Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine, Hey bright Side besties Today on the show.
Speaker 1: If you've ever dreamed of starting your own business, this
Speaker 1: is the episode for you. We are joined by fashion icons,
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and co hosts of the Hello Sunshine reality show
Speaker 1: Side Hustlers. We have Emma Greed and Ashley Graham with
Speaker 1: us today. It's Thursday, August fifteenth. I'm Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2: I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Speaker 2: Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
Speaker 2: share women's stories, to laugh, learn and brighten your day. Simone,
Speaker 2: we're talking small business and business in general today, Yes
Speaker 2: we are. And I feel like this show has a
Speaker 2: special place in both of our hearts because we've both
Speaker 2: taken leaps to go out on our own in the
Speaker 2: last few years. Amen, I became a small business owner
Speaker 2: for the very first time in twenty twenty two. I
Speaker 2: never thought that would be a hat that I wore.
Speaker 2: I always thought of myself as a reporter, a host,
Speaker 2: a journalist, and I had an idea on my heart
Speaker 2: and I had to get it out into the world.
Speaker 2: And it was a deck of cards for conversation because
Speaker 2: I think oftentimes we forget to ask the people closest
Speaker 2: to us big questions, We ask little ones like how
Speaker 2: is your day or how was school? And we're not
Speaker 2: actually getting the most out of somebody else's presence or
Speaker 2: their depth. And so I put together a list of
Speaker 2: probably a thousand questions and whittled it down to fifty
Speaker 2: two of them. Some are light and fun, like do
Speaker 2: plants thrive or die in your care? And then which
Speaker 2: personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble? And
Speaker 2: then some are more thoughtful and reflective, like what's an
Speaker 2: experience that shaped who you are that very few people
Speaker 2: know about? And there were card games out on the market,
Speaker 2: but I felt like nobody had been asking the quot
Speaker 2: questions to really get the most out of people and conversations.
Speaker 2: So put it together, tested it with a ton of
Speaker 2: different people.
Speaker 3: I tested it on a bachelorette party with my.
Speaker 2: Parents with friends, with Larry King at one point, because
Speaker 2: in many ways it was an ode to him too.
Speaker 2: I always called him the King of Questions. And then
Speaker 2: started the manufacturing and design process.
Speaker 1: So what was the first step that you took in
Speaker 1: order to execute this idea? It was very difficult.
Speaker 2: I found a graphic designer, I found a friend of
Speaker 2: a friend who manufactured things in China, and for one
Speaker 2: thousand dollars, we manufactured the card game. I wait six weeks,
Speaker 2: I get it back. It's hideous, It's nothing that I wanted.
Speaker 2: It didn't look the way I wanted. It was flimsy,
Speaker 2: the material was awful, and I was so defeated. I
Speaker 2: thought like, is this how things get made? Because this
Speaker 2: is this is garbage.
Speaker 1: Initial investment of one thousand dollars that was like a
Speaker 1: waste because you weren't happy with what you got back.
Speaker 3: Right, totally gone.
Speaker 2: So then I went back to the drawing board and
Speaker 2: I started looking at other card games that I liked,
Speaker 2: and I tried to hunt down their manufacturers. I figured
Speaker 2: the manufacturer could try and connect me with a graphic
Speaker 2: designer that I liked. So I find a manufacturer in
Speaker 2: New York, which I loved because I really wanted the
Speaker 2: product to be made in America.
Speaker 3: That was important to me.
Speaker 2: And I ordered two hundred card games and a friend
Speaker 2: of mine said, you better order a thousand, and I
Speaker 2: was terrified because each card game was really expensive. I
Speaker 2: initially put sixteen thousand dollars into it, which was a
Speaker 2: lot for me at the time, and that was you know,
Speaker 2: design and creative and manufacturing, and I was like, I
Speaker 2: can only afford to do two hundred of them. What
Speaker 2: if nobody buys them? So I created an ad launched
Speaker 2: and it was so interesting. The first people that bought
Speaker 2: the game were not my mom, not my friends, not
Speaker 2: anybody that I was very close with. The first people
Speaker 2: that bought the game because I'm on Shopify so you
Speaker 2: can see all the orders come through female entrepreneurs because
Speaker 2: they knew how hard it was at every turn to
Speaker 2: make something even as small as a card game. There
Speaker 2: were so many roadblocks, and they were there to support me.
Speaker 1: I told you this the first time we met, Danielle.
