The Five Lessons That Shook Me This Year

Summary

Aspire with Emma Grede

Episode: The Five Lessons That Shook Me This Year

Date: December 16, 2025

Overview of the Episode

In this special solo episode, host Emma Grede reflects on the five most transformative lessons she’s learned in the past year through her podcast conversations with some of the world’s most influential thinkers and doers. Emma revisits pivotal moments of advice and candid stories from guests including Mark Cuban, Michelle Obama, Mellody Hobson, Reese Witherspoon, and her own husband Jens, extracting the wisdom that helped reshape her routines, mindset, and approach to business and life. This episode is both a tribute and a practical guide, delivering Emma’s personal takeaways on resilience, ambition, money, wellbeing, and self-acceptance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nonnegotiable in Entrepreneurship: “Sales Cures All”

Featuring: Mark Cuban
Segment Begins: [04:59]

• Emma’s Reflection: Mark Cuban’s brutally straightforward advice stands out as the ultimate business truth: sales are the foundation of any company, no matter how brilliant your ideas or marketing.
• Notable Quote:
  • Mark Cuban [04:59]: “Sales cures all.”
  • Emma Grede [05:03]: “No sales, no company. That’s it.”
  • Mark Cuban [05:04]: “No exceptions.”
• Key Points:
  • The most crucial trait for entrepreneurs is learning to sell.
  • Fear of rejection (“the word no”) is what holds most people back.
    • Mark Cuban [05:38]: “People don’t like to be told no... Every no gets you closer to a yes.”
  • Self-awareness is vital—many founders don’t read the signs of failure when sales don’t materialize.
  • Mark shares failing stories, e.g., his unsuccessful powdered milk company, illustrating the need to recognize when to quit and that failure is part of entrepreneurship.

2. Life is Chapters—Embrace the Seasons of Your Growth

Featuring: Michelle Obama
Segment Begins: [11:30]

• Emma’s Reflection: Michelle’s perspective on life as a series of chapters brought Emma massive relief as an ambitious person often frustrated by pacing and setbacks.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Michelle Obama [11:30]: “It’s impossible to have it all, so stop with that... You can have it all over a period of time, but this impatience... you can’t do all of that.”
  • Michelle Obama [13:11]: “There was a little resentment, but I was happy because I love my girls and I love the time that I spent with them... It gave me balance that I needed at that time.”
  • Michelle Obama [14:08]: “You don’t have to stop... I negotiated flexibility for myself.”
• Key Points:
  • Life unfolds in seasons; it’s okay to pause, to focus on family, or step back career-wise at times.
  • Trade-offs and sacrifices are inevitable; women should not feel guilt for not “having it all” simultaneously.
  • Michelle advocates negotiating for what you want and not parenting from guilt.
  • Growth isn’t linear; every chapter has value, and you won’t “miss out” by stepping back or slowing down.

3. The Difference Between Good and Great: Urgency & Caring More

Featuring: Mellody Hobson
Segment Begins: [22:45]

• Emma’s Reflection: Mellody Hobson’s insistence on a sense of urgency and deep care as keys to high achievement was a “game-changing” distillation of what it takes to stand out.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Mellody Hobson [24:04]: “You must, and I mean this with serious intensity... care a lot and have a sense of urgency. You have to want to be great.”
  • Mellody Hobson [24:42]: “Good is the enemy of great.”
• Key Points:
  • Not everyone needs to be at “an 11”—but if you aspire to high achievement, urgency and deep caring are nonnegotiable.
  • She uses the analogy of the Chicago Bulls: maximizing each person’s strengths is essential for building teams.
  • While some traits are innate (“some people come out of the womb with it”), everyone can be valuable, just in different roles.
  • “Good” can become a comfort trap; striving for “great” is rare but essential if you want to run the place.

