Girlboss Book Review
I recently just finished reading Sophia Amoruso’s break out novel, #GirlBoss, a book about how to make it in the professional world and how to own up to your full potential as the amazing, bad-ass woman you know you can be. She is the founder and CEO of the brand Nasty Gal, which has taken off these past two years and gone from strictly commerce to having two brick and mortar stores as well. Her advice is not traditional, which is one of the best things about this book. Amoruso writes as if she is just sitting down and having coffee with you. She tells you her life story and gives some pretty great “what not to do” examples. All of these things together combine into a book that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning and get things done.
For starters, she talks through out the book, about all of her crazy escapades and her less than proud moments. She explains how she ended up where she is now and how non-conventional ways have lead her here. She also shares how she was one of the laziest employees the world has ever known until she started up her first Nasty Gal site. Below I have formed my review of this book in a list, because when you are a blogger and your own editor you can choose to do weird things like that. Enjoy!
1. Sophia Amoruso is very odd. This is not a woman who is cookie cutter, out of the regular mold, normal in anyway. She seems to have marched to the beat of her own drum since the day she was born and she advocates for people who are also different to live their life they want and need to, and not to give into to the way society always wants to have things done. She got to where she is today by doing things her won way and would not have such an amazing brand without doing so. By being who she is an sharing that with her readers, this book is immediately set apart from any other fashion novels. None else that I have read thus far have been so honest and genuine when it comes to letting people know who they (the author) are.
2. No job is too small. Amoruso talks about how she had a ton of odd jobs before she ended up where she is. Her first “real” job was working at Subway as a sandwich artist. She explains how even though this was obviously not her life calling, she did the job with passion and conviction and always tried her best. This was my favorite piece of advice from this book: do every single job you have with as much passion and dedication you will want to give your dream job one day. I love how this book was comprised of advice and helpful hints that don't just help you with the fashion industry, but tips that can help you get into any job and life you want.
3. Take your time. Nasty Gal started out as NastyGal Vintage, an eBay store Amoruso started in 2006. She loved vintage clothing and fashion and had bene shopping that way for years so she knew where to go to get the best things. She was also an amateur photographer, so she had some basic tips and tricks to be bale to take good photos of her clothes on real models to be able to sell the items better. She explains how she never imagine that this eBay store would grow to become the business it is now. Which is what she gives her success to. If she had started this store right off the bat as a brick and mortar business, it wouldn't be here now. She had time to grow a client base, establish a brand, figure out how to run a business, and so much more that would have not been able to happen had she not taken her time to get there and grow with her business. Most other fashion novels tend to advocate the hit ground running, go big or go home type of approach. This has its time and place, but sometimes you have to start within in your means and go from there. This book is realistic and I love it.
4. There is no right way to get to where you want to be. Amoruso didn't go to college. She doesn't have a business degree and started Nasty Gal with eBay as her business experience. She was detail oriented and knew what she wanted and made it happen. She shares stories of other awesome women throughout the book who also didn't get to where they are now by the traditional way most people tell you to do. Look all around you and take any opportunity to lightly.
These were 4 of the main lessons I fell in love with in this book and really spoke to me. She also offers ways to make your resume and cover letter amazing towards the end of the book. She gives basic insight to what its like to work for Nasty Gal and who she is as a boss. She gives practical advice for getting what you want and getting where you want to be. I give this book a 5 star rating and highly recommend it to all my fellow kick ass ladies out there looking for ways to become a #GirlBoss. We all have the potential, and now, with this book, we have the tools.
Who knows? Maybe one day I will be writing to you from Nasty Galaxy, the Nasty Gal blog;)
Madey