Emma Grede Is The Final Guest On Season 9 Of The Incredible Women Podcast

“I launched my first business when I was 24 because, honestly, I wasn’t being paid enough,” says CEO and entrepreneur Emma Grede. “I was just trying to get to a place where I wasn’t undervalued.”

Born and raised in east London, Grede enrolled at the London College of Fashion when she was 16 and got her start working in fashion-show production, before founding her own talent-marketing agency, ITB Worldwide. Under her leadership, ITB was a pioneer in influencer marketing before it was even a recognized industry, securing high-profile collaborations and partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands.

In 2016, Grede launched Good American with Khloé Kardashian, empowering women to celebrate their bodies with denim styles in an inclusive range of sizes. She’s also a founding partner of Skims, the shapewear and clothing brand she launched alongside Kim Kardashian, dedicated to body positivity and inclusivity. Grede credits her success to her instinct for identifying gaps in the market and creating what women truly want. As she puts it, “I’ve tried over and over again to be what I didn’t see.”

A mother of four, Grede is committed to driving meaningful change in the industry. She serves as chairwoman of the Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit advocating for greater representation of Black-owned businesses in major corporations and retail spaces.

Tune in to this episode of the Incredible Women podcast as Grede joins NET-A-PORTER’s content director, Alice Casely-Hayford, for an insightful conversation on overcoming imposter syndrome, mastering the art of pitching, redefining motherhood on her own terms, and why she thrives on uplifting others.

Read highlights from Emma Grede’s podcast episode below…

“My naivety was a superpower. The fact that I knew nothing was brilliant. Because if I’d known what I didn’t know, I would never have done it because I would have been too scared – but I just went for it. And I think when you have nothing to lose, that’s what happens.”

“Imposter syndrome is something that I hear so many women talk about. […] In London, I would go into rooms [and] I wouldn’t necessarily see anyone that looked like me, but I definitely didn’t hear anyone who spoke like me. And I always actually thought about my differences as an advantage.”

“One thing I can say in business is that I’ve tried over and over again to be what I didn’t see. And when you work in the fashion industry, it’s very obvious where the gaps are… And I just really saw that as an opportunity to create something that I wasn’t seeing, that wasn’t readily available, that wasn’t there.”

“Having a core set of beliefs really informs the way you do business. And so I’ve tried to make that the first thing we think about. Like, what is important? What should you never, ever bend on?”

To listen to the Incredible Women podcast, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more*.

Born and raised in the sun-drenched south of France by her French mother and Italian father, Mélanie Masarin grew up in a home where food and hospitality weren’t just customs – they were a way of life. Family gatherings consisted of long, leisurely meals shared around the table, conversations stretching into the night, and traditional Mediterranean aperitifs flowing freely. But when Masarin moved to the US for college and later took on high-pressure roles at Goldman Sachs and Glossier, she noticed a shift. The more stress she faced, the less she wanted to drink, in order to stay at the top of her game. Eventually, she stopped drinking alcohol altogether.

Yet she never wanted to lose the joy of socializing, connecting and celebrating with loved ones. It was this longing, coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit, that led her to create Ghia, a non-alcoholic beverage brand designed to capture the conviviality of drinking – minus the hangover.

At the time, the alcohol-free beverage market was still in its infancy, but Masarin saw an opportunity. When she launched Ghia in 2020, she was ahead of the curve. “I realized I was constantly being questioned for why I wasn’t drinking,” she says. “I wasn’t sick, I wasn’t pregnant, I didn’t have, like, a medical reason, I wasn’t sober with a capital S, I didn’t have a problem with alcohol. I just wasn’t drinking because it made me feel better, but it wasn’t the norm, and I realized there was such deconditioning that needed to happen.”

Tune in as Masarin joins NET-A-PORTER’s fashion director, Kay Barron, for a candid conversation on work-life balance, building a brand from the ground up, and the biggest lessons she’s learned along the way.

Read highlights from Mélanie Masarin’s podcast episode below…

“The reality of being a female CEO is that your time is very much your sum game, and it is very difficult, and you have to make a lot of sacrifices, because society – and honestly, biology – makes it such that you just have less time for this. And there are other things in your life, like women carry children, and I think in general, raise them more. So, I’m very inspired by people that get to do both.”

“We’ve been conditioned for decades, and with, you know, billions of marketing dollars to think that alcohol is the life of the party, that it is the social lubricant for everything. So we have some work to do to decondition people from thinking this way.”

“The biggest lesson for someone like me, who always has a plan, is that you have to be very steadfast in your goals, but very flexible on how to achieve them, and again, try to not get bothered by the things that are not going to have a big impact on the business [in the] long term.”

“I always say, how you spend your days is how you spend your life. And that remains true… So I’m trying to enjoy the journey. It’s not just looking for the next vacation… You have to build health and wellness throughout and be more consistent.”

To listen to the Incredible Women podcast, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more*.

