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96 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Conflict Is a Skill—Here’s How to Get Better at It
22 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Most of us have been taught to see conflict as a sign that something has gone wrong. Today’s guest, Priya Parker, sees it differently. After more than two decades working in conflict resolution, she believes the right kind of fight can bring us closer, make our teams stronger, and help us understand each other better. In her new book, The Art of Fighting, Priya gives us the language and the skill set to do it well. Lees meer
Priya joins Emma Grede to talk about why so many of us choose what she calls “unhealthy peace,” and what we lose when we avoid saying what we really think. They explore how our families and cultures shape the way we fight, why some disagreements are worth staying in, and how to tell when it’s time to let go. This is a conversation about what healthy conflict can look like in practice and how our differences can ultimately bring us together.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The questions to ask yourself before deciding whether a fight is worth having
Why calming your body can change the way you show up in a difficult conversation
How leaders can make it safer for people with less power to speak honestly
How Slack and digital tools have changed workplace culture
Why humor and play can help people move through conflict without losing connection
Specific examples from Priya’s work in conflict resolution, from boardrooms to restaurants
The simple language Priya uses to start a hard conversation with someone she cares about
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How to Get Paid for What Only You Can Bring with Law Roach
20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Law Roach is the image architect behind some of the most talked-about red carpet moments in the world. Raised on Chicago’s South Side, he built his career working with stars including Zendaya, Celine Dion, and Ariana Grande. Along the way, he became a star himself, with a name and reputation that carry value beyond the clothes. But reaching the top also brought a breaking point, and his very public retirement changed what he was willing to say yes to. Lees meer
In this episode of Aspire, Law joins Emma Grede to talk about his journey to the center of fashion and how he turned his talent and taste into a business. He shares what it took to earn millions a year from styling alone, and why walking away from it at the height of his career gave him the freedom to decide what he wanted to build next.
Today, you’ll hear:
Why a bold public persona only works when it’s backed by a professional reputation built on trust and follow-through
How Law and Zendaya made sure his contribution was recognized and paid for in her fashion deals
Why Keke Palmer fired him, and why being the best at your job doesn’t always mean you’re the right person for a client
How gratitude and looking after other people’s interests build relationships that last
Why Law uses fashion to tell stories about Black history and the women who shaped him
What it takes to build a business that can grow beyond your own time and talent
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You Don't Build a Career from the Sidelines (Malika Andrews & Taylor Rooks)
13 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 17 min
Malika Andrews and Taylor Rooks have two of the most visible jobs in sports media. Malika is the face of ESPN's NBA coverage, hosting NBA Today and NBA Countdown. Taylor hosts NBA on Prime and is a major presence across Thursday Night Football. Between them they're speaking to millions of people every week — and interviewing some of the most famous athletes in the world. Lees meer
They’ve also had a front-row seat to each other’s rise. And while they’re both incredibly ambitious and competitive, they’ve learned how to let someone else’s success push them without allowing it to diminish their own.
Emma sits down with both of them to understand what it actually takes to become that trusted at that scale — the preparation nobody sees, how you get an athlete to tell you the truth, and what it costs to do a job where every word, every question and every mistake gets picked apart in real time.
In this episode:
Why preparation gives you the confidence to perform under pressure
Trust as a daily deposit: accurate, honest, and fair
How healthy competition can raise your own standard
Why asking for what you want can change the trajectory of your career
How to negotiate from a place of knowing your value
Why credibility is built through small, consistent actions
How to tell the difference between feedback worth hearing and noise
Why longevity, not the next job, is the real ambition
For more, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at emmagrede.com.
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Nara Smith’s Secret Ingredient For Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business
8 oktober 2026 · 59 min
Everyone has an opinion about Nara Smith. Very few people have asked her how the business works. At 24, with four kids under six and one of the most recognizable formats on the internet, Nara is running a company she plans to keep growing for the next 50 years. Lees meer
Emma and Nara get into the moment a viral format turned into income, and why she left the modeling agency that had represented her since she was 14. Nara explains how she uses brand partnerships to test what her audience will buy before launching her own consumer goods brand, and why she still films and edits every video herself. They also talk about the money rules her dad drilled into her and what it takes to stop letting the comment section decide who you are.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How Nara turned a recognizable content format into a multimillion-dollar business
Why knowing when to lean into what’s working can be more powerful than starting with a perfect strategy
How she and Lucky approach money, shared wealth, and maintaining their own individual businesses
What the internet gets wrong about the “tradwife” version of Nara Smith
How she stops other people’s assumptions from becoming her identity
How Nara is planning to build an empire that lasts well beyond social media
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The Conversation Skills That Change Your Career
6 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
Vanessa Van Edwards has spent nearly twenty years studying what makes some people easy to talk to. Her argument is that conversation is a skill rather than a personality, and that most of us are simply out of practice. Lees meer
She joins Emma to talk about how to prepare for the conversations that matter, what to say when you meet someone who could change your career, and how to handle feedback and disagreement without damaging the relationship. She also explains what happened early in her own career, when she lost a television deal during the small talk before the pitch and nobody ever told her that was why.
In this episode:
How to prepare for conversations that could change what happens next
The three questions you should always be ready to answer
Why talking about how busy you are makes people think you're less competent
How to raise a problem with someone more senior than you
What the way someone tells their own story reveals about them
Vanessa Van Edwards's new book, Conversation: How to Connect with Anyone & Make Every Interaction Count, is out now.
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The Real-Life Ari Gold: How Ari Emanuel Built a Hollywood Empire
29 september 2026 · 46 min
Ari Emanuel is one of the most powerful people in entertainment and the real-life inspiration for Ari Gold on Entourage. He started in the CAA mailroom before co-founding Endeavor with three other agents and very little money. Over the next three decades, he merged the company with William Morris, acquired IMG and UFC, and helped reshape the modern entertainment business. Lees meer
In this conversation, Ari and Emma examine the qualities behind that extraordinary career. Ari opens up about growing up with severe dyslexia, being bullied, and using the anger he carried from those experiences to drive himself forward. He explains why you have to say what you want, how he works until he finds the yes, and why curiosity only becomes valuable when you act on it.
They also explore the harder side of success. Ari reflects on the rage and aggression that helped him build his company, the moment he realized those qualities could no longer take him forward, and the work he has done to become a better leader.
They get into:
Turning dyslexia and rejection into emotional endurance
Why nobody will advocate for your future more fiercely than you
What Ari learned from starting in the CAA mailroom
His relentless approach to calls, rejection, and finding the yes
How he turns curiosity into relationships and opportunities
Why company culture is shaped by the behavior leaders tolerate
What founders misunderstand about how long success takes
Knowing when the qualities that built your career need to evolve
Why Ari ultimately values a life of meaning over a traditional legacy
Ari’s new memoir, Roll the Calls, is available now.
