Nara Smith’s Secret Ingredient For Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business

Emma Grede (0:10)

You probably know Nara Smith from TikTok, the beautiful dresses, the soothing voice, and those completely insane recipes that she makes from scratch. But what you may not know is that Nara is 24 years old, has four children under five, and according to Forbes, made an estimated $7.5 million last year. And let me tell you, she knows exactly what she's doing. Everybody seems to have an opinion about Nara and what she represents. I wanted to get past all of that and understand the woman who is actually building the business. We talk about the label the internet gave her, what it really takes to launch and run a multimillion dollar creator business, and how she's thinking about a career that could last another 50 years. There's a real lesson here about understanding why people are paying attention and then having the confidence to build something much bigger from it.

Here's Nara Smith.

Nara Smith, welcome to Aspire.

Nara Smith (1:10)

Thanks for having me.

Emma Grede (1:11)

I am so happy to have you today. This is so fun. It is so fun.

Nara Smith (1:15)

I've been listening to the podcast for a while. You have? Oh, yeah.

Emma Grede (1:18)

Oh, that makes me so happy.

Nara Smith (1:20)

Like all kinds of episodes. Like I think it was, did you guys have the Poppy founder on?

Emma Grede (1:24)

Oh, yes.

Nara Smith (1:25)

And then the divorce attorney just barely. Oh, yes.

Emma Grede (1:29)

You got something you want to let us know, babe?

Nara Smith (1:31)

No. I'm just intrigued. I love knowledge in any way or form.

Emma Grede (1:36)

Well, you know what we're about to get into today.

You know what to expect. I don't want any surprises. I don't want your team to come back to me.

Nara Smith (1:43)

They're going to be like, flag that question.

Emma Grede (1:46)

Flag that question. I have nothing as such for you, but I do actually want to talk to you, and I've wanted to speak to you for the longest time because I think you're one of the people in the culture right now that everyone thinks that they know something about. Everyone has an opinion on you. And what's really interesting is that I wanted to have you on Aspire because I want to understand what people don't actually know about you. That at the end of the day, you are an incredibly successful businesswoman. And I wonder if you actually feel that way about yourself.

Nara Smith (2:17)

I never did. So starting out, I didn't, and still sometimes when people say it, I'm like, oh, you're right.

But I know what I'm doing. I know how I'm positioning things. I know what I'm investing in. I know what I spend my time on doing. So yeah, I'm running a full on business. And the older I get, because I'm also only 24

Emma Grede (2:37)

That is crazy. As I turn 44, the fact that you're only 24 is like insane.

Nara Smith (2:45)

But I love sitting down with people that have done this and are doing it successfully and just learning it all.

But as time goes on, the more I feel comfortable using that term and doing all of that. So yeah, I am a business woman.

Emma Grede (2:57)

There you go. She said it. She said it. Absolutely.

Nara Smith (3:00)

There you go.

Emma Grede (3:00)

Look, when I look at you as very clearly a successful business woman, a marketeer, something that absolutely fascinates me is the distinction that you have. You've created such a persona around yourself, the voice and the clothes and the food and the pacing, the way you do things. I wonder how consciously you've built that version of Nara Smith.

Nara Smith (3:22)

In the beginning, it was very unintentional. The voice came from my kid sleeping next to me and me having to get this video up, so I spoke quietly. It resonated with people. I also love ASMR, so it was that after a while. I'm like, oh, this is actually very soothing, and that's what people recognize me for. The clothing, I have a fashion background. I love dressing up. I've been a model for 10 years now.

It just is naturally always there. And then during the pandemic, I had no where to wear my clothes to. And then after it felt weird and everyone was adjusting, so I just wore them at home and then started filming in them. And then with the recipes, I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and developed really severe eczema to where I had to look at food completely different. Also not being American. Food in America is a little wonky sometimes. So I started making- You can say that again, babe.