Skims co-founder has a harsh message for employees

Skims, a shapewear brand founded by billionaire socialite Kim Kardashian and entrepreneurs Emma Grede and Jens Grede, has proved over the past few years that it is becoming a major threat in the loungewear and activewear market.

In 2023, Skims announced that it had entered a multi-year partnership with the NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball to become their official underwear partner.

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In February, the company also announced that it has partnered with Nike to develop NikeSKIMS, a brand that will debut in the spring and sell training apparel, footwear, and accessories for female athletes.

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Skims reportedly increased its revenue by 50% year-over-year in 2023, generating $750 million. It is estimated that Skims is valued at around $4 billion.

Skims co-founder sounds alarm on a controversial workplace trend

As Skims continues to skyrocket, its co-founder, Emma Grede, who is also CEO of Good American, has revealed a controversial key to success.

In a recent episode of the podcast “Diary of a CEO,” Grede said that a major red flag that she looks out for when interviewing a job candidate is if they ask about work-life balance. She said work-life balance is a “problem” that employees have to figure out on their own.

“When somebody talks to me about their work-life balance in an interview process, I’m like, ‘something is wrong with you, you haven’t been able to figure that out,’” said Grede. “That’s not the way you win this interview.”

She emphasized that employers are not responsible for helping their employees balance work and their personal life.

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“There are certain things that are the employee’s responsibility within that, and you figuring out what works for your life, how you’re going to pick up your kids, how you get home, how you get to work, these are all things that you need to figure out within the construct of your life,” said Grede. “That isn’t the employer’s job; that isn’t the employer’s responsibility.”

Grede also said that a company must be “profitable” in order for employees to have a good work-life balance.

“The company has to be in line with, if not beating, its competition,” said Grede. “We have to be able to run an efficient business to give people what they need. The two things go hand in hand.”

She also highlighted that in order for an employee to grow at a company, become extremely successful, and live an “extraordinary life,” they have to put in “extraordinary effort,” which may include working on weekends.

“If we tell everybody that to be really successful, you can do that in a way that is without being 150%, without waking up most days and doing some type of work, without thinking about work a lot, it’s just not honest, and it wouldn’t connect with what I see and what my experience are of most people that are truly successful,” said Grede.

Kim Kardashian previously shared a similar point of view 

Grede’s comments come after her business partner, Kim Kardashian, faced backlash in 2022 for stating during an interview with Variety that her best advice for women in business is to “get your f*cking a*s up and work.”

“It seems like nobody wants to work these days,” said Kardashian in the Variety interview.

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Kardashian later apologized for her comments during an interview on “Good Morning America” a few weeks later.

“It wasn’t a blanket statement towards women or to feel like I don’t respect the work or think that they don’t work hard. I know that they do,” said Kardashian. “It was taken out of context, but I’m really sorry if it was received that way.”

Since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, many Americans across the country have increasingly prioritized work-life balance.

According to a 2023 survey by The Muse that questioned 1,600 U.S. workers on their opinions on work-life balance, most of the workers in the survey defined work-life balance as “having the flexibility and autonomy to pivot to personal needs when they arise during a workday or week.”

Roughly 70% of workers said that work-life balance is the most vital feature in a new job, topping “compensation, learning and growth opportunities, office culture, and perks and benefits.”

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