The Five Lessons That Shook Me This Year

In this solo episode, Emma Grede looks back on the conversations that shaped her most in the first year of Aspire. From billion-dollar founders to cultural icons to the people closest to her, Emma revisits the moments that shifted her thinking, changed her routine, and genuinely shook her this year. These five lessons span money, mindset, ambition, career, and emotional resilience. Together, they reveal a truth Emma returns to constantly: success is a lifelong practice of learning, unlearning, and returning to what matters. If you’ve been feeling stuck, rushed, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next step, this episode is a recalibration. Which of the five lessons hit you the hardest? Drop your biggest takeaway in the comments below, and if this episode moved you, make sure you subscribe so you never miss the conversations that help you grow, thrive, and aspire.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:09Emma Grede?

  So I don't know about you guys, but when I listen to a podcast that I really love, I tend to go back again and listen for a second or even a third time, because there will always be something in there that either I loved and I want to double down on, or something that I completely missed. Now, we've been doing this podcast for almost seven months. And so what I wanted to do was pull out some of the parts that have been the biggest game changers for me. The things that I've taken into my routine, the things that have shifted my way of thinking, and the things that really move the needle for me. Because when I decided to do this podcast, it was really about sharing information, giving you an insider's look on how excellent people get stuff done. But it was also about finding more ways to connect with people,

• 0:52Emma Grede?

  and ultimately, finding more ways to learn and to feed my own appetite to learn. So today, I'm going to go back to some of my favourite episodes to show you the things that moved me the most. For me, there is no one more helpful when talking about business than Mark Cuban. Because he ain't going to sugarcoat it, but he's also never going to overcomplicate things. And sometimes, a simple answer is all that's needed. So when I asked Mark, "What's the one thing you wished every founder knew?", he told me this: "Sales, cures, all." Meaning that you either have the sales, or you don't have the sales. And therefore, one of the most important traits any entrepreneur can have is learning to sell.

• 1:35Emma Grede?

  Now, listen carefully to this one, because sometimes, the best stuff is so simple, it just passes you by. This wasn't just a simple answer, it's the ultimate business truth. Because if you have sales, you'll figure everything else out. And if you don't, you don't have a business, you have a hobby. So thank you, Mark, for making it so simple. Let's revisit. What's something that you wish every first-time founder knew?

• 1:59Speaker 01

  Sales cures all.

• 2:01Emma Grede?

  Sales cures all.

• 2:03Speaker 01

  No sales, no company.

• 2:04Emma Grede?

  That's it.

• 2:05Speaker 01

  No exceptions.

• 2:05Emma Grede?

  Cause people get amoured with all the other stuff, amoured with their model, the marketing. And it's like, you need sales. I talk about this all the time. It's like, focus on distribution. Focus on your sales. Focus on like owning that story and just being the best salesperson possible. Because that's all you need at the end of the day.

• 2:23Speaker 01

  Cause if you can sell.

• 2:24Emma Grede?

  Yeah, you'll figure the rest out.

• 2:26Speaker 01

  Yes, cause.

• 2:26Emma Grede?

  Everything else is not a problem.

• 2:27Speaker 01

  Follows through to that sale. If you can't sell, it doesn't matter what you're good at. It doesn't matter anything else for that matter. You're stuck.

• 2:35Emma Grede?

  Why do you think people avoid that?

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Cause people don't like to be told no.

• 2:40Emma Grede?

  Oh.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  You know, I, I tell people all the time, every no gets you closer to a yes. Every no, and I would tell that to myself. I was selling magazines door to door, right? And I'd walk up, are you telling me that for five dollars a week? This wasn't going to improve the education enjoyment of your family? No.

• 2:58Emma Grede?

  Bye, on to the next one.

• 2:59Speaker 01

  And it's the same, selling Mavs tickets. You know, when I first bought the Mavs, hey, it's less than McDonald's. No, you guys suck. Boom, on to the next, right? You, you've just gotta be relentless and most people are afraid of the word no.

• 3:12Emma Grede?

  Are you afraid to give the word no? Cause I feel like getting the feedback is really hard. You just give the feedback, right?

