Aspire with Emma Grede

Malika Andrews and Taylor Rooks have two of the most visible jobs in sports media. Malika is the face of ESPN's NBA coverage, hosting NBA Today and NBA Countdown. Taylor hosts NBA on Prime and is a major presence across Thursday Night Football. Between them they're speaking to millions of people every week — and interviewing some of the most famous athletes in the world.They’ve also had a front-row seat to each other’s rise. And while they’re both incredibly ambitious and competitive, they’ve learned how to let someone else’s success push them without allowing it to diminish their own.Emma sits down with both of them to understand what it actually takes to become that trusted at that scale — the preparation nobody sees, how you get an athlete to tell you the truth, and what it costs to do a job where every word, every question and every mistake gets picked apart in real time.In this episode:Why preparation gives you the confidence to perform under pressureTrust as a daily deposit: accurate, honest, and fairHow healthy competition can raise your own standardWhy asking for what you want can change the trajectory of your careerHow to negotiate from a place of knowing your valueWhy credibility is built through small, consistent actionsHow to tell the difference between feedback worth hearing and noiseWhy longevity, not the next job, is the real ambitionFor more, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at emmagrede.com.

Vanessa Van Edwards has spent nearly twenty years studying what makes some people easy to talk to. Her argument is that conversation is a skill rather than a personality, and that most of us are simply out of practice.She joins Emma to talk about how to prepare for the conversations that matter, what to say when you meet someone who could change your career, and how to handle feedback and disagreement without damaging the relationship. She also explains what happened early in her own career, when she lost a television deal during the small talk before the pitch and nobody ever told her that was why.In this episode:How to prepare for conversations that could change what happens nextThe three questions you should always be ready to answerWhy talking about how busy you are makes people think you're less competentHow to raise a problem with someone more senior than youWhat the way someone tells their own story reveals about themVanessa Van Edwards's new book, Conversation: How to Connect with Anyone & Make Every Interaction Count, is out now.

Diane von Furstenberg created the iconic wrap dress in her twenties and built her namesake company DVF into one of the most recognizable fashion brands in the world. More than fifty years later, as she approaches 80, she's entering a new chapter — with a lifetime of lessons to share.In this episode of Aspire, Emma sits down with her longtime friend and idol for a deeply personal conversation about self-belief, independence, motherhood, aging and becoming the woman you want to be. Diane opens up about the choices she made as a working mother, why guilt and fear are not options, the mistakes she's made along the way, and what it takes to like the person you've become.Diane shares:How to build the kind of self-belief that carries you through every stage of lifeWhy the most important relationship you'll ever have is the one you have with yourselfHow to stop comparing yourself to other people and own who you areWhy guilt and fear should never drive your decisionsWhat motherhood taught her about raising independent children without losing yourselfWhy independence has always mattered more to her than moneyHow to learn from mistakes without letting them define youWhy kindness is a currency — and how it compounds over timeWhat getting older has taught her about confidence, clarity and becoming more yourself

Andrew Rosen has spent nearly five decades building, investing in, and shaping some of the most influential brands in American fashion. As the co-founder of Theory and an early investor in brands like TWP, rag and bone, Veronica Beard, Alice + Olivia, Good American and SKIMS, he’s also one of Emma's closest mentors.  His advice comes from doing the work — and learning what happens when things don't go to plan.In this conversation, Andrew shares the lessons he took from his father, the setbacks that shaped how he built Theory, and the advice he gave Emma when she was becoming a brand owner. They explore how to trust your instincts, choose the right investors, and build a profitable business with staying power.They get into:Taking over as CEO of the family business in his twentiesLosing control of the company — and what he did nextGetting fired, and why he never saw it as failureThe experience he brought to starting Theory at 40Why profitability has to be part of the plan from the startWhat founders should actually look for in an investorThe lessons he took from his father that still shape how he does business