Aspire with Karlie Kloss: How To Turn Principles Into Power Plays

Summary

Podcast Summary: Aspire with Emma Grede – "Aspire with Karlie Kloss: How To Turn Principles Into Power Plays"

Release Date: May 20, 2025

In this compelling episode of "Aspire with Emma Grede," host Emma Grede engages in an in-depth conversation with renowned supermodel, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Karlie Kloss. The discussion delves into Karlie's multifaceted life, exploring her journey from the fashion runway to building impactful businesses, her approach to motherhood, and her commitment to empowering women through technology and investments.

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1. Balancing Motherhood and a Thriving Career

Karlie Kloss opens up about her anticipation of welcoming her third child while managing multiple entrepreneurial ventures. She shares insights into her personal evolution from a workaholic to a more prioritized and intentional lifestyle.

• Prioritization Over Balance:

  "Having a child... has sort of been a forcing function of prioritization." ([04:33])

Karlie emphasizes that achieving traditional "balance" isn't her goal; instead, she focuses on prioritizing what truly matters, often compensating sacrifice with dedication to her family and businesses.

• Supportive Partnership:

  "Josh... has always been my biggest champion... you cannot lose yourself. You will not be happy. And our children will feel that." ([07:07])

She credits her husband, Josh, for his unwavering support, highlighting the importance of having a partner who encourages her to maintain her identity alongside her roles as a mother and business leader.

2. Transitioning from Modeling to Entrepreneurship

Karlie's early start in modeling at age 15 provided her with unique insights and opportunities. However, her desire for intellectual stimulation and purposeful work led her to pivot towards entrepreneurship.

• Initial Foray into Social Entrepreneurship:

  "We ended up starting that night and going on for a number of years selling Carly's cookies. And we raised enough money through the sales of these cookies to donate millions of school lunches through Feeding America." ([22:19])

Karlie discusses her first entrepreneurial venture—selling homemade cookies during Vogue's Fashion's Night Out—which successfully raised funds for charitable causes, marking her entry into using her platform for social good.

3. Founding Code with Klossie: Empowering Women in Tech

One of Karlie's most significant projects, Code with Klossie, aims to bridge the gender gap in technology by providing young women with coding skills and entrepreneurial training.

• Inception and Growth:

  "From 2015 until now, we have had more than 11,000 young women in our programs around the world." ([48:41])

She outlines the program's evolution from offering 21 scholarships to scaling up to 3,000 scholarships annually, emphasizing the impact on participants' academic and professional trajectories.

• Long-Term Impact:

  "70% of our alumni are now majoring or minoring in computer science, compared to 4% of women in America graduating with computer science degrees." ([49:14])

These statistics underscore the program's success in inspiring and equipping young women to pursue careers in tech, challenging the industry's underrepresentation of women.

4. Strategic Investments and Supporting Female Founders

Beyond education, Karlie actively invests in female-led businesses, focusing on sustainable and impactful ventures.

• Early Angel Investing:

  "The first two women that I wrote a check to was they started this company called Lola, a direct-to-consumer care for the planet." ([55:16])

She shares her experiences and motivations behind investing in startups that align with her values, highlighting the importance of supporting ideas that contribute positively to society and the environment.

• Philosophy on Investments:

  "I care so deeply about access to opportunity. My life has been transformed because of access to opportunity that I had." ([58:46])

Karlie emphasizes her commitment to creating opportunities for others, using her financial resources to empower women and foster innovation.

5. Revitalizing the Publishing Industry

Karlie ventures into the traditionally male-dominated publishing sector by acquiring iconic magazines like ID, Life, and W. Her goal is to preserve their legacy while reimagining their business models for the digital age.

• Strategic Vision:

  "The opportunity is to sort of reimagine the business that can be built around that... preserving and protecting the DNA of what it always was, but reaching young people today where they are." ([66:08])

She discusses the challenges and opportunities in modernizing these brands, focusing on integrating digital platforms and experiential content to engage contemporary audiences.

6. Advocating for Reproductive Freedom

Karlie passionately addresses the importance of reproductive rights, drawing from personal experiences and her family's medical background to advocate for accessible healthcare.

• Personal Commitment:

  "I'm sitting here five months pregnant and there's a lot that I feel very vulnerable to that... I would hope that there is access to life-saving care." ([61:10])

Her advocacy stems from a deep-seated belief in healthcare as a fundamental human right, driving her to use her platform to support and protect women's health services.

7. Overcoming Underestimation and Embracing Authenticity

Karlie reflects on her growth from being perceived primarily as a model to a respected entrepreneur and advocate. She shares her journey towards self-trust and authenticity.

• Evolving Self-Perception:

  "I genuinely don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about me." ([73:25])

This statement underscores her transformation into a confident leader who prioritizes her values and aspirations over external judgments.

• Lessons Learned:

  "I've learned to trust myself, to trust my instinct... I'd rather make a mistake based on my own choice." ([74:46])

Karlie highlights the importance of self-reliance and integrity in her personal and professional life, encouraging others to follow their instincts.

8. Rapid Fire Insights

In a lighter segment, Karlie shares personal habits and aspirations:

• Morning Routine:

  "Check my nanit for my kids... and then coffee." ([75:07])

• End-of-Day Ritual:

  "I make sure to set, like, three alarms because I'm a solid sleeper." ([75:22])

• Current Aspirations:

  "To continue to keep growing as a leader, as a boss, as a manager, as a person." ([75:39])

• Book Recommendation:

  "I always love reading The Alchemist." ([76:45])

Conclusion

The episode concludes with heartfelt mutual admiration between Emma and Karlie, celebrating Karlie's achievements and expressing mutual support. Karlie's journey exemplifies how adhering to personal principles and leveraging one's platform can lead to meaningful impact across various industries.

Karlie Kloss not only embodies success in modeling and business but also serves as a role model for balancing personal life with professional ambition. Her dedication to empowering women through education, investment, and advocacy underscores the transformative power of using one's influence for societal good.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "Having a child... has sort of been a forcing function of prioritization." – Karlie Kloss ([04:33])
• "Josh... has always been my biggest champion... you cannot lose yourself." – Karlie Kloss ([07:07])
• "We raised enough money through the sales of these cookies to donate millions of school lunches." – Karlie Kloss ([22:19])
• "70% of our alumni are now majoring or minoring in computer science." – Karlie Kloss ([49:14])
• "I genuinely don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about me." – Karlie Kloss ([73:25])
• "I've learned to trust myself, to trust my instinct." – Karlie Kloss ([74:46])

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This episode serves as an inspiring narrative of Karlie Kloss's evolution from a global supermodel to a formidable entrepreneur and advocate, demonstrating how principles can be transformed into powerful actions that shape industries and empower communities.

Transcript

[Karlie Kloss]

Foreign.

[Emma Grede]

Today on the Aspire podcast, I'm sitting down with my friend Karlie Kloss and let me just say, this conversation is going to be so good. Carly's having baby number three. She's running companies, investing in brands she believes in, and she is shaking up the publishing world. And yet somehow she's doing it all with the most grounded, no BS energy you can imagine. We talk money, mindset, and what to do when you're feeling underestimated. We also get into mum life, mum guilt, career pivots, making bold moves, and what it really takes to go from being the face of a brand to building your own empire. Carly is thoughtful, honest, and so much more than just a pretty face. So let's get into it. If you've ever tried starting a business, you know it shouldn't be so complicated. That's why I'm all about Northwest Registered Agent. They make it easy. We're talking your full business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Seriously, get more with Northwest. More privacy, more support and more freedom to run your business your way. For just $39 plus state fees, they'll form your business, create a custom website, and even help you build a local presence no matter where you are. They've been doing this for nearly 30 years. Real business experts, real solutions all in one easy to use account. From formation paperwork to trademark registration to custom domains, it's your one stop shop. Don't wait, protect your privacy, build your brand and set up your business in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com aspire and start building something amazing. Get more with Northwest registered [e-mail].

[Karlie Kloss]

I.

[Emma Grede]

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[Karlie Kloss]

Thank you, Emma, for having me. I love you so much. I'm so in awe of all you've built, and I'm so honored to be having this conversation with you.

[Emma Grede]

Aspire. Well, likewise, my darling. That the first things first. You're having a little baby number three.

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, my gosh. I, like, barely fit in this chair. I'm, like, bustin. I'm so excited. I'm so. It's only just starting to hit me. I'm, like, halfway through, and I'm like, oh, I'm gonna have three children.

[Emma Grede]

You're gonna have three and three little children.

[Karlie Kloss]

Three under three under five. Five? Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

Are you kidding me?

[Karlie Kloss]

It's. I'm so excited, and I'm so tired, but most of all, excited.

