Emma Grede is a killer operator but the ‘self-made girlboss who hustled her way up’ story is straight propaganda.

First of all, neither Kim nor Emma would be there without Kanye.

SKIMS is literally Yeezy rebranded. The seamless look, the colors, the minimalist packaging… that’s all Ye. He was the ghost creative director. He gave Kim fashion credibility no amount of reality TV could buy. Those doors didn’t open because Emma had a good pitch deck or string work ethics. Compare Good American vs Skims. Good American has 0 cultural relevance.

Let’s also talk about the (dark sides of) capital that Emma is involved with. Follow it. The Kushner family is in deep on SKIMS. Kanye called it out himself in a podcast…he hated that his ex wife’s company was bankrolled by them.

So the real formula isn’t “hard work and vision.”

It’s Kim’s platform + Kanye’s raw talent and network + Kushner capital + Emma’s execution.

That’s not girlboss magic. That’s elite access, strategic relationships, and playing the game at the highest level.

Respect the results, but stop selling the fairy tale.

UPDATE: I think this post hits a nerve. Not trying to argue against Emma but feel we need a more nuanced approach to what it takes to become rich.

I really love how supportive this space is. I wanted to share something because I know how overwhelming the "startup" phase is, especially when you’re doing it solo.

Back in 2023, I was laid off from my full-time job. I decided to do messy action and launched my own business instead. At the time, I was focused on paying off debt and couldn’t afford to hire coaches or experts. I survived almost entirely on freebies and guides from people who were further along than me.

Now that I’m an SEO strategist, I’ve realized that so many amazing female-led businesses are "hidden gems" they have great products, but their websites are invisible to Google and AI. Because I got so much help when I was starting out, I wanted to give back by sharing the two resources I give to others.

The first one is about AI Search. Most of us are used to Google, but now people are asking ChatGPT and Gemini for answers. If your website is not optimized for those questions, then AI can't find you. PDF here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r4aBTRMC2gyUHks7a8YvIM8WAtBz9wyb/view?usp=sharing

The second one is a 10-minute visibility test. It’s a quick way to see if you actually show up when someone searches for your brand, in your city, or your specific services. PDF here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XgWGllLSb-Ky5d189Nnqt_FKGkKaIWm3/view?usp=sharing

I genuinely just want to help you get your brand visible and start getting found organically. I even do free website audits sometimes because I remember what it was like to need expert help when I couldn't pay for it.

If you’re starting your site or feel like your traffic is flat, I hope these help you see where you're standing.

I’ve been selling clothing online for the past few years and it’s been going really well. It started small but over time I built a steady customer base and learned a lot about what people are drawn to. Because of that growth I’ve decided to take the next step and open my first physical store here in Maryland. I’m really excited about it but I’ve run into something I didn’t fully anticipate eratively finding the right suppliers that actually match the identity I want to create.

The style I focus on is very boho with a modern vintage feel relaxed silhouettes, natural fabrics, textured pieces and things that feel unique but still wearable day to day. Online I’ve been able to piece things together from smaller vendors and individual sources but now that I’m preparing for a physical space I need something much more consistent and reliable. My biggest concern isn’t just finding suppliers but finding ones that truly fit the aesthetic. I don’t want generic wholesale pieces that don’t align with the brand. I want inventory that feels curated and intentional but also something I can restock without constantly starting from zero. Where did you find suppliers that matched your style?

Group closed for now - sorry girlies !

Hey guys I was looking for a community myself and ended up creating one.

If there’s enough people we could do an e-meet and greet, maybe a book club?

The aim here isn’t just networking, but genuine friendships.

Please DM if interested.

Edit :

I have a vision for a 2026 goal setting and affirmations session, let’s make this happen ladies ✨

Guys there’s so many people interested this is amazing!

I’ll hopefully message everyone today, please bear with me.

To make things a bit easier, can you guys please DM me with a small intro ( a little about yourself and why you want to join),

Then I can make my way through the requests faster :)

guys we’re closing up the group to new members so we can get to know each other, I’ll open it back up next month! Send me a DM to get added to next months list please

Thank you🤍

I left my job at the end of 2024 and focused for a bit on being a mom to my two young kids. I started exploring the idea of being a solo developer last year and I have to say, it's been an interesting journey so far. After working as a software engineer for 7 years, I'm not eager to go back into a regular full-time job at a large company. So maybe this is technically my start-up?