• 3:18Speaker 01

  No, I don't like to say no to people. That's my problem. That's why I don't do hiring in my companies.

• 3:23Emma Grede?

  Oh, is that true?

• 3:24Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. Cause I'm awful at hiring people.

• 3:27Emma Grede?

  You're just like, come on board. You're amazing.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  I'm a sales guy, right? So like, I think I can make this work.

• 3:33Emma Grede?

  What is the truth then in entrepreneurship that no one actually tells you?

• 3:38Speaker 01

  The truth that no one.

• 3:39Emma Grede?

  Yeah, what's the truth?

• 3:40Speaker 01

  It's hard.

• 3:43Speaker 01

  You know, it's, it's, there's, I think you're not automatically going to make money. Most people don't make it. Most people fail. It's hard.

• 3:51Emma Grede?

  Yeah, that's, I think what I've seen and it's interesting actually, as you go into the tank. Because even if you think an idea is a great one and you think it has a market, like not everything works out.

• 4:00Speaker 01

  No.

• 4:01Emma Grede?

  And you can give the funding and it just for, I don't know, a myriad of reasons might not work.

• 4:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, most companies.

• 4:07Emma Grede?

  Have you failed?

• 4:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course I've failed. You, you never heard about my powdered milk company?

• 4:11Emma Grede?

  No.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  When I started out of college?

• 4:14Emma Grede?

  Not a good one?

• 4:15Speaker 01

  Not a good one. It was cheaper. It didn't matter if it didn't taste like milk. It was powdered milk.

• 4:19Emma Grede?

  All right. Tell me about the powdered milk company.

• 4:21Speaker 01

  No.

• 4:21Emma Grede?

  Well, I want to know about the failure. I want to know what it, what does it mean to fail and get back up and do it again? Like, what is it in you that allows you to take the failure and it not be about you?

• 4:33Speaker 01

  Damon John says it best. It's the power of broke. You're broke. What else are you going to do? I mean, I was eating mustard and ketchup sandwiches. I was going to a bar with five dollars, buying one beer and eating all the fried mushrooms and the peanuts and whatever shit they offer.

• 4:50Emma Grede?

  Broke is good. Broke is great for a period of your life.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  Yes, right? Cause you've learned. Yeah.

• 4:55Emma Grede?

  Yeah, it's really true. But what have you learned? Do you feel like the failures that you've had, have they amounted to something that you've been able to see? Like as a pattern in your life? Or is it more just about the individual circumstance? Cause I feel like I could look at every failure I've had and I'm like, it's basically the same thing.

• 5:13Speaker 01

  I don't know if it was basically the same thing, other than maybe the shit didn't sell, right?

• 5:18Emma Grede?

  It's that.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  Powdered milk?

• 5:20Emma Grede?

  Yeah, it didn't sell.

• 5:21Speaker 01

  It did not sell. I remember taking samples to people, mixing it up, like, look, milk's expensive. We're broke, right? To save you money.

• 5:29Emma Grede?

  It's some gravy shit.

• 5:31Speaker 01

  And just seeing the look on their face.

• 5:33Emma Grede?

  No, you can do about that.

• 5:37Speaker 01

  Point taken.

• 5:38Emma Grede?

  You're like, I got it.

• 5:40Speaker 01

  But it's just you. Your taste in milk is different, right?

• 5:43Emma Grede?

  All right. So how long? Because this, this had a kind of love. How? A month?

• 5:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, about a month.

• 5:47Emma Grede?

  Yeah, but isn't that the thing? At least you didn't try to do that for a year. Cause some people just don't know how to step away.

• 5:52Speaker 01

  There was no sales. It was going nowhere, you know?

• 5:55Emma Grede?

  I know, but people don't always hear that. Don't you think? Like, you must deal with a lot of early stage founders that just don't read the signs. They don't see it. And I think it's really important to talk a bit about failure and to talk about when it's time to pack it in.

• 6:10Speaker 01

  That, you know, I never really thought of it that way, but you're right. You have to have a lot of self-awareness to be an entrepreneur.