[Emma Grede]

You should be so excited. So I kind of want to start there because, you know, you're about to have three children. I have four children, and you're doing so much all the time. I'm really curious how you think about. You know, I really loathe the word balance when we start talking about motherhood, given everything that we do. But I wonder, like, do you have, like, just. How are you feeling about the whole thing? How are you feeling about doing everything that you do while, you know, trying to be here with three kids?

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, I have lots to learn from you, mother of four and running your empires. I try just to do the best I can every single day. And I feel in a lot of ways, actually, having kids has sort of been a forcing function of prioritization. I've always been somebody who does a lot. I think that's just the way I'm wired. I started working at 15. I know you started really young as well.

[Emma Grede]

Pretty young.

[Karlie Kloss]

So it's in my blood to sort of just, like, be busy and do things and be a productive person, but also having a child. And, you know, I had my first son in the pandemic in 2021, and up until then, I really was a workaholic. I was on an airplane every two days, like, genuinely. And even, you know, even through my relationship, like, I was. Work was always sort of my number one priority. And. Sorry, Josh, but we both. You know, we're both working all the time, but I. Having a child and now being onto my Third child. A lot of things have sort of just fallen into place of like, what matters most to me and what I'm willing to compromise for. Compromise, sleep for and what I'm not.

[Emma Grede]

What gives for you? What are the cause? I always talk about this idea of there just being inevitable trade offs. And I agree with you because I think you are forced to prioritize. And for me, that makes actually your work like, you get really sharp. Right. There's no time wasted. But I wonder for you, what are the trade offs?

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, again, I feel really lucky. I started working at 15. I feel like I've had three lifetimes by the time I had my first kid. And I guess I'm still trying to figure it out.

[Emma Grede]

That's the truth.

[Karlie Kloss]

I think there is no balance. There is no secret sort of formula. And at least if you figured it out, let me know. But I am definitely not. I am genuinely trying every single day to show up for the people that I love most in my life. And that's my children, that's my husband, that's my family. I'm very close with my sisters, my parents and my friends. And again, I think a lot of that, candidly, until the pandemic, I, you know, I didn't prioritize. I think even my, like my, my personal life, my friends and your relationships. So the last few years have been a real, I think, evolution of me as a person to actually kind of take care of myself a bit more. Even if that comes at a cost of work, it's worth it.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I really love that you're so honest about that though, because I feel for so many people like you imagine that there's this, you magical formula and you're gonna have some perfect way of figuring this all out. But the idea that you say, I'm still working on it, I'm still figuring it out, I think that's really truthful and really will. And I find it so amazing that with baby number three on the way, that you are so ambitious and that you do have so many incredible things still, you know, going on because you have been doing this for like a long time. You've been in the limelight for a long time.

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, I think we are both very lucky that we have very supportive partners who want that for us as well. You know, I think Josh, really my husband, we've been together since I was 19. Like, we are. We have truly baby babies now having babies. And we, I feel like we've grown up together. And he has always been my biggest champion of I'm just gonna make me emotional here. But he's always been my biggest champion. And I think especially in this sort of, like, adjustment into motherhood, he has been somebody who's like, carly, you cannot lose yourself. You will not be happy. And then that our children will feel that. And I think that something. I so appreciate that he has always been sort of my mirror in that way.

[Emma Grede]

How important is that choice? Because I talk about this with my friends all the time. Like, when you choose your person, I'm literally crying. No, I love that you're literally crying. And that's a great place to start because I do. I talk about it so much that the person you decide to spend your life with and have children with, when you are also trying to balance that with having a career, it ends up being a really big decision. It's the biggest decision because they can be so. They can add so much to it, but they can also. I think with so many of my friends, the person that they feel guilted by the most is often their husband. And I have the opposite situation. I have someone who's like, go for it. Like, really believes in my ambition and has really kind of lifted me up in that way. Do you feel like that was a conscious choice for you? Like, when you were, like, early in the, you know, dating Josh, did you know that he was supportive of your ambition? Did you even think about it?

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, yeah. I mean, we started dating so young. I was 19, he was 25, 26. He was just starting a healthcare company called Oscar. He had just, I think, launched his first fund. He was early days in his career. And I like to remind him I was far more successful than he was for a very long time. And I, you know, but I. I had never met anyone like him before. He was such a kind, kind man. And I, you know, I felt like still a girl, but also had lived this very adult, worldly life since I was 15. I had had my first apartment in New York. I had traveled by the week, you know, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, everywhere, while juggling my high school education. So, you know, I sort of just had moved to New York and was really, really lucky to meet. And I could have never imagined I would meet, like, the love of my life and the person I would end up with. 19 at 19. And there's pros and cons to that for sure, but I don't know, I definitely wasn't looking for it. But I think we also, because we met so young, we've been through so much together that we've both really grown together. And I think that's also part of why our partnership is so solid, is because we've both. It's like there have been so many things in life that we've had to. Challenges we've faced personally, professionally, privately, publicly, that it's like, it's almost like a trial by fire. Like it forges you in that bond forever. And I think that if you can get through those things together, you like that's. I feel very grateful for it. Cause like, I feel like we can get through anything.

[Emma Grede]

You really can. I mean, the two of you are so unbelievably significant, successful. But I want to talk about you for a minute because I think it's so crazy to contextualize how long you've been, you know, working.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

How long you've been working, how long you've been doing it.

[Karlie Kloss]

I'm. I'm only 32, but people think I'm.

[Emma Grede]

Like, we feel like you're 52.

[Karlie Kloss]

Like, it's actually when I turned 30, people were like, how are you only still 30? It's really true.

[Emma Grede]

I know we were trying to work this out last night. I was like, when did I actually meet you? And I must have met you when were you.

[Karlie Kloss]

16 for sure.

[Emma Grede]

That's great. That's crazy to me. So I feel like I've known you for a lifetime, but you were actually just a child for sure.

[Karlie Kloss]

I was a child pretending to be a grown up for a long time.

[Emma Grede]

Well, and doing a really good job pretending.

[Karlie Kloss]

I learned the game very quickly. I grew up in Missouri wearing like the Gap, you know, like that was my idea of high fashion, maybe limited to, but I. So it was not my world that I grew up in by any. And I was not reading Vogues. I was not, you know, so for me, I sort of dropped into this other parallel universe. So it wasn't like you were a.

[Emma Grede]

Fan of the business. You were scouted because you were extraordinarily beautiful.

[Karlie Kloss]

I was an alien child.

[Emma Grede]

Unbelievably tall. Unbelievably tall. I feel like we're always like this.

[Karlie Kloss]

Somehow I'm even taller today. But I was 511 at 15 years old and I was so tall and I just was in the right place at the right time.

[Emma Grede]

And did you have aspirations to model?

[Karlie Kloss]

Not at all.

[Emma Grede]

Not at all.

[Karlie Kloss]

I was walking in a mall in St. Louis in like Birkenstocks, and a really amazing local scout, Jeff and Mary Clark, they discovered Ashton Kutcher at a bar in Iowa. Like it was Such a fluke, honestly. And I feel very grateful that, you know, they sort of took me under their wing and really helped me launch in a very legitimate way. And if it would not have happened that way, there's no world I would have pursued this. It was not like, honestly what I was interested in. My dad's a doctor. I love science. I'm a total nerd. And that has continued to be sort of where my heart and my mind kind of is most stimulated. But I had this key to the world overnight through sort of this opportunity to build a modeling career. So from 15 to 18 years old, I took advantage of it. I ran with it, and I sort of took my studies with me. I was doing my homework backstage and on airplanes. I had my grandma, my mom, my teacher, anyone sort of chaperoning, maybe because I was under 18 and sort of living this jet set life and then coming back home to St. Louis and being a normal lame teenager. And then.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, and then, and then, and then Victoria's Secret happened.

[Karlie Kloss]

And then, because we can't.

[Emma Grede]

We can't skirt over it, because I think for the world, if we didn't already know you, and I knew you because I was part of, like, you know, just a fan of fashion. But for the rest of everybody else, when you became, you know, Karlie Kloss, supermodel Karlie Kloss, it was that moment for Victoria's Secret. And you spent what, a couple of years being a Victoria's Secrets angel?

[Karlie Kloss]

I did. It's actually funny. I feel like I walked my first Victoria's Secret fashion show, and I, like, pretty immediately they signed me on contract. And I, as a girl in Missouri, like, the exposure I had to fashion was on Project Runway, Heidi Klum on Project Runway and the Victoria's Secret fashion show. And like, I'm one of four daughters. So we would all pile around the TV and like, that's. That was the sort of, like, height of fashion in my eyes. And so it was very full circle to then sort of sign with them and be on the Runway. And actually, it's funny. I had just graduated high school, and I think there was this feeling of like, all those, no, I could not get a date in high school. I'm not exaggerating.