Speaker 1: I think what you've built with your brand pretty Smart
Speaker 1: is so impressive. And the fact that you did it
Speaker 1: without a mentor without any previous experience that is huge.
Speaker 1: It's huge, and I think this. I think some of
Speaker 1: the mistakes that you're talking about, or the lack of
Speaker 1: knowledge in certain areas, these are some of the things
Speaker 1: that keep us out of business, and sometimes we just
Speaker 1: need a resource, a friend who's walked through it before,
Speaker 1: who can give us some guidance.
Speaker 2: First of all, thank you Simone, that means a lot
Speaker 2: coming from you. And second of all, you're so right.
Speaker 2: We do and I think you know to your point,
Speaker 2: it's a mindset.
Speaker 4: It absolutely is a mindset.
Speaker 1: I also quit a dream job and went out on
Speaker 1: my own a few years ago started my own company.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I did it is because
Speaker 1: of a conversation that I had with my best friend
Speaker 1: years ago. I was stuck in a job that I
Speaker 1: was just not happy with and she said, Simone, you're
Speaker 1: stuck in an employee mindset. And she was someone who
Speaker 1: was self employed, and I just loved the freedom and
Speaker 1: flexibility that she had and something about the way that
Speaker 1: she phrased that like an employee mindset meaning you are
Speaker 1: trapped in this idea that I have to work for
Speaker 1: someone else, that I have to execute their mission and
Speaker 1: vision as opposed to creating and living out my own.
Speaker 1: And that mindset shift was a huge reframe for me.
Speaker 1: That's been hugely beneficial.
Speaker 2: In switching your mindset and going out on your own.
Speaker 2: How do you feel, I feel liberated. I feel so
Speaker 2: much happier.
Speaker 1: I for me at this stage of my life when
Speaker 1: I have two little boys, they are my priority and
Speaker 1: being able to have the autonomy and the agency to
Speaker 1: decide that, Yeah, I'm going to go pick up my
Speaker 1: kids from school every single day if I can, or
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna take a summer Friday, you know,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna enjoy AfterAll sports with my husband.
Speaker 4: Just being able to live life.
Speaker 3: Yeah, now it sounds like you have your life back.
Speaker 4: I have my life back and I love it. I
Speaker 4: love my life.
Speaker 3: Well, we're not alone.
Speaker 2: There's been a lot of momentum with women own business
Speaker 2: in the last few years.
Speaker 1: It's so true, and we actually saw tremendous growth for
Speaker 1: female entrepreneurs when you least expect it. During the pandemic.
Speaker 1: That's when women owned businesses contributed nearly two million jobs
Speaker 1: and almost five hundred and eighty billion dollars in revenue
Speaker 1: to the economy. So, if you've been sitting on a
Speaker 1: million dollar or even billion dollar idea, our guests today
Speaker 1: are exactly who you need to hear from. Emma Greed
Speaker 1: and Ashley Graham are champions of female entrepreneurs and mentors
Speaker 1: for female business owners in their show side Hustlers. Here's
Speaker 1: a little bit about them. So Emma Greed started her
Speaker 1: first business at the age of twenty four. She's now
Speaker 1: the CEO and co founder of the denim company Good
Speaker 1: American with Chloe Kardashian and a founding partner of Skims
Speaker 1: with Kim Kardashian, so you know she knows a thing
Speaker 1: or two about running multimillion dollar businesses. Ashley Graham is
Speaker 1: a world renowned model, body positivity advocate, truly one of
Speaker 1: the pioneers of that narrative, and she's also an entrepreneur herself.
Speaker 2: Together, Emma and Ashley are the co hosts of Side Hustlers,
Speaker 2: a Hello Sunshine docu series where they invest their own
Speaker 2: money in women's business ideas. They also offer guidance and
Speaker 2: mentorship to help shape successful ventures. We got a sneak
Speaker 2: peek of the new season and I even pre ordered
Speaker 2: one of the products.
Speaker 1: So after the break, we're talking all this and more
Speaker 1: with Emma Greed and Ashley Graham. Stay with us.
Speaker 4: Emma and Ashley, Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 5: Thanks for having us, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2: We're lucky to be part of the Hello Sunshine family.
Speaker 2: So we got a little bit of a sneak peek
Speaker 2: of season two of Side Hustlers.
Speaker 3: I binged it. It was so fun to watch.