4. Money Wisdom for Women: Self-Reliance and Financial Transparency

Featuring: Reese Witherspoon
Segment Begins: [30:26]

• Emma’s Reflection: Reese’s frankness about her (and countless women’s) financial mistakes and what she learned from them cut through stigma, making financial literacy accessible.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Reese Witherspoon [30:37]: “I don’t know a woman...who doesn’t have a disaster financial story in her past.”
  • Reese Witherspoon [32:41]: “Don’t get into debt. Do everything you can to not get into debt and pay off those credit cards.”
  • Reese Witherspoon [32:56]: “Don’t ever let somebody control you with money... You always keep your job. Your job is your life insurance.”
• Key Points:
  • Most women have learned money lessons the hard way; sharing this truth breaks taboos.
  • Diversifying, saving, and being informed—don’t cede all control to someone else.
  • Mindset matters as much as tactics (“I want a pleasing palette and a pie chart”—making financial concepts clear and approachable).
  • Build habits to protect your “future self.”
  • Reese still keeps close tabs on her money, even with a team, and encourages checks and diversification.

5. Reframing Anxiety: From Weakness to Superpower

Featuring: Jens (Emma’s husband)
Segment Begins: [36:56]

• Emma’s Reflection: Jens’ vulnerable recounting of his anxiety, and his journey to see it not as a flaw, but a driving force, was deeply moving and resonated with listeners.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Jens [36:56]: “You’re not just successful because, you know, despite your anxiety; you’re successful because of [it].”
  • Jens [40:46]: “I don’t judge myself for having anxiety anymore. I accept it... I see it as a wave... The more you tailor your life to avoid situations which makes you anxious, you’re getting anxious in lesser situations...life gets smaller that way.”
• Key Points:
  • Anxiety can be both a source of drive and a burden; reframing it as a superpower can foster acceptance.
  • Therapy helped Jens recognize how anxiety shaped his entrepreneurial effectiveness.
  • Avoidance and self-judgment can make anxiety more debilitating; instead, accept it and challenge yourself within your limits.
  • Each person’s experience is different—self-awareness is crucial.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Mark Cuban on business reality [04:59]:
  “Sales cures all.”

• Michelle Obama on “having it all” [11:30]:
  “It’s impossible to have it all, so stop with that... You can have it all over a period of time, but this impatience… you can’t do all of that.”

• Mellody Hobson on ambition [24:04]:
  “You must, and I mean this with serious intensity, care a lot and have a sense of urgency. You have to want to be great.”

• Reese Witherspoon on financial independence [32:56]:
  “Don’t ever let somebody control you with money... You always keep your job. Your job is your life insurance.”

• Jens on reframing anxiety [36:56]:
  “You’re not just successful because, you know, despite your anxiety; you’re successful because of [it].”

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Recap & Takeaways

Emma closes the episode by weaving together these five lessons—resilience, acceptance, ambition, self-reliance, and vulnerability—reminding listeners that success is a practice, not a destination. Whether in business, relationships, or personal growth, returning to hard-won wisdom allows us to keep aspiring.

Emma Grede [42:21]:
“These five conversations each taught me something different about resilience, about grace, excellence, confidence and self acceptance. And together they remind me that success is a lifelong practice of learning, unlearning and returning to what matters the most.”

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Episode Structure

• [00:00] - [04:59]: Intro, sponsor messages, framing of top lessons
• [04:59] - [09:10]: Mark Cuban on sales, entrepreneurship, and failure
• [11:30] - [15:15]: Michelle Obama on life chapters, work-life trade-offs, and self-acceptance
• [22:45] - [25:57]: Mellody Hobson on urgency, ambition, and what separates good from great
• [30:26] - [35:42]: Reese Witherspoon on financial wisdom and self-reliance for women
• [36:56] - [42:21]: Jens on anxiety as a superpower
• [42:21] - Close: Emma’s recap, reflection, and gratitude

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For listeners seeking practical inspiration, this “best of” episode delivers actionable advice, personal reassurance, and memorable insights from some of the world’s most candid and successful leaders—all wrapped in Emma Grede’s signature warmth and directness.

Transcript

[Emma Grede]

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[Mark Cuban]

Sales cures all.

[Emma Grede]

Sales cures all.

[Mark Cuban]

No sales, no company.

[Emma Grede]

That's it.

[Mark Cuban]

No exceptions.

[Emma Grede]

Because people get immort with all the other stuff immortal with their model, the marketing. And it's like you need sales. I talk about this all the time. It's like, focus on distribution. Focus on your sales. Focus on, like owning that story and just being the best salesperson possible because that's all you need at the cause. If you can sell, yeah, you'll figure the rest out. Yes.

