Emma Grede: What it really takes to build a brand with the Kardashians

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

Global

Arts, Society & Culture

4.5 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2026

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before she became the entrepreneur behind Kardashian-founded brands Good American and Skims, Emma Grede was a kid from Plaistow with severe dyslexia, few qualifications, and a fierce belief that she could build a bigger life for herself.

In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with Emma to trace the story behind her remarkable rise- from helping raise her younger sisters in East London and struggling in a school system that never seemed to fit, to building a career in fashion through sheer audacity, instinct and relentless hard work.

Emma reflects on the work ethic she inherited from her mother, the unpaid placements and early setbacks that taught her how business really worked, and the confidence that drove her to knock on doors others were too intimidated to approach. She explains how she discovered her gift for negotiation, why relationships became the foundation of her success, and how those instincts helped her build businesses alongside the Kardashians that would go on to reshape modern fashion and culture.

They discuss class, ambition and social mobility; the difference between talent and opportunity; the myths we tell about success; and why Emma believes women need a more honest conversation about work, money and power.

Sharp, funny and full of hard-won insight, this is a conversation about ambition, reinvention and what it really takes to get to the top.

Find out more about START WITH YOURSELF: A New Vision for Work & Life by Emma Grede here

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Transcript

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0:00.0	British gas have this thing. We call it home care. We'll fix all sorts and its unlimited repairs.
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0:47.7	Bista Village, what will you find?
0:52.2	This is a Global Player Original podcast. I have unbelievable self-belief. Back in those days, you would write letters. I wrote to every single person. I wrote to every single PR agency. I wrote to every single buyer. I wrote to every single shop on the high street. I would literally knock on doors and say, hey, I don't think you got my letter. You come into the Kardashians' life is probably the best way of putting it. That was a moment, I imagined. It's a moment, and I milked it. Your energy is so high. Am I giving you a headache? No, I'm loving it. I'm loving it. I'm going to go out and start a company. You know, Emma, you're not better than anyone else, but nor is anyone better than you.
1:34.8	Hello and welcome to full disclosure, a podcast project designed to let me spend more time with
1:39.3	interesting people than I would ever get on the radio show. Emma Greed, welcome. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. Well, it's a pleasure to have you. I think for the benefit of my audience, you're somebody about whom they will know either everything or nothing. Does that sound reasonable? I think that's absolutely reasonable. So, I mean, for people who don't know, you are, I mean, there's some phrases here that need a little bit of unpacking.
2:02.8	But you are, let's just unpack it.
2:04.8	Where you're a hugely successful entrepreneur.
2:06.8	Everybody knows what that means, investor, brand builder.
2:09.9	I know what that means.
2:12.0	But it's a, and now, of course, bestselling author because your book, start with yourself a new vision for work and life,
2:22.7	has just smashed its way into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
2:24.4	Hence my congratulations.
2:25.1	Thank you.
2:27.5	You've crammed a lot into your life.
	...

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