Every girl in their young 20s has a girl crush, or multiple. According to Urban Dictionary, a Girl Crush is “feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl.” For some, their girl crush may be Beyoncé, or Miley Cyrus or maybe even Kim K. (I sincerely hope not) but you never know. My girl crush is 100 percent Sophia Amoruso. She encompasses everything I could ever dream of being at some point in my life. Successful female entrepreneur, fashionable, role model for young women everywhere and don't forget to include an overall fox.
Sophia Amoruso is the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, the fastest-growing online retailer in the country. She has created her own niche in the women’s fashion scene today and built her own empire in the fashion world. Her first book, "#GIRLBOSS" debuted in May and offers entrepreneurial and career advice for young women based off her personal life experiences. She is empowering women everywhere to be successful in business and follow their dreams, in no means by being handed what they want, but by working their butts off to get there.
As a business major, and female who wants to be successful in the business world I recently read her book and it inspired me in many ways.
Five of the most important lessons learned from her that I feel that all female entrepreneurs should understand are:
1. Define failure and success on your own terms.
In the book, Amoruso emphasizes that failure is a concept of our own design. Failing is something different to each person and that definition is something self established. Go into situations open-minded with the intent to learn and grow from new experiences. Likewise, success is something we define for ourselves. Set goals for yourself and push yourself every day.
2. “Work is something we all have to do. So hell, make it something you enjoy because bored is not a #GIRLBOSS’s natural state."
Amoruso worked endless jobs before she found one that compelled her each and every day. Don't settle for something that doesn't make you happy, and don't be afraid to restructure your career.
3. “You don't get what you don't ask for.”
Be assertive with what you want, people cant read minds. If you want something done, don't like the way something is done, or appreciate the work someone is doing for you be sure to tell them. The worst someone can tell you is no.
4. If you only listen to the advice of those around you, the chances of your dreams coming true are very small.
People are telling you all the time how difficult things are. In all honesty you cant have it all, and nothing comes easy. In each persons path to success they experience setback, compromise, failure, heart break but they learn to continue on despite all of this. Difficult doesn't mean impossible. Each successful person you can name, your “girl crushes,” have experienced set backs in their lives. You and only you can decide how hard you try to overcome these setbacks.
5. Once you find success, don't stop.
We are only here for a short amount of time so make it count. As Amoruso said, “Great entrepreneurs are like Indiana Jones: They take leaps before seeing the bridge because they know that if they don't, someone else will get that holy grail. That holy grail is yours for the taking.”
If you haven’t had a chance to read "#GIRLBOSS" by Sophia Amoruso stop what your doing and go get it now, so you can all become as obsessed as I am.
“Bad Bitches are taking over the world. When I walk into the Nasty Gal offices, its clear: Busting your butt isn’t just for the wallflowers anymore. We’ve arrived, and we’re killing it.”
