Aspire with Emma Grede

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Monique Rodriguez built Mielle Organics from her basement into a billion-dollar brand and did it without a blueprint.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

The truth is, most of us weren’t taught how to manage our money, we were taught not to talk about it. 

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.

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. 

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.