• 6:15Emma Grede?

  It's no secret that I love Michelle Obama, but what she left us with after her episode was more than just great quotable Michelle moments. For me, the biggest single takeout was this idea of there being these defined chapters in your life and bringing an awareness to the fact that life doesn't all need to be figured out in one day. For me, this was more than a little bit reassuring because as a highly ambitious person, I do find myself in a rush to get to the next big thing. Every now and again, I wonder why what I'm working on isn't happening faster, why I'm not seeing the results that I want right away or the sales that I want right away, or thinking like, why didn't this thing happen exactly as I'd intended?

• 6:57Emma Grede?

  But Michelle made that all go away with just this very simple reflection. When I look at my life so far with the benefit of hindsight, I know that there've been chapters when all I've done is work. There've been chapters when honestly, I haven't had as much work as I would have wanted. There've been seasons where everything I tried didn't have the desired effect or or flat out just didn't work. But this idea of your life coming in chapters or in seasons is a really helpful framework, especially for those of us who need to make sacrifices. Sacrifices that slow us down or when something stands in the way that you didn't choose. Like losing your job, someone getting sick in the family. What I know for sure is that life will throw you curveballs

• 7:41Emma Grede?

  because you can be in a season that quite frankly, isn't about you. It's about your kids. It's about somebody that needs something from you that takes precedent. But knowing that nothing is finite, we don't actually need all the things in the exact moment because there will be another moment. And allowing yourself to be at peace with the decisions that you sometimes have to make was so liberating. You know, being a wife to the leader of the free world, to, you know, your own you know, your own career ambitions and all your own aspirations as well. And I I wonder if there is like a critical and honest piece of advice that you can give or that you can share based on your own journey

• 8:23Emma Grede?

  and what you would say to women that are trying to seemingly. Have it all, do it all, live to the fullest.

• 8:31Speaker 02

  All right, well, I've said this a lot. It's impossible to have it all. So stop with that, first of all. You can have it all over a period of time. But this impatience and this feeling of like, I've got to be, I've got to have the exact job at the top of the game. And I want to be the best mom to all, to the, you know, I want to be there, be at all the stuff. And I want to look my best and be in my best shape and be emotionally in tune. La, la, la, la, la. And my marriage has got to be on point. Like, it's, it doesn't, you can't do all of that. There are trade offs. And it's okay.

• 9:12Speaker 02

  You know, if we're blessed and we can take care of ourselves emotionally and physically, life is long and you can have chapters. And you, you don't lose out because you, you know, you, you didn't read the whole book in one sitting. Each chapter can be really special. When I, when my kids were little and I was sort of ready to drive in my career, but Barack was a state senator. And then he ran for Congress and lost. And then he was a US senator. He was away more than he was home. I got to a point where I said, I can't be in the, the, the highest driving point in my career life.

• 9:57Speaker 02

  I, I just can't. So I left running a nonprofit that I enjoyed running. But running a nonprofit is an all consuming, and it's, the nonprofit didn't have a lot of money and I needed flexibility.

• 10:09Emma Grede?

  Did you do it happily or was there resentment there?

• 10:12Speaker 02

  There was a little resentment. But I was happy because I, I love my girls and I love the time that I spent with them. And I felt more at, at peace with that decision because it was the right thing for them. And ultimately, for, ultimately for me, because it gave me balance that I needed at that time. And I use myself as an example. I did that. And it didn't stop my growth.

• 10:42Emma Grede?

  No.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  It didn't, you know, I went on after that. I became an associate dean. I was the vice president and head of community outreach for the University of Chicago Hospitals. As the girls grew and I felt more secure, I started realigning myself.

• 10:59Emma Grede?

  People don't realize they can take a little pause.

• 11:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:02Emma Grede?

  Like, life doesn't really give you the feeling right now that you can just be like,

• 11:05Speaker 02

  That you can.

• 11:06Emma Grede?

  Hold, please.

• 11:07Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 11:07Emma Grede?

  For whatever reason.

