Broadlines

Ambition requires discomfort | Emma Grede

The Female Quotient

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This conversation is about ambition and what it really costs. Rae and Natalie sit down with serial entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Good American, and founding partner of Skims, Emma Grede, live from the FQ Lounge at SXSW.

With the release of her new book Start With Yourself, Emma shares her no-BS approach to building success on your own terms. The reality? If you want more, you have to be willing to ask for it and risk being uncomfortable, misunderstood, or told no.

She challenges the narrative we’ve been sold about balance, likability, and doing it all, replacing it with something more honest. Ambition requires trade-offs, and not everyone will be comfortable with how big you’re willing to go. Tune in.

EPISODE CREDITS...
Hosted by Natalie Lizarraga and Rae Williams
Directed by Lauren Ames
Executive Produced by Sydney Kramer and Rachel Apirian
Produced by Lauren Ames, Rae Williams, and Natalie Lizarraga
Filmed Live by 20Twenty
Edited by Davielle Waldner

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Broadlines is a production of The Female Quotient and recorded in Los Angeles, California. Write us here to submit your own Dear FQ and join the conversation!

SPEAKER_00

If you have ambition, it's gonna require a lot of discomfort in your life. It's so relatable.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to Broadlines. Today we are absolutely thrilled to welcome our guest, Emma Greed, co-founder and CEO of Good American and a founding partner of Skims.

SPEAKER_00

You've got to take everything that you want and you need and you know, and you have to project that outwards in order to get what you want. It's almost a dirty word to be too ambitious. Your decision making can't be coming from a place of guilt.

SPEAKER_02

What does the sacrifice look like for women in general? Sacrifice is real.

SPEAKER_01

How have you done that in your own life?

SPEAKER_00

You've got to start with yourself.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to Broadlines, a weekly video podcast by the Female Quotient. Where real headlines meet real conversations. I'm Natalie Lazaraga, a journalist and former news anchor.

SPEAKER_02

And I'm Ray Williams, an entertainment, lifestyle, and culture journalist. And today is the Holy Grail for Ray Williams. The Holy Grail for Ray Williams. We interviewed my dream guest at South by Southwest, which is my first full-time attending. I lived in Austin for almost a year, but I never really participated in South by Southwest. So we did the FQ Lounge there. And guys, it was my first FQ Lounge. I was blown away.

SPEAKER_01

I'm sure you've seen some of our social media posts. We had a great time. Like for Ray, this was your super bowl. It was my Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_02

We interviewed Emma Greed. Now, if you don't know who Emma is, you need to know immediately. Look her up. Okay, I'm telling you that. She is an entrepreneur, but not just any entrepreneur. She really has built a name for herself in both business and in just like the social atmosphere of, you know, all of the like it girl things that you would ever think of. I'm sure she wouldn't describe herself as an it girl like that, but she totally is. She is the co-founder of Skims. She is the CEO of Good American. We were actually wearing Good American outfits. Yes. Shout out to Good American.

SPEAKER_01

She also has a podcast called Aspire, which talks to everyone who's ever done anything phenomenal with their lives and gives some real practical advice. She, as we found out, a very straight shooter. Yep. And that is what you're gonna see in her new book, Start With Yourself. She has a new book coming out, and it gives just very unfiltered advice on how you can get ahead. And my favorite thing about Emma Greed is she always puts money right at the center of everything.

SPEAKER_02

Don't have to be ashamed about the money. The book is actually out today, but we got advanced copies. And if you were at the FQ Lounge at South by Southwest, you might have gotten a copy of it as well. And really, it is a practical application. You can actually write in the book because I was gonna do the audiobook as well, because I love audiobooks, but I think for this one, I'm actually gonna write my stuff in there. But really, we got to dig into all of her personal philosophies. We got to talk about, you know, what it means to run essentially an empire with kids and how that affects everything, just how you overcome imposter syndrome, except she doesn't have it. So you'll hear about that in a second.

SPEAKER_01

And that big taboo of work-life balance. Work life balance. How that might not necessarily be true for a lot of people. So we dug in. And if you were there, gosh, thank you so much for coming through to the lounge.