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Diane von Furstenberg: How to Become the Woman You Want to Be
24 september 2026 · 56 min
Diane von Furstenberg created the iconic wrap dress in her twenties and built her namesake company DVF into one of the most recognizable fashion brands in the world. More than fifty years later, as she approaches 80, she's entering a new chapter — with a lifetime of lessons to share. Lees meer
In this episode of Aspire, Emma sits down with her longtime friend and idol for a deeply personal conversation about self-belief, independence, motherhood, aging and becoming the woman you want to be. Diane opens up about the choices she made as a working mother, why guilt and fear are not options, the mistakes she's made along the way, and what it takes to like the person you've become.
Diane shares:
How to build the kind of self-belief that carries you through every stage of life
Why the most important relationship you'll ever have is the one you have with yourself
How to stop comparing yourself to other people and own who you are
Why guilt and fear should never drive your decisions
What motherhood taught her about raising independent children without losing yourself
Why independence has always mattered more to her than money
How to learn from mistakes without letting them define you
Why kindness is a currency — and how it compounds over time
What getting older has taught her about confidence, clarity and becoming more yourself
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It’s My Birthday. Here’s Everything I Know to Be True at 44
22 september 2026 · 32 min
On this special birthday solo of Aspire, Emma Grede shares 44 rules for life, business, and success—her personal operating system for nearly everything. This is everything she knows to be true about money, work, marriage, and motherhood, plus the beliefs she actually uses to make decisions, build companies, and recover from her mistakes. Lees meer
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why taking responsibility for your life is the biggest power move you'll ever make
How to build confidence before you feel ready
The question that exposes whether your full schedule is progress or avoidance
Why you should ask for more money before resentment sets in, and how to do it
The case for treating your choice of partner as the biggest business decision of your life
What most successful people get wrong about happiness
Why your reputation is built when there’s no immediate reward
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Andrew Rosen Built Theory and Backed SKIMS – Here’s What He’d Tell Every Founder
15 september 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Andrew Rosen has spent nearly five decades building, investing in, and shaping some of the most influential brands in American fashion. As the co-founder of Theory and an early investor in brands like TWP, rag and bone, Veronica Beard, Alice + Olivia, Good American and SKIMS, he’s also one of Emma's closest mentors. His advice comes from doing the work — and learning what happens when things don't go to plan. Lees meer
In this conversation, Andrew shares the lessons he took from his father, the setbacks that shaped how he built Theory, and the advice he gave Emma when she was becoming a brand owner. They explore how to trust your instincts, choose the right investors, and build a profitable business with staying power.
They get into:
Taking over as CEO of the family business in his twenties
Losing control of the company — and what he did next
Getting fired, and why he never saw it as failure
The experience he brought to starting Theory at 40
Why profitability has to be part of the plan from the start
What founders should actually look for in an investor
The lessons he took from his father that still shape how he does business
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Inside Cymbiotika: How Durana Elmi Built a Wellness Empire
10 september 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Durana Elmi knows how to build a business. Before Cymbiotika, she built and exited four companies. She then took a wellness brand with one employee, one product, and almost no infrastructure and helped scale it into a $150 million business alongside her husband Shahab. Lees meer
In this episode of Aspire, Emma sits down with Durana to unpack the decisions behind that growth. They also get candid about money, marriage, and leadership. Durana shares why financial independence matters deeply to her, what 27 years of building alongside her husband has taught her about disagreement, and how her definition of success has changed from making money to owning her time.
You’ll learn:
Why Cymbiotika bootstrapped for five years before taking outside capital
What infrastructure needs to be in place when a business starts growing faster than you can keep up with
The expensive lessons founders can learn from going into retail too quickly
What a $25 million strategic raise brought beyond capital
Why celebrity investors became a part of Cymbiotika’s growth strategy
How to make decisions when data challenges your instincts
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How to Build a Beauty Brand People Believe In (ft. Tower 28, Danessa Myricks Beauty, Crown Affair)
8 september 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
It's easier than ever to launch a beauty brand—and harder than ever to make it last. In this first-ever Aspire founders roundtable, Danessa Myricks (Danessa Myricks Beauty), Dianna Cohen (Crown Affair), and Amy Liu (Tower 28) get honest about what it actually takes to build and scale a brand people believe in. Lees meer
These aren’t early ideas—they’re Sephora-scale businesses: Tower 28, launched in 2019, now with a reported $228 million valuation; Crown Affair, launched in 2020 and scaled from roughly 55 to 600 Sephora doors, with a dry shampoo that has ranked #1 in the category; and Danessa Myricks Beauty, a profitable-since-launch business that had already grown to roughly 500 SKUs before entering Sephora.
From getting into Sephora and staying there, to raising capital vs. bootstrapping, to building community you can't reverse-engineer—this is the real playbook for 2026.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
What separates brands that last, and why launching is easy but sustaining is hard
How to build community with soul, purpose, and mission
The truth about retail and the operational and financial discipline it takes to scale in Sephora
How to fund your vision, what outside money is really for, and why finding aligned investors is key
How founders evolve with intention and decide what to control, when to delegate, and different ways to lead a brand through growth
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Introducing: Money Moves with Jill Schlesinger
2 september 2026 · 2 min
There’s a lot of dopey financial advice out there. Jill Schlesinger is here to call it out, answer your questions, break down the financial news that actually matters, and help you manage your money without losing your mind. No jargon. No judgment. Just clear, actionable financial guidance about saving, investing, buying a home, managing your career, and deciding how to spend your hard-earned dollars. When it’s time to panic, Jill will tell you. When everyone else is panicking and you shouldn’t be, Jill will tell you that too. Your money. Your move. Let’s go. Lees meer
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The Science of a Well-Lived Life: How to Create a Life That Feels as Good as It Looks
1 september 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Arthur C. Brooks believes we are living through an age of emptiness—a time when more people feel distracted, disconnected, and unsure of what will actually make their lives meaningful. In his latest book, The Meaning of Your Life, the Harvard professor and New York Times bestselling author examines why so many of the things we chase in pursuit of happiness can leave us feeling unsatisfied once we get them. Lees meer
In this episode, Emma Grede sits down with Brooks to unpack what is driving our unhappiness and what science actually says about building a meaningful life. Brooks reveals the two questions he gives his Harvard students to diagnose whether they’re experiencing a meaning crisis, why our brains struggle in a world of constant comfort, and how to use social media without letting it drain you.
