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Emma Grede had a humble beginning in a poor part of east London, where she grew up in a middle-class family. Her single mother raised her alongside three younger sisters who helped make ends meet. Growing up, she would save pennies to buy fashion magazines as she wanted to pursue a career in the field. After working at various jobs in fashion, Grede established a successful business and slowly rose in prominence through her hard work. She first became associated with the Kardashian-Jenner family in 2015 with a clothing company and has gradually collaborated with some family members to create new businesses and expand her reach to different audiences.
Over the years, Emma Grede has built a fortune for herself and assisted in creating innovative businesses for the Kardashian-Jenner family to make profits outside their reality shows. Additionally, she has attained public notoriety by taking part in reality series that has made her a household name. Let’s look at the life and businesses of Emma Grede, the woman associated with the success of the Kardashian-Jenner businesses.
Creating A Fashion Empire
Raised by her mother, Jenny-Lee Findlay, Emma Grede was deeply influenced by her teaching, which shaped her perspective toward life. Findlay taught her to have a strong work ethic and strive for confidence with every opportunity. She encouraged her daughter to pursue her love for fashion. Grede studied at the London College of Fashion before she dropped out to pursue an internship at Gucci. She worked at Gharani Strok before joining Inca Productions, best known for producing shows associated with London Fashion Week. According to Scmp, at just 26 years of age, she began her talent marketing firm ITB Worldwide.
Grede served as the CEO and Chairman for nine years, and the firm's success led to many investors seeking a buyout or takeover. It wasn’t until 2018 that she sold the company to a creative marketing and solutions firm, Rogers & Cowan PMK. The payout and success offered her the time to plan her next venture. For her next business, Grede approached Kris Jenner in 2015 with an idea to start a fashion brand Good American alongside Khloe Kardashian. While many ideas were thrown around for the company, they settled on the denim category.
Working With The Kardashians
After spending a year developing the idea for Good American and making strategies, the company was launched in October 2016. While Emma Grede expected the business to be a slow burn and would take time to establish, the association of Khloe Kardashian helped them reach the $1 million sales mark within a day, as noted by Elle. The concept of offering quality denim for curvier bodies resonated with the audiences and was met with a favorable reception. Offering size-inclusive denim and closing the gap for curvier purchases, Khloe and Emma have found continued success with the company.
Two years after the success of Good American apparel, Emma Grede was approached by Kim Kardashian to develop a shapewear brand named Skims. She has an 8% stake in the brand that has catapulted into success due to Kim’s brand campaigns on her social media pages and trending her business at the correct times. While Grede’s stake is low for Skims, she owns 23% of Good American, co-owned by Khloe. As mentioned by Forbes, Skims has a valuation of $3.2 billion as of January 2022.
A Historic Shark In The Tank
After collaborating with the Kardashian daughters for years, Emma Grede had established a strong rapport with Kris Jenner, and the duo decided to co-own a plant-based green home-cleaning brand, Safely. She owns a 22% stake in the brand, which has been introduced under the Bed Bath & Beyond umbrella starting in March 2021. As a successful black businesswoman, Emma Grede has taken measures to encourage other women of color to take risks. As stated by CNBC, she became a board member of the non-profit 15 Percent Pledge, enabling business owners to reserve 15% shelves for business owners of color.
The success of Good American has continued to follow her as the brand was announced B-Corp certified in October 2021. Emma Grede added another feather to her cap when she was asked to star in the entrepreneur-based reality television show Shark Tank as a guest cast member. She became the first black woman ever to receive the honor of becoming a Shark. The mogul has desires to make the private sector more approachable and help people, especially of color, to stand on their feet.
Emma Grede has inspired the fashion industry with her ability to work hard and achieve great results. With the help of Kardashian-Jenner’s billion-dollar business empire, she has made a $360 million fortune from investments in their ventures. More recently, Grede was named one of the 100 Women of Influence by Entrepreneur.
Sources: Scmp, Elle, Forbes, CNBC
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