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If you\u2019ve ever wondered what it would be like to have Tory Burch host a private fete in your honor, just ask Emma Grede.\u00a0\u201cI’m very proud of myself,\u201d the CEO and co-founder of Good American and a founding partner of Skims told Vogue<\/em> while reflecting on her latest accomplishment. Now, she has added author to her impressive resume with her debut book, Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life.<\/em><\/p>\n Joined by co-hosts Fabiola Beracasa Beckman and Diane von Furstenberg, Burch welcomed Grede\u2019s intimate inner circle of fashion, media, and business execs to gather over cocktails at her Upper East Side home. The woman of the hour was elegantly circulating the soiree, greeting guests including Gayle King, Huma Abedin, and Joseph Altuzarra. \u201cThere\u2019s just so many people here that I love\u2014people that I met during my agency days, when they were my clients, and people that I\u2019ve befriended over the years. It feels like the culmination of a lot of work and a lot of years in the industry,\u201d the London native told Vogue.<\/em><\/p>\n The mom-of-four was taking a quick breather, curled up on one of Burch\u2019s plush living room sofas overlooking a quintessential Manhattan view of Fifth Avenue and Central Park.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s so much chicness here, I don\u2019t even know what to do with myself,\u201d she later laughed, while addressing the crowd (many of whom were clad in Burch and DVF designs for the occasion. \u201cIf anybody had told me 15 or 20 years ago that I would be standing here amongst these three incredible women, I would have just gone, \u2018Yeah\u2026.probably,\u2019\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n Throughout the evening, silver platters with caviar and hors d\u2019ouevres<\/em> and hand-painted floral wine glasses from Burch\u2019s home collection did the rounds between the candle-lit tangerine and chartreuse sitting rooms. June Ambrose held court in a corner, captivating guests in one of her signature chapeaus, while Sophia Bush shared stories with Ego Nwodim.<\/p>\n The party also served as a reunion between long-time fashion friends. \u201cCan I just say, 12 or so years later, the dynamic is still the same,\u201d said Harper\u2019s Bazaar<\/em> executive digital director Lynette Nylander, who reflected on working with Grede at the start. \u201cThis has always been her. Even in East London, this was always her.\u201d<\/p>\n Grede also lit up when she noticed stylist Elizabeth Saltzman making her way across the room. \u201cI flew in for you, because you did it! You\u2019re changing people\u2019s lives\u2014and it matters,\u201d\u00a0Saltzman praised as the two embraced between excited squeals.<\/p>\n Shortly afterwards, Saltzman and Ambrose joyfully posed with their newfound copies of Start With Yourself<\/em> in hand while Bush made it her mission to capture the moment on Ambrose\u2019s phone\u2014as any good girlfriend would. \u201cWhat is this shot?\u201d Grede laughed as she looked on. \u201cI just so happen to attract the fun ones.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was so happy to be able to host tonight,\u201d Burch told Vogue<\/em>. \u201cEmma, the more I get to know her, has such a contagious energy. She makes people feel like they can do anything.\u201d Burch continued: \u201cWhen I started our company 21 years ago, I didn\u2019t have a ton of role models or people who acknowledged some of the fears and doubts I had. I didn\u2019t even know the word to put next to them, and there were a lot of self-confidence issues. When I work with entrepreneurs today, confidence is one of the biggest things. So to have a message from someone so extraordinary, who built her own life and is an entrepreneur at the highest level to say, \u2018Go with your instinct, go with who you are, and trust your gut\u2019\u2014 that\u2019s a message I stand by.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a whirlwind book launch to say the least\u2014and Grede is just getting started. Last week, there was a Los Angeles celebration hosted by Rachel Zoe and Aurora James, and from tomorrow, a nationwide tour begins with live events featuring Martha Stewart, Tracee Ellis Ross, Misty Copeland, Charlamagne tha God, and Jay Shetty, among others. Not to mention, a quick trip to London for promotion across the pond too.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a real vision for myself and for my life,\u201d Grede told Vogue<\/em>. \u201cI wrote the book that I needed to have when I was 25 years old. I ask that you read the book, and then you pass it on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n