Fashion stylist Jamie Mizrahi is behind some of the most unforgettable red-carpet moments of recent years. From Jennifer Lawrence in vintage Givenchy couture at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party to Adele’s dazzling wardrobe throughout her 50-week Las Vegas residency, Mizrahi’s work defines modern glamour. Most recently, she has been shaping the style of Oscar-winning actor Mikey Madison, a rising star whose fashion choices are as compelling as her on-screen performances.

Mizrahi’s approach is refreshingly personal. Rather than adhering to a signature aesthetic or overarching themes, she tailors each look to the individual, prioritizing collaboration and self-expression. “First and foremost, it’s always a conversation of, who are you? What do you feel comfortable wearing? What do you have going on?” she explains. “But [also], who are you off the red carpet? And do you want to make those worlds come together?” This intuitive, client-first philosophy has earned her a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most trusted stylists, ensuring her clients exude confidence – whether on the red carpet or off-duty.

Tune in as Mizrahi sits down with NET-A-PORTER’s fashion director, Kay Barron, to discuss styling for the Oscars, collaborating with A-list clients, and finding balance in an ever-demanding industry.

Read highlights from Jamie Mizrahi’s podcast episode below…

“If it’s someone not as known as Jennifer Lawrence, like a younger, more up-and-coming star, you want people to kind of be conditioned to know who you are. Like with Mikey Madison, for example, there was talk about her cutting her hair. And in my mind, I’m like… let people continue to just fall in love with you and know you and know what they’re going to expect from you a bit. Of course, throw in some twists and turns but don’t change the whole base of who you are in the middle of a story you’re trying to tell.”

“I care about the projects my clients are doing. I want to get excited with them. I want to discuss who they are in their roles and then how they want to be perceived in promoting that role. I think it has to be thought out and it has to be discussed.”

“If someone calls me and is like, ‘Hey, I’m going to a dinner for this. Will you style me?’ I have a really hard time saying yes, just because I can’t necessarily creatively understand what to do because it’s not this kind of long story and relationship that you’re nurturing, right? I want to dedicate the time and I want to be on the journey.”

To listen to the Incredible Women podcast, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more*.

Every so often, a movie comes along that captures the zeitgeist so completely it feels inescapable. Even if you haven’t yet watched Babygirl, the erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, you’ve likely seen one of its countless viral clips: Dickinson’s hypnotic dance to George Michael’s Father Figure (which has inspired a wave of A-list imitations) or Kidman’s now-iconic scene drinking a glass of milk. The director behind the cultural phenomenon is Halina Reijn, the Dutch filmmaker, actor and writer, who we’re thrilled to welcome as the first guest of the Incredible Women podcast’s ninth season.

Unencumbered by adhering to Hollywood’s established codes and conventions, Reijn is lauded for her fresh perspective and daring exploration of pertinent themes. She made her English-language directorial debut in 2022 with the critically acclaimed horror comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies and has once again captivated audiences and critics alike with Babygirl.

As one of the Netherlands’ most celebrated actors, Reijn was somewhat prepared for the attention Hollywood has brought her in recent years. But even she couldn’t have predicted the dizzying, viral success of Babygirl: “When I set out to write this story that is about shame and sexual desire, I could have never dreamed that so many people are going to see it in theaters,” she says. “And I love all the creative reactions. I’m trying to watch all of them. Because that is also why we made the movie: to feel more connected to other women and humans in general.”

Tune in as Reijn sits down with NET-A-PORTER’s content director, Alice Casely-Hayford, to discuss exploring female desire on screen, breaking taboos, and why dark humor is her secret weapon.

Read highlights from Halina Reijn’s podcast episode below…

“What I love so much about [Babygirl] is it probes reconciling all of these different facets of being a woman. So you can be this incredible business leader but then also have incredible vulnerability and struggle to sort of navigate being a mother, a wife and a CEO.”

“If I look around, there’s not a lot of female directors at all who are part of the conversation right now. And, of course, you have The Substance, which is amazing, but there’s not a lot of it. And so we just need to keep fighting for change and keep creating these stories that are honest and keep supporting each other. And men need to also be a big part of this conversation.”

“At all levels, I’m always trying to make my actors feel like my collaborators. I’m never sitting in a high chair with a North Face jacket on, telling them, ‘Crawl over the floor, undress, do this, do that’. That’s how I experienced being an actor a lot myself and I didn’t like that at all.”

“[Gen Z] are growing up in a very, very, very challenging environment and world, but their ideas around identity are very refreshing to me. They are trying to be their authentic selves more and they seem to judge each other less on a puritanical, suppressed level that you saw in my generation.”

“If you examine human nature at its core, which I’m of course trying to do, whether I make a fun horror movie or a fun sexual thriller […] there’s a lot of dark humor in that. And that is why humor, to me, is the weapon, the Trojan horse, the way of connecting to my audience.”

To listen to the Incredible Women podcast, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more*.

NET-A-PORTER will donate one British Pound for every first listen to the first episode in its week of release** to UN Women UK, an organization working for the empowerment and rights of women and girls globally, helping them realize their full potential.