Speaker 2: Congratulations on a second season, whether it's be so happy
Speaker 2: you two are.
Speaker 3: So fun to watch on the show.
Speaker 2: I like the entrepreneurs, but I'm honestly tuning in for you,
Speaker 2: if I'm being honest.
Speaker 6: All right, fine, fine, fun together. We actually had a
Speaker 6: lot of fun filming it.
Speaker 3: Did you know each other before this?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 5: Yes I did.
Speaker 7: I like we now have blossomed into like friends. We
Speaker 7: knew each other like more as colleagues before we first
Speaker 7: knew each other, yes, exactly.
Speaker 2: Yea.
Speaker 6: So let me tell you my Ashley Graham story. So
Speaker 6: when I first started Good American, Ashley was like the girl, right,
Speaker 6: she was like the model, the one you want need
Speaker 6: just to say. It's a startup, so I can't afford
Speaker 6: Ashley Graham, but she was in my vision boards, like
Speaker 6: I was like, one day I'll be best friends with
Speaker 6: this girl. And then I think we'd see each other
Speaker 6: like a bit of Paris Fashion Week, a bit in
Speaker 6: New York Fashion Week, and I had suggested to Ashley
Speaker 6: that perhaps there was one day we could work together
Speaker 6: for Good American. We ended up doing a little project
Speaker 6: together around our open casting, and then this show came
Speaker 6: up and I was like.
Speaker 8: Oh my god, Ashley Graham, I'm gonna call it and
Speaker 8: literally I have Emma to think for being on the show,
Speaker 8: because she's the one who apparently pushed for me to
Speaker 8: be her sidekick, and I said yes Immediately, I was like,
Speaker 8: I don't even know what the show is really about,
Speaker 8: but if it's agreed.
Speaker 7: She went, I'm agreed, I want to do it and
Speaker 7: literally showed up on SAT and I was like, so.
Speaker 9: What are we doing?
Speaker 1: True?
Speaker 2: I love that up the sidekick though, Ashley, you two
Speaker 2: are very much partners in this show.
Speaker 9: No, what's going nobody's sidekicks?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Say one?
Speaker 9: She said, So I think you should be like this.
Speaker 5: I mean, we weren't producing it together.
Speaker 9: Emmam right.
Speaker 1: So, Ashley, you were a fangirl of Emma before the
Speaker 1: show came about. What was your awareness of her?
Speaker 5: I say that anything Emma touches turns to gold.
Speaker 7: So I want to be a part of the gold
Speaker 7: empire that Emma is touching.
Speaker 5: And if this is my entry, then like, so be it.
Speaker 6: Well.
Speaker 2: Part of what's fun besides your rapport is that you
Speaker 2: two really are entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3: You know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: So I want to dive into a statistic that I
Speaker 2: heard haunts you. Women own businesses receive less than two
Speaker 2: percent of total venture capitalist investments in any given year.
Speaker 2: That's actually lower than what I had heard. Two percent
Speaker 2: is nearly nothing. When you're investing in a business, is
Speaker 2: it a feeling or is it data driven?
Speaker 7: That's an interesting question because I think in my twenties
Speaker 7: a lot of it was more feeling than it was
Speaker 7: data because I was like new to investing and I
Speaker 7: just was like excited to be a part of this
Speaker 7: whole like investing world. And then as I've gotten into
Speaker 7: my thirties and I started like seeing like successes and fails,
Speaker 7: I realized this has to be data driven, and it
Speaker 7: also has.
Speaker 5: To come from the gut.
Speaker 7: The two have to kind of blend because you may
Speaker 7: not be able to see the numbers right away when
Speaker 7: you're investing in something.
Speaker 5: It may be something that takes years.
Speaker 7: But if you know in your gut that this is
Speaker 7: something that's going to be successful, then you should invest
Speaker 7: in it, even if they haven't made a dollar or
Speaker 7: they don't even have the projections for it.
Speaker 6: Right for me, first of all, let's just rewind to
Speaker 6: the stack again, because I think that there's one thing
Speaker 6: when you're talking about women, is another thing when you
Speaker 6: start to talk about black women or minority founders, the
Speaker 6: stats get even more shocking, like would make you cry
Speaker 6: type shocking. And so, as somebody that's done pretty well,
Speaker 6: it's not just about my need or want to be investor.
