Note: Read This is a new bi-weekly column that reviews books that are meant to inspire this generation. Whether that be a book written by a comedian or a book written by someone who started their business from the bottom up, they give advice that everyone should take and share with the people around them in order to help them succeed.
When you first hear the name Sophia Amoruso you may say to yourself, “Never heard of her. Who is she?” I would know because I asked myself the same exact question. Turns out I need to know to Sophia Amoruso is because she is a woman who turned her small eBay vintage boutique, Nasty Gal Boutique, into a multimillion dollar company in five years. Amoruso has a success story that is not common and she is well aware of that. What happened to her and the lessons she learned along the way inspired her book, #GIRLBOSS. The book does not chronicle how to make it big in the fashion industry, rather, it’s a book about finding the passion inside of you and running with it.
Amoruso started off as a person with zero drive. She hated school, hated people and always did just enough to get by. Her youth was spent wearing ripped jeans, flannel shirts and hopping around from job to job. It wasn’t until she was fired for the umpteenth time that she decided to try something different. She was starting to find a passion for vintage clothing and decided to go on a new path. After rummaging through thrift stores and finding the gold mines, she began to post the clothes on eBay. Within a few short months she built up a following of thousands. Amoruso became a one woman shop with buying, selling, taking photos, packing everything up and shipping. She then realized that she had found the fire in her.
Amoruso will be the first to tell you that she would have never started her eBay business if she knew what it would have turned into because it would be too much work. She never believed that she would have been capable of something like her business, but overtime she surprised herself and learned that if she believed in herself that others would too-that is her biggest message in this book.
#GIRLBOSS quickly becomes the handbook you never knew you needed before stepping out into the real world. There are lessons like, just because you got an invitation does not mean you have arrived, you are never below packing boxes, it is never cool to be drunk on your own success and you only achieve the things you want when you work for it.
#GIRLBOSS is meant to be a book to inspire the future bad ass women of the world. If there is something that you don’t like, you have the power to change it. If you don’t like the people you surround yourself with, kick them to the curb just like you would kick someone out of your house. If there is not a job you like, create your own. You may never know where it will take you.
Amoruso is the older sister we all wish she had with advice that every woman needs to succeed in the world. With being the CEO of Nasty Gal she has seen it all when it comes to cover letters, job interviews and how to deal with employees. All of those stories and more become the most valuable lessons in the book.
After reading #GIRLBOSS you will feel as though you have unlocked not only some secrets about how to succeed, but also feel as though you can accomplish anything no matter how big or small. As Amoruso said, “The only way to support a revolution is to make your own.”