[Emma Grede]

You're like, I'll show them.

[Karlie Kloss]

I'm like, I'll show them. Like, the boys that didn't want to.

[Emma Grede]

Like, date with me. You're have to just back this up for me. Wait a minute. You couldn't get a date in high school? What was Happening?

[Karlie Kloss]

No. Well, I think I was so tall and pale and, like, I think they were like, where is this girl all the time?

[Emma Grede]

Did the phone just start ringing? Like, all of a sudden, you walk down the Victoria's Secret Runway, you put your wings down, and then it's like, ding, ding.

[Karlie Kloss]

I mean, it was such a funny moment. It was actually. It was very. Like, the phone started ringing to be like, yeah, you know, kind of shut up.

[Emma Grede]

Me in all my glory.

[Karlie Kloss]

Exactly.

[Emma Grede]

It's one thing doing high fashion, and there's another thing suddenly being in your underwear with so much scrutiny and so much coverage, and, you know, you're suddenly, like, front and center as, like, one of the, you know, the names in fashion that we know. One of the girls that's just gonna roll off the tongue. And you're in the windows of, like, you know, pretty much every high street in America. So it's a different level of, you know, it's just a different level of scrutiny at that point.

[Karlie Kloss]

There were a lot of things happening around that time. Social media was starting to develop. So I graduated high school in 2011. I think I walked my first VS show that year. I remember Instagram really was sort of one of the first places. And then I met Josh in 2012, and I remember. I think he was the one that was like, oh, there's this new thing, Instagram. Like, you should sign up for it. Like, it was also new, and social media was really one of the first platforms for someone like me. Like, a model that had been already very accomplished and successful on all the covers of Italian Vogue, American, like, American Vogue, Vogues everywhere.

[Emma Grede]

Well, you've done 40 Vogue covers. Is that right?

[Karlie Kloss]

Something like that.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, that's bananas.

[Karlie Kloss]

But I wasn't a household name, you know, it's like the names that Americans knew were the Victoria's Secret models. It was like Giselle.

[Emma Grede]

Absolutely.

[Karlie Kloss]

Heidi, Adriana.

[Emma Grede]

Absolutely.

[Karlie Kloss]

Sandra, Candace, and, like, those were the girls. So, in a funny way, it was almost sort of like, just a box that I wanted to tick because it was the highest sort of, like, platform a model could aspire to. But, you know, it's funny because I think, you know, and especially, like, reflecting on this, like, I think I was so dissociated from my body as a model. It was sort of my job. It was sort of this, like, almost, you know, I was like a. Like a racehorse, you know, it's like I was not. It was not me. Me that felt like I was me on that Runway wearing those wings. It was more like it Was sort of a job. It was a. And I. And I think it was almost like.

[Emma Grede]

A caricature of yourself. You kind of created this, like, polyclass.

[Karlie Kloss]

The angel that really, I think, is a way that I was able to sort of survive and thrive in my career as a model. And I started, you know, first. I was a ballerina as a young teenage girl. And I think that sort of is something that trains you to almost like your body is a performance vehicle. And so I always have sort of dissociated, I think, my. Me, like, me, actually the person, Carly, from the way that I showed up in my job and in a photo shoot, which I think gave me, you know, it was both. Something I think now is like, I've had to work through, which is, I think motherhood actually finally was the first time where I was like, whoa, there's something. Maybe Saturn return. I don't know what. But I had to actually ground myself in myself. But I think for those early years, I was so sort of dissociated.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I think that a lot of people will be able to feel that quite deeply, because I think for so many people, they put on a facade when they go to work. And for you, it was almost just like. It's just a layer of protection. Like, how do I protect myself? And I think so many women, especially at that time. Right. Would kill to be a Victoria's Secret model. But you walked away from that. And so I wonder, like, what the decision was to just decide, like, that that's the end of that part of my career.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah. I think I was maybe 23. It's all such a blur, but I. I was kind of over it. I. There were a lot of things that had happened. I wanted to go back to school. I mean, I had. I had worked.

[Emma Grede]

First of all, you went back to school and you went and you studied.

[Karlie Kloss]

I went back to nyu. I was like, I. A couple of things, I think. One, I finally kind of woke up to the reality that, like, yes, I can dissociate and sort of show up on set and, like, wear my lingerie and a set of wings and, like, have fun, because I'm just sort of playing a character. But I think something kind of woke up for me because maybe also social media, really, all of a sudden, I had a very direct sort of access to an exposure to young women that, like, quite quickly, like, hundreds of thousands. And then millions of young women that were following me, Carly. And they were following me for I don't know what reasons, but it sort of like, clicked for me that, like, what I actually am doing in my job, what I'm putting out there, is whether I am, like, choosing it or not. It is like I am projecting something, and I want to be more intentional about what it is that I'm projecting and making sure that that's authentically who I am. And I think that was sort of maybe the beginning of the reckoning of, like, not just me being a canvas for other people's ideas and values and messages, but, like, actually me being representative of, like, who I am.

[Emma Grede]

How do I feel? I really think so. And the idea that you would. I mean, first of all, to leave the Victoria's Secret Runway to then go and study what, feminist theory at nyu. It's a real departure.

[Karlie Kloss]

It was a real departure. But I'm actually. I'm so glad I sort of followed that intuition. You know, there was, like, so much that I had not learned, I think, in my, you know, my high school, public school education. But there was, like, a lot of. Just in those classes, like, basic feminist theory around, like, the male gaze, the female gaze, the fashion image. There was so much that I had just sort of, like, only just been introduced to these kind of ideas of, like, the influence of culture and the impact of this imagery on society, on particularly young women.

[Emma Grede]

Yes.

[Karlie Kloss]

And I think that that's something that, you know, can't control the world, but I can control how I show up in it. And I think that was really, you know, it was a leap of faith because, like, also I was making, you know, a lot of money and providing for myself, my family, and, like, to sort of choose myself and my values and, like, walk away from things that I felt like didn't represent what I wanted to stand for in the world. Like, that was bold. And I'm.

[Emma Grede]

It really feels good.

[Karlie Kloss]

I'm glad I did it.

[Emma Grede]

Was there a moment that you can trace it back to when you're like, this is the moment that you decide, I need to do something else?

[Karlie Kloss]

I think it sort of developed, like, all of us in our teens and twenties. I think I sort of just grew more and more into myself. I think I did small things that I. That helped me build confidence to feel like, you know, what actually, like, I can, you know, first. The first entrepreneurial thing I remember doing through my modeling career, I think it was. Can't remember what year. Maybe you'll remember Fashion's Night Out. Remember Vogue did that?

[Emma Grede]

Yes, of course.

[Karlie Kloss]

Maybe it was like it was after or around the sort of recession of 0708. And Vogue had this sort of initiative to sort of, I think, like, stimulate the New York shopping economy and, like, power to Anna for. For that. And they. I had always. Part of my, like, signature thing. I always did on all the Vogue shoots I would. And I was working, you know, again, long before Victoria's Secret. I was doing, like, endless amounts of Vogue shoots. And so I would always show up on set with, like, fresh homemade cookies, because that was my calling card, because I was, like, 17. I wasn't going to a club the night before a shoot. I was baking cookies.

[Emma Grede]

You weren't taking shots at the end of the shoot. So you were like, okay, here comes the goal with the cookies.

[Karlie Kloss]

So Grace Coddington at one point was like, carly, stop making cookies. Like, I'm gonna connect you with Christina Tosi from momofuka Milk bar. You guys can make, like, a special cookie and do something for fashions night out.

[Emma Grede]

So.

[Karlie Kloss]

And that was, you know, that sort of was my first foray into social entrepreneurship. We ended up starting that night and going on for a number of years selling Carly's cookies. And we raised enough money through the sales of these cookies to donate millions of school lunches through Feeding America and Feed the Feed program. And so that was sort of my first sort of foray into, oh, I can use my career as a way to do make impact in ways that are meaningful to me.

[Emma Grede]

You have so much power in everything that you were putting out into the world. And it seems like there's this moment that you all of a sudden say, okay, like, I get it. I understand my power, and I'm gonna do something else, and I'm gonna leverage it in a different way. And I think fast forwarding to Code with Klossie like that, for me, was the moment where I was like, oh, okay, one second. Because I can understand that you were, you know, like, to me, you know, the cookies felt like a little project, and it felt like it was an add on. And when I saw Code with Klossie, I was like, oh, this is really purposeful. This girl's on a mission to change things, and she's really using her power for good. So talk to me a little bit about Code with Klossie and how you even decided to get into tech, because it feels like that was just like you were really early in that space.

