emma: i don't want my daughters wasting time thinking about how

much they weigh, what they look like. and i think fashion has done a terrible job of reinforcing an unrealistic beauty idea. francine: the entrepreneur who is driving a multibillion-dollar retail empire while trying to redefine the world of fashion. british businesswoman emma grede has partnered with one of the most famous families in hollywood. she is chief executive and cofounder of the inclusive fashion brand “good american,” which she launched in 2016 with khloe kardashian. she is also the founding partner of shapewear label “skims,” alongside khloe's sister, kim. emma: as a young, black female entrepreneur, the only thing i could do was what i knew from my experience, and the honest truth is i did not set out to create a company that was, like, deeply rooted in the principles of inclusivity and diversity. i set out to make a company that was right for me. francine: in this episode of "leaders with lacqua," i speak to emma grede about her rise to the top, how she measures success, and why diversity remains elusive in the world of fashion.

emma grede, thank you so much for joining us on bloomberg. emma: thank you so much for having me. francine: this is so exciting. i mean, you represent so much for so many people. everything you touch, all the businesses you touch turn into gold. did you ever think that you would be such a success? emma: no. and that is mostly because most of the businesses that i touched early in the days didn't turn to gold. [laughter] i love this idea of, like, overnight success and i feel i would love to continue to perpetuate that myth, but i have just done a lot, and it has been a lot of trial and error along the way. and i feel i have probably done every job imaginable, from having a paper route when i was 12, to working in a deli, to working in shops, to starting things that were less successful, to starting things that had medium success. i feel like that has been a long journey and i am really thankful

that now i am 41 years old and i am starting to see this type of success, which is really great. francine: you were always starting the journey, and you always wanted to succeed. is that what actually makes your success? emma: you know, i think so. i also think, you know, there is an element of luck in any of these things, right? when you take apart what luck means, i really believe that opportunity meets preparation. you know, i was always prepared, and when opportunity came along i was ready to work for it. then there is that old adage of a lot of hard work. and i have really, really put the time in, i think. francine: did you always want to be an entrepreneur? emma: no. i never knew what an entrepreneur was. if you would have asked me when i was a kid -- i mean, i came from east london and i did not know anyone who had their own business. everyone i knew went to work to pay their bills with usually very little joy in it. so even the idea of doing something that felt purposeful or meaningful or something you enjoyed really was not part of my understanding. i tried really hard to get close to what it is that i love, the fashion business. but i didn't ever, ever think

about starting my own thing. i think it actually came out of a necessity. i was like, who is going to employ me and pay me what i think i deserve? and i left a company because i was, like, they are just not paying me properly, so i will just have to pay myself! [laughter] francine: age 24. emma: 24. francine: and it was the determination of actually making something. emma: do you know what it was? i felt like i was adding a lot of value. and i think so many people through their careers have this feeling, right? i am adding a lot of value and i'm not being renumerated for what i bring to the table. and that feeling became so strong in me, but what do you do? at 24, you know, you don't really have that many options. i did what a lot of people do. i went to a company and tried to do my best at the position i was given. and thankfully somebody saw that and decided, ok, maybe we'll set this girl up on her own. but i talked to so many either young people that i employ or people trying to get noticed. and i honestly think that is such amazingly good advice. because no one is ever going to look at you to do the next thing unless you are excelling where you are today. and so sometimes just buckling down and doing the absolute best job at wherever you are is the

best way to get ahead. francine: but then actually making the step of leaving and setting something up on your own, you have to be brave and it is not always easy. emma: no, it wasn't always easy. especially i remember the first time i got a little bit of backing and they said you will be in charge of your own p&l. and i thought, fantastic. i wrote it down and went home and googled it. "what is p&l?" [laughter] sometimes naivety is best for any entrepreneur. i didn't know what i didn't know, and therefore i had to go for it and learn fast. and fail fast. and i think i have done --throughout my career i haven't made the best choices every time, but i think part of being a good entrepreneur is knowing when things are not going right and knowing what you don't know. and i have surrounded myself with the right people, continuously. francine: so what is the biggest mistake that you have learned from? emma: i think the biggest mistake was probably when i had my first agency, itb. and i was killing it in london. so there was this idea that the company was completely exportable. and i went to the u.s., opened an office in new york, that office went really well. and then i opened in l.a. and i

