So here it is my first book review! On many of the blogs I follow there was mention of #GIRLBOSS and I decided to investigate for myself. I can see now why the book is so popular! It was really great – particularly because I have been trying to figure out this whole working-forever business and the book was very motivational and inspiring (but not in a ‘self-help’ way).

For those of you that don’t know #GIRLBOSS is a book by Sophia Amoruso who is the head of a multi-million dollar company called Nasty Gal (online clothing store). Of course being a CEO/Creative Director she has many insights on how to run a business and be professional – but the best part about the book is how she describes her journey to becoming one of the largest online clothing stores. She has had quite the experiences in her life, but she isn’t looking for sympathy – in all her stories she has tied the important tips and lessons she has learned for all women out there.

I have picked out a few quotes that particularly resonated with me:

“…the everyday kind of magic that we make ourselves. And that’s not really magic at all. It’s just recognizing the fact that we control our thoughts and our thoughts control our lives. This is an extremely simple, totally straight forward concept, but for a lot of people, it’s so alien that it might as well be magic. Chances are you know someone who is really negative… these people are convinced that life is shit – and so it is… You get back what you put out so you might as well think positively, focus on visualizing what you want instead of getting distracted by what you don’t want, and send the universe your good intentions so that it can send them right back” – Pages 119-120

“Your challenge #GIRLBOSS is to dive headfirst into things without being too attached to the results. When your goal is to gain experience, perspective, and knowledge, failure is no longer a possibility. Failure is your invention. I believe that there is a silver lining in everything, and once you begin to see it, you’ll need sunglasses to combat the glare. It is she who listens to the rest of the world who fails, and it she who has enough confidence to define success and failure for herself who succeeds.” Pages 138-139

“Nasty Gal would have surely failed had it been my goal to grow a business to the size that I have today. When you begin with the finish line in mind, you miss all the fun stuff along the way. The better approach is to tweak and grow, tweak and grow. I call it the incremental potential.” Page 181

“Life stops for no one, so keep moving. Stay awake and stay alive. There is no Autocorrect in life – think before texting the Universe. Breaking the rules for fun is too easy – the real challenge lies in perfecting the art of knowing which rules to accept and which to rewrite.”  Page 238

I would highly recommend this book to anyone starting out in the workforce, starting their own business, or just looking for general motivation (I would say that it is definitely more female oriented BUT I could see men enjoying her humour and learning quite a bit as well). Her style of writing is not condescending and she basically puts it out there for you to take it or leave it. Not once did I feel she was preaching, or promoting herself or her company (well okay maybe a little bit on the promoting but hard not to when you are telling the story ABOUT your company). Even the life-lessons stuff I had heard before from other people, sorta just clicked even more.

I am proud to say that I am determined now to become a #GIRLBOSS – and as you will see in the book that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a boss, you just have to be your own boss.