You’ll learn:
Why achievement rarely satisfies us for as long as we expect
What money can—and cannot—do for your happiness
The five-year exercise that reveals whether your priorities match how you spend your time
What to do in the first and last hour of the day to protect your attention
The step most people skip that makes new practices stick
How to pursue a big goal without becoming emotionally attached to the outcome
The simple ritual to shift your baseline happiness by 15 percent in 12 weeks
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Jennifer Garner on What Only Time Can Teach You
25 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
Jennifer Garner is an award-winning actor, producer, longtime Save the Children ambassador, and co-founder of Once Upon a Farm, an organic children’s food brand. After rising to fame on Alias, she built a career spanning more than three decades before entering entrepreneurship at 45 and helping grow Once Upon a Farm into a $724 million publicly traded company. Lees meer
Jennifer joins Emma to talk about the side of success people rarely see: losing years of her life when Alias made her famous, disappearing from friendships, and how the constant presence of paparazzi warped her confidence.
Jennifer shares:
What Jennifer is only now realizing about approval and earning her place
How years of rejection and several failed ideas prepared her for entrepreneurship
What she’s learned about holding anger without burying it
How to recognize the value you bring without conventional qualifications
When fame and visibility can help a business, and where they cannot
What it actually looks like to protect a company’s mission
Why your biggest chapter doesn’t come with an age limit
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Everything I Know About Money—and Why We Won’t Talk About It
18 augustus 2026 · 42 min
In this solo episode, Emma shares how she thinks about money, from the lessons she learned growing up in East London to the principles she uses today. She gets into her personal financial priorities, why your earning power can matter more than your savings, how to negotiate from a position of strength, and why no woman should ever outsource the understanding of her own finances. Lees meer
In this episode, you’ll learn:
What your financial priorities should be in your 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s
Why your ability to earn can be more valuable than your savings early in your career
How your beliefs about money can influence what you earn, ask for, and keep
How to negotiate salary, equity, and other forms of compensation more effectively
The difference between earning money, building wealth, and protecting what you’ve built
Why investing early matters—and what can happen when you wait
How to think about financial independence as freedom, security, and choice
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Can You Turn What You Love Into a Real Business? (Krissy Cela, founder of Oner Active)
11 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Emma sits down with Krissy Cela, founder and creative director of Oner Active, for an honest conversation about building a bootstrapped business on track to generate close to $300 million this year. Before Oner, Krissy spent a decade building a fitness audience and business from a student laptop, long before either was considered a conventional career path. Today, she owns 50 percent of one of the fastest-growing brands in the category. Lees meer
But what happens when your life asks you to become someone you don’t yet feel qualified to be, and people still look for reasons not to credit your success to you? This episode is about starting before you feel ready, letting go of the need to prove yourself, and growing into the leader your business requires.
In this episode, Krissy shares:
Why feeling underqualified should not stop you from building something big
How she turned an online audience into a loyal customer community
The early legal and partnership mistakes that shapes how she operates today
How people-pleasing weakened her leadership, and what changed since she stopped
Why the ones who doubt you are rarely the ones who end up mattering
For more, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at emmagrede.com.
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How to Create What People Actually Want with Erin and Sara Foster
4 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 23 min
Erin and Sara Foster have spent more than 15 years working across television, fashion, media and investing. Today, they are behind the hit Netflix series Nobody Wants This, the fashion brand Favorite Daughter, a production company, a venture fund and a growing slate of projects—but their success did not arrive according to a master plan. Lees meer
In this episode, they join Emma to unpack the failures, pivots and unlikely opportunities that eventually brought everything together. It is a conversation about staying in motion when the path is unclear, discovering your strengths later than expected, and refusing to treat someone else’s success as evidence that you are falling behind.
In this episode, Erin and Sara share:
What nobody tells you about the years before anything works
The power of saying yes before the path is clear
How they built Favorite Daughter without being traditional “fashion girls”
The different ways scarcity and abundance shape their relationship with money
What Erin learned from seven years of IVF and 20 rounds of treatment
Why it’s never too late to find your lane and how failure can redirect you toward the career you were meant for
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What a Divorce Lawyer Wishes Every Woman Knew About Money and Marriage
28 juli 2026 · 1 uur
Every woman should understand the partnership she's entering before a crisis forces her to. This episode is that conversation. Lees meer
Laura Wasser has spent 32 years as one of the country's most sought-after divorce attorneys. She’s the person people call when a marriage is ending. But what makes this conversation so valuable is that almost everything she knows matters long before anyone gets divorced.
This episode is about understanding what you are building when you merge your life with another person. Laura explains why marriage is already a contract with or without a prenup, how to protect yourself whether you earn more or less than your partner, and why knowing your financial reality doesn’t make you cynical or unromantic. It makes you an equal participant in your own life.
Laura shares:
How to have the what’s-mine-is-yours conversation about income, debt, assets, spending, and children
What should go into a prenup—and what does not belong in one
How a prenup can protect both the higher earner and the partner making financial or career sacrifices
The signs that you're giving away power inside your own marriage without realizing it
Why earning your own money doesn’t mean you’re financially protected
What to do when you realize you have no idea what is happening with your family’s finances
How to end a relationship with less fear and a clearer sense of what comes next
Why divorce doesn’t have to mean you’ve failed—and how her online platform is making the process more accessible and less intimidating
For more, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at emmagrede.com.
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Emma Chamberlain On Building Chamberlain Coffee, Burnout & Walking Away From YouTube
21 juli 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Emma Chamberlain started posting videos at 16, before anyone fully understood what the creator economy would become. Within a couple of years she’d become one of the most watched people on YouTube with over 12 million subscribers, ambassador deals with Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Lancôme, and a Spotify-exclusive podcast. She helped define a new kind of fame, built one of the most recognizable personal brands of her generation, and turned an authentic love of coffee into Chamberlain Coffee, now sold in over 8,000 retail doors across Walmart, Target, Costco and Sprouts. Lees meer
Now, at 25, she’s asking a more complicated question: what happens when the business, and the person, need to grow beyond the identity that made them successful? Today, she’s answering why, after years of relentless momentum, she’s giving herself permission to step back and rediscover what actually fulfills her.
