Name: Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: From Grammys To Gap Year
Uploaded: 2024-10-15
Duration: 20 min
Description: Lizzo, 4x Grammy Award-winning Artist and CEO, YITTY Interviewer: Ellie Austin, Fortune

Lizzo, 4x Grammy Award-winning Artist and CEO, YITTY Interviewer: Ellie Austin, Fortune    

Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: From Grammys To Gap Year

Conferences

Hi, everyone. Hi, Mia. We made it, we made it. Um, welcome to my ta of women. Thank you so much for having me. Uh I, I don't get out the house much so it's an honor to be here in front of all of you guys. I wanna say thank you to Fortune for having me. It's a very big deal. I'm very emotional right now. And one of the reasons why you maybe don't get out of the house much at the moment is because you're on a gap year. Can you tell us how you're spending your time because I'm sort of fantasizing about doing the same gap year. Oh girl who had a gap year? Um I'll say it like this. Um I launched my company Yiddy in 2022 at the same time as my album special. I had been on the road all the way until August 2023 working and as soon as I stepped down home from tour, I may not be as public facing, but I went straight to Ed headquarters and I just been working, working, working. So you might not see me but I'm working. It ain't a gap year. It's a blind year. So, ok, let's talk about yi we're in a room full of business women and Marriam introduced kind of what the concept is. It's shaped wear. It's a really crowded category. We've got Kim Kardashian skims, we've got Spanx and that's only to name a couple. How does yeti distinguish itself from the competition? Can I just say something? How cool it is to finally be in a place where we can say it's inclusive. Shapewear is a crowded category because it was not, it was nice. Um And it definitely wasn't when I uh was inspired to create yi, you know, I've been a big girl my entire life as long as I've been able to buy clothes, um I've lived in the intersection of the things that I want don't fit me and the things that fit me. I don't want. Um I have been through the shame and pain of wearing shapewear in middle school and wearing these garments that aren't breathable with these like snaps inside that can cut you. And sometimes I come home from school and I have blood on my shirt from the binders in the shapewear. And um I remember this was around 2015, I was in a store and I was looking around in the shape wear section and it was in disarray. I mean, clothes was everywhere and it was fully stocked, but it was messy. So that means people could not find what they were looking for. There were three colors, jet black, stark white and off pink. Nobody is that color. And you'll be lucky if you got a double XL and I was like, somebody has to do something about this. Um And I was like, I guess it's gotta be me. So I started taking, oh, that's cool. Thanks guys. I started taking meetings. Um, around 2016, 17, I got a lot of nos because people didn't think shapewear was a viable category. Can you believe it? And then finally, Fab Lettis said yes and not only yes, they gave me the opportunity to build my own company and be a CEO of my own company. Yeah. And shortly after that skims launched and it was so validating actually to see that because I was like I told you, I told you shapewear would be viable. You can see it as a negative thing you want to see. Do you and Kim Kardashian exchange notes? Oh my God, that's hilarious. There's one. Ok. No, but there is, there is truly, I mean, you might. No, it's funny. There's truly room for all of us. And what this means now is that young girls don't have to grow up the way that I did with no option. Yeah, that I want to talk a bit about the body acceptance movement that you've started. And I caveat this by saying it's uncomfortable in a way to ask you about your body. It's uncomfortable to ask anyone about their bodies because it is not the most interesting thing about you that is clearly your talent. However, you have become such an advocate and symbol for loving yourself. Recently, you've been posting online about a very steady journey you've been on to lose weight. Can you talk a bit about why that felt like the right time to embark on the journey and to talk about it publicly? 000. Well, the interesting thing about my body, I have an amazing body. I love my body and it has, um it has kind of been woven into my career and everything that I do. And I mean, that's why I started Yiddy. I started yiddy because of my body. We're very body forward and I um one inevitability that we all have to face is that our bodies will change. It's uh you know, and it's true. I'm so sorry. But it's a, it's, it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing, especially. That's what, you know, self love is all about is accepting that journey. I created yiddy knowing that my body was gonna change. Whether I gained weight, which I did from when I launched Yiddy to, to, you know, last year or lose weight or have a pregnant belly or get older like our bodies change. And it's a beautiful thing. And Yiddy, my company has your back every step of the way with no shame. And that's kind of why I put myself out there because I want somebody to see themselves in me so they can feel less shame about their body changing. And how do you, how do you experience your body changing and still kind of connect with the person or the woman who maybe identified you with you when your body looked different. How do you walk that line? Well, for years now, I have evolved from talking about body positivity into body neutrality, which means my body is nobody's business other than yours, other than me, my doctor, my trainer and my man. Yeah. So you know, uh observe if you like what you see cool if you don't keep scrolling. Um I want to change tack a little bit. You had a difficult year, last year, you