Self-Made Multimillionaire Behind SKIMS Urges Women To AI-Proof Their Careers: “It’s Do Or Die”
Emma Grede, founding partner of $5 billion shapewear brand SKIMS, has said workers have “no choice but to AI-proof our careers” at Axios’ BFD dealmaking summit in New York this week.
The British-born entrepreneur has an estimated net worth of $405 million and has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s richest self-made women for four years running.
AI: It’s Do Or Die
Grede, who also serves as SKIMs’ chief product officer and is the CEO and co-founder of Good American, says she sets aside time in her schedule to focus on AI.
“I have what I call AI day, which is like a once every six-week commitment for me to just sit and learn,” she explained. She has also urged her staff, especially women, to do the same. “We don’t have a choice anymore. It’s like do or die.”
Despite craving “real life, real conversation, real connection,” Grede said embracing AI is now a professional necessity rather than a preference. “It feels like not so much what I want right now, but definitely what I know I probably need,” she added.
Read: Coco Gauff Partners With Skims Co-Founder Emma Grede To Help Small Businesses
Using AI For Strategic Decision-Making
Grede’s approach to AI shifted after fellow Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban compared AI usage with her on her podcast Aspire. Cuban had 60 AI apps on his phone. “He gave me a kick,” Grede told Fortune in August.
Grede had already been offering her employees cash incentives to experiment with AI tools, but decided to take the technology more seriously in her own life. The exchange pushed her to explore AI courses at Wharton and Harvard.
But she stresses she’s not using AI to squeeze more output from her day. “I’m probably the most productive person in the world… There’s no amount of AI that can help me with that,” she told Fortune. Instead, she is using AI to help her make smarter strategic choices and improve planning. “If I can put data in places to optimize that decision-making, I think that’s where I’m going to be using it most.”
Grede Doubles Down On Work–Life Balance Stance
Grede also addressed the viral backlash over her recent claim that asking about work–life balance in a job interview is a “red flag.” On The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, she said, “Work-life balance is your problem, not the employer’s responsibility.”
Her remarks prompted criticism that her view overlooks the pressures faced by women and marginalised workers and ignores evidence linking overwork to burnout, absenteeism, and turnover.
She argued the reaction was harsher because she is a woman. “Have you seen Mark Cuban talk about work-life balance? Absolutely not,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s wrong to look for balance,” she added. “It’s wrong to kid people that it’s something that it’s not. I think that extraordinary results are always coupled with extraordinary effort, and to say anything less than that is to set women specifically up to fail.”
Image Credit: Jamie Girdler
