.jpg)
At a conference packed with startup founders and remote-work evangelists, Emma Grede walked on stage and said the quiet part loud. "Work-from-home culture is actually killing life," the London-born fashion entrepreneur told attendees at the Inc. Founders House at SXSW in Austin. "That's what I really believe."
It's the kind of statement that earns eye-rolls in certain corners of the internet. But Grede — whose stakes in Good American, Skims shapewear, and Safely have built her a net worth estimated at $300 million — isn't arguing for the sake of provocation. She's arguing from experience.
"I met my husband at work. I met all my best friends at work. You might not like what I'm saying, but it's the truth. You've got to get out if you want things to happen."
Out of sight, out of line for promotion
Grede expects her employees in the office five days a week — full stop. Her reasoning is less about productivity dashboards and more about basic human dynamics. "You are not in line for the same promotions or pay increases when you are out of sight," she said plainly. "I'm working with the people who are in the room."
It's a blunt take, but not an unfamiliar one. Many executives, from Jamie Dimon to Andy Jassy, have made similar arguments. What sets Grede apart is the personal candor behind it. She isn't invoking shareholder returns or collaboration metrics. She's talking about the texture of a career — the mentorships, the relationships, the moments of serendipity that a Zoom grid simply can't replicate.
On the subject of Zoom specifically, Grede didn't hold back. "I always think that a Zoom call gets about 10 percent dumber for every person that's on there," she said. "When I see 20 people on the screen, I'm like, 'Nothing is getting done here.'"
Work-life balance, her wayFive days in and out the door at five
For critics who see a five-day mandate as hostile to working parents — particularly working mothers — Grede offered a reframe. She has four children. And every single day, she leaves the office at 5 p.m. "Because I do that, I've created the conditions for everybody else to leave at 5 p.m. if they have kids or a parent-teacher conference," she explained. "You really have to model the type of behavior that you expect from your staff. It's a two-way street."
It's a more nuanced position than the headlines suggest. The argument isn't "be at your desk forever." It's "show up, be visible, and then go home to your life." Presence without martyrdom.
The money conversationStop waiting for the money to find you
Perhaps the sharpest moment of Grede's talk came when she turned to the topic of money — and how many ambitious women still treat it as a subject too crass to discuss directly. Her advice, characteristically blunt: stop that immediately.
"When you avoid the subject of money, guess what happens? The money avoids you. Be really blatant. Have the audacity to say what you want."
Grede, whose new book Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life arrives in April, pushed back on what she called "performative purpose" — the tendency to wrap financial ambitions in softer language about impact and meaning. "The women who don't hide behind performative purpose," she said, "those are the women I see winning over and over again."
It's advice that cuts across the work-from-home debate, too. Whether you're at your kitchen table or at a desk in Midtown, the instinct to wait — for the right moment, the right recognition, the right offer — is what Grede is really railing against. Don't wait. Show up. Ask for the number. Walk through the door.