failed miserably. underinvested, did not bring the right people in, just thought whatever i was doing would translate, and it didn't. i learned that the hard way by starting something, dragging people there, and having to close it. there is nothing like a bit of embarrassment to humble the soul. i was like, you know. [laughter] packed everything up. literally had to pack my own office back up. so that was a fantastic learning. but, again, i never let it break my spirit. i really truly took those learnings. and when i started my second company in l.a., i was like, okay, this is where i need to do something different. and so i literally packed up my family and went and moved to l.a. and knew that if i was going to do something that was going to be successful, i needed to do it myself, i needed to be in the country, and i needed to give it my absolute all. francine: so is that also giving time to understand the market? was it that it was difficult to do it from not being in the city? emma: yeah, being in-country, being part of the fabric of that culture has been really

important, especially for my business, good american, that is about what is happening at the moment. like, where are we in society as women, where is fashion? and i think that has been really, really important to be, like, where it is all happening. francine: that is a really bold move, actually, selling denim to americans. [laughter] emma: it really was. nobody needs more blue jeans, like, let's be honest. i actually doubted myself when we started. [laughter] but, again, coming to a business with mission and purpose at the heart of what we do is what sets us apart. and so i think there are so many brands. but how do consumers make choices these days? and right now, we make our choices based on what we believe in, what we feel is important, what we want our children to see. and i am a mother of four. so i know only too well that i don't want my daughters wasting time thinking about how much they weigh, what they look like. and i think that fashion has done a terrible job of reinforcing a really unrealistic beauty ideal. and so with good american, the whole premise of the brand was to say, we are going to make clothes for all women, we will let women make their choices,

and hopefully we will take some of that pain out of what it means to be left out of the conversation or not represented in fashion. and we have done that pretty well, i think. francine: you have this idea of inclusivity, of making women feel good. who do you talk about it with first? emma: funnily enough, my husband. [laughter] because i think we are both entrepreneurs. it is natural for me to bat any idea backwards and forwards with him. but i have worked for years in the fashion business. and so, i have been part of the problem. i have seen firsthand how some fashion businesses make women feel. and i think there is one thing, you know, being very vocal and being an instagram activist and talking about something, there is a difference in putting your money where your mouth is and really trying to do something about the problem. and that is what i did with that business. it was about, how do i take everything that i have learned and actually do the opposite? and i think that as a young,

black female entrepreneur the only thing i could do was what i know from my experience. and the honest truth is i did not set out to create a company that was deeply rooted in principles of inclusivity and diversity. i set out to make a company that was right for me and my friends, and i knew that if i have a problem, chances are somebody else does. and i think that is where so many businesses are created, when you are solving a problem that is real for you, and therefore real for the consumer. francine: is there a danger that some entrepreneurs look at numbers too much and look for a gap in the market? emma: it is very true. it is very true. and i think that is one way to approach things. and there is a certain sense. but for me, i go with my gut. gut instinct tells me a lot. i tend not to go against my gut. now, i would be lying if i said i did not run some numbers and feel like there was commercial opportunity here, right? nobody makes 19 sizes of anything without thinking, i reckon i can sell them somewhere along the line. but i definitely think so much more of what i have done throughout my career has been in response to a feeling i have had, and then acting on that feeling. francine: were you surprised at

