Emma Grede Built a Multibillion-Dollar Brand Empire by Starting With Herself

Out with the old, in with the new

The idea for Start With Yourself was sparked after Grede noticed people kept asking her the same questions about her career: “They want to know how to do it for themselves.”

The book challenges conventional rules on leadership, money, and work. For example, “part of your job is to make people comfortable” becomes “your wants and needs are as important as everyone else’s.”

Each chapter is rooted in her belief that women have been socially conditioned to avoid behaviors that create wealth, visibility, and opportunity. She hopes the guide will “dismantle the lies that we’ve all been sold” about money, success, and niceness by drawing on her own experiences, including selling ITB and laying off staff.

Grede sparked criticism in 2025 when she described work-life balance as a “red flag” topic in job interviews on the Diary of a CEO podcast. Some of the views expressed in her book are similarly eyebrow-raising: Women’s careers are being hurt by WFH culture, unpaid internships have a place, and trade-offs are inevitable for working moms.

But she wanted to write a “wake-up call” for ambitious people, and specifically to show other women what’s possible: “If you want all of those things, then you won’t do it hiding behind politeness or soft ambition. You’ve got to go out there and do it for yourself.”

Despite what the social algorithms claim, the exec is firm that no one can “manifest or vision board” their way to success. For now, Grede is focused on the next decade, mapping out her 40s not on a Pinterest board but in a Notes file on her phone. It charts where she is now and where she wants to go next. 

Like her book, it all starts in the same place: with herself.