• 11:08Speaker 02

  And you can, and you don't have to stop. Like, I didn't stop. I, I thought about quitting completely. And then I, I, I got an opportunity to get a, a good job that I enjoyed in a flex situation. I negotiated flexibility for myself. I negotiated flexibility first that wasn't flexibility. It just was less pay. And I was irritated at that because I, I, I got half the salary and was still doing a full-time job.

• 11:35Emma Grede?

  The full job, yeah.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  So I learned from that. I was like, mm, never again.

• 11:37Emma Grede?

  No, not, yeah.

• 11:38Speaker 02

  I'm too much of a driver to ever get paid less. Right? So the next job, I was like, pay the full salary, but give me carte blanche over my schedule. I will get the job done, but I'm picking up my kids from school. I'm going to the Halloween parade and I might not be here on Friday, but I'll be here when I need to be here. So pay me, right? I learned that. So I would just say out there to women, it can come. And if you are choosing to drive, which that's, that's a choice, then don't parent from guilt.

• 12:16Speaker 03

  Hi, everyone. This is Kara Swisher.

• 12:17Speaker 04

  And I'm Scott Galloway.

• 12:18Speaker 03

  And we want to tell you about Pivot, our twice-weekly podcast.

• 12:22Speaker 04

  That's right, Kara. What a thrill. It's a chance for us to break down all the big things happening in tech, business and politics.

• 12:28Speaker 03

  Yes, and I keep you in check so people can make it through each episode, whether it's digging into constant changes in the world of AI and social media or trying to keep up with whatever the fuck Elon is doing. We're here to give you our take on all of that.

• 12:40Speaker 04

  Every Tuesday and Friday morning, we drop a new episode about some of the major stories of the moment.

• 12:45Speaker 03

  And Scott is a prediction machine gazing into his crystal ball to tell you about where it's all heading.

• 12:50Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 12:51Speaker 03

  So if that sounds like a good time for you, especially Mr. That's Right, you can follow us on your favorite podcast app to get new episodes every week.

• 13:00Speaker 04

  Boom.

• 13:08Emma Grede?

  It would probably go down as the most succinct message ever delivered on the show. But when Melody Hobson said, "You have to have a sense of urgency. You have to want to be great." To me, it was like, here's what separates the best from the rest. I've said it on many occasions, that not everybody has to be ambitious. We don't all need to start businesses or want to be at the very top of our career. But if you do, there are a couple of non-negotiables. And a sense of urgency and how much you care are two of the most important traits of any successful person that I know. Now, when we hear stories about people that do things that should take five years in one year,

• 13:51Emma Grede?

  or should take five weeks in one week, there is no secret. You know, you simply cannot underestimate the importance of moving fast and a first mover's advantage. I've worked in fashion for most of my career. And sweating the small stuff, or caring the most, as Melody says, is what the best people in the business do. The ones that care about every component of how a product is made, every stitch, the lining and the trim package and the fabric and the construction, then how it's folded when it gets on the shop floor, how it's put in the bag, how it's packaged to the customer, the experience of unboxing, and on and on and on. That, that is the difference between the best and the rest. There's just some stuff that you cannot argue about.

• 14:33Emma Grede?

  If you want to be great, urgency and caring the most is a great place to start. So many people that are sitting there in a corporate career. And I, I do think to some degree, there is a blueprint for getting promoted, for moving through a job in the way you, you know, in the way that you have. So what do you tell people? I mean, because you're on an 11. Do you need everybody else around you to be on an 11? And what is it that people need to do in order to be successful and to be promoted?

• 15:05Speaker 05

  Okay, this is going to sound strange. And I'm going to make it hopefully not sound...

• 15:13Speaker 05

  Not great, but it's how I think about it. My mom had six kids. She mothered us all differently.

• 15:21Emma Grede?

  That's what they say. No siblings have the same parents.

• 15:24Speaker 05

  No.

• 15:24Emma Grede?

  That is a fact.

