‘The first investment I ever made was in myself, which really tells you everything about me,’ Emma Grede reveals to model Ashley Graham during ELLE UK’s game of Ask Me Anything. ‘As a young woman, one of the hardest things to do is make any more, which is what I did from the first sale of my first company and then figure out what and where I’m doing with that. If there was one bet, I was pretty sure about making it was on myself.’
Gambling in business may not be common practice, but when you have the business acumen of Grede, it’s safe to say a win is almost guaranteed. The East London-raised businesswoman, entrepreneur and fashion designer is most commonly known for her title as CEO and co-founder of the denim company Good American, the first fully inclusive fashion brand which she launched in 2016. Of course, that’s not all. She’s also the founding partner of Skims, and co-founder of Safely, not to mention a Chairwoman of the Fifteen Percent Pledge (a campaign that encourages retailers to dedicate at least 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses), board member of Women for Women International and Baby2Baby. After becoming the first Black female shark on season 13 of the multi-Emmy Award winning series Shark Tank, she is now a guest judge on BBC One’s Dragon’s Den.
In addition to answering business questions from the likes of entrepreneurs like WAH Nails founder Sharmadean Reid and US presenter Jeannie Mai Jenkins, Grede also opens up to fellow businesswoman Rosie Huntington-Whiteley about the importance of creating a sense of community in the workplace.
‘Whenever you’re a leader or in a position of influence in a company, you hold an enormous amount of power at your fingertips,’ she says. ‘When I think about the companies I work for, the culture is everything. And by that I mean how, why and what do people come to work for? And what I do as CEO of Good American is make sure everybody understands why they come to work. What its he purpose, what is the mission, what are we trying to do? Creating a culture in your business is imperative.’
In addition to not being recognised as the boss (‘I’m a good observer and I usually get over it pretty quickly’), Grede admits she dislikes being asked about work/life balance. ‘Men are never asked about work/life balance and honestly I don’t believe in it,’ she says. ‘As a working woman and a mother of four, you’ve got to be comfortable with a trade off. My life is a set of trade offs. I have four children, three businesses and get pulled in a million different directions and I also want to dimystify this idea that I have it all or that I do it all. Yes I have a husband, I have a bunch of friends, kids and companies, but I’m not doing all of those things all at the same time, and certainly not well all at the same time. I have a lot of help. And that is ok, because no one gets to do what I do and doesn’t have a bunch of people helping them. I often talk about it taking a village, and I pay the village to help me get through the day. I’m unashamed of it.’
As one of Forbes' America’s Richest Self-Made Women Under 40 running international businesses, it’s refreshing to hear Grede talk openly about taking pride in looking after herself to look after her mind and those around her.
‘I really hate the term “self care” but I am militant about my own self care. I think about it in terms as I would any other meeting. I schedule time for me to rejuvenate myself. I suffer really badly with migraines so for me I have to see my acupuncturist, chiropractor and keep my stress at bay. I think it’s a really important thing to say that your mental health and how you look after yourself is a huge part of your responsibility as a person,’ she says. ‘I would say that organisations play a part in that but it’s really down to you - how are you treating yourself, how are you prioritising yourself? I think it’s not a secret to anyone that I put myself very high on my list of priorities.’
Watch the rest of Emma Grede’s Ask Me Anything - Celebrity Edition video at the top of this article.
Dragons’ Den is on BB1 on Thursday evenings at 8pm and is available to stream on BBC iplayer
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
