Becoming a #GIRLBOSS

(This book was on trend a few months ago, so this post may be a little late, but I couldn't waste the opportunity to share these glorious photos. Yep, they're glorious.)

My first (and last) jewellery supplies order cost me $217. I was a twelve year old with the worldview that the best way to make my fortune would be to sell handmade earrings. The world needed more earrings. No one could make earrings the way I made them. I spent 5 1/2 days of my school holidays planning it, then released my product to the world. After four months of hard selling (listing them online) I finally got a flood of customers (2 old ladies looking for christmas gifts). To clarify: I did not make a fortune. Along with a thousand other adolescents, together our jewellery making ventures failed. Except for probably one lucky human who is now running a full time business from a spotless office in New York. And you know what, I don't even care.....my earrings were great....too great....I was just TOO GOOD OKAY.....

Anyway.

That person could have written a book about their success. Very much like our friend Sophia Amuroso, in her book "#GIRLBOSS."  I respect her success, even fangirl a little bit, but if we were to shift the spotlight we would probably find thousands of defeated vintage clothes sellers lurking in the darkness behind her. Did she have some magic gift that made her famous? Something my twelve year self obviously didn't receive. Or was she in the right place at the right time? Or was it her hard work and determination?

Starting out as a partying, shop lifting, high school drop out, no one would have expected Miss Amuroso to become CEO of million dollar company "NastyGal." It started out as a small shop selling second hand clothes on e-bay, offering variety and "authenticity" for customers bored of american malls, and after a few years of picking used tissues out of 1970s tweed jackets, it has turned into the business it is today.

She offers a lot of advice on being "successful." The way the book is written suggests it to be more of a manual than a biography (although I would class it as both). She was fortunate to be an online seller right when the internet was rising, and certainly worked to turn it into her job, but now that e-bay is full of foreign rip-offs and professional sellers, I'm not sure an 18-yr-old would have the same success today. Once you find the platform to make your fortune on, her advice becomes useful.

The plain, hard truth of life which she doesn't disclose in her book: yes, you can be fortunate enough to get handed an opportunity and become a millionaire. But most likely you won't. (Thank goodness money isn't the most important thing in life.) But using hard work and determination you can still be successful in your own way.

I loved the way she endorsed going for your dreams, and supported being original and doing what you love. But following her exact steps wouldn't get you to where she is now; I'm not sure her success is repeatable. 

However, it was inspirational, and I'll admit, good to see a women running some dollars nowadays. Good on her for the way she works, dreams, and earns. 

Should you buy it? Yes, if you want a nice read, that will leave fist pumping for the rest of day. It's a story of how to make the most of a golden opportunity, not how to get one.

Have you read it? Yeah? Nah? 

Madison xx

I like controversies. It's fun to express different opinions, and bounce ideas off each other - so feel free to comment your thoughts below. But please don't be offended if someone else's opinion is different than yours. Thank you.

1 comment:

  1. I loved this book, mostly for it's damn good kick up the backside it gives. Even if you have zero interest in starting a business, just the sheer 'get up and go' attitude promoted throughout the book really does give you that 'YEAH!' feeling. Inspiring and encouraging : )

    Gemma
    Faded Windmills

    ReplyDelete

© BY MY BEDSIDE
Design:Maira Gall.