• 15:25Speaker 05

  It's a fact. In my group of people who work directly with me, I understand what they can do and how they can do it. John Rogers always used to tell me that the world championship Chicago Bulls that won seven championships. He said, Dennis Rodman rebounds. Steve Kerr shoots threes. Michael is the greatest player of all time. You know, he would go through each player and he said, but each one is really important. Michael can't play without them. They can't win. So Dennis may be out at night, but everyone makes sure Dennis is on the court so that he can rebound for them. And he's like, so he doesn't have the same rules as everyone else.

• 16:07Speaker 05

  And so Melody, you figure it out that you get the best out of each person, but everyone is not going to run the place.

• 16:13Emma Grede?

  But what happens if your aspiration is to operate at the highest level? Like, what are the non-negotiables, do you think, for people that want that type of career? What do they need to do?

• 16:24Speaker 05

  You must, and I mean this with serious intensity. I think you have to care a lot and have a sense of urgency. You have to have a sense of urgency. You have to want to be great. And if you want to, there is, you know, I love that book by Jim Collins, Good to Great. And the first line of the book, good is the enemy of great. Good is the enemy of great. Plenty of people are happy with good. They say the worst student is the B plus student. Because the B plus student is like, it's fine. It's, they were like, the C student aspires for something better. And the A student is just the A student, but the B plus student is, they live in that, that no man's land of it's fine.

• 17:08Speaker 05

  And so it's almost like the worst situation that you can be in. So if good is the enemy of great, I want the person who wants to be great, but understanding that differential between good and great is. Really hard.

• 17:20Emma Grede?

  Do you think you can train people into that? Or do you think it has to come from somewhere within themselves?

• 17:25Speaker 05

  It has to be there.

• 17:26Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 17:27Speaker 05

  Yeah, some people just, you know, they come out of the wound with it. Some people don't, but that doesn't make them, um, they can still be very valuable.

• 17:35Emma Grede?

  Mm hmm.

• 17:35Speaker 05

  They're just going to be a certain kind of player. And that's what John said. He's like, there are going to be other people. They're just not going to run the place.

• 17:41Emma Grede?

  So you think people have to just work really hard, want to be great, and they need to have a sense of urgency?

• 17:46Speaker 05

  I think they have to want to be great.

• 17:48Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 17:48Speaker 05

  Let's start with that. And, you know, some people have to work harder than others. So I remember going to school with geniuses at Princeton. They didn't have to work as hard as I did.

• 17:56Emma Grede?

  Mm hmm.

• 17:56Speaker 05

  They, you know, sort of like skimmed the page and got it. And I'm like writing notes and checking, you know, flashcards and doing the whole thing. But, you know, they, it came easier to them. Some things come easier to me.

• 18:07Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 18:07Speaker 05

  So I think it's just a function of, of, um, you understanding yourself.

• 18:18Speaker 06

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• 18:59Speaker 06

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• 19:19Emma Grede?

  I was so excited to speak to Reece Bitherspoon because she's someone that I've just loved since she was in Cruel Intentions. I've devoured every movie that she's ever done and I love it when you get to meet people and they don't disappoint. Reece is obviously a powerhouse, but the last conversation I expected to be having with her was one about money. And let me tell you, Reece did not mince her words. She has a passion for helping and enabling other women. And so when she spoke on this podcast, she came to do exactly that. And let me tell you, anyone, anyone that's happy to part ways with their best money advice is someone I'm gonna listen to all day long. So what's the one thing that every woman needs to know about money, do you think?

• 20:03Speaker 07

  Oh my God, where do I start? One thing?

• 20:05Emma Grede?

  Well, go on, give us it all.

• 20:08Speaker 07

  Well, first of all, I learned about money from doing things wrong.

• 20:12Emma Grede?

  Yes.

• 20:13Speaker 07

  I don't know a woman, Emma, I do not know a woman who doesn't have a disaster financial story in her past.

• 20:21Emma Grede?

  Facts.

• 20:22Speaker 07

  Whether it's her, her best friend, her sister, her mom, her grandma, her auntie. She lost all her money. Or she got divorced and she got stuck with the bill. Or, you know, just whatever financial debt. So much debt. And so I listen to every podcast on finances. I am so interested in financial wellness for women. And just also, a lot of what we learn is one course, three days in high school. We're lucky if you get three months.