SPEAKER_02

We really do appreciate it. And it was our first live episode. We might have more. Who knows? You've got to keep watching, but listen up for our conversation with Emma Greed. We are absolutely thrilled to welcome our guest, Emma Greed. Now, Emma is the co-founder and CEO of Good American and a founding partner of Skims. She's also an avid investor in a lot of up-and-coming brands, some that I really love, and has helped to redefine what modern entrepreneurship looks like and proves that when brands truly listen to their communities, culture can shift.

SPEAKER_01

And what really stands out about Emma is that she shares so intentionally. You are not gatekeeping. You are letting us know. You build global brands and you've navigated leadership with clarity and conviction. Your podcast, Aspire, explores these real conversations behind ambition, growth, and building a career and a life with purpose.

SPEAKER_02

And now she's bringing that perspective to her new book, Start with Yourself, which I see in many of y'all's hands. So that's great. It's actually out this April and it's also available for pre-order if you want more copies. And in it, Emma dives into her personal philosophies, the habits, the accountability, and the self-leadership required to build something that lasts. So, Emma, we are so happy to have you. You are literally our manifestation. So welcome to Broadline. Thank you. I'm gonna take these two around everywhere with me today. I'm like, run out, run out, run out. So good. All right, well, we're gonna jump right into it because I know people want to know the things. Um but we have seen those uh the viral video of you, you know, calling work-life balance a red flag when someone says it to you in an interview. And like, of course, there were comments that say, you know, it's a toxic way to look at the future of work, but why do you believe that women who set these hard career boundaries are kind of limiting their own success?

SPEAKER_00

Well, the first thing to say is, you know, I don't see the comments because I don't care about the comments. You know, I think that the first thing that I talk about in my book, Start with Yourself, is to have a really clear vision for yourself. And part of that is to hold your own opinions, your own standards, your own principles really highly. And that means not really being impacted by what's happening around you in the broader culture. I can only speak to my experience and what's worked for me. And for me, what worked is really working hard and having a mentality that I was going to do what I wanted to do. That meant having a really clear idea of what my goals were and working towards that and saying no to everything else. So when you talk about this idea of work-life balance, I think about life in seasons. We all know as women and as mothers that we need, and what happens in our life is that there are different moments, right? In my 20s, it was a time to lean in and do everything I could. And right after you've had a baby, you can't do that. So when I talk about seasons and moments, there are moments to shift that balance, but it has to be based on what works for you, not what you're being told by some outside force.

SPEAKER_02

So one of the things that you also talk about, um, and this kind of work goes into the work-life balance, is that if you want an extraordinary life, you have to put without extraordinary effort, that's just crazy, right? It's crazy. Um, but what does the sacrifice look like for women in general? What does it look like for you in order to have that?

SPEAKER_00

Well, the truth is that there's so many trade-offs, and I think people always think about trade-offs as, you know, maybe things that you don't want to do. The truth is the trade-offs are full of things that you do want to do. And sacrifice is real. You know, it's like if I'm here, it means that, you know, I'm not with my kids this weekend. I'm not taking them to school in the morning. But I actually think that what's super, super important is, and this is why, again, I start with vision. And in the book, I move into what I think about managing emotions because your decision making can't be coming from a place of guilt. Equally, it can't be coming from a place of fear. And what I know and I see time and time again in my career is when I'm scared, when there's something that is making me fearful, like that's where the win is. So it's pushing yourself to make sure that your decision making is coming from a place that's aligned with where you want to go, as opposed to coming from this kind of emotional place. And I think for women that that is harder to do, right? We have big emotions. And my book is about that in kind of, you know, warts and all. I talk about anger. It's an emotion I've struggled with my whole life, but it's uh it wasn't kind of congruent to where I wanted to go in life. So it's something that I needed to get a handle on. And so much this book is about self-leadership, what it takes, because we all know that we grow up with different circumstances, we come from different places. God only knows that there is so much against us as women. And so what I'm saying is like control the controllables. What is it that you can do? And how is it that you can behave that can impact the end result? And what I want women to understand is that if you have ambition, it's gonna require a lot of discomfort in your life. And if you really want money, right, you will need to come at it with a level of audacity to understand your worth and to speak that. Because this idea of, you know, soft ambition or performative purpose, like it doesn't work. You've got to take everything that you want and you need and you know, and you have to project that outwards in order to get what you want. And so this book is really about what that actually looks like in practice and in real life, based off of my own experience.