[Mark Cuban]

Because everything else, everything follows through to that sale. If you can't sell, it doesn't matter what you're good at. It doesn't matter. Anything else for that matter.

[Jens]

You're stuck.

[Emma Grede]

Why do you think people avoid that?

[Mark Cuban]

Because people don't like to be told no.

[Jens]

Oh.

[Mark Cuban]

You know, I tell people all the time, every no gets you closer to a yes. Every no. And I would tell that to myself. I was selling magazines door to door, right? And I'd walk up. Are you telling me that for $5 a week this wasn't going to improve the education, enjoyment of your family?

[Emma Grede]

No. Bye. Onto the next one.

[Jens]

And it's the same.

[Mark Cuban]

Selling maps.

[Emma Grede]

Switch up your pitch.

[Mark Cuban]

You know, when I first got the maps, hey, it's less than a McDonald's.

[Emma Grede]

No.

[Mark Cuban]

You guys suck.

[Jens]

Boom.

[Mark Cuban]

Onto the next right. You've just got to be relentless. And most people are afraid of the word no.

[Emma Grede]

Are you afraid to give the word no? Because I feel like getting the feedback is really hard. You just give the feedback.

[Mark Cuban]

No, I don't like to say no to people. That's my problem. That's why I don't do hiring in my companies. Because.

[Emma Grede]

Is that true?

[Mark Cuban]

Oh, yeah. Because I'm awful at hiring people.

[Emma Grede]

You're just like, come on board. No, I'm like, amazing.

[Mark Cuban]

I'm a sales guy, right? So, like, I think I can make this work.

[Emma Grede]

What is the truth, then, in entrepreneurship? That no one actually tells you the truth?

[Jens]

That no one.

[Emma Grede]

That's the truth.

[Mark Cuban]

It's hard. You know, I think you're not automatically going to make money. Most people don't make it. Most people fail.

[Jens]

It's hard.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, that's, I think, what I've seen. And it's interesting, actually, as you go into the tank, because even if you think an idea is a great one and you think it has a market, like, not everything works out.

[Mark Cuban]

No.

[Emma Grede]

And you can give the funding and it just for, I don't know, a myriad of reasons might not work.

[Mark Cuban]

Most companies fail.

[Emma Grede]

Have you failed?

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah, of course I've failed. You never heard about my powdered milk company?

[Emma Grede]

No.

[Mark Cuban]

That I started out of college?

[Emma Grede]

No.

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

Not a good one.

[Mark Cuban]

Not a good one. It was cheaper. It didn't matter if it didn't taste like milk. It was powdered milk.

[Emma Grede]

All right, tell me about the powdered milk company. Well, I wanna know about the failure. I wanna know what does it mean to fail and get back up and do it again? Like, what is it in you that allows you to take the failure to. And it not be about you.

[Mark Cuban]

Daymond. John says it's best. It's the power of broke. You're broke. What else are you going to do? I mean, I was eating mustard and ketchup sandwiches. I was going to a bar with $5, buying one beer and eating all the fried mushrooms and the peanuts and.

[Emma Grede]

Whatever shit they offer is great for a period of your life.

[Mark Cuban]

Yes. Right. Because you can learn.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, yeah. It's really true. But what have you learned? Do you feel like the failures that you've had, have they amounted to something that you've been able to see, like, as a pattern in your life, or is it more just about the individual circumstance? Because I feel like I could look at every failure I've had and I'm like, basically the same thing.

[Mark Cuban]

I don't know if it was basically the same thing, other than maybe shit didn't sell. Right? It's that powdered milk.

[Tide Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

It didn't sell.

[Mark Cuban]

Did not sell. I remember taking samples to people mixing it up like, look, milk's expensive.

[Michelle Obama]

We're broke.

[Mark Cuban]

Right. This save you money?

[Emma Grede]

Is this great diet and just see.

[Mark Cuban]

The look on their face.

[Emma Grede]

No, you can do about that.

[Mark Cuban]

Point taken.

[Emma Grede]

You're not.

[Mark Cuban]

But it's just you, your taste in milk is different. Right.