In this episode, Emma shares:
Why she moved into the co-CEO seat, and the fear that came with it
The real business story behind choosing profitability over growth
What she’s learned about running a brand built around one person
Why she stepped away from her podcast at the height of it
The personal cost of giving an audience constant access to your life
Why she believes influencer culture is approaching a major shift
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The Culture War Against Women (Reshma Saujani)
14 juli 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Reshma Saujani a leading advocate for women’s economic power, the founder of Girls Who Code and Moms First, and the force behind the new documentary No Country for Mothers. After helping change the culture around girls in technology, she has turned her attention to the policies and assumptions that continue to push women—especially mothers—out of the workforce. Lees meer
In this conversation, she joins Emma to talk about the cultural and structural forces shaping women’s ambition, motherhood, money, and power. They get into the real cost of childcare, paid leave, and workplace inflexibility; why mothers are still penalized for showing up as their full selves at work; and how the internet has turned “trad wife vs. girl boss” into a culture war that keeps women fighting each other instead of fighting for meaningful change.
In this episode, Reshma and Emma discuss:
Who benefits from pitting women against each other
The motherhood penalty and why it differs from the gender pay gap
What real workplace support for women and mothers should actually look like
Why fighting for a better system and taking responsibility for your life can both be true at once
What it takes to create more choice, freedom, and economic power for women
How to build a world women don’t have to shrink their lives to fit the systems around them
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Kristin Cavallari on the Business That Set Her Free
7 juli 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Kristin Cavallari became a household name before she'd even graduated high school, and spent the next two decades building a life, a business, and a family under constant public scrutiny. Lees meer
But this conversation isn't just about the version of her life you've seen on screen.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Emma for a candid conversation about money, financial independence, and what it actually took to leave her marriage on her own terms. Together, they unpack the financial planning most people never talk about, the power of building something that's truly yours, and why Kristin believes money isn't about lifestyle—it's about freedom.
Kristin shares:
Why knowing her "number" changed the way she thinks about money and success
How the success of Uncommon James gave her the confidence to leave her marriage
Why she walked away from her divorce giving up money instead of taking it—and why she'd do it again
Why she recently replaced her entire C-suite—and the leadership lesson every founder eventually faces
How she's building Uncommon James on her own terms while raising three kids
How twenty years in the public eye taught her to stop living for other people's approval
How much freedom does financial independence really give you? And what would change if you knew you could always choose yourself?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
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Ask Me Anything: Pivoting in Your 40s, Plastic Surgery, and Starting a Business With No Money
30 juni 2026 · 43 min
In today’s solo episode, Emma dives into real listener questions: the actual mechanics of building from nothing, starting a business with no capital, why having no money can be an advantage, plus more nuanced questions about navigating your career, handling tricky mentors, and knowing when to quit. Lees meer
She also gets into more personal reflections about her marriage, what her life looked like in her twenties, and what she does to look after herself. There’s a quick round at the end too, on everything from her favorite crisps to plastic surgery.
In this episode you’ll learn:
The type of business Emma would build if she were starting today
How to think about fear when you’re making a decision
What it takes to start again in your 40s
The marketing rule that built Good American
How to find your first customers before anyone knows you
Her one rule for spending in year one
The one thing she thinks every woman needs to stop doing
If your question didn’t make it this time, hold onto it, because she’ll be doing this again. Follow Aspire so you don’t miss the next one, and sign up for the weekly newsletter at emmagrede.com.
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How to Monetize AI and Build the Life and Career You Want
23 juni 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Alicia Lyttle is the CEO of AI InnoVision and one of the clearest voices teaching entrepreneurs and operators how to actually use AI to make money. Her clients run from solo founders to Fortune 500 companies and US government agencies. She's been teaching people how to build online for 25 years, long before the current AI wave. People call Lyttle the Queen of AI for good reason. Lees meer
The AI conversation right now is mostly hype or fear, but this is the more grounded version: specific tools, real workflows, and what actually works when you try to put any of this into a real business.
In this conversation:
The one question Lyttle calls the golden ticket for figuring out what to hand to AI first when you're building your business
Why getting good at AI has meant hiring more people, not fewer
How to build an AI team when you can't yet afford to hire a human one
The three-step process for turning any prompt into a "super prompt" that actually pays off
How to use AI to create a $20,000 presentation
What you should never put into ChatGPT, and how to protect your business while still using it
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Patrick Ta on Accountability, Identity and Building a Beauty Empire
16 juni 2026 · 55 min
Patrick Ta built one of the most successful beauty brands in the world after dropping out of high school, filing for bankruptcy at 21, and spending years building his career one client at a time. Lees meer
What started with a makeup kit and a dream eventually led to working with some of the biggest names in the world, launching Patrick Ta Beauty, and becoming one of the most influential makeup artists of his generation.
But this conversation isn't just about success.
In this episode, Patrick sits down with Emma for a candid conversation about the recent controversy surrounding his Transition Blush launch, the criticism that followed, and what accountability looks like when your name is on the brand. Together, they unpack creator credit, intention versus impact, reputation, and the challenges that come with building in public.
Patrick shares:
• How bankruptcy shaped his ambition and work ethic
• Why makeup was the first thing that gave him confidence
• The journey from celebrity makeup artist to beauty founder
• What he's learned building Patrick Ta Beauty into a leading beauty brand
• How he thinks about accountability, influence, and creator credit
• The responsibility that comes with having your name on the product
• What this experience taught him about leadership and integrity
What's a belief about success you've been carrying that might be costing you more than it's giving you?
Drop it in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
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Building a Billion-Dollar Unicorn with Julia Collins
9 juni 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Julia Collins has spent much of her life chasing big goals,first to prove herself and then to save the planet. Lees meer
The path took her from restaurant kitchens in New York City to Silicon Valley boardrooms, where she became the first Black woman to co-found a unicorn and raised more than $450 million in venture capital. But it also came with heartbreak, burnout, a co-founder fallout, and years spent trying to fit into a version of success that never quite felt like her own.
Today, Julia is building companies focused on the future of food and the future of the planet. But getting there required unlearning some of the biggest lessons she thought she knew about ambition, achievement, and self-worth.
In this conversation, Julia sits down with Emma to talk about what was really happening behind the headlines — the pressure to fit in, the cost of tying your identity to your success, and the belief she carried for years that the more she suffered, the more successful she would become.
Julia shares:
Why showing up as herself changed everything — and what it cost her to try fitting in first
What she learned raising hundreds of millions of dollars
How she navigated a co-founder fallout and life-changing exit
The financial habits that shaped her relationship with money
The lesson that took her the longest to unlearn about success and sacrifice
What's a belief about success you've been carrying that might be costing you more than it's giving you? Drop it in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
We'd love to hear what you think. Please take this survey to help us make the show better for you: emmagrede.com/survey
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Success Requires Letting Go of People’s Expectations of You (Jackie Aina)
2 juni 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Jackie Aina has been building in public for 17 years. She didn't just grow an audience, she helped define what it meant to be a Black woman with a voice in the beauty industry. But influence was never the end goal. Lees meer
After nearly two decades as one of YouTube's most recognized creators, Jackie took $250,000 of her own money and started a fragrance brand. Not a makeup line — a fragrance brand. Her childhood dream. The first thing she ever did that nobody asked for.