Speaker 6: This is an absolute must. It's a requirement of anybody
Speaker 6: that's done pretty well. You've got to put your money
Speaker 6: where your mouth is and get behind the people that
Speaker 6: need it most. And as a woman, and especially as
Speaker 6: a Black woman, you're in a pretty unique position because
Speaker 6: you understand the needs of that community more than perhaps
Speaker 6: you know, like a white guy would. But to answer
Speaker 6: your question, I think I'm super founder focused at this point.
Speaker 6: I've seen amazing businesses with banging numbers.
Speaker 9: Out the gate go down.
Speaker 6: I've seen businesses where it was just something that I
Speaker 6: felt like because I might use the product not work out.
Speaker 6: And so right now I'm really focused on the founders
Speaker 6: that I believe in. Because whether or not you have
Speaker 6: experience really doesn't say anything about whether or not you'll
Speaker 6: be successful in business. If you have passion, perseverance, I
Speaker 6: if you have great if you want to make something work,
Speaker 6: and you see a gap in the market, Like I've
Speaker 6: seen founders do incredible things with very little means, and
Speaker 6: so I'm really focused on the individual, on what I
Speaker 6: think about them and their ability to take something from
Speaker 6: like an idea in their head and bring it to fruition.
Speaker 3: So here's something that haunted me actually from the show.
Speaker 2: You two at the beginning are sort of doing these
Speaker 2: initial meetings, and you're sitting down and the women come
Speaker 2: through and talk about their businesses. It's not even a
Speaker 2: pitch yet, it's just like an initial hello. And Emma,
Speaker 2: you said you kind of whispered to Ashley like as
Speaker 2: an aside, and you said, so many of these women
Speaker 2: don't need our money, they need our mentorship. And I
Speaker 2: got chills. Can you break that down for me?
Speaker 6: You know, it's really funny because I have a bit
Speaker 6: of a bee in my bonnet about mentorship as it is, right,
Speaker 6: I never had a mentor, and I think that a
Speaker 6: lot of people ask me about finding a mentor, and
Speaker 6: it's a pretty difficult thing to do because the reality
Speaker 6: is that mentalship usually comes out of like a pre
Speaker 6: existing relationship. And so I really think that for women
Speaker 6: in business. What you ought to be doing is not
Speaker 6: trying your hardest to find out mentor. That's like trying
Speaker 6: to find a man.
Speaker 9: It's hard.
Speaker 6: Like. What you need to do is ask the right
Speaker 6: questions and find the right people to ask the right
Speaker 6: questions for that one of the things that are going
Speaker 6: to unlock your business. And where do I get those
Speaker 6: questions asked? What I meant in that show was that
Speaker 6: the women need guidance, They need their plans fed it,
Speaker 6: they need strategy, and they need someone to bounce things
Speaker 6: off of. Because again, and it was similar for me
Speaker 6: in the start of my own business journey, I just
Speaker 6: didn't know anyone that owned a business, so I had
Speaker 6: no way of going right, Am I onto something?
Speaker 9: Is this right?
Speaker 7: Like?
Speaker 6: Would you spend this on this? Or would you do
Speaker 6: that first? And that's what those women needed. They needed
Speaker 6: to be given confidence in the assumptions that they were
Speaker 6: making so that they could just get on with it
Speaker 6: and go do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, em when you mentioned that you didn't have a
Speaker 1: mentor when you were coming up in the industry, do
Speaker 1: you see yourselves in these entrepreneurs that you're mentoring, Ashley,
Speaker 1: I want to hear from you too. Why do you
Speaker 1: both love doing this.
Speaker 6: One of the things that I obsess about is who
Speaker 6: has the right to be in business, who gets the opportunity.
Speaker 6: And I don't think I'm the smartest, the cleverest, the
Speaker 6: one with the best idea, Like a few magical things
Speaker 6: happened and.
Speaker 9: I made it work.
Speaker 6: And so if you're obsessed about that idea, then you
Speaker 6: play your part in doing what you can do to
Speaker 6: give other people the opportunity. And sometimes it's money, sometimes
Speaker 6: it's time, sometimes it's just advice. And so I really
Speaker 6: honestly think that what I can do at this stage
Speaker 6: of my career is introduce somebody to the person at
Speaker 6: JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs that I'm dealing with, Introduce
Speaker 6: somebody to a retailer. It's like, why would you not?
Speaker 6: There's no scarcity mentality with me. I'm like more is more,
Speaker 6: and the more women that we have in business, the
Speaker 6: more women that we have in positions of power, the
Speaker 6: better off this world.