[Emma Grede]

All right, so how long? Because this, this how. A month?

[Mark Cuban]

Yeah, about a month.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, but isn't that the thing. At least you didn't try to do that for a year because some people just don't know how to sell.

[Mark Cuban]

It was going nowhere, you know?

[Emma Grede]

I know, but people don't always hear that. Don't you think, like, you must deal with a lot of early stage founders that just don't read the signs. They don't see it. And I think it's really important to talk a bit about failure and to talk about when it's time to pack it in.

[Mark Cuban]

You know, I never really thought of it that way, but you're right. You have to have a lot of self awareness to be an entrepreneur.

[Emma Grede]

It's no secret that I love Michelle Obama, but what she left us with after her episode was more than just great, quotable Michelle moments. For me, the biggest single takeout was this idea of there being these defined chapters in your life and bringing an awareness to the fact that life doesn't all need to be figured out in one day. For me, this was more than a little bit reassuring because as a highly ambitious person, I do find myself in a rush to get to the next big thing every now and Again, I wonder why what I'm working on isn't happening faster, why I'm not seeing the results that I want right away, or the sales that I want right away, or thinking, like, why didn't this thing happen exactly as I'd intended? But Michelle made that all go away with just this very simple reflection. When I look at my life so far, with the benefit of hindsight, I know that there have been chapters when all I've done is work. There have been chapters when, honestly, I haven't had much, as much work as I would have wanted. There've been seasons where everything I tried didn't have the desired effect or flat out just. But this idea of your life coming in chapters or in seasons is a really helpful framework, especially for those of us who need to make sacrifices, sacrifices that slow us down, or when something stands in the way that you didn't choose, like losing your job, someone getting sick in the family. What I know for sure is that life will throw you curveballs because you can be in a season that, quite frankly, isn't about you. It's about your kids. It's about somebody that needs something from you that takes precedent. But knowing that nothing is finite, we don't actually need all the things in the exact moment because there will be another moment. And allowing yourself to be at peace with the decisions that you sometimes have to make was so liberating. You know, being a wife to the leader of the free world, to, you know, your own, you know, your own career ambitions and all your own aspirations as well. And I wonder if there is, like, a critical and honest piece of advice that you can give or that you can share based on your own journey and what you would say to women that are trying to seemingly have it all, do it all, live to the fullest.

[Michelle Obama]

All right, well, I've said this a lot. It's impossible to have it all, so stop with that. First of all, you can have it all over a period of time. But this impatience and this feeling of like, I've got to be. I've got to have the exact job at the top of the game. And I want to be the best mom to all, to the, you know, I want to be there, be at all the stuff, and I want to look my best and be in my best shape and be emotionally in tune. La, la la, la la. And my marriage has got to be on point. Like it's. It doesn't. You can't do all of that. There are trade offs, and it's okay, you know, if we're blessed and we can take care of ourselves emotionally and physically. Life is long and you can have chapters and you don't lose out because you didn't read the whole book in one sitting. Each chapter can be really special. When my kids were little and I was sort of ready to drive in my career, but Barack was a state senator and then he ran for Congress and lost. And then he was a US Senator. He was away more than he was home. I got to a point where I said, I can't be in the highest driving point in my career life. I just can't. So I left running a nonprofit that I enjoyed running. But running a nonprofit is an all consuming. And the nonprofit didn't have a lot of money and I needed flexibility.

[Emma Grede]

Did you do it happily or was there resentment there?

[Michelle Obama]

There was a little resentment, but I was happy because I love my girls and I love the time that I spent with them. And I felt more at peace with that decision because it was the right thing for them and ultimately for me because it gave me balance that I needed at that time. And I use myself as an example. I did that. And it didn't stop my growth. It didn't. You know, I went on after that. I became an associate dean. I was the vice president and head of community outreach for the University of Chicago Hospitals. As the girls grew and I felt more secure, I started realigning myself.

[Emma Grede]

People don't realize they can take a little pause. Yeah. Like, life doesn't really give you the feeling right now that you can just be like, hold, please.

[Michelle Obama]

That's right.

[Emma Grede]

For whatever reason.