In this conversation, Jackie sits down with Emma to talk about what it really takes to go from influencer to founder and why the two have almost nothing in common.
Jackie shares:
Why six million followers doesn't mean six million in revenue — and what creators get wrong about turning an audience into a business
How she self-funded Forvr Mood with $250K, sold out six months of inventory in four hours, and nearly had a breakdown closing the laptop
The vendor relationship that looked like a smart start and took over a year to untangle
What she had to unlearn about being "the strong one" — and why doing everything is actually a disservice to everyone around you
Why she deliberately didn't build a makeup brand, and what it meant to finally do something just for herself
What's something you've outgrown — even if other people still expect that version of you? Drop it in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
We'd love to hear what you think. Please take this survey to help us make the show better for you: emmagrede.com/survey
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Build a Team That Wins: Emma Grede on Hiring the Right Employees
28 mei 2026 · 29 min
Hiring is the single most consequential thing you do when you're building anything. Get it right and it compounds. Get it wrong and it costs you years. In today's episode, Emma is sharing the thing she's come to believe is true: the team you build is the most honest reflection of how well you know yourself. Lees meer
This is the real version of what Emma's looking for when she's sitting across from a candidate—the exact framework for how she actually thinks about it, the mistakes she's made, and why she can see past a great resumé to the person underneath.
In this episode you'll learn:
The three people you need to speak to before you write a single job description
Why Emma hires for attitude over experience, and what she believes you cannot teach
What to listen for in how someone talks about their wins and losses
Why culture fit has quietly become code for comfort
How to think about paying for talent when the margins are thin
Whether you're hiring for the first time, building a team, or sitting on the other side of the table in an interview, this one is for you.
Start With Yourself is available now.
We'd love to hear what you think. Please take this survey to help us make the show better for you: emmagrede.com/survey
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Gary Vaynerchuk: Why Truth, Humility, and Kindness Will Become Your Next Superpower
26 mei 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Gary Vaynerchuk has spent the last two decades understanding where culture and consumer behavior were headed long before the rest of the world caught up. He was early to YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, creator commerce, and live shopping. But this conversation is about more than algorithms and internet trends. Lees meer
In this episode, Gary sits down with Emma to talk about the real reason most people stay stuck: fear. Fear of judgment. Fear of failure. Fear of what other people will think if they try something new.
Together, they unpack the insecurity driving modern ambition, why so many successful people are still deeply unhappy, and why Gary believes we are entering a cultural shift where kindness, reputation, and emotional intelligence will matter more than ever.
Gary shares:
Why most people are living for opinions they don’t even respect
The hidden insecurity driving high achievement
Why reputation compounds faster than money
What social media actually revealed about human behavior
How parents unintentionally destroy confidence in their kids
Why proximity and visibility still matter in the AI era
The business opportunities Gary believes people are still underestimating
Why “nice guys finish first”
What would change in your life if you stopped making decisions based on other people’s expectations of you? Drop it in the comments — we’re reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don’t miss what’s next.
We'd love to hear what you think. Please take this survey to help us make the show better for you: emmagrede.com/survey
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Bethenny Frankel: The Business Model Nobody Else Will Share
19 mei 2026 · 59 min
Bethenny Frankel turned a TikTok account into a $20-million-a-year business without a plan or a brand of her own. She had a vision and a set of deal terms that no one in the industry has been able to replicate, or get her to explain, until now. Lees meer
In this conversation, Emma gets Bethenny to do the thing she never does: open her playbook. Bethenny shows the work behind it all—the deal structures, the dollar amounts, the model she built that agencies keep trying to reverse-engineer and she keeps refusing to share.
Bethenny shares:
The Skinny Girl carve-out that started everything and the difference between licensing and ownership that determines whether you walk away rich or walk away with nothing
How she built her business with zero exclusivity, equity in nearly every partnership, and why brands agree to terms no one else can get
Why she says trust and attention are the only two assets that matter and what that means for anyone trying to build an audience into a business
The true cost of building an entire business on yourself and what freedom looks like when you’re more successful in your fifties than you’ve ever been
If you’ve ever been put in a box or told your vision doesn’t fit the playbook, let us know in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
We want to hear from you! Take our audience survey and help us shape what comes next for Aspire: https://form.typeform.com/to/eNPvwUY4
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How to Build Something Meaningful From Your Worst Chapter (Sarah Jakes Roberts)
12 mei 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Sarah Jakes Roberts is not a traditional entrepreneur. She’s the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes, one of the most prominent pastors in America. Sarah became a mother at 13—and in the years that followed, she carried the weight of that story in public, under a spotlight she never asked for. Lees meer
This conversation is about what happens when the thing you’re most ashamed of becomes the thing you build from. Today, Sarah co-leads a megachurch while raising a blended family of six. But she didn’t set out to lead a global movement, launch conferences that fill stadiums, host a top-ranked podcast, operate more than a dozen revenue streams, or become a bestselling author. She started a blog because she had something to say and an instinct that other women might see parts of themselves in her story. It turned out to be millions of women.
In today’s conversation, Sarah sits down with Emma to talk about calling, responsibility, and a feeling she describes as being “willing to do what I’ve been trusted with.”
Sarah shares:
The relationship between anger and people-pleasing—and why suppressing one feeds the other
What Old Thoughts look like when you've been carrying them since you were 13
How she went from a blog with a million views to a global conference and a publishing operation without a traditional business strategy
What young motherhood taught her about shame and building something real from the chapter most people would want to erase
Where ministry ends and business begins—and how she navigates making millions from a unique calling without losing what built it
What’s something in your life that you need to move past? Drop it in the comments — we're reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
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What You Don't Know About Brand Beckham
5 mei 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Victoria Beckham is one of the most famous women in the world. But behind the headlines is a business story that took nearly two decades to build. Lees meer
She entered fashion with every reason to be dismissed. A Spice Girl. A celebrity. A public figure trying to be taken seriously in an industry that rarely gives second chances. The skepticism was loud. The losses were public. And at one point, she lost control of the company that carried her own name – but she building anyway.
Over nearly two decades, Victoria rebuilt her business piece by piece. Through financial pressure, shifting perceptions, and the quiet work of proving she belonged. Today, her fashion business is profitable, her beauty brand is scaling, and the narrative has finally caught up to the work.