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, it's funny because there weren't a lot of sort of celebrity consumer brands, I think, being launched in the same way. Like, it was still early. Ish. And actually before even Code with Glossy, your Husband Jens and Eric, founders of Frame, of course, came to me. How did I forget this in Paris? I know, I like the whole. There was one other thing. One second. The frame was this 40 inch inseam. Jean called Karlie forever.

[Emma Grede]

I completely, first of all, I completely forgot about it. Maybe because when I got the product it was completely irrelevant.

[Karlie Kloss]

It was like your whole body.

[Emma Grede]

I could have made two pairs of jeans out of the one.

[Karlie Kloss]

It's true, I was very niche audience, but.

[Emma Grede]

No, it was niche, but there was a need, right? Because all of a sudden it was like, okay, we all know you for being incredibly tall. And that was a real moment. Like it was. You were like the model doing that thing. It was like your own collection. You had clearly had a lot of input in this thing. And it was like, okay, I'm going to do my own product.

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, thanks to Eric and Jens. And they really came to me and they were like just starting Frame. I remember it was sort of just kicking off and I remember we got a coffee together in Paris. I don't all the years run together. I wanna say maybe it's 2013ish and.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, that'll be about right.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah. And they were still running their creative agency and I was working with them on different photo shoots and campaigns through that. And so it was sort of this almost just like side project that was like, we're gonna tag it on to the end of the day, we're gonna shoot one extra image. It was like so bootstrapped. Yeah, everything was so bootstrapped. And I think that that was like such a fun, fun experimental phase, I think, in, in building anything. Like, I love that, that sort of startup era where you sort of just, there's nothing to lose. It was sort of like they had a great brand, they were making jeans and they were like, Carly, would you want to do like a tall girl? Jean? And I was like 100% even just for me to have selfishly like a.

[Emma Grede]

Couple pair of jeans. Can you just make me ten pairs? Yes, please.

[Karlie Kloss]

And I was blown away by even though it was niche, like hundreds of 6 foot 2 girls that I would run into everywhere that were like, Carly, this was the first time I ever was able to find jeans that fit me. And again, a niche thing. But it was sort of the first time that I was like, okay, this is a lived experience for me of like hard to find jeans that fit and used that to sort of build a small little business collab that was really authentic and fun. And so again, that was another little Boost of confidence. It was.

[Emma Grede]

And I remember it because it was really differentiated from what was happening, like, back then. We take these things for granted now, but it wasn't run of the mill at that time. I'm imagining that your agent would have done the deal for you. Did you have any part in that? Like, thinking, I usually get paid a big fat, you know, upfront fee, but this, that was different. Right. Because they were selling using your name, image and like this. Do you remember what the deal looked like or did you say, you know, your husband?

[Karlie Kloss]

Did you question the contract? I'm sure I remember it because I.

[Emma Grede]

Was the celebrity deal guru back then. And I was like, I'll do this deal for you guys.

[Karlie Kloss]

I called you and said, can you represent me? But I did. I remember I got like a license.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, you got like a royalty.

[Karlie Kloss]

I have royalty. Thank you. And so I remembered those checks, they were meaningful, or at least it was meaningful to me. It wasn't the biggest checks I'd ever received, but I was like, wow.

[Emma Grede]

Like, it's ongoing. I'm not on set.

[Karlie Kloss]

But it also felt like the people who are actually buying this, like, are like me. Like, it actually. It didn't feel. Cause at that point, I'd already done endless amounts of campaigns where I got paid the top dollar to sort of just show up and sell somebody else's brand product, whatever. And it wasn't. It wasn't personal. This was. I had gone to the factories in LA and like, helped, you know, sort of design the every aspect of it. The stitching, we put a K on the side, the little K stitch. And there was so much. And also, like, I felt so invested in sort of making great imagery and then also social media launch, and then also, like doing the sort of launch events and getting the right people there. Like, it was the first time again that I cutting my teeth and like building something using the power I had through my platform, through, you know, my sort of career and access as a model. But it was like, again, these. Sort of building this muscle and having fun with it and then seeing like that it actually touched people, you know.

[Emma Grede]

And making some money at the same.

[Karlie Kloss]

Time and making some money. That's never hurts.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, it never hurts. I want to talk to you a little bit about your relationship with money, because you obviously started making quite meaningful money much earlier than most of us were. When I was 15, I was making paper route money. Not the same.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yes. No, I. The only job I had before walking in that Calvin Klein show was babysitting for $6 an hour, which was top dollar at the time. And the house that I actually babysat in was just down the street from the house I grew up in. And I don't know, maybe five or six years ago, I actually bought that house. It was the biggest, most beautiful in the neighborhood. I bought that house for my parents.

[Emma Grede]

Wow, what a full circle.

[Karlie Kloss]

Very full circle.

[Emma Grede]

How baller did you feel then?

[Karlie Kloss]

It was pretty. It was pretty great.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I feel like when you get to the point where you can buy your mom a house, it's like, oh, yeah, I'm good, I'm done.

[Karlie Kloss]

But it's true. Money is. Money is. To me, it's always been independence, freedom, safety, you know, I think, yeah. Where did I begin? I mean, I. I was so aware.

[C]

I.

[Emma Grede]

How'd you grow up? Did you grow up with money?

[Karlie Kloss]

No, I grew up with very hardworking parents. My. I grew up in a small town in St. Louis suburb where everybody had the same amount of. It was like, we all. And everybody's really happy, like that was.

[Emma Grede]

But you didn't want for anything.

[Karlie Kloss]

I lacked for nothing. And also my father is a emergency room doctor. He was always sort of one of the most successful people in our town. You know, he was. We had four girls in our house, we had two cars. You know, it was like we lived a big life and I felt that. But also something I don't talk about a lot or I don't know if I've ever talked about, but I feel like I so appreciate the importance of financial freedom and the power of money. Because in 2007, around the exact same time that I started my career, my family had a really hard time in the recession and had made some investments in real estate, invested our entire sort of family nest egg, and it all disappeared.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, wow.

[Karlie Kloss]

And that's. As a freshman in high school, my family was trying to keep the roof over our head and I, as a 15 year old young model was able to help support my family and provide stability for my family. And that was sort of again, this motivating factor to. I didn't care about fashion, but it was a vehicle, a means to support my family and take care of my loved ones and create safety and stability. And I think that's where it's just like I've been acutely aware of how important to me that that is to have for myself.

[Emma Grede]

I love that and I can see that, how important that would have been because it's like when you come from that type of family that have raised you in that way that you feel so secure, you want to be able to help them. Right. And to be in the position when you're 15, it's so extraordinary that you'd even be there just to fast forward in thinking about your own family life. Because I think about this all. I'm raising kids in a very different way and in very different circumstances to how I was raised myself. And I wonder how you think about your own children and your relationship to money these days when you've made a lot of money, you're incredibly successful, you married a very successful man and, you know, you're raising three children not, not in a small town in Missouri anymore.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah, well, I am very intentional in the environment I'm raising them in though. I, above all, you know, listen, it's a new. It's a new experience for me. It's a new experience. I'm trying to do the best I can as I go, but I am very intentional about the environment around them that I create around them. Like I am their mom. I am extremely hands on. I don't like to have a lot of people. Like, I want my kids to be able to like tie their own shoes and put on their own clothes. Like I.

[Emma Grede]

That's the goal.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no, like, no one, no one.

[Emma Grede]

Indulging the M and M's out. No, no, no. Let's be serious.

[Karlie Kloss]

And also, you know, candidly, there is nothing more gratifying. Even though I would not wish what happened to our family or to, you know, that responsibility on me. I would not wish that on anyone. But I am so grateful for the gratification and satisfaction I have been able to experience in building for myself. Yes, I am so proud of the life, career, success I have built for myself. I am self made and that gives me such pride and confidence. And you know, I make investments for myself. There is such power to that that I want my kids to feel that.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, and I think your kids will feel that because you're modeling that for them, excuse the pun, every single day.

[Karlie Kloss]

Right.

[Emma Grede]

It's like I met your two sisters last night. And it's like, I think that when you have that type of family, that type of closeness and those type of, you know, roots to where you come from, like that comes through every day and that's what your kids are experiencing, right? They get the other side, but they also see that of you. And it's like you are going out and creating this incredible path for yourself every single day.

[Karlie Kloss]

And I think that's it. It's like, there's things that we can't control that our kids are gonna, you know, be exposed to or experience. But, like, there's a lot that we can control and I think the intentionality. So any advice you have, please, I'm all yours. Like, we're. We're kind of figuring this out in real time.