[Michelle Obama]

And you can, and you don't have to stop. Like, I didn't stop. I thought about quitting completely. And then I got an opportunity to get a good job that I enjoyed in a flex situation. I negotiated flexibility for myself. I negotiated flexibility first. That wasn't flexibility. It just was less pay. And I was irritated at that because I got half the salary and was still doing a full time job. So I learned from that. I was like, never again. I'm too much of a driver to ever get paid less.

[Emma Grede]

Right.

[Michelle Obama]

So the next job I was like, pay the full salary, but give me carte blanche over my schedule. I will get the job done, but I'm picking up my kids from school. I'm going to the Halloween parade and I might not be here on Friday, but I'll be here when I need to be here. So pay me. Right. I learned that. So I would just say out there to women, it can come and if you are choosing to drive, which that's a choice, then don't parent from guilt.

[Emma Grede]

At the end of each year, I often think about the moments that made me feel most connected to people, to places, and to the communities I've been lucky enough to experience. I remember a trip when my girlfriends booked a little place through Airbnb in a tiny little coastal town, and that host left a handwritten note with recommendations for local cafes and a weekend. That note led us to some of the best coffee we'd ever had, and eventually to conversations with locals that shared stories about the town. It was a reminder that travel isn't just about seeing a new place. It's about feeling welcomed into a community, even if only for a short time. And that's what makes hosting through Airbnb so special. Hosting isn't just offering a property to stay in. It's inviting somebody into a neighbourhood and the rhythms of everyday life. It's sharing a favorite bakery, a morning coffee spot or the sunset view from a local park. It's giving guests a glimpse of what makes that corner of the world unique. Hosting also has a way of helping you see your own community differently. You might rediscover a market you haven't visited in years, or a holiday tradition that feels new again when it's shared with someone else. For so many, hosting a place through Airbnb has become a thoughtful experience in anticipating needs. Preparing a space isn't just about tidying up. It's about asking, what would a guest want after a long journey? Where's the coffee? Are the towels easy to find? Is the WI fi password obvious? It's about removing friction, creating comfort and viewing the stay from another person's perspective. And that kind of proactive problem solving? Well, it translates everywhere. In business, in friendships and in daily life. It encourages noticing small details, thinking ahead and anticipating needs that in ways, make every interaction smoother and more meaningful. Because at its core, hosting through Airbnb is about connection. It's about creating a space where someone feels welcome, seen and cared for, even if just for a weekend. And those moments, will they ripple outward? Guests carry stories of that community back to their own lives. So when someone considers hosting through Airbnb, they can think about the power of opening their home and community. Think about the young families visiting for the holidays, the solo traveler looking for grounding, the old friends reuniting in a familiar place. Think about the stories that begin with a simple welcome. Because sometimes the most meaningful opportunities will they start with the simplest gesture, just opening a door A home might be worth more than someone thinks. Find out how [e-mail] host as someone who spends a lot of time talking into a microphone, I've learned the old adage is absolutely true. It isn't just what you say, it's how you say it. 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But when Melody Hobson said, you have to have a sense of urgency, you have to want to be great, to me it was like, here's what separates the best from the rest. I've said it on many occasions that not everybody has to be ambitious. We don't all need to start businesses or want to be at the very top of our career. But if you do, there are a couple of non negotiables and a sense of urgency and how much you care are two of them most important traits of any successful person that I know. Now. When we hear stories about people that do things that should take five years in one year or should take five weeks in one week, there is no secret, you know, you simply cannot underestimate the importance of moving fast and a first mover's advantage. I've worked in fashion for most of my career and sweating the small stuff or caring the most, as Melody says, is what the best people in the business do. The ones that care about every component of how a product is made, every stitch, the lining and the trim package and the fabric and the construction, then how it's folded when it gets on the shop floor, how it's put in the bag, how it's packaged to the customer, the experience of unboxing and on and on and on. That, that is the difference between the best and the rest. There's just some stuff that you cannot argue about if you want to be great. Urgency and caring the most is a great place to start. So many people that are sitting there in a corporate career and I do think to some degree there is a blueprint for getting promoted, for moving through a job in the way you, you know, in the way that you have. So what do you tell people? I mean, because you're on an 11, do you need everybody else around you to be on an 11? And what is it that people need to do in order to, to be successful and to be promoted where they are.