Speaker 9: And I'm talking like the world will literally.
Speaker 7: Be I'm also like Emma, and I didn't have any
Speaker 7: business mentors, even modeling mentors growing up, and I had
Speaker 7: to literally figure it out myself and a lot of
Speaker 7: it was speaking it till I made it, making decisions
Speaker 7: on my own with just out of prayer and gut feeling.
Speaker 7: And I think that something that Emma and I always
Speaker 7: talk about is when you feel it, do it. And
Speaker 7: I think a lot of people second guess themselves because
Speaker 7: they're living in fear, or they're not confident enough, or
Speaker 7: they think that they need somebody to give them validation
Speaker 7: that is maybe somebody that they're striving to be like.
Speaker 7: But if you keep that mindset, you can be successful.
Speaker 1: Talk to me more about second guessing yourself. It's something
Speaker 1: that is so innate, but I imagine it's also like a
Speaker 1: muscle because you two you have to train yourselves as
Speaker 1: investors to choose your choice, to make your decision work.
Speaker 4: How do you train yourself to not second guess yourself?
Speaker 6: That's such a lovely question, and I think one that
Speaker 6: especially for women, is really prevalent.
Speaker 8: Right.
Speaker 6: I think, just like more generally in life, like forget business, like,
Speaker 6: you are training yourself to be the person that you
Speaker 6: want to be every single day. And so if you
Speaker 6: want to be somebody that doesn't second guess themselves, you
Speaker 6: have to practice. And if you're sitting around thinking that
Speaker 6: somebody else always knows better you. Like, guys, everyone is
Speaker 6: making it up as they go along. If there's one
Speaker 6: thing that I've learned, it's like, no one knows more
Speaker 6: than you do. Especially when you're in a disruptive business,
Speaker 6: you're in a new space. It's like, we'll making it
Speaker 6: up as we go along. So I don't kick myself
Speaker 6: into thinking that I'm the greatest, but equally do I.
Speaker 6: I never think like that person knows more than I do.
Speaker 6: It's like, just get on with.
Speaker 4: It, Emma.
Speaker 1: It feels like you exploded onto the scene with Good American.
Speaker 1: You're just everywhere, and it's so exciting to see all
Speaker 1: the work that you're doing in the various verticals that
Speaker 1: you've got going on.
Speaker 4: But you were not this overnight success.
Speaker 1: I mean, you had been working so hard and so long,
Speaker 1: doing corporate partnerships, pairing brands with talent and inside the hustlers.
Speaker 1: You're not just asking these entrepreneurs to take your investment.
Speaker 1: You're asking them to accept an invitation which could change
Speaker 1: their life. What was your life changing yes? What did
Speaker 1: you say yes to that changed the course of your life?
Speaker 6: You're absolutely right to say I am no overnight success.
Speaker 6: I've had a job since I was twelve. I worked
Speaker 6: a paper around, I worked in a daily I went
Speaker 6: and worked in designer clothes shops. I assisted at the shows,
Speaker 6: I worked in production. It's like I've done all the things,
Speaker 6: and at some point I had to say to myself, well,
Speaker 6: what do I really want and what am I trying
Speaker 6: to get and for me at the time, and I
Speaker 6: say it unashamedly. You know, I often get in trouble
Speaker 6: because a lot of women say you talk about money
Speaker 6: too much.
Speaker 9: Well, I'm sorry.
Speaker 6: I was poor and I was trying to make some
Speaker 6: money and without saying it and putting it out there,
Speaker 6: it's very unlikely to happen.
Speaker 9: But it really was. I would say I had to say.
Speaker 6: Yes to fear and put myself in a position where
Speaker 6: I could fail. And so I would say that the
Speaker 6: move from my agency ITB to actually starting Good American
Speaker 6: was the best yes I ever said, But it wasn't
Speaker 6: without making lots of mistakes and really getting heartbroken in
Speaker 6: the process of it all.
Speaker 4: Ashley, what was your life changing?
Speaker 7: Yes, mine was getting over procrastination, the moment that I
Speaker 7: said this is the thing that's going to hinder me,
Speaker 7: and it's going to hinder my lifelong journey of being
Speaker 7: a businesswoman is procrastination. My mind changed, my business changed,
Speaker 7: the people around me changed, and it was something that
Speaker 7: I'm forever grateful that I always go back to that moment.