[Emma Grede]

Well, I bring mine with me, you know, that's it. Well, my big secret is that I, you know, I like, I think it becomes really abstract for them, right. I try to bring them into the office, and I have that type of office where I can do that. And so my kids actually getting to see, like, this is what mummy does for work. Like, she's here just contextualizing it for them somehow. They start to think about you in a very, very different way. You're not just their mom that does all of these things that they need. Like, they're a need. Like other people need something from requirement of you in other places. And I think they start to, like, you know, yours are really little, but mine at 11 and 8 and not the babies who are 3. But they've started to get an idea that I have other ambitions and there are other needs that have to be satisfied and other people that need me outside of them. And I think it's actually been a really useful thing.

[Karlie Kloss]

I'm gonna clock that for future cause.

[Emma Grede]

I take your kids to work there.

[Karlie Kloss]

Take the kids to work. No, I think that's such sage advice and I can relate to that. And I think Josh certainly as well, he has so many stories of. He was like, you know, working cleaning up trash and working on construction sites and joining his dad at meetings early on. And I even went to. I mean, this was probably highly illegal, but there was like a take your daughter to work day. And my dad worked in the emergency room, so there's extreme trauma and people. And I'm in a lab coat at like 13 years old. Totally should not have been there. And I loved it. And I loved seeing my dad in that light. And sort of like, you know, like, when somebody. When you love what you do, like your kids see that, they see it.

[Emma Grede]

And they admire it.

[Karlie Kloss]

And that is something to aspire to, that feeling, no matter what it is that you do. The way that you feel when you do it, I see it for you.

[Emma Grede]

Totally.

[Karlie Kloss]

It gives you energy. And by the way, I know it in myself when I am feeling that energy and when I'm not. And so I think what I really tried to do is tap into, like, what are the things that are not giving me that energy and that sort of state of flow and eliminating those things from my life or as much as I can.

[Emma Grede]

I think that's so sensible because I do think you get to a point, especially when you start work at such a young age and you have a little bit of success, you get swept up by it. And I think if we're honest at any one point, there becomes a point in your career when you're like, wow, I'm doing a bunch of things that actually no longer serve me. And I try to make a point of every, I don't know, I feel like every year I'm like, okay, what am I? What has now taken hold of me that I don't need anymore? And just going like, I don't need that I need to just shed as opposed to just like, you know, because you get to the point where you're like, am I just doing a bunch of things that I no longer want to be doing?

[Karlie Kloss]

And I think that's so important to always stay take stock. And I.

[Emma Grede]

Especially when you're a parent, right? Because you're sacrificing, you're giving your time somewhere else and it better bloody be worth it.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yes. And I think I'm sort of almost even evaluating again, it's only just hitting me that this is third baby will be here soon enough that I'm like, okay, what are the things that kind of no longer serve me?

[Emma Grede]

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[C]

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[Emma Grede]

When I think about Code with Glossy, I really mean it. When you started that back in 2015, I was like, wow, like what a bold move. There's so few women in tech. We all know the kind of abysmal stats and as you start to think about AI and how few women are actually engaged in AI at the moment, what you're doing for me feels even more relevant. So where are you? Because you've been doing this for a really long time. We're talking about 10 years and that's such a common commitment to the cause. But you've also probably had like some results I'm thinking by now, so I'd love you to share.

[Karlie Kloss]

I'm so proud of our scholars.

[Emma Grede]

You should be so proud of it.

[Karlie Kloss]

It's pretty surreal. I mean Emma, I would have never imagined that it would grow into what it is today. And I didn't really think about it, I guess all that much.

[Emma Grede]

How did you start it? Talk to me from the beginning again.

[Karlie Kloss]

Sort of that period of when I was wanted to kind of again evolve my life and let go of some things and I went back to school and I walked away from Victoria's Secret and I was really kind of soul searching of like what actually does feel meaningful to me, what is intellectually stimulating and also sort of a moment. I mean this is around 20, I guess at this point, 2014. And I. I had again felt this sort of responsibility, an opportunity with so many young women following me on social media. And I felt like I needed to do more with that or I wanted to do more. It was an opportunity to actually, like, be impactful. So I didn't want to fully walk away from my fashion career because that was part of the power that gave me that sort of.

[Emma Grede]

Well, that was your inevitable, right? Absolutely.

[Karlie Kloss]

So it's like, how do I stay one foot in this world, but use it in a more meaningful way? At least to me. And that's when I went back to school. I went back to this coding bootcamp called the Flatiron School. It was like a deep intensive in the sort of front end and back end of tech, both software, hardware.

[Emma Grede]

Just give me an idea. Like, what did you know at that point? Did you know beyond, like, using a phone and a laptop like the rest of us? Did you have, like, an engineering background? Did you know someone who was a coder?

[Karlie Kloss]

Not at all, no. The only thing I knew, so I didn't. Went to a great public school. There was no comp sci. You know, we had, thank goodness, a financial literacy class, which was ahead of its time. But we did not have computer science. It was still early, so I had had no exposure. But what I had had was by way of Josh, certainly, and all the entrepreneurs I met through him. And I was meeting, you know, Kevin Systrom was one of the co founders of Instagram, and he was, you know, a friend of mine.

[Emma Grede]

I forget that. I mean, he was by association with Josh. You are often around some of the best entrepreneurs of our time. So you were hearing conversations?

[Karlie Kloss]

No, no, I was deeply knowing these people.

[Emma Grede]

I'm like, amazing.

[Karlie Kloss]

You know, me, Emma, I'm in it.

[Emma Grede]

She's like, I'm going to that meeting. I'm coming to that dinner.

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, yeah, I know all the portfolio companies. Like, I know things. So I'm like, I met. You know, Kevin was a good friend. And it sort of clicked for me, okay, Instagram, which has transformed my job as a model and certainly the fashion industry and many other industries, you know, he started with an idea, and he not only had this sort of business idea, but actually more than even a business idea, he just. He knew how to code. He had this secret skill set of this fancy language that only certain. At the time, it felt extremely, sort of out of access to anyone outside of Silicon Valley.

[Emma Grede]

Totally.

[Karlie Kloss]

It was this intellectual thing that only certain. Primarily men.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. If you knew, you knew. And if you didn't you were left out and left behind.

[Karlie Kloss]

Exactly. And this was sort of still like earlyish days and in a lot of sort of tech platforms. And so I was really fascinated by that. And I also loved sort of the challenge of that, I think maybe because I'm one of four daughters and I have this like, sort of competitive drive of like, whatever the boys can do, we can do, I can do it.

[Emma Grede]

About four daughters on the four daughter thing too. It really does something to you.

[Karlie Kloss]

It does, it does. And so I think that, like, I felt like, all right, first of all, how amazing that one person can build an idea that can transform the world, actually. And then not only that, but that one person is able to do that because they know this skill set. So what is this skill set and why do more people not know it? And so I just started very simply with taking a three month course at the Flatiron School. And I was one of the only sort of women in the school. And there were a few, but definitely not enough. And I was really blown away by sort of just the basic anatomy of how a computer works. It was almost like the anatomy of the hard drive and all of the sort of machinery. It was like a body. It's like you have the heart, you have the brain, you have the veins that connect everything. So it sort of demystified the hardware and then the software component too of like front end and back end of how to build a website, like pretty basic, but it was like very. Just sort of eye opening of like once you can get past the sort of bulky, awkward or the abstract nature of like code and syntax. But it's like learning, I would imagine, Latin or another language. You know, I learned French, but like, it's like learning a language. And that was sort of, again, another, I think, moment of confidence boost that I was like, you know, what if I can learn this? Like, anyone can learn this.

[Emma Grede]

And was your idea at that point. Like, I'm gonna start a business. I'm gonna be like one of these founders that I'm meeting.

[Karlie Kloss]

My idea at the point was, how do I get more girls to realize how powerful this is?

[Emma Grede]

Like right at the beginning, that's how you felt?

[Karlie Kloss]

That's how I felt at the beginning. It was a very clear, like, oh, shit, this is very powerful and it's not impossible to learn.

[Emma Grede]

This is the future and there aren't many women that are part of it.

[Karlie Kloss]

This was 2015 and I put out on my social media at the time a very modest sort of scholarship program. I was underwriting for 21 girls to experience the same sort of coding bootcamp that I went to.

[Emma Grede]

I love that about you, Carly, because I feel like even at that point, you were so young. It's such an interesting thing that that's, you know, because again, I'm very opportunistic. I could have probably gone to that class and been like, I'm going to figure out how to build a website and I'm going to take all this information for myself. But even at that point, you're sitting there going, I've had this incredible experience. There's very few women involved, and I'm going to take what I've earned and put 21 kids through the same course.