In this conversation, Victoria sits down with Emma to talk about what it really took to get here — the financial pressure, the imposter syndrome she carried for years, and the moment she decided to put Victoria back into Victoria Beckham. She opens up about building alongside David, what their partnership actually looks like behind closed doors, and why she refuses to feel guilty about following her dreams.
And for the first time, she reveals that Harper — who has sat in on product development meetings since she was tiny — is starting her own brand.
Victoria shares:
What it felt like to lose control of her own company and rebuild from inside it
Why staying close to the creative saved the business when nothing else could
How she and David have built alongside each other without disappearing into one another
The Diane von Furstenberg advice that changed how she thinks about guilt
What Harper's brand pitch revealed about legacy, motherhood, and what it means to raise a family of builders
What have you stayed committed to longer than anyone expected? Drop it in the comments.
What would you build if you stopped listening to the noise? Drop it in the comments — we're reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma…
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Oprah Winfrey Interviews Emma Grede on Her Debut Book "Start with Yourself”
30 april 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
This one is a little different. Lees meer
For Emma, sitting down with Oprah Winfrey wasn’t just another interview — it was a full circle moment. A conversation years in the making with someone who helped shape how she thinks about success, ambition, and what’s possible.
In this special episode, Emma shares her conversation from The Oprah Podcast — one of the most honest conversations she’s had about her debut book Start With Yourself and the journey behind it.
Together, they go beyond the highlight reel and get into:
The mindset shift that changed Emma’s life
Radical self-accountability and what it really looks like in practice
The tension between ambition, motherhood, and guilt
Why building from purpose — not ego — changes everything
How to separate truth from emotion in business and decision-making
And the question that can redefine how you move through your life and career
Emma also opens up about the mistakes that shaped her, overcoming comparison, and why she believes success starts from within — not from external validation.
It’s a conversation that feels as grounding as it is powerful.
And if you know Emma, you know — this moment meant everything.
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On Negativity, Ambition, and Building a Serious Business (Tory Burch)
28 april 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Tory Burch started her company in 2004 with a single store on Elizabeth Street in New York City, a friends and family round of funding, and a belief that purpose and business belong in the same sentence. Lees meer
Twenty two years later, she has 400 stores in 70 countries. And she still hasn't had lunch.
In this conversation, Tory sits down with Emma to talk about what it really took to build one of the most recognizable names in American fashion — navigating criticism, surviving a lawsuit that threatened everything she'd built, and rediscovering the creative spirit that reinvigorated the brand.
Tory shares:
Why ambition is still a complicated word for women and why she refuses to shy away from it
How she maintained ownership and control of her company through a very public divorce and lawsuit
What she learned about scaling a brand without losing its identity
How stepping back from the CEO role unlocked her most creative chapter yet
What would you build if you stopped letting other people define your ambition? Drop it in the comments — we're reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
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How to Quiet the Voice That’s Holding You Back
21 april 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Emma sits down with Tara Mohr, author of the bestselling ‘Playing Big’, for a conversation that started as an interview and turned into something much more personal. Tara has spent over a decade helping women understand why they hold themselves back — not from the outside, but from within. Lees meer
Together Emma and Tara get into why your self-doubt gets loudest right when something actually matters, the difference between your inner critic and realistic thinking, why chasing confidence is the wrong goal, and the two types of fear — one keeping you stuck, one telling you you're exactly where you need to be.
Then Tara introduces Emma to her inner mentor and walks her through the exercise live, on camera.
In this episode you’ll learn:
What "playing small" really looks like, even when life looks big on the outside
How to identify your inner critic and what to do about it
How to tell the two types of fear apart
The guilt trap and how to know when guilt is actually yours
How to stop outsourcing your decisions and become the authority in your own life
The inner mentor exercise
What's the voice in your head telling you right now and is it actually true? Drop it in the comments. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you never miss what's next.
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It’s Time to Start With Yourself
14 april 2026 · 40 min
Emma’s debut book, Start With Yourself, is out today. This is the episode she’s been building toward since the very beginning of Aspire. Lees meer
She’s doing something she’s never done on this podcast before. She’s taking on your questions about what’s at the heart of the book, including:
The core ideas behind her framework for work and life
Why this isn’t just a book for someone wanting to start a business
What she’d say to the woman who’s been putting herself last for too long
The uncomfortable truths she had to face about her own thinking before she could put them on paper for anyone else
Then she reads from the book for the first time anywhere, about a moment that completely changed her mindset and became the reason she had to write it. If you’ve felt stuck or scared to go after the next thing, Start With Yourself is for you. It’s available here.
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Bobbi Brown on Selling Your Name, Getting Fired, and Starting Over
9 april 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
What does it mean to build something so successful that it outgrows you, and then start again from nothing with your name legally off the table? Bobbi Brown built one of the most iconic beauty companies in the world. She was 37 when she sold it, stayed for 22 years, then eventually pushed out of the business that carried her name. She waited out a 25-year non-compete, and on the day the clock ran out, she launched Jones Road—at 63, with six products, no outside investors, and a completely different playbook. Lees meer
Bobbi shares:
What it really costs to sell your name (and whether she’d do it again)
Why getting fired from the brand she built was the best thing that ever happened to her
The difference between building something massive and building something that’s yours
The social media strategy behind Jones Road and why it works
The leadership lesson she’s still learning at 68 and what confidence means after decades of trying to be someone she’s not
Have you ever built something—a business, a career, an identity—and had to walk away from it? What did starting over teach you? Tell us in the comments.
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Kimora Lee They Called Me a B*tch. I Built an Empire Anyway
7 april 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
Emma sits down with Kimora Lee – fashion icon, entrepreneur, and founder — to talk about building one of the most influential brands in fashion and the lessons she learned about power, ownership, and knowing her worth. Lees meer
Kimora helped build Baby Phat into a cultural phenomenon, but behind the success were hard truths about being in rooms, contributing at the highest level, and still not getting what she was owed. Over time, she learned how to navigate deals, advocate for herself, and stop accepting less than she deserved.
Now she has Baby Phat back and this time, it's hers.
Kimora shares:
Why being in the room didn't always mean having power
The hard lessons she learned about money, deals and ownership
What she wishes she'd known before she signed anything
How she learned to stop settling and start advocating for herself
Why getting Baby Phat back means more now than it did the first time.
Where do you need to stop settling and start taking your place? Drop it in the comments — we're reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next.
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Her Next Money Move: Cardi B is Tired of Making Everyone Else Rich
31 maart 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
Emma sits down with Cardi B, global superstar, entrepreneur, and now founder, to talk about what actually changed once she understood where her power sits. Lees meer
Cardi didn’t come into this industry with a co-sign. She came in figuring it out in real time, investing her own money, navigating bad deals, and slowly realizing she’d been making everyone else rich before herself.