Speaker 2: So, speaking of fear, a fear of mine was that
Speaker 2: I don't have kids yet, and I thought having kids
Speaker 2: would mean that I had to put my career on hold.
Speaker 2: And a mentor of mine said to me, no, no, no.
Speaker 2: If you want something done, give it to a working mother.
Speaker 2: There is nobody more efficient. You two are moms. We
Speaker 2: have a lot of.
Speaker 3: Moms that listen to the show.
Speaker 2: For anybody who is a mother and has a business
Speaker 2: or a project something on their hear art that they
Speaker 2: want to get out into the world, but may feel
Speaker 2: like they don't have the time or the business savvy
Speaker 2: to follow that passion.
Speaker 3: What do you say?
Speaker 7: My first piece of advice would be to delegate your time,
Speaker 7: because there is enough time in the day. It's just
Speaker 7: a matter of when are you going to wake up
Speaker 7: and when are you going to go to bed, and
Speaker 7: when there is that time in the middle of the day,
Speaker 7: are you going to be able to tune in right away,
Speaker 7: And if not, how can you what's going to drive
Speaker 7: you to start focusing on that thing, that tasking you
Speaker 7: need to get done for the day, and being really
Speaker 7: organized with what your musts are and what your goal
Speaker 7: is and writing it down, putting it all over your office,
Speaker 7: in your bedroom, in your bathroom, on your kitchen, on
Speaker 7: your fridge, whatever you have to do to stay motivated.
Speaker 6: I get asked this question a lot, and I never
Speaker 6: ever want to belittle it, because I think that it
Speaker 6: is one of the things, along with mum gil really
Speaker 6: truly plagues women. And so my answer is like, really
Speaker 6: pretty simple. I think that we've got to have a
Speaker 6: level of honesty with one another about what it actually
Speaker 6: takes to be a successful working mother. And so I
Speaker 6: make a point of like figuring out, well, what's going.
Speaker 9: To give, Like where are my boundaries?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 6: If my kid is in a play, I'm not missing
Speaker 6: the play that they've worked hard on. But by the
Speaker 6: same token, if I need to be in New York
Speaker 6: promoting my show that I've spent months working on and
Speaker 6: I'm really really proud of, then I need to be
Speaker 6: here and I can't do the school run this morning.
Speaker 6: So it really is about being honest with yourself and
Speaker 6: figuring out, like where am I willing to give something?
Speaker 6: Where is something going to go? And then how do
Speaker 6: I patch in for that. It's like I have a
Speaker 6: lot of childcare, like a lot of child care, so
Speaker 6: I don't do all the things, but I.
Speaker 9: Choose like what's important to me.
Speaker 6: Like, I just feel like we're in this time of
Speaker 6: like such perfectionist energy.
Speaker 9: It's like, oh, now I am not that, Like that
Speaker 9: is just not me.
Speaker 6: You're not going to open my cupboards and find everything
Speaker 6: beautifully labeled. I've got other stuff to do. And so
Speaker 6: I think that we just have to figure off like
Speaker 6: where am I willing to let go?
Speaker 5: I'm glad we're not in my cupboards? Oh my god.
Speaker 9: But do you know what I mean?
Speaker 6: We shouldn't we shouldn't all be sitting here saying to
Speaker 6: each other like and having this kind of like perfection
Speaker 6: is trade off because that's just not reality. What we
Speaker 6: need to do is have honesty with each other and
Speaker 6: talk about what gives. And So there are a lot
Speaker 6: of things in my life that I would like to do.
Speaker 6: I would probably like to see my friends more. I
Speaker 6: would probably like to take my children to I'm from
Speaker 6: school every day, but I don't that's not the reality
Speaker 6: of my life.
Speaker 1: I also think that we need to shift the narrative
Speaker 1: around working motherhood and stop talking so much about the
Speaker 1: inadequacies that motherhood may or may not provide in the
Speaker 1: eyes of some in our society, and start talking about
Speaker 1: the strengths, the transferable skills that we learn from motherhood
Speaker 1: and parenting that can apply to business in the office.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think about how efficient I've become since
Speaker 1: becoming a mom, you know, in terms of like I
Speaker 1: think about how I've become a better communicator, I've become
Speaker 1: more into sun with other people's emotions, talking about like
Speaker 1: relational equity. I just think let's talk about the strengths.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the skills well.