• 20:53Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 20:54Speaker 07

  And that was the end of my financial learning. And then I became this woman, I was making money and I was a young mom and I did not save correctly. I'm in fine, I'm fine.

• 21:06Emma Grede?

  What do you mean, you're fine?

• 21:07Speaker 07

  I'm fine, I'm great.

• 21:09Emma Grede?

  You're just like, are you not rolling in it like now?

• 21:12Speaker 07

  I didn't invest properly. I'm not, not saying that it wasn't, I'm completely fine. And, and, and I did well, but I could have done amazing if I had learned a few things. And a lot of them are mindset.

• 21:26Emma Grede?

  Right.

• 21:27Speaker 07

  Mm hmm. About saving, about the steadiness of the stock market and index funds and diversifying your portfolio and making sure that you're looking at treasuries and you're looking at bonds and yields and things that are pretty simple if somebody says them to you in a Like if you're a visual person, you see a visual chart. I'm a visual person, so every time I talk to people about finances.

• 21:50Emma Grede?

  You need it laid out.

• 21:51Speaker 07

  I need it laid out and I want cute colors.

• 21:53Emma Grede?

  Yes.

• 21:53Speaker 07

  I'm just being honest.

• 21:55Emma Grede?

  Notes.

• 21:57Speaker 07

  I want a pleasing palette and a pie chart. Thanks.

• 22:00Emma Grede?

  Damn right. We know what your business managers are doing. Making this very aesthetically pleasing presentation.

• 22:06Speaker 07

  They're like, can somebody do the pie chart for Reese?

• 22:09Emma Grede?

  But I love that you say that because it is all pretty simple. But again, we're not always having those conversations and sharing the information.

• 22:15Speaker 07

  Right.

• 22:15Emma Grede?

  What's the best piece of money advice you think you've been given?

• 22:18Speaker 07

  Don't get into debt. Do everything you can to not get into debt.

• 22:25Speaker 07

  And pay off those credit cards or don't spend the money like it's yours. It's not yours, girlfriends.

• 22:31Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 22:32Speaker 07

  And that was a really good piece of advice. Don't ever let somebody control you with money. Somebody says, I'll take care of it and I'll take care of you and I'll take care of this. That person could leave, that person can hurt you. You always keep your job. Your job is your life insurance. My mom used to always say that to me.

• 22:52Emma Grede?

  Oh.

• 22:53Speaker 07

  And my mom went through some tough stuff in a marriage with finances. Really tough stuff.

• 22:57Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 22:58Speaker 07

  And so did my grandma, not in the marriage, but in like a family structure. And I have this past of women not being taken care of financially. And so I think.

• 23:11Emma Grede?

  Me too.

• 23:11Speaker 07

  Right? And as a little girl.

• 23:14Emma Grede?

  Yeah, scars you, like literally, it's living inside me.

• 23:17Speaker 07

  So, so deeply. And that's why I have a passion for helping women understand and also demystifying it, you know?

• 23:27Emma Grede?

  Yeah, I feel like the demystifying piece is really, really important. Do you, are you the type of person that looks after everything yourself? Or have you kind of outsourced all of that to a team at this point?

• 23:35Speaker 07

  I have outsourcing, but there's frequent check-ins.

• 23:39Emma Grede?

  Same.

• 23:40Speaker 07

  Weekly.

• 23:40Emma Grede?

  I'm the same. I like to have enough of that, you know, it's like one hand's on it all the time. Like I'm happy to let the experts be experting, but I need to like, I need it there.

• 23:50Speaker 07

  Yes. Yeah, I need it there. And then I also need checks and balances. I need to diversify things. So that everything's not in one investment or one savings account.

• 24:01Emma Grede?

  Yeah. But that's it. That comes again, I think that comes from your upbringing. It's like, if nobody teaches you that, you don't know. And you're just like, okay, the money sits all here and it's safe. But it's like, it might be safe, but it's not growing. It's not doing for you.

