remote work – Emma Grede argues working from home can harm careers and strain social ties, while pointing to the discipline behind building fashion brands.
Remote work may sound like a perk, but Good American CEO Emma Grede doesn’t see it that way. In her view, working from home can become “career suicide,” a blunt message that challenges the growing normalization of living-room meetings and distance-first schedules.
Grede’s stance goes beyond office culture.. She links remote work to a wider social problem. arguing that reduced in-person contact can contribute to trends such as declining birthrates. fewer marriages. and a “loneliness epidemic.” Her underlying point is that career decisions and everyday routines are not isolated from community life. and that the casual assumption that Zoom-based interaction is sufficient may be missing the bigger picture.
This matters because workplace arrangements are increasingly tied to trust, identity, and momentum. When teams pull together—or fail to—employees often feel it in ways that don’t show up in quarterly reports.
Meanwhile, the debate over return-to-office policies has been a major flashpoint for employers and staff.. Companies often argue that office attendance strengthens collaboration and productivity. while critics warn that mandatory moves can damage morale if they are handled without purpose or empathy.. Grede’s comments add fuel to that tension by framing remote work not only as an operational choice. but as a factor that can affect how people connect and advance.
In this context, her credibility as a business builder is part of why her message resonates.. Grede is the entrepreneur behind size-inclusive fashion brand Good American and shapewear line Skims. co-founding Good American in 2016 and helping launch Skims in partnership with Kardashian-family co-founders.. She has also described the early grind of building these businesses, including how initial momentum came with visible results.
Still, she also emphasizes that entrepreneurship is rarely a straight line.. She has spoken about setbacks, including business ventures that didn’t work and the pain of downsizing after growth.. For Grede. that history feeds a leadership mindset centered on constant learning rather than comfort—an attitude she extends to how she manages teams through “radical honesty.”
Her approach suggests why she’s so direct about remote work. If relationships and real-time communication are treated as optional, leaders may struggle to build the closeness that supports decision-making, feedback, and long-term commitment.
At the end of the day. Grede’s message is less about condemning remote work outright and more about warning against treating it as a universal solution.. For employees weighing flexibility against career development. the choice may come down to what they value most: autonomy. or the built-in advantages of being in the same room.