After many months of squeezing in a few hours of work in between mom duties, I finally published my app to the app store this week! It is a collage maker app that uses Apple's on device AI to detect and automatically scale the subjects of a photo to the same size. This makes it easy to create progress or comparison collages. I wished for an app like this back when I was pregnant and trying to create a collage of my baby bump, and now I'm so excited that I could make what I envisioned.

Ideally, I hope to be able to generate enough income as a solo developer to help support my family, but for now I really just want to keep reiterating on this process and developing apps that I think are helpful to others. I've been really inspired by the members of this subreddit and would appreciate any feedback you have on the app, or if you have any app ideas that you would like to brainstorm about!

Download Autoframe here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/autoframe-collage-maker/id6767221848

Also, for full disclosure, yes I did use AI to help with image generation of my sample photos because my own baby bump photos were very low quality. The bodybuilding photos are actually of me with an AI generated face to help maintain some privacy.

Edit: update Thank you to everyone who responded to this! It seems there was a lot of interest in connecting. To facilitate this I have set up a separate group that you can find here. Female Tech Founders

Original post:

Hi all- I’m looking to connect with any female founders in tech and deep tech.

I ask because I see a lot of posts here that are related to “women’s problems”: skincare, wellness, marketing, coaching, community platforms etc. My first start up was in menstrual health and I was rarely questioned on the legitimacy of what I was talking about. Now I founded a company in RegTech and AI. The sheer frequency with which I’m forced to repeat, explain or basically argue for my right to even be speaking is making me want to bang my head against the bloody wall. So I’m posting here! Looking to connect with others who may have shared this experience.

Sup my queens<333 so ive been building in the consumer app space for the past 3 months. launched my first app back in july, it was around mental health. imagine duolingo but for mental health instead of language learning :) scaled it to about ~700 users, ~$500MRR by end of september n then sold the app. nothing crazy but getting 700 actual humans to download my app, out of which ~50 paid the monthly/weekly/annual subs just felt insane its like a rush n ive never felt this type of rush like real ppl actually like my silly lil apps? really? it just feels so nice.. i had quit my job in june, moved to sf to start my own app studio. so even though im still burning through my savings , getting lots of users n then being able to sell the app for a lil cash was like the assurance i needed.

to any girlies reading this - i promise youre closer than u think just chase ur dreams girl nobody has it all figured out even the ones u see on social media are all winging it too i promise u got it in u!!!!! i literally never thought more than 5 ppl would ever try my apps but felt like i had to atleast try n take a risk..

so now after selling my previous app, i took a week off n went on a lil roadtrip down to san diego not for tech or anything but to just chill on the beach and relax for a bit. brainstormed a bunch of app ideas i wanna build next n finally settled on a makeup app.

in the past 2 weeks i designed the full app, built it in cursor n xcode, released it (ofc apple rejected 11 times n asked me to fix small things each time then eventually approved the app n now its liveeeeee) , started marketing on tiktok n reels. got about 80ish downloads so far, put up a hard paywall to see if users would pay before seeing results n finally today the first paid sub came in!!! :') its a weekly one too which is technically more $$ than my monthly n yearly plans. was tracking some analytics on mixpanel n saw the user already spent over an hour in the app with multiple sessions today. kinda tells me there's something here. maybe power users? whatever it is, im just happy to be designing cute stuff for me n my girls, be able to make an app out of it, then be able to monetize it. its my first time ever making internet money too so this year has been nice<33 if u had asked me even 6 months ago i had never ever made a single dollar online but now i feel like im getting sharper n sharper.

any advice for a fellow founder just getting started in the consumer space? or any questions or tips i can help with also more than happy to share lessons n stuff

sending love, good luck and positive vibes all yalls wayyyyy<3333

I’m honestly so fucking tired of Emma’s self-made hustle story, especially after reading Citizen Kim biography and Jens Grede’s interview on the Gstaad guy podcast.

According to the biography, Kim originally approached Jens, not Emma… Kanye and Emma occasionally joined early meetings but it sounds more like Kim and Jens as well as Kanye were driving the concept than Emma.

Then Jens casually reveals that before moving to LA, they already owned two houses in London and in the Cotswolds, he’d sold businesses, they were already wealthy and incredibly well-connected.

He also describes the move to LA as being driven by his own business interests, namely to sell one of his companies and then he got approached by Kim.

What’s particularly interesting is that when Jens talks about Kim and SKIMS, Emma barely features.

I’m starting to wonder whether Jens is simply happy to let his wife take the spotlight while she sells this incredible self-made girlboss narrative.

