#GirlBoss: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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#GirlBoss is the autobiographical book by Sophia Amoruso, fashun mogul & the entrepreneur extraordinaire founder of Nasty Gal. I'm not much for the fashion world but I do partake in girl power business-oriented literature so I figured what the hey. 

Speaking of #GirlBosses. elle.com

The Good
The book is actually well written to begin with. When a book has you sneaking every spare minute, even on the supermarket queue (where I was buying vegan, wholesome goods and definitely not Oreos), to read that one extra page, the book is well written. The tone that comes through the entire thing is refreshing honesty. Sophia isn’t looking to sell you her story as an ideal, she’s honestly sharing what has happened, what and how she’s thought and you can tell that she’s being real. Most of us make a point of not reading biographical books like this because the angle is always “started from the bottom, now I’m here. Marvel at my success and make me richer by buying this book. Did I mention that I’m successful? Because I am. Like, SUPER successful”. Where Sophia is coming from is she started from the bottom, and this is how she clawed, bled and climbed each torturous step, with little emphasis on the whole I’M WINNING thing.


The story will kick you in the butt. And I have a narrow butt so I most certainly felt it. You’re going to want to put more effort into your *insert side hustle, main hustle, or current project here* with immediate effect and a zeal that only Santa’s overworked and underpaid elves can muster. The first I should say half of the book is a study in what dedication and being ready to do the dirty work will get you. Trust and believe, you shall be inspired.

Like this, but with everyone in heels. peopleinspirepeople

The thought process Sophia has is brought out very clearly in the book. The reader is able to look at how this successful entrepreneur reasons things out, compared to how you yourself think. Some things that seem obvious had actually never occurred to me: a shoplifter that steals books to resell on eBay isn’t a new concept, but the fact that Sophia would first check what books were Amazon bestsellers to know what would sell off eBay had me like “whaaaaaa?”. That concept can, I believe, be filed under Market Research, demonstrated in the most basic, non-jargon way and applied to real life, albeit in a situation that’s less than favourable.
It’s a great book to sit down with before you start on a new project, or if you have a backlog of things you’re meant to be doing (throws shade at myself) ‘cause for me at least, it presents a new angle to look at things, specifically creative ideas with practical benefits.


The Bad
The book could have ended sooner. By Chapter 5, aptly titled “Money Looks Better in Your Bank than On Your Feet”, I was still nodding vigorously every 3 sentences, like the rave Chihuahua of your dreams. With concrete references to real life situations and decisions, the story being told felt accessible and to the point: I got the book to learn how she got her success & parlay the applicable lessons to my own situation.
Chapter 6, not so much. Here the book veers into Sophia’s personal philosophies & ‘harnessing the magic of the universe’ wahala. I didn’t get it and I didn’t want to. I’m not saying it was a bad thing, I’m saying it wasn’t for me. The rest of the book going forward has a lot more content I’m sure will resonate personally with a lot of readers but I am not the target audience: being a fashion rebel outsider, basic information about the job search and a personal story about a photography project involving a church and so on. I was briefly back in for chapter 9, which focused on the business aspect again, branding, customer service and so on, but stayed firmly #Nope to the end.


The Ugly
Pretty much covered in the mystical magic stuff. I get that the book is about Sophia and her journey, and this was part of it: I’m not knocking it, by all means do you. Having said that, I could have done without it.


Final Verdict
4 out of 5 stars.  Highly recommend, not just for female entrepreneurs but for everyone looking to get a fresh perspective/bounce out of a professional slump/finally finish that book about roguishly handsome pirate Carlos Raul sweeping the innocent chambermaid off her feet with...a magic horse...or his hair powers.


Not actually in the book. via nastygal

Go ye forth and enjoy.

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