Now, as a two-time Grammy winner and a mother of four, she’s launching Grow-Good, her own haircare brand, and stepping into a new level of ownership.
Cardi shares:
Why getting burned early became her best business education
What she looks for in partners now, and what she won’t tolerate
How she shifted from quick money to ownership and equity
Why this moment feels urgent, and what she’s building toward
How she’s balancing motherhood, relationships, and ambition
Where do you need to stop settling and start taking control? Drop it in the comments, we’re reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don’t miss what’s next.
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From a Basement to a Billion Dollar Brand: The Greatest Founder Story You Never Heard
26 maart 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
Monique Rodriguez built Mielle Organics from her basement into a billion-dollar brand and did it without a blueprint. Lees meer
In this episode of Aspire, Monique shares the real story behind building one of the fastest-growing beauty brands in the world–from bootstrapping with her husband’s paycheck to risking their home, navigating criticism, and ultimately selling to Procter & Gamble while remaining CEO.
But this isn't just a business story. It started with loss, a leap of faith, and a decision to bet on herself before she felt ready.
This is a conversation about what it really takes to build something meaningful… and what happens when you finally reach the other side.
In this episode, Monique shares:
Why you don’t need to feel ready before making a life-changing decision
How personal adversity can reshape your ambition and clarity
What founders get wrong about scaling too early
How to know when it’s time to bring in experienced operators
Why building with the end in mind changes how you run your company
The real risks founders take behind the scenes
How to navigate criticism as your company grows
What it actually means to lead after a major acquisition
How to protect your vision while growing at scale
Why success doesn’t always eliminate the feeling of having something to prove
Monique Rodriguez’s story is proof that you don’t have to be ready to start, you just have to be willing.
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The AI Lessons That Will Change How You Operate
24 maart 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Allie K. Miller has been working in AI for nearly 20 years, and she says most of us aren't even close to using these tools to their full potential. Today, she's going to teach us exactly how to change the way we work, think, and operate with AI. Lees meer
Allie built teams at IBM and Amazon, advises companies like Google, OpenAI, and Salesforce, and TIME named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in AI. Nearly two million people follow her because she's one of the clearest voices translating AI for people who aren't engineers, which is why she's the right person to have this conversation with.
In this episode, Emma and Allie get into the practical, actionable side of AI that most people never hear about—from the systems Allie has built to run her life and business, to the mistakes that keep most people stuck at the surface level.
You'll learn:
Why treating AI like a search engine is the biggest mistake people make and how to start treating it like an employee who works for you around the clock
The prompting shift from "senior analyst" to "CEO" that changes the quality of everything you get back
How to build a context document about your life, business, and beyond that makes every AI interaction more useful
The automated briefing system Allie uses to manage her calendar, goals, and priorities every morning
The study that shows how using AI the right way can make you more creative
What's driving the 25% gender gap in AI adoption and what women can do about it right now
If you've been holding back from using AI because this all feels overwhelming, or no one's ever taught you how to use it well, start here.
What's the first thing you're going to try with AI after this conversation? Drop it in the comments and come back and tell us how it went. For more conversations like this on business, leadership, and leveling up how you work, subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you never miss what's next.
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Money Rules Everyone Should Know
19 maart 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
In this episode, Emma sits down with financial educator and entrepreneur and everyone’s RichBFF, Vivian Tu to unpack why women are still the least likely to talk openly about money and what it ultimately costs them. Lees meer
Vivian grew up translating bills for her immigrant parents and then went on to earn six figures on Wall Street before walking away from a $625K salary to build something on her own terms. She knows exactly what financial confidence looks like from the inside and what keeps most women from getting there.
Vivian shares:
How to negotiate a raise and actually win it
Why stability has to come before wealth (and how to build it)
The quiet ways lifestyle inflation erodes your progress
How to think strategically about benefits, taxes, and retirement
The mindset shift that separates earners from builders
Why women talking openly about money changes everything
This isn't a conversation about becoming rich. It's about becoming someone who knows what they're worth and stops leaving it on the table.
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What Growing Up in Chaos Actually Teaches You (Rich Kleiman)
17 maart 2026 · 1 uur 26 min
Emma has known Rich Kleiman for 20 years. In all that time, they've never talked about where he actually came from, until now. What came next was one of the most honest conversations we've had on the podcast. Lees meer
The hardest story to change is the one you tell yourself. For Rich, it wasn't a lesson, it was survival.
He grew up navigating a volatile home on the Upper West Side. With a mother battling addiction and no one to watch him, Rich was left to figure life out on his own. Today he manages Kevin Durant's business empire, has built Boardroom from scratch, and is one of the most respected operators at the intersection of sports, music, and culture.
In this conversation, he and Emma get into how chaos became his competitive advantage, what it really takes to build a partnership that lasts, and why legacy means more to him now than money ever did.
Rich shares:
How growing up around instability shaped his instincts in business.
How his ability to navigate chaos made him a better leader.
Why notoriety and success aren't the same thing
Why the stories you tell yourself matter – and how truth outways comfort.
Why making peace with your past changes how you move through the world.
What's the story you keep telling yourself? Drop it in the comments — we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Aspire with Emma Grede.
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How to Change Careers Without Starting From Scratch
12 maart 2026 · 24 min
Sometimes you can reach a point in your career when everything looks right on paper, but feels completely wrong. And wanting something different doesn’t make you ungrateful, it signals growth. Lees meer
But the next step is where a lot of people make emotional decisions. They quit without having a plan, waiting to feel ready before they make a move, or talking themselves out of it entirely.
In this episode, Emma talks about what a real career pivot actually looks like. Not the fantasy version where you walk away from everything and magically figure it out, but the strategic version where you build on what you’ve already done.
She gets into how to tell the difference between burnout and a real signal that it’s time to change, why the best pivots are usually closer than you think, and how to move forward without starting from zero.
You'll learn:
The Pivot Audit: a framework for making big career moves strategically
How to de-risk a career change before you take the leap
Why being "too late" is a myth and what the data actually says
What's one part of your career you've quietly outgrown? Drop it in the comments — we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Aspire with Emma Grede.
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Why Financial Education is the Best Investment You Can Make (Tori Dunlap)
10 maart 2026 · 1 uur 30 min
The truth is, most of us weren’t taught how to manage our money, we were taught not to talk about it. Lees meer
From salary transparency and investing to honest discussions about debt and risk, women are left out of the conversation. Today’s guest, Tori Dunlap, is trying to change that. She’s built HerFirst $100K into a multi-million dollar education platform by helping women reshape their relationship with money and start building wealth.