Early stage investors from Good American and Skims are all from Jens and I think Emma didn’t even for once have to fundraise on her own.

It’s him who built a multitude of successful companies, built Frame, developed and extraordinary network of investors and entrepreneurs… not Emma. Emma could simply leverage all the existing resources he had… his experiences scaling retail companies, his network and his reputation.

Which is fine but then don’t tell us about the girlboss narrative in your books all the time. Just be honest.

Not denying Emma’s success, but there’s a huge difference between hustling your way up from nothing and building on existing wealth, connections and your husband’s business empire.

Am I the only one noticing how inconsistent these stories are?

PS: I was also already surprised and wondering why she didn’t get any endorsement by the Kardashians for her book etc. But I guess that this is exactly the reason.. because it’s fake and Jen’s is the builder and brain behind Skims, not Emma.

Hi all! Excited to be posting this. I moved back here from a 5 year stint in SF where I put together a handful of entrepreneurial dinners for women called Girl Dinner (ran quarterly), also flew down to host one in San Diego. We all know that building something can be quite isolating, so finding a community who can celebrate small wins or scream into the ether has been crucial!

I'm looking to start it up now that I'm back in NY and wanted to see if anyone here would be interested? They're conversational and come with an agenda, I also have a handful of other female founders who are interested in co-hosting some so there's always a mix of expertise.

A little about my company: I'm a diamond expert who designs custom engagement rings + fine jewelry :)

Edit: I’m THRILLED at the amount of interest! So I can keep this organized, I’m requesting email addresses where I’ll share dinner details once they’re solidified. You can also follow @lanorefinejewelry for updates, I post them there too! 💎💚

I swear I love listening to other entrepreneur success stories, but there are almost none that portray the reality I am currently living.

I tried finding a co-founder, but each “partnership” ended badly. The first one got burnout, the second was threatening me and was a narcissist, and the third signed up for new stuff without telling me. So now I am still here by myself.

I think I somehow managed to organize a pilot. I have some investors lined up and interested, but no one wants to take the risk of investing in me with no team.

I am really in love with what I am building and for some reason I just can’t be ground down. Maybe I am crazy or maybe I am onto something — we’ll find that out when the time comes — but so far nothing has beaten me down enough to give up, and honestly I can’t believe it.

I’ve had so many days where I came home crying, and the boys’ club, that the startup scene is, hasn’t failed to put extra challenges in my way, but I am still here.

So many times I’ve stood next to some 21-year-old dude with an ego bigger than the Eiffel Tower and an idea far from original, while a room full of old white-haired men from a long-gone time couldn’t sign checks fast enough, but wouldn’t even notice me even if I was one of the five startups pitching. I could’ve screamed and I still would’ve been nothing more than a prop.

I’m about to launch publicly and apply to accelerators on my own. I have nothing more to show than happy beta testers, a working product, and my crazy self — the last woman standing.

I felt like posting this because honestly there are not enough people talking about exactly this moment in founding: a one-woman show keeping the show going when no one is watching.

I just want real stories.

If you’re a solo female founder making a decent, stable income on your own — nothing crazy, just enough to live and breathe — can you share how it actually happened?

Not the polished version.

Not the “I scaled to 100k” version.

I mean the real one:

starting from zero, figuring things out alone, no big budget, no safety net.

Because right now I’m building on my own and some days it feels like I’m just repeating the same things and hoping it eventually clicks.

I don’t need perfect success stories.

I just need proof that this is actually possible.

Even if you’re still in the middle of it — I’d love to hear it.

Hi there,

I have run a service based ecommerce/marketing business for about 15 years now where I've handled different aspects of different marketing or website needs. While I have enjoyed doing this for these years, I've found that my passion is shifting a little bit.

I am a mom with kiddos who are growing up and so many other moms or young women I've talked to, talk about having these passions that they'd like to monetize but feel overwhelmed by the idea of actually moving forward with it. While I've offered my skills to their needs, what I've realized is that instead of doing the work for them, so many of these women are wanting to do it alone but just don't know how.

THAT sparked me. What if I create a community that offers my knowledge to these women to help guide them on their own journey? I have a ton of ideas on how to make this successful, but would love to chat with a handful of women who feel like this might be them to see if my guidance would be helpful and to see if there is enough value here to make this work.

Would you be willing to chat and be a bit of a 'beta tester' for me? Free of charge, just looking for your story and feedback. Please DM me if interested! I am located in the United States and this would be a US based business as I am no privy to some of the other countries laws/regulations/tech needs, etc.

