Emma Grede on Unapologetic Ambition, Risk, and Building What Women Actually Want
In an interview on The goop Podcast with Gwyneth Paltrow, entrepreneur Emma Grede offered a rare, candid look into the mindset behind some of the most culturally dominant brands in modern fashion.
Grede is the CEO and co-founder of Good American, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Skims, an investor, and a Shark Tank judge. But despite overseeing multiple companies and investments, she insists the outside perception—someone doing everything—misses the point.
In reality, her career is built on repeating a few things extremely well.
“People think I do so many different things, but I really do like three things over and over again… I’m a merchant at heart. I have a pretty good idea for what women want and how they want to feel.”
That focus—combined with instinct, speed, and relentless curiosity—has helped Grede build brands that don’t just sell products. They reshape entire categories.
For founders and wantrepreneurs, her philosophy offers a powerful lesson: simplicity beats complexity when you execute relentlessly.
The Real Job of a Founder: Connecting the Dots
At Skims, Grede’s role isn’t just operations or design. It’s connecting signals before the market sees them.
That means spotting cultural shifts, predicting demand, and making big inventory bets.
Sometimes those bets involve products that have never existed before—like Skims’ now-viral “nipple bra.”
Most companies rely heavily on past data to predict future sales. But Grede argues true innovation requires operating without benchmarks.
“You can’t go and see what everyone else does in the one-legged shapewear department… because it doesn’t exist.”
Instead, she relies on a combination of:
- Cultural intuition
- Customer obsession
- Merchandising experience
- Gut instinct
Her job, she explains, is essentially structured gambling.
She decides:
- Which ideas will become core products
- Which are momentary hype
- And how deep the company should go on inventory
For entrepreneurs, the takeaway is simple: data matters—but instinct still wins when you're creating something new.
Why Speed Is the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
One of Grede’s strongest beliefs is that successful founders move fast.
Slow companies die by analysis. Fast companies win by momentum.
“I’m yet to meet a successful person that moves slow.”
This belief shapes everything about how she runs her businesses:
- Minimal meetings
- Quick decisions
- Immediate feedback
- Clear expectations
She even avoids email chains, preferring to walk to someone’s desk and resolve issues in minutes instead of hours.
Speed, she says, is not chaos. It’s clarity.
When everyone understands the mission, decisions become obvious.
The Founder Skill Nobody Talks About: Leverage
Before building billion-dollar brands, Grede ran a talent-brand partnership agency connecting celebrities with campaigns.
At the time, she realized something that would change her career trajectory.
She was creating enormous value for brands—but capturing very little of it.
When celebrities began receiving equity deals, she had a revelation:
“I was like—Ashton Kutcher gets ten percent of this company and I get 25 cents? I’ll start one myself.”
That idea became Good American, her inclusive denim company co-founded with Khloé Kardashian.
The concept was simple:
- Great jeans
- For every body type
- With real size inclusivity
What seemed obvious turned out to be revolutionary.
The brand launched with 19 sizes, forcing the industry to rethink how fashion could serve real customers.
The deeper insight: opportunities often hide inside frustrations.
The Mindset That Built Emma Grede
Grede’s entrepreneurial drive didn’t come from business school.
It came from growing up in East London with a single mother raising four daughters.
Money was tight. Expectations were high.
But her mother instilled one belief that shaped everything:
“You are not better than anyone else—but nor is anyone better than you.”
That mindset created a powerful psychological foundation.
Grede walked into rooms with CEOs, investors, and celebrities believing she belonged there.
For founders, this is an underrated truth:
Confidence often precedes competence.
Hiring Philosophy: Attitude Over Experience
One of Grede’s strongest leadership principles is hiring for mindset, not resumes.
She actively avoids candidates who claim there’s only one way to do something.
“If you come to me and say ‘this is the way it should be done,’ I’m like—no thank you.”
Instead, she looks for three traits:
1. Flexibility
People who adapt quickly and rethink problems.
2. Cross-functional thinking
Leaders who understand how their work connects to the whole business.
3. Obsession
Candidates who are deeply passionate about their field.
In management terms, she looks for “T-shaped leaders”—deep expertise combined with broad understanding.
The Mission That Aligns Teams
Grede believes most companies make a critical mistake.
They define themselves by what they produce, not why they exist.
At Good American, the mission isn’t “making denim.”
It’s:
Making women feel great about themselves.
Once that purpose is clear, every employee—from entry-level to executive—understands how their work contributes to the bigger mission.
That alignment eliminates the need for constant micromanagement.
The Entrepreneur’s Edge: Cultural Awareness
Part of Skims’ explosive success comes from cultural timing.
Whether it’s celebrity collaborations or viral campaigns, the brand operates at the intersection of fashion, entertainment, and internet culture.
Grede credits this partly to her co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede.
Their team constantly watches culture in real time—and acts quickly.
The key isn’t just spotting trends.
It’s building organizations capable of responding instantly.
Final Lesson: Focus on What Actually Matters
Emma Grede’s career spans multiple companies, industries, and investments.
But her personal operating system is remarkably simple.
She focuses on three things:
- What truly matters
- Getting better at it
- Ignoring outside noise
“I’m very good at focusing on what matters… and tuning out everyone else’s opinions.”
In an age of constant information, that ability might be the most powerful entrepreneurial skill of all.
Because building great companies rarely requires doing more.
It requires doing the right few things better than anyone else.
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