[Karlie Kloss]

I think it's because I'm from a big family. That's just what you do. You like, you share, you share the love, you share the love. And I've always been that way. I love to share things I'm discovering or experiencing. So it just was innate. I didn't overthink it. I definitely did not change.

[Emma Grede]

Do you remember how much it cost you each?

[Karlie Kloss]

Good question. I think the whole thing maybe was like, maybe it was a $50,000 donation.

[Emma Grede]

Maybe it was meaningful.

[Karlie Kloss]

Meaningful.

[Emma Grede]

It's not so meaningful donation, for sure. Nothing.

[Karlie Kloss]

But I was so excited to sort of support the school. And I did not think in that moment I was starting an education nonprofit.

[Emma Grede]

I'm gonna help a couple of girls out. I'm gonna do a good deed.

[Karlie Kloss]

Emma, when I tell you the response we had to those 21 scholarship slots. Thousands, really thousands of young women around the world and actually people, women, men of all ages. And the scholarship specifically was 13 to 18 year old young women in our programs that we wanted to sort of teach these skills. And that's the way the program was designed. But it sort of really was a moment where I was like, oh, wow, there's a disconnect here of the enormous opportunity in these spaces and the lack of access to them. And maybe I should have built a for profit business at that time around it. But I was like, let me just help connect these dots.

[Emma Grede]

And how did you decide who would get into the program? Because I love that it was like, it's really for kids, right? It's 13 to 18. So how did you even piece that together? Cause I think so many people that listen to this show particularly love the idea of starting a business or having a pivot. And I feel like you've done so much of that throughout your career, and it really seems to have come from a really genuine place. But there's also a reality of that, right? You get thousands of submissions coming through Instagram now. What did you do to organize yourself?

[Karlie Kloss]

It was so bootstrapped for a very long time. We really sort of piecemealed it. At the time, I had nobody helping me. I didn't have an assistant, I had nothing. So the founder of the school and I sort of went through a lot of applications and the school really at the time was helpful in operating that first year.

[Emma Grede]

Right?

[Karlie Kloss]

And we, I mean, it was hard to choose. And it is hard to choose because.

[Emma Grede]

You know, there's so much need out there.

[Karlie Kloss]

There's so much need. But so what, this is where it's like, I'm so proud to tell you, this summer, for instance, we're going through applications right now. We will have 3,000 scholarships. No, this summer alone, we will have 3,000 scholarships for young women around the world.

[Emma Grede]

How many women have been through the program?

[Karlie Kloss]

So this is the crazy thing. So from 2015 until now, we have more. Had more than 11,000 young women in our programs around the world. So it started 21 scholarships. The next year was 75. The next year was 150. And then I think the next year was 1,000. And that's so impressive.

[Emma Grede]

What are those women going on to do? Like, do you, do you keep in touch? Do you have any idea what type of careers and opportunities they're getting? That's kind of, I guess because the interest starts here, right? If you're a 13 year old taking this, it's like your interest is piqued, you have some skills and you're like, okay, what's next?

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, the stories. I could sit here and tell you forever, but I'll tell you like some statistics to sort of ground the community. So the community of 11,000 young women around the world, those who go on to college or in college now, 70% of them major or minor in computer science. Wow, 70%. Compare that to 4% of women in America graduating with computer science degrees. So 70% of our alumni are sort of go through our program and realize the enormous sort of opportunity. Not just in tech. Candidly, if you want to start a business like yours, if you want to.

[Emma Grede]

Go into, you need to, you need an understanding.

[Karlie Kloss]

There's a baseline entrepreneurship into, you know, climate change, into mental health areas, into medical fields like technical literacy is invaluable, especially when you talk about things like AI, like the evolving world we're living in. I mean, by the way, the entire world will need to be reskilled as, as AI is transforming.

[Emma Grede]

But that's also impressive because you're single handedly creating the pipeline women that are going to have the skills for the next generation of opportunity that's coming up. And I think it's just so much the, the kind of cost of entry is just so different when you're a woman. The understanding and how we learn is so different. So I find it so impressive that you're doing this and you've been doing it for so long. You were really early.

[Karlie Kloss]

Thank you. Well, no statistics show, I mean women are, are slower to adopt and adapt to AI and implementing that in their daily lives. Even just today with ChatGPT and the incredible tools that exist. And so, you know, I think what just again, to kind of go back to our community, 11,080% identify as people of color. 40% would qualify for free and reduced lunch programs. Also another 70% of our alumni are over 18. So yes, our programs kind of reach this young teenage high school student before they've decided what they want to be in the world or what doors they think might be open or closed to them. And I think that is a huge part of why this is so impactful, because we reach them at such a young age. But we're ten years into this. So we have scholars that are into their mid to late 20s and they're in the workplace and they are deeply still connected to us. And that is the sort of next evolution of the role that we play at code with Colosse is how we continue to support them along the pipeline so that we keep them in these spaces because that is critical as well. And you know this, I mean there's an enormous amount of sort of, of I think drop off of women in that sort of broken rung era of sort of that first promotion to management. And so how to continue to support our scholars and our community in the spaces that they go on to as leaders. And it's far just beyond the role that we play initially is sort of introducing them to computer science skills. We have AI machine learning, we have web dev, mobile app development and data science. We take our curriculum very seriously. We build custom curricula, we train hundreds of teachers around the world. We have a very robust program in how we run our operation and I'm so proud of that. But what we're doing now is really thinking about thousands of young women who are our alumni, who we're growing with as they're growing, and how to continue to sort of equip them with sort of 21st century leadership skills. I don't even like to say like soft skills. It's like.

[Emma Grede]

No, but it's leadership skills.

[Karlie Kloss]

It's just the modern day leadership skills.

[Emma Grede]

But it's impressive to me because I feel like the idea that you've been doing this for so long and you're actually thinking about the next evolution of it and I imagine that through that journey and supporting so many women, because you also, obviously you're an investor and you have a fund and you're investing in a lot of women, but it's kind of like there's like these kind of parallel tracks in what you do, right? It's like you start really young, you're actually putting your money where your mouth is when it comes to supporting females in business and, you know, closing that gap and making sure that there's this pipeline of incredible talent that can go and lead some of these female founded businesses is gonna be really important. So what I'm just trying to understand, is there a link between code with Klossie and what you're doing as you think about supporting female founders, do you think about it as almost like one of the same Cause you've got your mission is like to me becoming so, so crystallized and so clear in terms of what you care about and where you're putting your energy.

[Karlie Kloss]

Thank you. I think it's just innately just the way that I think and the kind of things I care about. It's not some sort of master plan. It all sort of has evolved organically. And it's funny, I started angel investing long before it was like a trendy thing to do. You know, again, this sort of, I think like you, you know, you and I, I think very much share this sort of early entrepreneurial bug of like always thinking about how to problem solve in a sustainable way. And to me that's what entrepreneurship is. It's like, how can I identify a problem and build a sustainable solution that that can be like a viable business and better for the planet? And I think that's the framework that I've always looked at. The kind of companies I want to invest in and think I companies is not even the people I want to invest in, the ideas I want to invest in. And that has always been the framework of what I put money behind. I mean, I think I was 20 years old when I put my first angel check into and that was not even like a term that I was aware of. I just one of the first two women that I wrote a check to was they started this company called Lola A sort of direct to consumer. I remember it Care for the planet.

[Emma Grede]

Tampons and sanitary products.

[Karlie Kloss]

Exactly. And that was sort of one of the first moments where I really exercised my power of having money and being able to sort of support an idea that I felt like was better for the world and better for me as a consumer.

[Emma Grede]

There is this mentality that everyone should be a founder and you instead. I mean because arguably you have started a lot of things but it's interesting that you decided I'm going to take my money and put it into other founders. I'm going to empower other people to do that are being able to execute these businesses. What do you think that you've learned from investing in women? Particularly, what do you think you've learned about starting businesses and running businesses that's.

[Karlie Kloss]

Been useful so much? 1. I mean women just get shit done. So I like love to invest in women.

[Emma Grede]

But also do you exclusively invest in women?

[Karlie Kloss]

No, no, no. Definitely not. I've invested in Kalifa Farms, Almond Mil and so many other consumer products tech platforms. Definitely some male founded businesses too. But there's a couple other businesses that come to mind that I love. I mean two more since I've entered motherhood. One is called Bobby, another is Kotori. You know that feeling when someone shows.

[Emma Grede]

Up for you just when you need it?

