people’s lives in such a big way as her.”
Q: What advice would you give your 10-years-ago self, using the knowledge you have today?
“I would have moved on a little quicker from some of my early jobs. I stuck around out of loyalty and didn’t always make the best decisions for myself. I actually tell people who work for me all the time, ‘Your time here is probably up. You should move on.’”
Q: If there was one celebrity you could choose to partner with, who would it be and why?
“I didn’t have a second choice to Khloe. She was my first choice. And I still sit here and go, ‘God, that was such a smart choice.’ I still think that the Kardashian family just have it. They are honest and unbelievably hardworking. There is no one I’d rather be in business with … I could just create a brand for Brad Pitt,” she says. “But it’d be more self-serving than me wanting to create a brand for Brad Pitt, but maybe we should say that because it’d be a more interesting answer. That’s for 16-year-old Emma, crushing on Brad Pitt.