had um some allegations against you of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, all of which you have denied. And I want to be completely clear about that. How did you feel when that news came to light? You know, I don't wanna talk about things like that. This isn't the space where we're celebrating female CEO s and powerful women. This isn't really the space to talk about the negative things that happened to us because so much negative stuff happens to powerful women is it does. I did. And I think that's, that's one of the reasons why we have to ask the question to give the powerful woman, the opportunity to answer in her own words, rather than just let stories circulate online. Right? As I agree with you, I don't think this is the platform for that. Ok. Um I want to talk a bit about your philanthropy. Um So every year to March June, you donate $50,000 awards to nonprofit organizations, black-owned nonprofit organizations. And when Roe versus Wage was overturned, you donated half a million dollars um to Planned Parenthood. And we were talking outside about how this morning you posted about going to vote in the presidential election. Um How do you in this quite charged moment for this country? How do you think about the way you want to use your platform? And I just want to say you've got 12 million followers on Instagram and you've got 25.8 million followers on tiktok. What do you see your role as it's evolved? I think, um I used to be uh internet yapper in my early days and I would just fire off and state my opinions. And I think that when you get a bigger platform, you do have a responsibility to not just add to the conversation if it's not helpful. And because there's so much in the fray now, um But I thought that today was a special moment to share that I did vote and I voted for Kamala Harris, you know, and I think it's important to say that because I mean, people think you walk into a room and it's just like Kamala Harris Trump and you hit one and then it's over. But there's so many important issues on the ballot this year. And I just wanna encourage everyone, I know everyone in this room is gonna vote. But please anyone who's gonna see this video or hear this, please vote because I didn't just vote for the president. I voted so we could make it illegal to make prisoners. Have to do involuntary servitude. You know, I voted to get rid of some of the homophobic and racist rhetoric in the constitution that allow, that doesn't allow people to get married to the person that they love. You know, I voted to raise the minimum wage. There are so many important issues on the ballot this year. So I think I'm always about advocating vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, especially to young people because your vote actually does matter. And if it didn't, they wouldn't try to convince you it didn't. We're in an era where a lot of artists understandably are nervous about wading into the fray on issues because cancel culture, everyone's so polarized. Has there ever been a time where you've held back from talking about an issue on your platform to protect yourself? I mean, you've talked about protecting your piece is one of the reasons for your gap year. Does that ever impact what you say and what you post on social media? Where rather been cancel for everything at this point. Only God can cancel me. Now, I think that um I talk about the things that are important to me and I talk about the things that I can bring a difference to. And I think that those are my boundaries now with the public. Do you think you would have been treated differently? You talk about cancel culture. If you were a man, the tea coolly. It ain't shy. Um I don't know because I've only been a woman but when you look at your peers in the music industry and the press they get the treatment they get. Is there a disparity? Maybe there isn't. Uh I don't think about those things. I really don't, I'm just, I'm just a fat black woman in this industry. I already got three things against me in this society and I'm still rising and I'm still successful. So let's talk about the music. Um You've teased online that you are working on a new album. Uh When are we gonna hear it? Number one? No pressure. You ask all the questions. Uh Yeah. Yeah. Um Well, you know, let me be an artist and give a proper roll out so you guys can enjoy, you know, the art the way I intended you to. Um And yeah, I'm really, really proud of the music that I've written. I'm very, very close to it being done. Um And I think you guys are gonna love it. You, you just wait and see what can you tell us without ruining the surprise about how it compares in terms of sound and subject matter to your previous work. I mean, I always am writing like um autobiographically. So my albums are always like a snapshot of my life and this album is definitely a snapshot of my life very specifically. Um The sound is always evolving. Uh The genre is always being bent um Because that's who I am. So it's a lot of fun if you had to describe the snapshot of the moment you're in now. What is that? Huh? Fabulous. It's fabulous. We're witnessing a really amazing moment in the global music industry right now where there's women everywhere you look, whether it's Cesar Tyler Taylor Swift, Chapel Roan Charlie. A a how do you reflect on this moment and why we're here right now? Oh, baby, I reflect most of y'all might not know this, but I started off as a rapper. Um Back in the day, I had a song called Batches and Cookies and I did a lot. OK. We got one fan in the back of Minnesota. Um But back then there weren't that many um women in rap. So I had to endure this question thousands of times. It was, how do you feel about being a female rapper in a male dominated industry? And I started to resent that question and I would answer, I would be like, you know what my dream is that one day, there are so many women that