how many other people felt like you? emma: yeah. [laughter] francine: were you? emma: yeah. honestly, it is one of those things that, on paper good american has been such a massive success. but if you wind back today one, everyone is like, $1 million on day one. the truth is, 9:00, i was a hero. by 11:00, i had no stock left and everyone was like, you have no idea what you are doing, do you? i was like, actually, i do not. in a way, that was my first lesson in what it means to be excellent, from a customer experience point of view. because i just started emailing people. and i was like, how long do i think people will wait? turns out not that long. certainly not as long as it was going to take me to make stock. [laughter] francine: who were you talking to? sellers or customers? emma: both, actually. i was, like, can you help me get more fabric? will you wait eight weeks for a pair of jeans? somewhere in that, it all kind of worked out. but i think, again, what people respond to is brands that have authenticity, and there is a level of honesty that is needed. i went and said, you know what, we had no idea how popular and

how much this was going to chime with customers, and if you can just be patient, we are going to get you something. hands up. we know we messed up. and we don't want to disappoint you. and there is a part of that honesty that actually, really chimed with people. they knew we were not feeding them a line. it was clearly not written by pr, because i could not afford pr at that point. [laughter] francine: were you signing it "emma?" emma: yeah! emma, x, how i speak to my mum or something. [laughter] francine: coming up, emma grede on her attempts to break one of the last taboos in fashion and how success is making her reassess what it means to be an entrepreneur. ♪

francine: emma grede has made a personal fortune by founding inclusive and progressive clothing companies. good american was the biggest denim launch in history when it made $1 million in sales on its first day. she tells me about her success and the challenges that remain across the industry. has fashion done -- i mean, it hasn't done enough when it comes to inclusivity and diversity,

but has it done something in the last five to 10 years? emma: you know, it's interesting, because fashion, as quick as it is to change, like in the kind of aesthetic, it is very difficult to change a system, right? and i think that comes down to who makes decisions. and the people that make decisions in fashion don't typically look like me. they aren't typically women all the time. when we look at who is at the helm of the biggest high street players, it tends to be the same type of people. and so, i honestly think there is a lot of work to be done. progress has definitely happened. but you only have to look at the last new york fashion week, which was the biggest and the most commercial, to see that there so much tokenism around what inclusivity really means. and i think that, especially when it comes to size, we are back where we were 20 or 30 years ago when you would have one single black model that would walk down the catwalk. now we are in the same situation where, i can't remember the stat, but i think it was less than 3% of models that came down the catwalk were above a size 12. i mean, a size 12 is, like, less than average.

there is so much work to be done there. it's almost like size is almost the last allowed taboo. you know? we are allowed to disclude people because of their size. and it is really crazy. francine: i was reading something saying that people feel like rubbish when they look at this stuff because they don't feel represented, and they feel there is something wrong with them. emma: that is the whole reason i started the brand. because, you know, if you go back seven years ago, i was pregnant with my second child, a girl, and really i felt that deeply. like, how much time and effort you can spend, and waste time. and to me, it's like if you take out some of that worry and the strife around how much we think about our looks and instead put our energy into saying, i need a pay raise, i think i should be doing something else with my life, part of it was really like, what happens if you shift

and change the paradigm of how people see themselves? and, you know, it is a really trite sentence, but representation really matters. when you see a version of yourself in something there is a level of acceptance. and that is what i wanted to do, just level the playing field and say, you know what, we all look different, we all are different, and that is ok. that is not what we should be thinking about. we should be thinking about equal pay. like, there are other things we should use our time for as women. let's just get an equality going with men. and that means throughout the workplace, throughout all the industries. honestly, i feel like the media has such a huge impact on us, and i don't mean only just fashion media, i mean the media at large. we need to see better representation everywhere in society. francine: is that why you are doing “dragon's den?” emma: you know what? it is interesting. you asked me earlier, did i think about being an entrepreneur? i honestly just never thought about being an entrepreneur. but as i got more successful, i thought a lot about what it means to be an entrepreneur. because they talk about it being really small at the top. but is not really small at the

top. it is minuscule. it is the same people doing the same deals, giving each other money, who all typically went to one of five or six schools. and so for me, because i am on “shark tank” in the u.s. and the idea of “dragons' den,” that you can be an entrepreneur with seemingly very little background and absolutely no access to funding, and walk on and get a check to do something that means something to you and can mean something for your family, i am, like, why wouldn't you? it wasn't so long ago i was out fundraising. and so i am just like, if i can be a small part of somebody's journey that would not usually get the opportunity, to me it makes so much sense. and it is not just about women. not just about women of color. it's like, if you didn't have the means or the education to know anything differently than getting up and going to work every day, that doesn't mean to say you can't have a successful business. i am walking proof of that, right? i left school when i was 16 years old and i have done pretty well. so to me, it is about leveling the playing field. and i love the idea of that being seen on tv and people having that idea that they can be successful if they just get an opportunity.