Speaker 6: Also, and let's talk about what your kids get from
Speaker 6: seeing you doing all of that. Because I sit here
Speaker 6: and I think my kids see me go out to
Speaker 6: work every day. There's a direct correlation between what we
Speaker 6: have in our lives and the fact that Mummy goes
Speaker 6: out to work. And I can't hide behind those things.
Speaker 6: So I think it's really positive for kids to understand,
Speaker 6: like the lights come on because of these reasons, right,
Speaker 6: let's be really honest. And so I think that that
Speaker 6: is a piece of it that's really really important. And
Speaker 6: so I do also just kind of think we just
Speaker 6: need to relax a little bit because parenting is just
Speaker 6: like the idea of parenting has gone bananas. When I
Speaker 6: watch these people making their pack lunches, I'm like, oh.
Speaker 9: Stop it.
Speaker 6: That sandwich does not need to be in that shape.
Speaker 6: Like I'm doing sandwich ora garmi the thing, and I.
Speaker 4: See those they get me.
Speaker 2: So in sandwich or gami is a metaphor for so much.
Speaker 1: This is such a great conversation, but we have to
Speaker 1: take a quick break. We'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: from the hosts of Side Hustlers, Emmagreed and Ashley Graham.
Speaker 1: Stay with us, and we're back with Emmagreed and Ashley Graham.
Speaker 2: So after watching the show, I was trying to think
Speaker 2: about what makes you two so fun to watch, and
Speaker 2: I brought it to one word. Okay, individually and as partners,
Speaker 2: you two have so much grit. You are by any
Speaker 2: means necessary people and as of by any means necessary person.
Speaker 2: I respect it so much, Ashley, even with something as
Speaker 2: small as launching your podcast, no one in your space
Speaker 2: was launching a podcast and you said, yeah, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do it, and it was so successful. You've launched businesses
Speaker 2: from being a model, which is so rare.
Speaker 9: Emma.
Speaker 2: You just mentioned how you were a poor kid from
Speaker 2: England who dropped out of school and moved to America
Speaker 2: and said, yeah, I'm gonna make millions of dollars and
Speaker 2: I'm going.
Speaker 3: To be the boss.
Speaker 2: So if you could this is a tough question, but
Speaker 2: if each of you could point to one part of
Speaker 2: your childhood or one defining moment that turned you into
Speaker 2: a boss.
Speaker 3: What made you this way?
Speaker 7: Oh, it's two things for me, okay, because I've done
Speaker 7: enough therapy to figure this out.
Speaker 3: If we love it involved queen, Yes.
Speaker 5: Yes, here she is.
Speaker 7: I'll start with the positive and I'll go with the negative.
Speaker 7: So the positive one is that my mom grew up
Speaker 7: on a farm and she instilled the hardest working ethics
Speaker 7: in me and my sister. And she would take us
Speaker 7: to the farm in the summer and we would haul pipe,
Speaker 7: we would lay the pipe, we would move irrigation.
Speaker 5: This is hard, This is not an easy job.
Speaker 7: My uncles are they're still on working farms and it
Speaker 7: is tough, and having that perseverance was very important. Also
Speaker 7: having an incredibly this is the negative, but this is
Speaker 7: good because it turned into a positive. Having an incredibly
Speaker 7: negative father and having someone look at the dyslexia I
Speaker 7: was diagnosed with and add in the same year in
Speaker 7: fourth grade and look at it as the worst thing
Speaker 7: that could have happened in my life, and him reminding
Speaker 7: me daily how not smart I was, and how things
Speaker 7: that I should have cared about more I didn't, and
Speaker 7: how our relationship was very just terrible, that's the easiest
Speaker 7: way to put it. But I thanked him, actually not
Speaker 7: to his face, in a letter that I never sent him,
Speaker 7: because that's therapy for being so hard on me, because
Speaker 7: it gave me that ambition that I needed to go
Speaker 7: out and prove him wrong. And I'm really thankful for
Speaker 7: both sides of the spectrum, for my parents, because it
Speaker 7: made me who I am today. And that grit that
Speaker 7: you're talking about that comes from both of them, and
Speaker 7: you can turn the good and the bad into something
Speaker 7: very good for you.
Speaker 9: You know, it's so interesting.
Speaker 6: I think that I came out like leaning in okay,
Speaker 6: like I'm predisposed to.
Speaker 1: Like you know, wait, that's a bar right there. That's
Speaker 1: a bar I came out leaning in you.