SPEAKER_01

Let's keep talking about ambition, actually. Why not? Because it's let's do it. Who's ambitious? Put your hand up. Yes, yes, don't we just know? You really drive home that being ruthlessly ambitious just means like having conviction, being direct. But a lot of women have have trouble with that. It's almost a dirty word to be too ambitious. How have you done that in your own life?

SPEAKER_00

The first thing is caring about what I care about the most, right? Like putting myself first on my list. And so when I talk about like not getting in the comments, I don't like, of course, I look at the comments. I just don't let that drive me. That's not my first thing. My first thing is about what I really, really want, right? And when we talk about ambition again, I I feel that as women, we have kind of been culturally conditioned to avoid the exact behaviors that lead to wealth, that lead to opportunity. That's stuff that exists. And so this entire book is about dismantling the lies that we've all been told about power, about money, about success. Because my belief is that everything that you carry can be a burden unless you decide like that's no longer useful. That's not a good way to live. And I think that what I really want women to understand is that at the end of the day, you can do deeply meaningful and impactful work and still get paid properly for it. You can care a lot about money and a lot about a lot of other things. It's not like one or the other. So, what I want to do is make sure that, again, as a not a gatekeeper, I want to share the stuff that worked for me because I think there has to be more models in the culture of what is possible. You can't do, you can't be what you don't see. You know that that feeling. And so I think the more that I share, the more that I say, like, these are the things that I did. And it might be a little uncomfortable, it might be a little counterintuitive, but I promise you it will work. And I promise you that there is not one man that is worrying about the same things that you might be worried about.

SPEAKER_02

And as we we continue along this string of ambition, I think a fear that a lot of women have, and and this is even me included, is we've, you know, we're all ambitious here. We've built these careers, we're trying to build these careers. Um, and then, you know, maybe you want to have a family or children, and it's it's terrifying. But you have four kids. If you've looked at Emma's Instagram over the past, like, I would say 48 hours, she's been in like 16 different places. But then also you see those moments with your kids. I've seen you in public with your kids, so you you're also present. So you've been open about having, you know, help as well. Um, but what advice do you have for women who are building that that don't yet have that army?

SPEAKER_00

So there's there's two parts to this, and I want to make sure I answer the kid bit and then I'll come back. I'm not dodging the stars piece. The first thing is there is no such thing as a perfect time to have a baby, but there is a biological reality, ladies, right? So I'm not sitting here advocating for teen pregnancy, but nor am I saying that waiting until you're 38 is a good idea. Because let me tell you, it's not. And you guys, anyone who's followed me has heard me speak about, you know, how I think about this idea that all the workplaces were pushing you to freeze your eggs and pushing you. It's like at the end of the day, when I talk about seasons and times in your life, there is uh an ability to have a level of planning about when it might work for you to have a baby. And that's a time where you might have to take your foot off the pedal. But as a parent, what I want to say is like motherhood hasn't got harder. The expectations around motherhood got harder. So, in the same way that I'm asking you guys to hold a vision for your work and your life and your career, hold a vision for your personal life and your family because you have to be the type of mother that you can deal with, that you want. And this idea that we all need to be in this like race against each other to make like the cutest pack lunch boxes, it's bullshit. It doesn't matter. What your kids need is like an attentive mom who loves her kids and is there for them when they want. They don't need all the other stuff. So the the idea that we're putting forward on social is scaring women out of becoming mums because at the end of the day, we are we're kind of like setting the bar so high that it's insurmountable. Now, another thing that I talk about in the book is taking help wherever you can get it. Now, I sit in a place of enormous privilege. We know that, right? That's not how I was raised. That's certainly not how my life was even 10 years ago. But I have the nannies and the housekeepers and the help and the staff. But before I had any of that, I would beg, borrow, and steal for any little bit of help that I can. And I think as women, that can be also very hard for us to kind of admit that you need help. Take the help wherever you can get it. It doesn't matter if it's a meal prep service, you've also got to make sure you trained your partner, your husband, whoever's there, to take right 50% of the work. And when I say train, I mean train. That means don't start like that. Don't start by being the lead parent. Because just because you're a woman, that isn't the default that you need to take with your kids. When my kids fall over, they're not necessarily just looking for their mum, they're looking for their mum or their dad. Thank God, because I've got four of them and I couldn't deal with it. So, do you know what I mean? It's like you have to make sure that you're not setting your standard so high that you're the only one that can do things in your life. Let your partner make a shit sandwich. Let them look at, you know, dress the kid in an outfit that makes no sense. I'm like, what is that? But it's fine because you will need all of that help if you have big goals and big ambitions. So what I'm saying is make sure that you're not actively pushing every bit of help that could come your way out of your way. Take every bit of help that you can.