In this conversation Emma and Tori get into the real reasons why so many women avoid looking at their bank accounts, how money narratives impact our decisions before we are even old enough to understand them and why waiting until you're ready to invest is ultimately costing you your future.
Tori also speaks candidly about why she believes women in relationships should keep separate accounts, how the trad wife trend can be misleading and why getting rich isn’t something women should ever feel guilty about.
You’ll learn:
• Why “I’m bad at math” is keeping women broke
• What most of us get wrong about investing and how to do it right
• What today’s economic uncertainty actually means for your money
• Why financial education is the highest-return investment you can make
What's your biggest money block right now? Drop it in the comments, we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Aspire with Emma Grede.
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Negotiation Starts Before You Enter the Room
5 maart 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
Mori Taheripour is one of the leading negotiation experts in the country, but her most important lesson may be this: negotiation has nothing to do with conflict and everything to do with knowing your worth. Lees meer
The Wharton professor has spent the last 22 years teaching people how to ask for what they want, not by using scripts or tactics, but by rebuilding the self-belief that life slowly chips away at.
In this episode, Emma and Mori get into the fear, guilt, people-pleasing and inner work that sits at the heart of every negotiation you’ll ever have.
They explore:
Why negotiation is a life skill, not a boardroom tactic
How fear of rejection stops us from asking for more
Why people pleasers struggle to advocate for themselves
How to stop taking no personally
Why your biggest negotiation is always with yourself
Why leverage is often perception
How to ask for more without guilt or apology
This is the episode for every woman who has ever talked herself out of asking. You already have what it takes and Mori explains exactly why.
What's your biggest negotiation challenge right now? Drop it in the comments, we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Aspire with Emma Grede.
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How to Scale While Keeping Your Brand Intact (Kelly Wearstler)
3 maart 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Kelly Wearstler is one of the most influential designers in the world, but her real genius may be how she turned taste into a scalable multi-million dollar business. Lees meer
Over the years, she’s built a company that stretches far beyond interiors, expanding into product, licensing, creative direction, and media all while staying closely involved in the work itself. In this conversation, we get into the structure, decision-making, and resilience behind that growth.
In this episode, Emma explores:
How Kelly built a 60-person studio
Why she believes in “sequence” over speed
The commercial strategy behind creative work
How she’s using AI within her company
Investing in hierarchy and leadership
Knowing when to walk away
Why longevity matters more than hype
This is a conversation about building something that evolves and making sure it’s designed to endure.
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How to Nail Your Next Interview
26 februari 2026 · 23 min
Interviewing isn’t a personality test. It’s a skill, and it’s one you can learn. Lees meer
In this Career Girl’s Guide episode, Emma breaks down what actually makes someone stand out in the room. Drawing from years of interviewing — on both sides of the table — she shares the mindset shifts and practical tools that separate average candidates from unforgettable ones.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How to research like a strategist
How to uncover a role’s hidden pain
The three-part storytelling formula that works
• How to speak about failure with authority
• Salary rules that change your earning trajectory
• The questions that signal leadership
This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being understood — and positioned.
Career girlies don’t audition. We position.
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Glucose Goddess Turned Sugar Hacks Into an 8-Figure Business (Jessie Inchauspé)
24 februari 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
Today on Aspire, Emma sits down with Jessie Inchauspé, known to millions as The Glucose Goddess. Lees meer
What started as a personal health experiment turned into three bestselling books, a global community, and an eight-figure business — built from the ground up, without outside investors.
But this conversation isn’t about going viral. It’s about control.
Emma and Jessie talk about the very intentional decision to bootstrap, what it actually takes to protect your freedom as a founder, and why Jessie would rather move slower than compromise on quality. They get into building around real intellectual property instead of trends — and why trusting your own proof can be more powerful than chasing scale.
In this episode, Jessie shares:
Why she chose not to raise capital
How staying independent shaped every major decision
The trade-offs that come with slower, intentional growth
Why she refuses to sacrifice quality for margin
How motherhood made her more focused, not softer
How a simple personal breakthrough can evolve into a global platform
Yes, they talk about her famous glucose hacks.
But more importantly, they talk about conviction and what happens when you decide something that worked for you might actually help millions of others.
This episode is for founders who care about freedom, longevity, and building on their own terms.
If it resonates, like, comment, and subscribe for more honest conversations with leaders shaping the future of business.
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How to Turn Rejection into Your Biggest Advantage (Laney Crowell)
17 februari 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
Today on Aspire, Emma sits down with Laney Crowell, founder and CEO of Saie – a brand that consistently has seven products ranked in the top ten at Sephora. Lees meer
Emma and Laney talk about what it really took to build Saie from scratch: the mindset shifts, the operational discipline, the hiring decisions, and the resilience required to scale without a traditional founder background.
In this episode, Laney shares:
Why rejection isn’t personal and how to use it as fuel
What raising capital as a woman actually requires
The importance of reference checks and hiring intentionally
Why refining consistently beats rushing growth
The importance of building a community alongside the brand
The rewards and challenges of building a business as a new mother
This episode is for anyone who feels “not qualified enough” or “not ready yet” and is building anyway.
If this conversation resonated, leave a comment and subscribe for more honest conversations with founders, leaders, and builders on Aspire.
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Why Execution Matters More Than The Right Idea with Issa Rae
10 februari 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Issa Rae is entering a new chapter — not from the bottom, but from experience. Lees meer
After disrupting modern television with shows like HBO’s Insecure, building business across multiple industries, and creating some of the most culturally resonant work of the last decade, Issa sits down with Emma for a reflective conversation about power, execution, and what it really means to build something that lasts.
Issa isn’t into chasing momentum. She’s moving discernment— navigating the industry on her own terms and only committing to work she genuinely believes in.
In this episode, Issa opens up about:
Why ideas are meaningless without execution
The difference between visibility and real power
What it means to “prove yourself again” — even at the top
How she decides what not to do in this phase of her career
Why money equals creative freedom, not validation
The discipline of saying no, protecting her voice, and building on her own terms
Her desire to continue to make people’s favorite content.
Issa also reflects on leadership, ownership, and the responsibility that comes with influence — especially in an industry that feels like it’s regressing.
This conversation is for anyone navigating a new chapter, resisting comfort, or learning that longevity requires a different kind of courage.
What resonated most with you from Issa’s journey — her discipline, her clarity, or her refusal to rush?
Share your thoughts in the comments and subscribe for more honest conversations on Aspire.