Speaker 9: It's really the truth. I am that girl, you know.
Speaker 6: But I do think that I come from a long
Speaker 6: line of women that really really made so many sacrifices
Speaker 6: and put everyone before them.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 6: It's like a little bit I'm obsessed with Chris Rock
Speaker 6: And there's this skit that Chris had like years ago
Speaker 6: that like, dads always get the big.
Speaker 9: Piece of chicken.
Speaker 6: Yes, And I could never understand my mom, who was
Speaker 6: a single mum, like any man who came around, she'd
Speaker 6: be giving him the big piece of chicken.
Speaker 9: I'd be like, we you cooked the chicken, we season
Speaker 9: the chicken. What does he get the big piece of chicken?
Speaker 6: And like in my head, I'm like, that's just the
Speaker 6: opposite of how I am. I was like, I need
Speaker 6: the big piece of chicken. And if I need to
Speaker 6: go and get that and do it myself and give
Speaker 6: it to myself, I'm going to do.
Speaker 9: It, and I'm going to do it without apology.
Speaker 6: And so I feel like my whole life is in
Speaker 6: retrospect of like my nan and my mom and all
Speaker 6: my mom's sisters and all these women that just put
Speaker 6: everyone else first before themselves, and in my head, I
Speaker 6: just think that I, from a very young age very
Speaker 6: highly of myself and that I was just going to
Speaker 6: do things that were important to me, and I was
Speaker 6: going to place like my ambition and what I want
Speaker 6: like way out ahead of it and kind of be
Speaker 6: unapologetic for it. So I don't know if that answers
Speaker 6: your question exactly, but I just feel like that has
Speaker 6: been you know, that's been my idea of myself for
Speaker 6: a very long time.
Speaker 7: But I think also like a boss evolves, there's different
Speaker 7: kind of bosses. As you're asking, like when did you
Speaker 7: become one? Like that's a constant evolving title.
Speaker 2: Well said, yeah, I agree, Yeah it is. I'm also
Speaker 2: going to have the imagery of a big piece of
Speaker 2: chicken for the.
Speaker 3: Rest of the day.
Speaker 9: I love that.
Speaker 3: It's so true.
Speaker 9: It's really true.
Speaker 2: Glenn and Doyle will say, like, be a model, not
Speaker 2: a martyr. There's so many different ways to say it,
Speaker 2: but it's the big piece of chicken.
Speaker 9: Said, big piece of chicken.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm telling you this, and I always get the
Speaker 6: big piece of chicken.
Speaker 2: Thank you Ball for so much for the wisdom and
Speaker 2: the laughter. I love that you are opening the door
Speaker 2: and pulling people through behind you.
Speaker 3: It's just inspiring. Thank you.
Speaker 1: And what's really cool is that I think both of
Speaker 1: you get to see the impact that you've had on society,
Speaker 1: business and culture through this show, because, like Ashley, you're
Speaker 1: getting pitched products that are incorporating the same inclusivity messaging
Speaker 1: right that you've been such a staunch supporter of Emma
Speaker 1: just being like a business mogul yourself. So many of
Speaker 1: these entrepreneurs are inspired by you, and that's why they're there.
Speaker 1: It must be a full circle experience to see it
Speaker 1: all come together.
Speaker 9: It definitely feels that, I will say for sure.
Speaker 7: I feel like it feels so important that we have
Speaker 7: to have season three and four happens.
Speaker 5: Yes, Illo, this is.
Speaker 9: A Moss speak you into existence.
Speaker 3: Yes, thank you both so much.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Thank you both. This is lovely. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Sha Ashley Graham and Emma Greed are the hosts, executive producers,
Speaker 1: and investors on Side Hustlers. Season two is streaming exclusively
Speaker 1: on the Roku channel on August sixteenth. You can watch
Speaker 1: it on Roku devices or TVs, and it's also easily
Speaker 1: accessible online at the Roku channel. Dot Com iOS and
Speaker 1: Android devices, Amazon firetvs, Samsung TVs, and Google TVs.
Speaker 2: That's it for today's show. Listen and follow the bright
Speaker 2: Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 2: get your podcasts.
Speaker 4: I'm Simone Boye.
Speaker 1: You can find me at Simone Voice on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 2: I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3: That's ro b A.
Speaker 1: Y See you tomorrow, folks. Keep looking on the bright side.