SPEAKER_01

It's so relatable. It's so relatable. I left my 17-month-old daughter at home and he, my husband didn't even look at me. I was didn't have to pack anything for him. I was like, You got it, you're her dad. You're the dad. You're the dad. We're both equal in this. And if you don't got it, you'll figure it out. Exactly. Exactly. Well, when it comes to men, when it we call them decisive or visionary, when they have to make hard calls in business, they they get these lofty titles. Well, when women are often labeled as stereotypes, like difficult or cold or emotional. So, how do you lead kind of without diluting your authority?

SPEAKER_00

Here's the thing: I think I am a pretty straightforward person. I have really high expectations for myself, which means that I have really high expectations for everybody around me. People that work with me, people that work for me. Um they're standing here right now, they're like, yeah, that's the truth. But you know, I'm very clear. Like, I don't hide behind what it is that I want to say. And I think that what happens is when you when you're honest with yourself, right? When you're, I'm I'm a bit older now, you know, it's like I'm 43. I've spent a long time getting to know myself. And I don't hide that from anyone. And I think what happens is you give people permission to be themselves too. And so I am just really unapologetically honest about what it is that I want. And I've really put myself very, very, very high on my list. And so when that feedback comes back, because it all comes back, I'm sure, you know, I've been called like really not such nice things. I'm like, it's kind of okay because I'm behaving in a way that I feel good about, and I take a lot of responsibility for that, like how I walk into a room, how I make people feel, how I lead at my office. None of it's an accident. So I think if you can lay your head on the pillow at night and be absolutely fine with who you are, it makes it really so much easier when you get that critique. But you've got to be careful and you've got to be um, what is the word? You've got to be deliberate about how you are and how and what your intentions are. So it's not like this stuff just comes to me. It's like I have an entire way of behaving that is deliberate and calculated to a point and it is in line with what I is that I want to achieve. It's not an afterthought. It never is. Let's go ahead and talk about the book.

SPEAKER_01

Start with yourself. If you think that women truly embrace this philosophy, what would the next 10 years of the workplace actually look like? And how would it change?

SPEAKER_00

Well, listen, the workplace is one part of it, but let's just talk about life more broadly right now, because I think there's one thing that we could all agree on. It's that we are desperate right now in the world for more women in positions of power from a political standpoint, financial standpoint, economically, in the workplace outside, that is something that we all know. Where we are in the culture right now is because there aren't enough women that sit in positions of power and leadership. And I think that women are exceptional, but the the reality of how exceptional we are isn't reflected in on cap tables, in the halls of power, and where it actually matters. So if we can all come together to say collectively, how do we take responsibility for that? Because at the end of the day, we understand the external forces, but what is it that we can control? So when you start with yourself, you're deliberate about exactly what it is that you're going after. You are open about what it is that you need, and you are clear about your intentions and how you're going to get there. And when I talk about starting with yourself, it's a mindset. It's my personal philosophy, and it's always worked. And so what I want to do is model that behavior and make sure women understand like where these big unlocks are coming from. And it's not that difficult. It's just perhaps counterintuitive to the idea or the way that we're kind of hardwired to put everyone before ourselves, to think about everybody else's needs before our own. And honestly, like that doesn't work. That doesn't work if you want to be successful. You've got to start with yourself.