francine: emma, is entrepreneurship in the u.k. different to the u.s.? in the u.s. there is almost a badge of honor of trying and failing, of trying again, of starting again. [laughter] i don't know if there is a stigma in the u.k., but people are less bold. emma: i don't think they are less bold. i think there is more -- you know, we are different here. we don't celebrate it in the same way. and i find that really difficult to say, because i feel like i am so celebrated. especially where i'm from. like, people in london are so nice to me. i turned up in this office and two girls, come up to me and they're, like, emma, we love you! high five. so i think things are shifting. what i am all about is celebrating people. listen, it doesn't all work out, but that is also part of life. i think we have to be more honest with ourselves about what it takes and how hard it is. francine: it is hard because you need to build team around you, you need funding. emma: oh, yeah. francine: there is a little bit of luck. what have you found hardest? emma: if i am really honest, probably the funding piece. because i think without the right background and circles

around you, access is really difficult. you know, for me, i raised my first check from my clients, because i had built a business in fashion media. and so i had lots of clients. so the only "rich people" i knew were clients of mine that had been paying me retainers. so that was, for me, the easiest way. i was, like, hi, remember me, would you like to give me $3 million? most of them said "no," but a couple said "yes." so i think just knowing where to go in the beginning. they are the barriers that most people face. once you are in it, i think it is all so much about the journey. like, none of this stuff happens like it does on social media. and i think just knowing that you are on a journey. and actually, i honestly think the best way to start a business is with no money. you don't need to go out and raise tons of finances, you need to figure out, what am i creating, where is my audience, and what am i uniquely good at? because when you figure out what you're good at, you know who else you need around you to make

something really work. francine: kris jenner was part of your journey. emma: yes, very much so. francine: i mean, how did that shape the entrepreneur you are? emma: i think i have been really lucky to be surrounded by so many incredible entrepreneurs, starting with my clients, also my husband, being around people like kris, and also just having access and listening and watching some brilliant people as i grow up. just even on the tv. really soaking that up. and i am one of those people that can learn from anything. i have read books about being an entrepreneur before i really knew what one was. so i really am someone that will take from any situation that you let me. francine: coming up, emma grede tells me why diversity is a superpower and what she's doing to try and improve access and opportunity. ♪

francine: emma grede is perhaps best known as the founding partner of skims, along with kim kardashian. the shapewear brand was valued at $4 billion last year. i continued the conversation by asking emma about the business and her commitment to supporting diversity and black-owned companies. skims is also huge. did you ever think an underwear -- what do you call it, an underwear shaping company? emma: yes. i mean, we make underwear, solutionwear. you know, skims has grown so unbelievably. and, you know, that is kim kardashian's company.

it was her idea from the outset. and i honestly believe that we never thought that it would just be one thing. you know? we always thought about it as being this huge company that would do a lot of things well. but, again, that company was based on just doing one product really, really well. and i think that is testament to any great company. we had so much focus in the beginning. we were like, here is what we are going to do. we are going to make superior shapewear in every single size and every single color. and it worked out incredibly well. francine: and now also selling to men. when is the right time to i guess grow or go into a slightly different branch? emma: so interesting, because in good american the first time we ever thought of going into another category was because customers asked us to. and i think it is a really smart way to think about your growth and your development in a business. like, you really have to listen. you can't take that commentary, like, just the good things. because your customers will tell