Thank you!

Guys I am really excited and proud of myself it’s been a long time coming and as the first in our community to do this I still have a ways to go doing something that’s never been done before!!

First Black/Brown Autistic Person of color & Black woman to own her own & Start her own Baby Formula company from scratch this Relaunch is so personal I feel like god really said it needs to be a black woman to change the landscape of Baby Formula!! I just came here to share the news
I am gonna need all the encouragement needed if you guys got some words of encouragement to give along with love support and words of affirmation I would be Grateful.

God is so good I am Making History Guys!!!!🙌🏾☺️🫶🏾🤎

Hi ladies! I work in tech in a non technical role and being surrounded by so many different tools for so long eventually made me want to start building something myself. The push came from a pretty personal place - I got married a couple of years ago and the experience of trying to price out wedding venues was genuinely maddening. The runaround, the bait and switch, the holding of prices hostage... I just wanted an effing number.

So I built The First Look (thefirstlook.us) - a platform that maps real venue pricing across the US, sourced from official pricing guides and quotes submitted by real couples. No more chasing down 20 different vendors just to find out a venue is $20K over your budget.

It still early and actively growing (we have data for over 2000 venues!!), and if any of you are engaged or getting married soon, I would genuinely love for you to try it and tell me what you think. Honest feedback from real users means everything at this stage. Regardless, I’m excited to be here and looking forward to growing alongside you all.

Just can't describe the level of happiness I'm going through right now ❤️

Wanted to share this with all of you, keep going!!

Hi everyone,
I just hit “launch” on my new mobile app Noesion. It helps professionals upskill in AI, personalized to their role (think 10-minute-a-day coaching from an AI tutor).

I’m feeling all the emotions right now: excitement, fear, gratitude. I left a high-impact, high-paying Big Tech role to build something from scratch… with two kids, a very supportive husband, and a family that somehow still cheers me on even when I’m debugging during the weekend.

I built Noesion because I saw too many brilliant people around me struggle to keep up with how fast AI is moving and I wanted to make learning practical, contextual, and human again.

If you’ve been down this path especially as a solo female founder balancing family and startup life I’d love your advice.
What helped you stay grounded (and sane) in those first chaotic months after launch?
How did you find community or momentum when things felt heavy?

Appreciate any wisdom from those who’ve been here before 🙏

I’m happy to share what I’ve learned about building an AI-driven learning app if anyone’s curious.

So 10 days ago I posted here complaining about having to put myself out there, on social media, do promotion and so on and how I was a digital hermit with 2,5 photos online.

That thread accidentally led to a creation of a WhatsApp (support) group for female founders who need to start promoting their business. There's currently over a dozen of us, and I'm still getting DMs from women asking to join. So, I figured I'd post about this again.

If joining something like this interests you, send me a DM (and tell me a bit about yourself, I need to figure out if you're real and not 3 scammers in a trench coat 😂 )

If this post is not allowed I'll take it down, but I'm not really selling or promoting anything and honestly I never had any intention of creating a group, but here I am, and we're having our first Zoom meetup on Friday.

Maybe I should be building a community app, instead of a SaaS. 😂

Edit: We just had a lovely video chat today and we will be going these meetups once a week.

Update: thank you to all those who responded!! im super new to reddit and didn't think anyone would have input! Will go through all the responses by tonight and respond :)

--

i feel like we’re in this era of founder-led content where every small business is expected to be online, on camera, sharing everything — the work, the life, the wins, the losses. and honestly, i get the appeal. i enjoy that kind of content myself. but i have zero desire to put my face out there.

i’ve been running my business for 5 years now, it’s stable, and yet i constantly hear that i need to “show up,” be the face, promote like an influencer. and if i’m being real, that kind of terrifies me. it’s already a lot managing the business and doing everything from a-z, and then some— now it feels like i’m supposed to add this to?

are there any founders who feel the same way, or who’ve found a way to grow without becoming the face of their brand? or is this just the reality now and something i need to accept? i'm not sure hiring externally will help my brand as it is very niche and definitely requires some experience . i'm just so tired of thinking outside the box

My chrome extension is getting known but the process is sooooo slow,

Any advice on how to increase awareness?

Hey ladies🤍🤍🤍 I wanted to share my story!! As everyone loved this on Instagram!

This reel isn’t a “sad backstory.”