SPEAKER_02

I think the default for a lot of us is to shrink. Like you said, it's been hardwired to kind of, you know, step back and and you know, kind of mitigate your natural tendencies. But I I love that. Um, switching from the book to your podcast a little bit. So her podcast is Aspire with Emma Greed. It is absolutely brilliant. So one of your most recent episodes, you talk to Issa Ray. And gosh, how much do you love her? What was surprising is when she said that she had some big opportunities earlier on that she flubbed and that she felt like she messed up. So, you know, I know you talk a lot about like obviously start with yourself. Um, but how do you make sure you're not screwing up those opportunities early on? Or is that a part of the riot?

SPEAKER_00

Like, don't, don't. Because the thing is, the only people that get forward in life are the ones that are in constant motion. And if you're in motion, you will make mistakes, you'll mess up a lot of opportunities. But, you know, you don't get confident and resilient by not doing stuff. You have to go through things. Like the reason I can sit up here now is because I have done so many things that didn't work out. And by the way, they're all in the book. I talk nonstop about the failures. The only thing you can't do is not learn from it. So actually, resilience is built by going through things, getting on the other side, being able to look back and say, it didn't kill me. I made this huge mistake. I did this thing that didn't work. I embarrassed myself. I lost, you know, it's like I fell short of my own expectations. All of that stuff works to build resilience and to build confidence. So I would say don't avoid the mistakes. The only thing you can't do is stay still. The only thing you can't do is let the fear take hold of you and keep your ideas in your head. And like one of my favorite quotes, I'm going to totally mess it up, but it's like, don't, don't let your biggest enemy be between your own ears, right? It's like make sure you speak to yourself well. Make sure that the relationship you have with yourself is a really good and positive one. And make sure you're not talking yourself out of doing things that you really want because of some kind of expectation that came from the outside that isn't really a part of you.

SPEAKER_01

Um, you had an episode more recently about transitioning. And like you said, always stay in motion. There might be some women in here right now who are like, wait, I've I'm getting that itch. I'm getting that feeling I've either outgrown a place or want to move on. What would you see say is this the starting point to go ahead and actually make that decision?

SPEAKER_00

You know, I've been there so many times in my career. When I had my agency business, I used to wake up every day thinking, I'm so annoyed that I'm making everybody else more money than I'm making for me. You know, it's like when you're like delivering work to clients, I was like, well, lucky them. And I'd get my measly little fee on the site, you know, and I'd be like, I've just delivered gajillions in value, and I get like this size of the pie. After a while, I'm like, am I crazy? Am I waking up with this feeling every day and yet not doing something about it? Because I'm an amazing moaner. Like I can just whine and whine and whine. And I was like, I have to do something about this. So it's in that moment where you're constantly having a conversation with yourself that you have to take yourself out of that situation. And I promise you, for me, you know, I'd been in a place where I understood marketing and those clients at the back of my hand. I could go out and win business in any client environment that I wanted to, but I had no experience of raising capital. I had no experience of running an apparel company. I really didn't want to move to LA because to me, I was like, that's just not a cool place to live. It's like, I want to be in New York, I want to be in like a city environment. Um, but I made those sacrifices, right? I walked away from what was known into something that was unknown. I took a young family into a city that for me wasn't where I had any familiarity. And I kind of rolled the dice. If it hadn't worked in my head, I was like, I can go back to doing that stuff that I don't love that much. But if you don't take the chance, then you'll never know. And here's the thing that I like everyone to know: no one is watching you. No one is watching you like you're watching you. Do you know what I mean? You think everyone sees all your mistakes. You think everyone knows how your hair's doing today. They don't. They're too worried about their own hair. They don't care. And so when you do these things and when you make mistakes and you do the missteps, it's okay because that stuff is just for you to learn from. So it's like, get out of your own way. Don't let fear hold you back. Have a go. And if it doesn't work out, guess what? It's not the end of the world. Everybody here and women, we're so inherently resourceful that we'll just figure something else out. Honestly, if like I, if good American hadn't worked, I would have tried something else. It's not the end of the world. And who knows, you could end up with a giant big success on your plate that could then leverage you into other things. So my thing is like just take the chance. Take the chance on yourself.