you what you need to hear and they will also tell you what you don't want to hear. it is like a big fat mirror. i feel like that is one of the things with social media that is so exceptionally important in business right now, because it is just a reflection of everything you are doing, a reflection of your consumer base. and if you are listening carefully enough, the data will tell you things. and all you need to do is tune into that. and so when i think about category expansion, it really is in regards to or in relation to really what customers are asking me for. and we make those decisions based on that. we make those decisions based on that. francine: how do you build a team that can also say, no, emma, this is not a great idea? emma: you know what, that is a great question. i think i spend about 25% of my time hiring. i will take speculative meetings even if i do not have a position available, because you are only as good as your team. and to do what i do you have to surround yourself with experts, people that are really good at what they do. and part of that is being able to stand up to you and you being able to listen. and so, when i think about myself as a leader, i really lead with empathy because i need

people to be able to say to me, that is a bad idea, or based on my experience. because my experience is limited. francine: do you think it is different being a leader in 2024 than it was in 2004? emma: 100%, because the workforce has changed immeasurably. right? if we think post-pandemic, also the generation we are dealing with right now, it is entirely different. and you have to create a company that can succeed with the workforce that it has at its disposal. francine: what do you mean, younger? emma: yeah, i think younger people have a different expectation of their life and work and how those two things split together. and, like it or not, covid changed the working environment forever. and you either adapt or you die. i might have a certain opinion about how i want people to come into a space, into a business, but at the end of the day you have got to work with where the culture is at. and i am not here to fight the culture. i am, like, ok, it is what it is. how do we work to maximize this? because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. francine: how do you spot a good entrepreneur?

like on “dragons' den?” how do you decide whether you are all in? emma: i am so personality-driven. of course, a good idea is a good idea and a white space is a white space. but if i meet someone that, just, like, does something to me, i feel it immediately. like, it is you. francine: like, fire in the belly? how would you describe it? emma: sometimes it is just that mad passion. like, i could get excited about an origami company if someone comes to me and they are like - [laughter] i'm that person. i respond to that because that is who i am. but i also really respond to the fact that i am, you know, sometimes seeing a bit of yourself, knowing someone has not got another opportunity or chance, i'm like, i will have a crack, i will have a go at you. francine: what is emma grede going to do in five years? [laughter] emma: i don't know. lie down? [laughter] take a break? francine: i don't believe that for one second. [laughter] emma: no, it is true, i will find something else. you know, i am really focused on a lot of my nonprofit work these days. i am the chairwoman of an incredible organization called

the fifteen percent pledge, which is really focused on creating some semblance of balance in, you know, the world of black-owned businesses, figuring out how they can show up in retail with more balance. and i honestly believe that any way that i can use my voice, use my influence, and the knowledge that i built over this time for good is a good use of my energy. francine: why is it so underfunded still? emma: you know, it is so interesting, because it is about access. i think about this all the time. talent is fairly evenly distributed. opportunity isn't. what we need is to give more people opportunity. regardless of age, race, those things. it is about leveling the playing field. we come back to that same idea, who gets to be an entrepreneur, who gets to make decisions? and so i really believe the more we can open that up, the better it is for everybody. and i have proven in my businesses that diversity actually is a superpower. the more people you have at the table, the more customers you can serve.

it is just good business. it is not about being holier than thou or giving somebody an opportunity that does not deserve it. it is actually about being able to service as many customers as you can. and the more minds you have around the table that reflect your customer base, the better. francine: emma grede, thank you so much for joining us today. emma: thank you so much. ♪

>> i'm not concerned, if you look at nvidia it will continue to dominate the space over the next three to five years. they own over 95% of the market. >> delivering tips at this rate, at this scale is fantastic and unprecedented. i don't think there is much of a revenue issue here, but the growth issue, i think that a little bit of a pushback is probably more around the margin situation. >> that type of growth isn't realistic for sustainable long-term. it's not necessary for a long term so nvidia can only grow as quickly as supply allows it to. quakes at the end of the day we still sense enormous and urgent demand and that