#GIRLBOSS details Sophia Amoruso’s humble beginnings as a thief, dumpster diver, hitchhiker and community college dropout to becoming the Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Nasty Gal, a $100+ million dollar online ecommerce retailer that sells edgy women’s clothing, shoes and accessories.
Sophia writes about how at 22 years old she didn’t really have any direction in life and worked at a boring day job just for the health care. Around that time she was struck with the idea to start selling stuff on eBay and eventually started selling vintage clothing she found at local thrift shops.
Most of the vintage clothing listings were shown on a mannequin without any type of styling so Sophia decided to do things differently. She showed the clothing on real girls and how each piece of clothing could be worn. By giving her listings this personal touch it immediately made them stand out and sell more quickly.
She took complete control of finding the clothing, negotiating the prices, finding models to wear the clothing, styling the photoshoots, crafting descriptions for each product, printing labels, packing products, sending them to the winning buyer, managing social media, customer service etc. And she was smart enough to take full advantage of the growing social media trend at the time and cultivated a very loyal following. She took all of this on and completely isolated herself from all of her friends and family. And that dedication and complete attention to detail is what made her business successful on eBay.
So it’s an understatement to say that she was completely obsessed with her business. She says in her book: “I completely dropped out of everything for two years. From the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep, eBay was my entire world.”
In my opinion, this was a quick and fun summer read. I liked this book because it shows you that you don’t need a detailed business plan or tons of startup cash to succeed. Just work hard and do what you love, passionately.
Don’t expect any real tips or advice on how to start or succeed in business. This is an autobiographical book about Sophia’s journey from an unemployable twenty something to CEO of a major fashion retailer.
This is what the New York Times Sunday Book Review had to say about #GIRLBOSS:
“Amoruso’s voice is accessible and charmingly self-deprecating without losing the effortless cool that characterizes her clothes . . . Amoruso’s scrappy capitalist narrative makes an admirable attempt to prove that navigating the system isn’t the same as endorsing it. Being anti-establishment is the old cool. The new cool is playing by your own rules and still winning by their standards.”
Some quotes from the book #GIRLBOSS:
“I stopped feeling that I didn’t belong anywhere and realized that I actually belonged anywhere I wanted to be.”
“Abandon anything about your life and habits that might be holding you back. Learn to create your own opportunities. Know that there is no finish line; fortune favors action.”
How to buy #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso?
Click on the shop link below to buy #GIRLBOSS from Amazon