SPEAKER_01

You never know what's gonna work out. So you might as well try.

SPEAKER_02

So you have a lot of um philosophies that are both in the book and stuff that you live by that you're teaching to us. If you, if you again, if you don't follow Emma on Instagram, she posts posts a motivational quote every single day. It's for me, but it turned out that other people like it. Because I like, you know, I'm like dumb, Emma. But of those philosophies, of the things that you live by, what would you say has been the most important thing for you?

SPEAKER_00

You know, when I wrote this book, the working title was without apology. And I decided that I couldn't, I didn't even want apology in the title. I was like, I don't even want the connotation of making an apology anywhere near my book. So it would start with yourself. But this idea of how much control you have. The quote I posted this morning was from Tina Turner, and she said something like, you know, you can make a decision every day. And that decision might just be to have a more positive thought. We all know how we can drag ourselves down, and the world is there to do that for us. So don't be another person bringing yourself down. Like speak yourself up. I've said this like a million times, but I think it's so important. Um, Diane von Fustenberg is a friend of mine, and she says the most important relationship you'll ever have is the relationship you have with yourself. And it's so true, girls, because you can do so much when you have a good relationship with yours, with yourself. It's not gaslighting yourself. I tell myself a lot of shit that I do on a daily that I'm like, that was not smart. Why did you say that? You should have softened that down a little bit, but hey-ho, here we are. But I think that that would be it. It would be like get close to yourself, understand what you need, understand the things that you want, understand how you want to build your life, and then go after that unashamedly, apologizing to nobody. Because at the end of the day, you want to be 75 sitting there thinking, I took every chance, I went for what I want, and I designed the life that I have today. Not that like something sort of like washed you and carried you, and then bad things happen, and you don't want to be one of these people that life happened to. And so I think in business and in life, it's all one thing, right? But make sure it's your thing.

SPEAKER_01

I do have a question for you because you we touched on it uh slightly about women and emotions, right? It is sometimes hard for us to manage our emotions in some moments that maybe trigger us. Yeah. And in a lot of your book, you talk about taking the emotion out of those big decisions because we do feel it, especially I will rephrase it as pat you're passionate about something. Yes. And and sometimes you need to take that out. So can you just kind of navigate us through when there's tough decisions, how you remove that to make the best choice for yourself?

SPEAKER_00

The question I ask myself every day is, is it useful? Like, so if I'm scared, if I'm angry, if I'm full of fear, I'm like, is this useful based on the thing I'm trying to do? So is that fear fueling me or is it actually holding me back from getting the thing that I want? Is me being like angry about this thing actually getting it closer to happening or bringing it over the line? And you will almost always tell yourself no when it's coming from an emotional place. So then what do you need it for? It's your decision, right? You want to move forward or you want to stand on the spot? Do you want that thing that you want, or do you want to just talk about that thing? So it's just your decision. And I think that's so much of it is. So again, it's like, I'm not saying suppress your feelings. I'm like, feel all your feelings, talk to someone about it. That's what best friends are for. Get on the phone, have the conversation, get it out, but don't let it lead your decision making, especially in a professional capacity. If you want to go out and do something and you're really scared, do the scary thing. Reject the fear and say, I'll do it anyway.

SPEAKER_01

That's it. I think getting the feeling is out is just like a boozy brunch. Like, get it out with your friends. Get it out.

SPEAKER_02

That's what your friends are for. That's what they're for. Uh, there's another episode that I wanted to point to. One of my actual Really listen. I love you. Listen, no, because I always imagine I'm on my own, no one's there, I'm just listening. No worries. We're listening. Um, but this episode was with Bazoma St. John.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god, how much she loves both.