[Karlie Kloss]

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[Emma Grede]

You know, I think what I realized so much about you Karlie, is that you're such a principled woman. Right. It's like you really lead with your heart. But I feel like your background, where you come from, your principles are so really like incredibly clear. And I think it's interesting because I think for myself the way I do business, the way I go about my everyday is really based on these things that guide me. Right. It's like the things that made me. Yeah. And it really is, it's embedded into every decision I make. And so when you think about your principles and what guides you and guides what you want to do, they're like a set of things that you're thinking about. Because there's clearly no accident when I look at your portfolio of brands, you know, it really is all about, you know, female investors. It's about things that make sense for mums or the environment. But you know, inherently good brands that are doing good for the world, that must have been purposeful for you.

[Karlie Kloss]

For sure. I've always thought any and this was long before I had my a lot of money, power, privilege, platform or big voice. But all of those to me have been vehicles that I have wanted to use to drive, impact or push the world toward the direction I hope it goes. You know, and I think that for me, I care so deeply about, you know, access to opportunity. My life has been transformed because of access to opportunity that I had. And that was because of something in a lot of ways I didn't have control over. I was a tall, skinny girl at the right place at the right time. I, that I couldn't control and a lot of things my fate, you know, I, I, I hated that I couldn't control my success based on that. A young woman learning how to code, who works, who pours herself into learning anything by the way, like that is a skill set that can create, open any door you want and, and create a life and a career for yourself. And to me, that's what I like. I have lived in my experience how transformative it can be when you have access to an opportunity and when you take that and run with it. So I have always wanted to use any power, platform, privilege, voice I have to help create access to opportunity. Because even if it's just one person that would be meaningful to me.

[Emma Grede]

You have been incredibly vocal about your views on reproductive freedom and what's happening. And of course last night you and I co hosted a dinner. I know that this is a cause that's really close to your Heart. I don't know that I've ever had the conversation in the way that we had it last night. Not just because of the experience and the expertise that you brought around the table, but just the level of honesty and the sheer feeling of the kind of relentless attack that I think is happening right now. And I'm just very interested at why you would weigh in on such a contentious issue. Now I know that I feel all women should feel as passionate as we do, but I do think that when you're as high profile as you are, it's a choice to speak about it or not. And I just would love to ask you that question of why you've come into this issue so heavily in the way that you have.

[Karlie Kloss]

To me, it's healthcare. It's not. Shouldn't be a contentious conversation. It should be a basic human right of access to healthcare if and when someone needs it and chooses it. If you don't believe in it, you don't want it, you don't need to.

[Emma Grede]

Choose it, don't have one.

[Karlie Kloss]

But health issues don't discriminate. You know, I'm sitting here five months pregnant and there's a lot that I feel very vulnerable to that. Like, you know, sometimes, God forbid, something might happen that I can't control. And in that moment I would hope that there is access to life saving care, to vital care. And unfortunately, the reality is in many states across this country, there is not. And 25 million women of reproductive age in America are living in a state with some type of abortion ban. And to me, that is, that is infuriating, that is devastating because the implications of that are very real and are being played out in real time. And to me, that's not politics, this is life we're talking about. And I think this sort of inequitable access, it's like for me, I can get on an airplane and leave whatever state I'm in to access the best medical care in New York or in California. But a lot of women don't have that, that privilege or that time. And I think there's so much statistics I could sit here and tell you about sort of the misinformation and misconceptions I think around this too. I mean, an overwhelming majority of abortions happen before 13 weeks. Overwhelming majority are already mothers who are seeking this care. This is not a light decision. And to me, it doesn't matter how or why somebody's coming to that decision. It is a healthy health service that people deserve to have if they need it. And to Me, it's really infuriating. You know, I'm from Missouri. All my sisters, neighbors, friends, family, like many which live back home and are. You know, Missouri is actually a state where we fought very hard over the last year to pat. Not only pass the ballot initiative, but just get it on the ballot.

[Emma Grede]

Right.

[Karlie Kloss]

You wouldn't even believe. And. But we passed it. It was the first state to ever go from a complete abortion ban to Roe standards to sort of. It was. It's. And. But it's still being contested. It's still been held up in the court cases. And now, you know, there's threats that they're gonna try and repeal it. So it's. This is. I mean, imagine if you poured that energy into more productive places of actually helping people.

[Emma Grede]

Imagine.

[Karlie Kloss]

And to me, all I hope to do is, with any power, privilege, platform or voice or vote that I have, is do what I can to help others access care if they need it, and support the care providers who are risking their lives every single day to do this work. And, you know, I think maybe because my dad's a doctor, like, I underst. No one is. You know, the people who are doing this are doing this because they. They know that it is. How critical it is. And I just want to do whatever I can to support that work.

[Emma Grede]

Well, I'm so unbelievably grateful to you for keeping the conversation going, but also for continuing to really educate people because I really believe so strongly that there is so much misinformation out there and so much that we are kind of being fed that is just completely incorrect. And so it's really, really important that we don't just think about this as something that has happened to us. And it's a fight, and it's a reason for, I think, so many women to be energized around a cause that affects us all. So I'm actually just so incredibly grateful, not just to you raising the awareness, but also, as usual, Karlie Klass, putting your money where your mouth is. So kudos to you. One thing that I'm totally fascinated about, and I really must ask you about it, because you've recently acquired. And I love this.

[Karlie Kloss]

We haven't even talked about it.

[Emma Grede]

Acquired. Because it just makes me so, so happy for you. But you are one of very few women that is really, like, in the publishing space. You acquired I D magazine. You acquired Life magazine. I think you're part of a consortium of people that acquired W as well. Is that right? And it just is so interesting to me. Cause I'm like, why? The rest of the world is like, magazines are dead. We're all moving on. All of the sudden, Karlie Kloss is like, I'm gonna start a publishing empire, which is also a very, very, very male dominated space. Is there like a big grand plan? What about, like, why?

[Karlie Kloss]

Totally why?

[Emma Grede]

And what are you doing? First of all, I'm like, there's no one who likes magazines more than me. I will tell you right now, the minute people started shutting down magazines, I was like crying and mourning everyone. So I feel like this is such an interesting space for you to be getting into.

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, I definitely feel like the person that's running into the burning building that everybody else is running out of, but I actually do think, like, call me crazy, but I also think that's where the sort of some interesting opportunities emerge. And I think that is, it is a moment of evolution. Absolutely. In the business model of media. And to me, what is very hard to do is build a brand from the ground up. Which is why I have tremendous respect for all that you've built.

[Emma Grede]

You're right.

[Karlie Kloss]

And to me, what I saw with ID and certainly with Life and W, is that they are, these are brands, these are storied brands. They have archival history, they mean things to people, what they stand for, what the role they, they've played in sort of pop culture or culture. And to me, that is a very hard thing to manufacture or build from the ground up. And so I think when I saw this sort of distressed opportunity with ID Vice going through bankruptcy, you know, one, I mean, we both know and love Edward Eningfull dearly. I mean, ID was one of the first editorials I did. And I mean, I grew up like.

[Emma Grede]

Reading that magazine, buying that magazine, obsessing, like obsessing over the covers. And the first 20 pages of that magazine would be like eating like a culture soup. You'd be like, what do I need to wear? What do I need to buy? Where do I need to go? It was so rich with information in a time when information wasn't so easy to come by. But such specificity. You were like, I'm gonna be cooled by virtue of reading this. So I think that you're absolutely right.

[Karlie Kloss]

Your mind and eyes to new ideas and new different ways of thinking and dressing and people. And to me, that's what, you know, ideas so uniquely sort of had this place in sort of youth culture, certainly in the UK scene and in the fashion scene. But beyond, you know, I think that's like, you know, it's such a sort of storied platform. Also in music, so many musicians have sort of had that.

[Emma Grede]

What are you gonna do with it? This is what I need to know. What do you doing? I'm so nosy.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah, no, no, well, to me the opportunity is to sort of like reimagine the business that can be built around that. And we've, you know, it's been. I've learned so much. I mean, let me tell you, it's only been maybe a year and a half since I. Or less than you. A year and change since I acquired id. And we've fully rebuilt the engine inside. You know, we rebuilt. We bought it out of bankruptcy. So effectively like had to build from the ground up the site, the sort of cms, the back of house, the editorial team too.

[Emma Grede]

Did you have to rebuild that?

[Karlie Kloss]

Yes, there was a lot of sort of evolution across all aspects of the business. But to me what the opportunity is and what we're really focused on doing is sort of preserving and protecting the DNA of what it always was, but reaching young people today where they are, which is of course across the digital mediums. You know, print is one spoke of what we do. I think print deserves to live on. But there's a lot smarter ways you can manufacture and distribute your print. So you're not printing a lot of magazines and then they're getting ultimately pulped, which is a sad truth about the publishing. Sad, true world.