[Melody Hobson]

Okay, this is going to sound strange and I'm going to make it hopefully not sound not great, but it's how I think about it. My mom had six kids, she mothered us all differently.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That's okay.

[Emma Grede]

That's just a Fact. No siblings have the same parents.

[Melody Hobson]

No.

[Emma Grede]

That is a fact.

[Melody Hobson]

It's a fact. In my group of people who work directly with me, I understand what they can do and how they can do it. John Rogers always used to tell me that the world championship Chicago Bulls that won seven championships, he said, Dennis Rodman rebounds. Steve Kerr shoots threes. Michael is the greatest player of all time. You know, he would go through each player and he said, but each one is really important. Michael can't play without them. They can't win. So Dennis may be out at night, but everyone makes sure Dennis is on the court so that he can rebound for them. And he's like, so he doesn't have the same rules as everyone else. And so, Melody, you figure it out that you get the best out of each person, but everyone's not gonna run the place.

[Emma Grede]

But what happens if your aspiration is to operate at the highest level? Like, what are the non negotiables, do you think? For people that want that type of career, what do they need to do?

[Melody Hobson]

You must, and I mean this with serious intensity. I think you have to care a lot and have a sense of urgency. You have to have a sense of urgency. You have to want to be great. And if you want to, there's a. You know, I love that book by Jim Collins, Good to Great. And the first line of the book, good is the enemy of great. Good is the enemy of great. Plenty of people are happy with good. They say the worst student is the B plus student. Because the B student was like, it's fine. They're like, the C student aspires for something better, and the A student is.

[Emma Grede]

Just the A student.

[Melody Hobson]

But the B plus student is. They live in that no man's land of it's fine. And so it's almost like the worst situation that you can be in. So if good is the enemy of great, I want the person who wants to be great. But understanding that differential between good and great is really hard.

[Emma Grede]

Do you think you can train people into that or do you think it has to come from somewhere within themselves?

[Melody Hobson]

It has to be there? Yeah, some people just, you know, they come out of the wound with it. Some people don't. But that doesn't make them. They can still be very valuable. They're just gonna be a certain kind of player. And that's what John said. He's like, there are gonna be other people. They're just not gonna run the place.

[Emma Grede]

So you think people have to just work really hard, want to be great, and they need to have a sense of urgency.

[Melody Hobson]

I think they have to want to be great. Let's start with that. And you know, some people have to work harder. So I remember going to school with geniuses at Princeton. They didn't have to work as hard as I did. They, you know, sort of like skimmed the page and got it. And I'm like writing notes and checking, you know, flashcards and doing the whole thing. But you know, they, it came easier to them. Some things come easier to me. So I think it's just a function of you understanding yourself.

[Emma Grede]

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[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, my God. Where do I start? One thing.

[Emma Grede]

Well, go on, give us it. Oh, I'm doing well.

[Reese Witherspoon]

First of all, I learned about money from doing things wrong.

[Emma Grede]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I don't know a woman, Emma. I do not know a woman who doesn't have a disaster financial story in her past.

[Michelle Obama]

Facts.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Whether it's her. Her best friend, her sister, her mom, her grandma, her auntie, she lost all her money, or she got divorced and she got stuck with the bill, or, you know, just whatever financial does. Debt. So much debt. And so I listen to every podcast on finances. I am so interested in financial wellness for women. And just also, a lot of what we learn is one course, three days in high school. We're lucky if you get three months.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And that was the end of my financial learning. And then I became this woman. I was making money, and I was a young mom, and I did not save correctly.

[Melody Hobson]

I'm in.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Fine. I'm fine.

[Emma Grede]

But what do you mean you're fine? You're not like, I'm fine.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm great.

[Emma Grede]

You're just like, are you not rolling in it, like, now? Like, just.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, I did invest properly. I'm not not saying that it wasn't. I'm completely fine, and I did well. But I could have done amazing if I had learned a few things. And a lot of them are mindset.

[Emma Grede]

Right.

[Reese Witherspoon]

About saving, about the steadiness of the stock market and index funds and diversifying your portfolio and making sure that you're looking at treasuries and you're looking at bonds and yields and things that are pretty simple. If somebody says them to you in a. Like, if you're a visual person, you see a visual chart. I'm a visual person, so every time I talk to people about finances.