SPEAKER_02

She's a hero. Heroes. And in that episode, again, some of these things strike me because as women, I think our default, again, is sometimes to shrink back. And she was very clear about saying, No, I don't have imposter syndrome. Like I show up fully, I know that I am this. And I think that's something that a lot of us struggle with. And you were talking to her just about that imposter syndrome. And has that showed up for you in any way, especially earlier on? And how do you deal with that? Because I know that's something a lot of women as they're going through business, you know, deal with.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't know that I'm the best person for this question because I don't have it. And here's the thing: it's not like I'm coming from some massive place where it's like I'm kind of invincible. It's just that I was raised in a place. I come from East London. And so you were raised to be really tough because there was so much dark stuff going on around me that you kind of had to have a thick skin. And then my lovely little mum would always say, you know, Emma, you're not better than anyone else, but nor is anyone better than you. And I really believed it. I really believed that whatever was happening, whatever somebody else was doing, I could do that too. And actually, when you check it, that's really true. It's like, who has your experience? Who has your point of view? Who's lived the life you are that uniquely sees this thing, this problem, this opportunity in the way that you do? And if you really believe that, which I do, imposter syndrome will fade. Don't get me wrong, we all have doubt, we all have fear, we all have that stuff that creeps up, but you've got to know is it useful? Is it helpful to me? And if it isn't, then get rid of it. And I don't want to sound repetitive for you guys, but it's like that one unlock is the thing. It's not that deep, it's not that difficult. You know, it's like I want people to understand that everything that you want is probably on the other side of some deeply held belief or an emotion that is keeping you stuck. And so in the book, I wrote very purposefully about what that's been for me and what the system is of thinking that's actually helped me get out of it. And that isn't to say that it doesn't creep up every now and again, but I have a way of handling it. And once you know that stuff about yourself, once you've done the work, you're like, oh, here it is again. Here's that little unhelpful bitch that's coming back to haunt me. And you can take control of it. So I would just say, like, figure out who are your unhelpful little bitches. Yeah, she's there all the time. All the time. She's in the back.

SPEAKER_02

She is. Yep, she's standing in the back all the time. And give us the, for those of you that don't know, the details about when this book is out, just a little bit into the process of writing it. Um, you were sitting there with all of your pages around dyslexic Emma.

SPEAKER_00

It was great. It was the it was the time that the kind of adult dyslexia, you know, I haven't done that amount of writing or organizing in my adult life. I wrote the book backwards in true dyslexic fashion. I think my publisher was so happy about that. But you know, it's it's hard to get honest. It's hard to sit there and bear your soul and and sort of, you know, give all of your mistakes. But again, I wanted to create something that was useful. I think if you give me 30 minutes of your time, I want you to get something out of it that's actionable that you can take back into your own life. I don't think people care at all about how I've been successful. I think everybody wants to know how they can become successful. How can you create that for yourself? And so what I did in this book was to create a manual that, in fact, you could take and you could read it for half an hour and you can write all your notes. There's space for the notes in the back, and then you could take it into your own life. And that was the point of this. This is not a um, you know, a memoir from me. This is like this is the stuff that works. This is the stuff that you should try, and this is how I think it's applicable to many of our lives. Um, and I really thought deeply about what it was that I'm trying to do. For me, the goal is not more, more and more. And that's a lie. The goal is always more. You don't know me well enough. The goal is always more. But the the bigger goal and the higher goal is to think how do we get to a place where there could be like a million little emas, like a million women that actually on paper don't and shouldn't and couldn't really do the thing, but they do it anyway, because they're empowered, because they see it for themselves, and because they're given a roadmap. And that's what the book is. It's a roadmap for you to be successful in your own life.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing. Well, Emma, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. And thank you guys for tuning in to our episode, our first live episode of Broadlines. Before we go, we do have a surprise for you. Oh, you do? We do sure do. Do you like cake? Do you like jump there?

SPEAKER_00

It's like it is surprising for you.