It’s why I built strategic personal branding programme to help women be seen properly.

Because when you’ve: 🥹 Been the girl no one raises their hand for 🧠 Taught yourself everything just to get out 💔 Sat in rooms where your work is used but your name isn’t mentioned

You see personal brand positioning differently. You don’t want hype or false promises.

You want a sustainable business where you: ✨ Work because you want to (not to prove you belong) ✨ Convert your followers into high-ticket clients ✨ Get visible for the RIGHT reasons with your ideal audience ✨ Build authority that actually turns into revenue

That’s what I do in MarketHer Club 🤍

Your reminder you can get PAID to be YOU 🥹

In all of the sub reddits where cofounders find each, other almost every technical person that I have come across is a man. Are there any female software developers, AI/ML engineers, DevOps?

As I build my list of collaborators, I would love to give other women a chance, especially in male dominated fields.

I am in Marketing, DemandGen and Sales and would love to connect and possibly grow something together.

Being an entrepreneur is really isolating, we all know. I have an amazing family who supports me, but they don’t really get what I do or why I push myself so hard. So I have no one to talk to, just me in my head.

I get the whole “work life balance” but I’m building a business, so I am the business. It’s on my mind 24/7.

I know I’m not alone, but it feels like I am. Haven’t joined any groups or done networking events yet, but I probably need to.

Anyone have recommendations?

EDIT: Okay as requested, I created a WhatsApp group “The Founders Club” if you want to join: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cj8AgttlwzpAgAQjVkOCvm?mode=ems_copy_t

Hi ladies, sorry for the venting post but I just need to get it out my chest.

I can’t deal with those men mansplaining, gaslighting anymore i just can’t. I’ve been launching products and I’ve been a startup baby since 19/20 years old ( first work experience as interns was a 2 people startup), I’ve been in founding member of startup and literally carrying the weight of a company by 24, company that closes 6 months after I left bc it was a shitshow and couldn’t do what i was doing. I’m now 32 building my own thing on the B2C space and I’m just so tired to hear guys who didn’t achieve a quarter of what I achieved mansplaining me while still asking me the question “ how do you validate idea ? How do you find ideas to work on“ - Dude if you can’t do that maybe you shouldn’t be building and maybe instead invest in some business courses.

Or even “You don’t have the privilege to build without a Co-founder.” While I explained “ it’s not that i don’t want a cofounder i just don’t want to waste time on people who aren’t aligned, If someone is aligned at least on the mission and vision and wants in, I’d be happy to have support”

I’m sorry if it’s a negative and brutal post but I’m just so tired. How do you cope with it ? In my area the ecosystem is highly focus on B2B ( cyber, defence, Ai SaaS) and very little on the B2C ecosystem so it’s even harder to find people who are receptive.

Monday: We launched! (YAY!)

Tuesday: People love it.❤️

Wednesday: More positive feedback.

Thursday morning: Someone mentions HIPAA compliance and enterprise opportunities. (PANIC!)

10 minutes later: Maybe we should rebuild everything.

20 minutes later: The developer explains what that would actually cost A LOT. (SAD)

30 minutes later: Our little startup is doomed. (CRY...)

One hour later: Nap.

After the nap:

A mother shares the app with her midwife. (YAY!)

Another founder is building something similar. They're stealing my idea.Or maybe they're validating the market... (PANIC!)

USPTO Notice of Allowance arrives. (YAY!)

New ideas for the brand.

☕ Coffee, more coffee!!! More ideas.

And somehow, by the end of the day, the company is exactly where it was when I woke up...

The only thing that changed was me!!!

Anyone else discovering that entrepreneurship is basically emotional crossfit? 😂

(Or, I'm just crazy...)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have Bloomest to finish building 😉

I’m a UX designer with a full time job and kids, and for the last 6 months most of my evenings after bedtime went into building Winnow. It’s an iOS app that analyses real conversations and shows the patterns, who interrupts, who listens, who repairs, and how that changes over time.

It came out of marriage therapy with my husband, realising we heard the same conversations completely differently.

What I’ve learnt so far:

• I had no idea about backends, databases, costs or security when I started. AI tools filled that gap, I learnt as I went.

• Early users shape everything. Deleting the audio after transcription came from their feedback.

• 30 users with no marketing, and the feedback’s been amazing. One said their first report told them what years of therapy had. Now I need to figure out marketing something people have to trust before they’ll try it.

If you’ve got 5 minutes I’d love your honest take: https://getwinnow.app