[Emma Grede]

Laid out.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I need it laid out. And I want cute colors.

[Michelle Obama]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm just being honest.

[Emma Grede]

Notes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I want a pleasing palette and a pie chart.

[Emma Grede]

Thanks. Damn right. We know what your business managers are doing. Making this very aesthetically pleasing presentation.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Can somebody do the pie chart for Reese?

[Emma Grede]

But I love that you say that because it is all pretty simple. But again, we're not always having those conversations and sharing the information. What's the best piece of money advice you think you've been given?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Don't get into debt. Do everything you can to not get into debt and pay off those credit cards. Or don't spend the money like it's yours. It's not yours, girlfriend.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And that was a really good piece of advice. Don't ever let somebody control you with money. Somebody says, I'll take care of it, and I'll take care of you, and I'll take care of this. That person could leave. That person can hurt you. You always keep your job. Your job is your life insurance. My mom used to always say that to me.

[Tide Advertiser]

Oh.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And my mom went through some tough stuff in a marriage with finances. Really tough stuff.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And so did my grandma. Not in the marriage, but in like a family structure. And I have this past of women not being taken care of financially. And so I think me too. Right. And it as a little girl scars you. Like literally, it's living inside me so, so deeply. And that's why I have a passion for helping women understand and also demystifying it, you know?

[Michelle Obama]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

I feel like the demystifying piece is really, really important. Do you. Are you the type of person that looks after everything yourself or have you kind of outsourced all of that to a team at this point?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I have outsourcing, but there's frequent check ins weekly.

[Emma Grede]

I'm the same. I like to have enough of that. You know, it's like one hand's on it all the time. Like, I'm happy to let the experts be expert in, but I need to like, I need it there.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes. Yeah, I need it there. And then I also need checks and balances. I need to diversify things so that everything's not in one investment or one savings account.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, but that's it. I think that comes from your upbringing. It's like if nobody teaches you that, you don't know and you're just like, okay, the money sits all here and it's safe, but it's like, it might be safe but it's not growing, it's not doing anything for you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Right, right. And most people don't live in a way that savings is even part of their life. Okay. So I'm very realistic about that.

[Emma Grede]

Yes, I do.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You have to be with my mom and my grandma always saying to me, I don't have any savings. You know, they did have. My mom has retirement because she worked her whole life doing three and four jobs, including being in the military and being a nurse and working in a state university. But you have to think ahead and you have to think about saving as helping your future self.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, yes, absolutely.

[Reese Witherspoon]

What you don't spend today, you're saving for your future self. You're saving for 65 year old Emma who doesn't want to have to worry about the gas bill.

[Emma Grede]

Yes, yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, I want to relax as an old lady.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, me too. Eventually at some point, no, I want.

[Reese Witherspoon]

To have a glass of wine and sit on a porch.

[Emma Grede]

A porch. I want to come on that porch.

[Reese Witherspoon]

We're just going to sit there and.

[Emma Grede]

Tell our stories, talk shit about all the life, you know, we're going to.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Travel where we want to go.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, and our kids are. Wouldn't it be joyful?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, my God, we're going to have the best time now.

[Emma Grede]

The outpouring of love that came in after I spoke to my husband on this podcast was really something that I never expected. I think it's because he was both honest and vulnerable when he spoke about anxiety. And anyone who suffers from anxiety will know it's not something that you can control. There's no switch to turn it off. There's no framework that magically helps you. It's a constant. It's constant work and it's a constant battle. So it made me so happy when Jens reframed the idea of having anxiety as a superpower and he spoke about no longer judging himself for having anxiety. You can be with someone for years and years and years and learn new things about them all the time. And there's nothing better than learning from someone you love and then being able to share it with a lot of people that could benefit from it at the same time. So a huge, huge thank you to all of you that wrote to me and commented. I'm really so happy we did this episode. Let's take a listen. And I want to understand a bit more about anxiety as it relates to your career and your life and your business, because I think that we're so much conditioned to see anxiety as a weakness. And I know you think about it as a superpower. So will you. When did you start seeing it as a superpower? And will you just talk about it a bit?