• 24:14Speaker 07

  Right, right. And most people don't live in a way that savings is even part of their life. Okay, so I'm, I'm very realistic about that.

• 24:22Emma Grede?

  Yes, you have to be.

• 24:23Speaker 07

  With my mom and my grandma always saying to me, I don't have any savings. You know, they did have, my mom has retirement because she worked her whole life doing three and four jobs, including being in the military and being a nurse and working at a state university. But you have to think ahead and you have to think about saving as helping your future self.

• 24:44Emma Grede?

  Oh, yes, absolutely.

• 24:46Speaker 07

  What you don't spend today, you're saving for your future self. You're saving for sixty five year old Emma who doesn't want to have to worry about the gas bill.

• 24:55Emma Grede?

  Yes, yes.

• 24:56Speaker 07

  Yeah, I want to relax as an old lady.

• 24:58Emma Grede?

  Yeah, me too. Eventually at some point, no?

• 25:01Speaker 07

  I want to have a glass of wine and sit on a porch.

• 25:04Emma Grede?

  A porch. I want to come on that porch.

• 25:06Speaker 07

  We're just gonna sit there and tell our stories.

• 25:09Emma Grede?

  Talk shit about all the like, you know.

• 25:11Speaker 07

  We're gonna travel where we want to go.

• 25:13Emma Grede?

  Oh.

• 25:14Speaker 07

  And our cute kids are gonna be there. Oh my God, we're gonna have the best time.

• 25:18Emma Grede?

  Now, the outpouring of love that came in after I spoke to my husband on this podcast was really something that I never expected. I think it's because he was both honest and vulnerable when he spoke about anxiety. And anyone who suffers from anxiety will know it's not something that you can control. There's no switch to turn it off. There's no framework that magically helps you. It's a constant. It's constant work and it's a constant battle. So it made me so happy when Jens reframed the idea of having anxiety as a superpower. And he spoke about no longer judging himself for having anxiety. You can be with someone for years and years and years and learn new things about them all the time. And there's nothing better than learning from someone you love and then being able to share it

• 26:02Emma Grede?

  with a lot of people that could benefit from it at the same time. So a huge, huge thank you to all of you that wrote to me and commented. I'm really so happy we did this episode. Let's take a listen. And I want to understand a bit more about anxiety as it relates to your career and your life and your business, because I think that we're so much conditioned to see anxiety as a weakness, and I know you think about it as a superpower.

• 26:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 26:28Emma Grede?

  So will you, when did you start seeing it as a superpower and will you just talk about it a bit for me?

• 26:33Speaker 05

  Very late, probably in my late 30s, where I really understood, and I did that through work I was doing with a highly spiritual person who asked me, I said, I want to change. I don't want to be this anxious person any longer. I, I want to feel whole.

• 26:59Speaker 05

  And he said, are you sure you want to change? I said, yeah, this is, this is a really negative thing for me. This is, this is a big, you know, my days are heavy. And he said, if you change, it also will change who you are. You're not just successful because, you know, despite your anxiety, you're successful because of them. There's so many positives that are driven and so many skills that comes from your anxiety that if you change that, you might not be as good as you are today.

• 27:44Speaker 05

  You might not be as good version, you might not be as an effective founder, entrepreneur,

• 27:53Speaker 05

  without it. Are you sure you want to lose that power? And, and that was.

• 27:58Emma Grede?

  Ding.

• 27:58Speaker 05

  Oh yeah, that was, I walked out of that room.

• 28:02Emma Grede?

  I remember.

• 28:03Speaker 05

  And.

• 28:04Emma Grede?

  Doctor Tran, right?

• 28:04Speaker 05

  Yeah, Doctor Tran. Nothing had changed and everything had changed at the same time.

• 28:10Emma Grede?

  Yeah, I mean, I think that that even just you saying it, and I know that story so well, I feel like it is so important for people to hear, because we all have parts of our personality that are useful or less useful, more, more useful or less useful. And it's not often.

• 28:31Emma Grede?

  Like, we don't often put things in the right order. Like, we don't often understand how some of those things that can be troubling to us can also enable us.

