Fireside Chat, Interview, Conference Presentation
Emma Grede, CEO and Co-founder of Good American with Kim Posnett
- Emma Greed identifies "naivety" as a strategic asset in early entrepreneurship, enabling her to bypass intimidation and secure high-level industry access that experienced peers might avoid.
- Greed recalls calling Brian Lord of CAA at age 23 to pitch services, a feat she achieved because she lacked the "knowledge of who he was" to hesitate.
- She adopted a hiring strategy in her first four to five employees where she paid them "substantially more than herself" to compensate for skill gaps she lacked.
- Greed emphasizes that while celebrity influence drives initial awareness, sustained business success relies entirely on product quality and value.
- She asserts that "good product" is the only substitute for endorsements, noting that repeat purchases are the true metric of success.
- Her core competency is identified as understanding the needs of women in "Middle America" to create products balancing quality, value, and price.
- Good American was founded to address a specific market gap where plus-size women, comprising 67% of the US population, are "grossly underserved" by mainstream fashion.
- Greed observed that industry marketing often depicted diverse models while the actual garment sizes ranged only up to size 10, creating a dissonance between representation and availability.
- The brand launched with a single product focus: denim available in all sizes, a decision that resulted in $1 million in sales on launch day.
- Greed outlines strict operational principles for Good American and Skims that prioritize diversity and inclusion as non-negotiable business requirements rather than marketing tactics.
- The company refuses to partner with retailers that do not stock their full size range, insisting that partners must "walk the walk" regarding inclusivity.
- Skims reached $100 million in revenue in six months, a benchmark it took Nike 10 years to achieve, which Greed attributes directly to their diverse approach.
- Corporate culture is maintained through a rejection of rigid quotas in favor of embedding diversity as a fundamental "way of being."
- Early leadership required the consistent repetition of cultural standards ("that's not the Good American way") to instill values in teams resistant to the company's non-traditional methods.
- The company actively commissions factories to build custom machinery to produce seam-free knits in all sizes, overcoming industry resistance to producing larger garments.
- Product development and decision-making are heavily driven by direct, granular community feedback.
- Greed personally reviews customer reviews daily, even for isolated issues, to drive immediate product improvements.
- The brands conduct large-scale surveys and small-group testing (10–100 women) to validate new fits and fabrics before launch.
- Greed positions the post-George Floyd era as a critical pivot point where "good intentions" have ceased to be sufficient for brand survival.
- She argues that consumers now make purchasing decisions based on corporate citizenship and that businesses must "put money where their mouth is" regarding sustainability and diversity.
- Greed contends that many fashion brands avoid true inclusivity due to "sizeism" and the belief that producing larger sizes incurs prohibitive costs, a view she identifies as a long-term business error.
- Greed serves as Chairwoman of the 15% Pledge, an initiative demanding retailers dedicate 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses.
- The initiative has generated $10 billion in opportunity for Black-owned businesses through signatories including Nordstrom, Sephora, and Bloomingdale's.
- She notes that Black-owned businesses are often misperceived as catering exclusively to Black consumers, whereas they serve the broader market.
- Regarding leadership during crisis, Greed advocates for assembling a board of directors who can challenge the CEO, rather than simply offering support.
- She credits her board's diverse experiences in previous economic downturns with providing a long-term perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Her strategy during downturns is to avoid "steering too far off track" based on external volatility, focusing instead on maintaining growth goals.
- Greed rejects the concept of "work-life balance" for entrepreneurs, describing it as a lie that leads to self-disappointment.
- She advocates for a "no balance" approach where family needs take precedence during crises, accepting that other areas of life will be temporarily neglected.
- She notes that while this imbalance leads to family members missing her, it is a necessary trade-off for continuing her career and business ventures.