[Jens]

For me, very late, probably in my late 30s, where I really understood. And I did that through work I was doing with a highly spiritual person who asked me, I said, I want to change. I don't want to be this anxious person any longer. I want to feel whole. And he said, are you sure you want to change? I said, yeah, this is a really negative thing for me. This is a big, you know, my days are heavy. And he said, if you change, it also will change who you are. You're not just successful because, you know, despite your anxiety, you're successful because of them. There's so many positives that are driven and so many skills that comes from your anxiety that if you change that, you might not be as good as you are today. You might not be as good version. You might not be as inefficient, effective founder, entrepreneur without it. Are you sure you want to lose that power? And that was. Oh, yeah, that Was I walked out of that room.

[Emma Grede]

I remember Dr. Tran.

[Jens]

Yeah, Dr. Tran. Nothing had changed and everything had changed at the same time.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I mean, I think that. That even just you saying it, and I know that story so well, I feel like it. It is so important for people to hear because we all have parts of our personality that are useful or less useful. More useful or less useful. And it's not often, like, we don't often put things in the right order. We don't often understand how some of those things that can be troubling to us can also enable us.

[Jens]

Yeah. And. And anxiety can be debilitating, it can be crippling, and indeed, for many people, something that they need to get treated at the same time. Anxiety is a human emotion. It's a part of our human experience. We all have it to some degree. It's healthy to have a dose of anxiety. Anxiety, it's helped just like it's connected to fear, which is a natural, you know, human emotion reaction. It's our ability to feel love, sadness, you know, joy. Anxiety is part of us. I have more of it and I have so much of it that for a long time in my life, every day was just harder for me than it was for other people.

[Michelle Obama]

And.

[Jens]

I kind of started every day at a negative. Right. So I had to overcome that to do anything. I had to overcome anxiety to meet people. I had to overcome anxiety to get out in traffic, to get on an airplane, to be on my own. So I always was. So. It was exhausting. It was really, really exhausting and still is often exhausting.

[Emma Grede]

How do you know when anxiety is fueling you versus controlling you? These days?

[Jens]

I think it does both. I think it does both for better or worse. But I don't judge myself for having anxiety anymore. I accept it. I see it as a wave. And when it comes, it can be imposing. And in the middle of the wave, you feel hopeless. But I know the wave is going to wash over, and I know there's still. The water is still on the other side. So what am I going to do? Never get in the ocean. Is that better? Or am I going to start getting scared of the sand? You know the problem, and I'm sure other people, if anyone listens to this, who suffers from anxiety, and I'm sure many do. The more you tailor your life to avoid situations which makes you anxious, you're getting anxious. In lesser situations, when you lower the bar, that becomes a new bar. You need to lower it again, and life gets smaller that way. It's a very tricky subject. Everybody have their own journey and I can only speak on my experience. I'm not saying that's translatable to other people. They have to have their journey and they know themselves best. I can only speak of mine, but my personal experience is that I do better when I challenge it.

[Emma Grede]

These five conversations each taught me something different about resilience, about grace, excellence, confidence and self acceptance. And together they remind me that success is a lifelong practice of learning, unlearning and returning to what matters the most. If this episode leaves you reflecting or inspired, that's the whole point. Because the people who move us don't just share their wins, they share their wisdom. Thank you so much for being part of Aspire this year. We have so many more wonderful episodes coming in 2026 dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and bet on yourself. Here's to staying curious, staying bold, and always, always aspiring. See you next time. 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. We'll be so grateful. Aspire with Emma Greed 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 Mad Maddie Sprung Keyser, Leah Rees, Dennis, Arsha Salouja and Jenna Weiss Berman. Stephen Key is our senior producer. 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 Agassi. Social Media by Olivia Homan Special thanks to Brittany Smith, Sydney Ford My team's at the lead company and wme. Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson, Rose, Tim Meecol, Sean Cherry and Lauren Vieira if you have questions for me, you can DM me at Aspire with emigreed. Greed is spelled G R E D E. That's Aspire A S P I R E with Emma Grade. Or you can submit a question to me on my website. Emma Greed Me.

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[Reese Witherspoon]

Sure thing.

[Tide Advertiser]

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