are dominating in the industry that you can fill an entire festival slot with just women. And that dream has come true. I'm so proud of the musical landscape. It's an incredible time to be a woman and an artist and a fan. Like the fans are getting fed right now because there's so much great music out And I'm so proud of my contemporaries and my sisters. And who are you listening to? Which women are you listening to right now? Oh God. You know, you know whose album I just listened to? I just listened to Chapel R's whole album when I was working out and it's incredible. Um I see a lot of parallels to her and my um we have the same kind of like rise and it was so quick and like, you know, I watch how she handles her relationship with the public and fame and how it's ever changing. And baby, if I have to say one thing, her cardio therapist, I wore my therapist out when I was becoming famous, baby, that her phone number and my phone was just indenting with my fingers. You so um II I looked at her and um I respect her a lot for how she handles herself because she's pulled back a bit from time to time, hasn't she? And do you and other female artists? You talked about sisterhood? Like, is that metaphorical or do you ever reach out to each other and exchange advice? Oh, my God. Me and Siza, every single day, like every single day. Yeah. I mean, I've known her since like 2013, so I watched her rise and I watched her become successful. Then she watched me. Right. And the entire time we were so supportive of each other and we still have that support system. Like she'll be like, girl, how much are you spending on your tour? How much are you spending on the business? I'd be like, well, let me say numbers with one another. Oh yeah, everything, everything. And so I wanna go back to the business for a second. Um When we talked a couple of days ago, you said your goal for it is that it becomes like world renowned, I think you said or kind of a global brand. What does that look like in terms of revenue, product lines, marketing? You know what I think that every business owner dream is to see their business continue beyond them, you know, and I don't want giddy to just be a synonymous or a celebrity brand as I would call it. I, I want it to be known for what it's actually good at and that is incredible fabrics, incredible fit, that's for inclusive um sizing um and the the technological advancements that we're making in shape where we have anti uni boob technology we for real and I'm seeing the dupes on the internet now. Ok, we did it first um butt lifting technology, antimicrobial crutches. Um and I really want our brand. No, it sounds silly but it's real and we need this, you wanna breathe and be lifted. And um I really want our brand to be known for that. And so I think that when it comes to passing the torch a little bit and me just stepping back and being more in design and more in in the background of um proliferating our business. And um also reiterating that like Yiddy is not a plus size brand. Yiddy is a brand created by a plus size woman for every damn body and so everyone can enjoy this brand. I think that's the future. I also think expanding our lines. We've already gone into swimwear. What else are you gonna do baby? Let me tell you, we got intimates coming up, which is really exciting. We have um amazing every day like cottons coming up. Um We just launched, oh, we, we have Pet me. Oh my God, you guys please check out pet me. What that means. Pet me is our lounge wear line that always sells out immediately. It's the softest like squishiest fabric. You feel like a little teddy bear, but it also snatches your waist and you can and there we have onesies, we have shorts, we have tank tops and we just dropped the card again and you are gonna love it. So, um I think it's, you know what I think about. Yes. Pet me. It's quite, yeah, everyone's like yit.com. Y I tt y um but I think the most exciting thing about um our business and what I think is the future is our member based. Uh We have this membership based model where you can sign up and be a member and you get like close at a way less rate. You get to communicate with us in real time and we get feedback from our members and we can make real changes in real time. So I think that's truly the future of Ecom. OK. We've got two minutes left. So I've got three quick fire questions. Oh OK. Um Who is the business person and practically women who you most admire? 00 my goodness. 00 why one who you admire someone? You know, my mother, OK. My, she always uh her and my dad always had businesses together. So I grew up in an entrepreneurial household. Have you time to have for advice during the launch of Yes, I have not. OK. That, that's all I'm a super independent child. Um Proudest moment of your career today. Proudest moment, honestly. Uh My, one of my proudest moments is June 10th, 2023. We donated a quarter of a million dollars to Black L LGBT Q and trans organizations and businesses. And that was huge, huge for me, especially at a time where they were rolling back rights to protect trans people. That was super important to me. That's, that was a huge moment for me. Final question. You're currently 36 I believe. Unless you've had a birthday since I researched you. Um, what would you like to achieve by the time you hit your next decade that you haven't already? Hm. That's a great question. Um, man, I don't know you guys, I feel like I've never even thought I would make it this far. Like I feel like I've really done it all and I'm really grateful for my life. Um I think I just wanna continue dreaming the ream I'm, I'm having things happen to me that I never even dreamed of, so I just have to keep making my dreams bigger, I guess. Yeah, Lizzo. Thank you so much for joining us. Uh enjoy that gap year. Although it doesn't sound like you're taking much time off no more. Oh, thank you, Nao. Thank you.