[Emma Grede]

So were you really thinking about these brands in a much more 360 way? You're thinking through the event lens experience.

[Karlie Kloss]

To me it's like, you know, that is the opportunity to sort of build more than just a content business. You know, of course there's. And that's still a meaningful business. You know, I think like we consume more content and information than ever. But I think the way in which you can actually leverage that, to me I think of three different sort of audiences that matter deeply. One is our audience like consumer, like readers, young people, people of all ages around the world who want to read our content. Content talent and then our brand partners. And there's ways to sort of like create a better, better way to sort of serve all parties because they all play into each other. Like it is not really serving a brand partner like an advertiser to buy a page in a print magazine anymore. Like that is. There's. There's a.

[Emma Grede]

Well, it's one dimensional, right? It's like yeah, it's not one way of sticking.

[Karlie Kloss]

But actually what's more interesting is like. And Especially I've seen this. This post pandemic is experiential and these sort of moments that people are craving and brands find far more sort of meaningful. And so to me, it's like, how do we sort of think first principles about the business that can be built around these brands? Again, ideas very much sort of this youth culture, music, fashion, sort of street culture, like irreverence. And I think like, there's so much that that sort of were building within that world. W is incredible. It has an incredible editor in chief ceremony.

[Emma Grede]

And then life like. And then life was like to me, like, I got it. I was like, you know, fashion wid. And then I was like, whoop, skeetskirt around the corner life. That was like genius to me.

[Karlie Kloss]

That was really all Josh.

[Emma Grede]

Like, that's like, oh, really?

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah, yeah.

[Emma Grede]

It's like an American icon and it's.

[Karlie Kloss]

Been asleep, it's been dormant for, I mean, out of print more than 20 years. And so that we're deep in sort of the sort of underground phase of building the team around and relaunching.

[Emma Grede]

And you're working with your husband and.

[Karlie Kloss]

That is the first time Josh and I have ever really worked together. I mean, you tell me you work with your husband all day, every day. This is the first time that we are working together.

[Emma Grede]

Well, I look at that as like possibly a partnership made in heaven because knowing the both of you, you both have very, very different skills and yet intrinsically the same value. So to me, it's like, I'll bet on that partnership, let me tell you.

[Karlie Kloss]

Well, stay tuned. I mean, I definitely am excited to have that sort of come to life, no pun intended, at the right time, but I think that it was always built on this sort of deep sense of values. Stay tuned. I will keep you posted.

[Emma Grede]

I will be watching this space. You have no idea. I wonder if there have been times. I mean, I don't know what fool would do this, but do you feel like you've ever been underestimated because you sit as. As you sit and talk right now. I mean, you are beyond impressive. Like, what you're doing has so much gravitas, so much meaning, but there's so much heart in it. And I really admire someone that's able to fuse all of those things and be thinking about sort of, you know, breathing life into these, like, new brands and creating completely new businesses that don't exist. And so I certainly wouldn't be one of the people. But have you been underestimated in the.

[Karlie Kloss]

More times I Mean, all the time still, of course, all the time. Today, you know, I think I have definitely evolved. I think. I think I. Growing up from being a young woman in the public eye, starting a career in a very public way. I think I used to put so much more weight on the way that I was perceived. More weight on those judgments, those point of views of others, to sort of assess how I felt about myself based on how everybody else felt. And I think that with time, age, wisdom, and I think certainly motherhood, I genuinely don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about me.

[Emma Grede]

It's kind of hard to get you to say that, but I'm so glad you did.

[Karlie Kloss]

You heard it.

[Emma Grede]

You have to give zero fucks because all of the things you're doing. Why would you. It's really, really unbelievable. What kind of lessons do you like? I just feel like you're clearly kind of out here doing what you need to do on your own terms, and I think it's so difficult for so many people to reach that point where they. Where they feel like they get there and that that's a choice for them. So I just wonder, what, over the last 15 years of you being, you know, out here, walking the walk, talking the talk, getting to this point in your career, what have you learned?

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, my God, I've learned so much. I think I've learned to trust myself, to trust my instinct, to trust my sort of just my own voice. I think I. Again, always, because I started so young, I had a lot of sort of like, chaperones or agents or people sort of coddling me or telling me what I was supposed to be or do. And I think finally, actually just trusting my own voice, my own gut response to things that has. When I don't listen to that, then I go wrong.

[Emma Grede]

Yes.

[Karlie Kloss]

And I think that's where it's just like, I'd rather make a mistake based on, like, my own choice, as opposed to not trusting myself, listening to somebody else and ultimately making that same mistake. Like, I'd rather just own it myself.

[Emma Grede]

I love that. It's a really solid piece of advice. I have a little rapid fire for you now, my darling.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah, I love it.

[Emma Grede]

All right. Okay. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

[Karlie Kloss]

Check my nanit for my kids. Or check on my kids, run into their room. Or if I'm on the other side of the country, like today, like, check on my kids, call home.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, I love that.

[Karlie Kloss]

And then coffee.

[Emma Grede]

Short coffee. And then coffee.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, I think that's a good one. The last thing you do before you.

[Karlie Kloss]

Go to bed, I make sure to set, like, three alarms because I'm a solid sleeper.

[Emma Grede]

What are you currently aspiring for in your business life? Hmm.

[Karlie Kloss]

I think to continue to keep growing as a leader. I feel like I say this to Josh all the time. I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing. And he's like, carly, nobody does. And it. So that's helpful. But I think just to continue to sort of grow as a leader, as a boss, as a manager, as a person, and better sort of, I think, work smarter, not just harder.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. What are you aspiring for in your personal life?

[Karlie Kloss]

Working smarter, not just harder, to sort of free up more space and time. And. Yeah, I. I think just like, I have really tried to be as present in this moment because it does ghost. It is going so quick. My son. You see this? You have. You're. You're 8 and 11, right? That is like, they might as well be in college.

[Emma Grede]

They might as well be in college. That's how I feel. They literally might as well be in college.

[Karlie Kloss]

Gosh, time is moving so fast. So just be as present in this moment as possible.

[Emma Grede]

No, I feel like that that's just a great point of view for anyone with kids or without kids, be present. What is a book that's changed your life?

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, my gosh. Well, I always love reading the Alchemist. I most recently just read my friend Amy Griffin's book the Tell, which was deeply moving.

[Emma Grede]

Deeply, deeply. That's one that everyone should read. I can highly recommend it. Yes, Fantastic. Like, gut wrenching, but also a must read, I would say. What's something that you value now that you didn't back then?

[Karlie Kloss]

I think, you know, I was always so professional back then, but I think I. I don't know. I guess I wasn't always. I was. I was always on time, but I now really appreciate how that is a very important thing. But I was always very professional. But now I'm on time.

[Emma Grede]

Now you're on time.

[Karlie Kloss]

Yes, I.

[Emma Grede]

Look, time becomes very precious.

[Karlie Kloss]

Oh, my God.

[Emma Grede]

Yes, it does. The older we get, the older we get. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for the. For the chats and the honesty and. And honestly. I'm like, I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud of you. I'm so, like. I'm like Team Carly all the way. I'm like, yes, you're amazing. Everything you're doing is so, so unbelievably impressive. Good for you, babe.

[Karlie Kloss]

It means the world coming from you. Emma, I so I love you, I appreciate you, I admire you. I aspire to be the woman that you are and that you know your four children. My God, I need all your lessons. But thank you for having me and and just the light you are in the world and you are such an inspiration for me and for so many. So thank you.

[Emma Grede]

You're a darling.

[Karlie Kloss]

Love you.

[Emma Grede]

If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click Follow on your favorite listening platform. While you're there, give us a review and a five star rating and share an episode you loved with a friend who'd be so grateful. Aspire with Em Agreed is presented by Audacy. I'm your host, Emma Greed. Our executive producers are Corrine Gilliatt Fisher, Derek Brown and me. Our executive producers from Audacy are Maddy Sprung Keyser, Leah Reese, Dennis, Arsha Salouja and Jenna Weiss Berman. Justine Dom is our senior producer. Our producer is Kristin Torres. 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 Agarthy. Social media by Olivia Homan. Special thanks go to Brittany Smith, Sydney Ford, My teams at Jonesworks and wne Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson, Rose, Tim Meikol, Sean Cherry and Lauren Vieira. If you have questions for me, you could DM me at Aspire with Emma Greed. Greed is spelled G r E D e. That's Aspire A S P I r e with Emma Greed. Or you can submit a question to me on my website. Emagreed me.