Emma Grede said she does not second-guess herself, arguing that too many people 'talk ourselves out of it' and wait until they are ready.
Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara on Tuesday, Grede said she has learned to try things, fail repeatedly and keep moving. She said those failures 'stopped mattering' and no longer hold her back.
Grede, 44, was raised by a single mother in East London and never went to college. She is the cofounder and chief product officer of Skims, the $5 billion shapewear company, and also an investor and fashion designer. More recently, she founded Off Season, a luxury sports-fashion brand, with designer Kristin Juszczyk.
Grede said her intuition helped Skims launch products that initially seemed unexpected, including a push-up bra with a raised nipple detail. She said the product also served women who had breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy. She added that some products, such as black thongs, meet existing demand, while others, like a face sculpt wrap, are designed to 'create, occupy, and own a new market.'
'One of my special sauces is to go in and say, ‘Well, how do you take a problem that exists within this and make it make sense for a new generation of customers?’' Grede said.
She said the work is often not complicated, but requires discipline.
'So much of what I do is not brain surgery,' she said. 'It’s about making things 1% better. It’s about taking existing markets, but really paying attention and really being focused on the excellence of products.'
Grede also used her book, Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life, to push back on advice she sees as too feel-good and not practical enough. She said, 'What I’m not doing is trying to make people feel comfortable.'
' I’m talking about the reality of what I do,' she said. 'I’m an operator,' and she said she speaks plainly about the sacrifices and tradeoffs behind her work.
The market rewards clarity, not hesitation. Grede’s comments underline a basic rule of free enterprise: products win when operators understand customers, move quickly and accept risk instead of hiding behind endless caution. Capital does not wait for perfect comfort; it follows execution.