• 28:40Speaker 05

  Yeah, and anxiety can be debilitating, can be crippling. And indeed, for many people, something that they need to get treated. At the same time, anxiety is a human um emotion. It's it's it's a it's a part of our human experience. We all have it to some degree. It's it's healthy to have a dose of anxiety. It's helped, just like uh it's connected to fear, which is a natural, you know, human emotion or reaction. It's uh our ability to feel love, sadness, uh you know, joy.

• 29:24Speaker 05

  Anxiety is is is part of us. I have more of it. And I have so much of it that for a long time in my life, every day was just harder for me than it was for other people. And I kind of started every day at a negative.

• 29:49Emma Grede?

  Yeah.

• 29:49Speaker 05

  Right? So I had to overcome that to do anything. I had to overcome anxiety to meet people. I had to overcome anxiety to um get out in traffic, to get on an airplane, to be on my own. So I always was so, it was exhausting. It was really, really exhausting and still is often exhausting.

• 30:16Emma Grede?

  How do you know when anxiety is fueling you versus controlling you these days?

• 30:23Speaker 05

  I think it does both. I think it does both, for better or worse. But I don't judge myself for having anxiety anymore.

• 30:34Speaker 05

  I I accept it. I see it as a wave. And when it comes, it's can be imposing. And in the middle of the wave, you feel hopeless. But I know the wave is going to wash over and I know there's still, the water is still on the other side. So what am I gonna do? Never get in the ocean? Is that better? Or am I gonna start getting scared of the sand? You know, the problem, and I'm sure other people, if anyone listens to this, who suffers from anxiety, and I'm sure many do, the more you tailor your life to avoid situations which makes you anxious,

• 31:19Speaker 05

  you're getting anxious in lesser situations. When you lower the bar, that becomes a new bar, you need to lower it again. And life gets smaller that way. It's a very tricky subject. Everybody have their own journey. And I can only speak on my experience. I'm not saying that's translatable to other people. They have to have their journey and they know themselves best. I can only speak of mine. But my personal experience is that I do better when I challenge it.

• 31:57Emma Grede?

  These five conversations each taught me something different about resilience, about grace, excellence, confidence and self-acceptance. And together, they remind me that success is a lifelong practice of learning, unlearning and returning to what matters the most. If this episode leaves you reflecting or inspired, that's the whole point. Because the people who move us don't just share their wins, they share their wisdom. Thank you so much for being part of Aspire this year. We have so many more wonderful episodes coming in 2026, dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and bet on yourself. Here's to staying curious, staying bold and always, always aspiring. See you next time.

• 32:43Emma Grede?

  If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click Follow on your favourite listening platform. While you're there, give us a review and a five-star rating and share an episode you loved with a friend. We'll be so grateful. Aspire with Emma Grede is presented by Odyssey. I'm your host, Emma Grede. Our executive producers are Corinne, Gilliard Fisher, Derek Brown and me. Our executive producers from Odyssey are Maddie Sprung Kaiser, Leah Reese Dennis, Asha Saluja and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Stephen Key is our senior producer. Sound design and engineering by Bill Schultz. Angela Peluso is our booker. Original music by Charles Black. Video production by Evan Cox, Kirk Courtney, Andrew Steele, Carlos Delgado and Arnie Agassi.

• 33:26Emma Grede?

  Social media by Olivia Homan. Special thanks to Brittany Smith, Sidney Ford, my teams at The Lead Company and WME. Maura Curran, Josefina Francis, Hillary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson Rose, Tim Mikell, Sean Cherry and Lauren Vieira. If you have questions for me, you can DM me at aspirewithemmagreed. Grede is spelt G R E D E. That's aspire, A S P I R E with Emma Grede. Or you can submit a question to me on my website, emmagreed.me.

• 34:02Speaker 04

  Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. Personal finance can feel like a pop quiz you didn't study for. This podcast is your study guide. On NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, you'll hear from trusted journalists who explain the why behind major financial decisions. You'll get research-backed insights and clear pros and cons, whether you're planning a big purchase or just want to grow your wealth. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast on your favourite podcast app.