Name: #GIRLBOSS
Rating: 4.2 (54 reviews)
Author: Sophia Amoruso

What’s in it for me? Learn how to find your passion and have it drive you toward success.

What kind of chief executive drops out of high school and then spends years dumpster-diving, shoplifting and working mediocre jobs to pay the bills?

A truly kick-ass one like author Sophia Amoruso, who used her colorful life experience to start one of the most successful fashion companies in the past decade.

In #GIRLBOSS, Amoruso explains how she turned a vintage clothes hobby into a multimillion-dollar business. In these blinks, you’ll learn how she also used her creativity and her business savvy to launch a worldwide movement to connect young women.

In the following blinks, you’ll also discover:

what hitchhiking teaches you about entrepreneurship;
how you need to forget everything you learned in school to truly succeed; and
why working at a big chain bookstore can make you the world’s best boss.

Discover your personality and natural strengths, and let them drive you to success.

When you were growing up, did your parents tell you that if you failed in school, you’d fail in life?

Well, it’s not true.

Some people do well at school; others don’t. Either way, good grades won’t determine whether you’ll achieve success later in life.

After all, there are many different kinds of people in the world, and each person has different skills. Being successful is matter of figuring out what you’re good at and parlaying that skill into a career.

Once you identify your special talent, this will free you to focus on what you enjoy and what you’re good at. This way, you can perform to the best of your ability and in tandem, succeed.

That’s the story of Sophia Amoruso. She had a knack for negotiating discounts on coveted vintage clothing and then reselling items for a healthy profit. The venture started as a hobby, but the thrill and challenge eventually drove her to establish her own clothing empire.

The author was simply being herself and doing what she was good at; that’s what made her successful. But she was able to find this path as she had accepted her own strengths and weakness.

Accepting yourself is incredibly important – because as mentioned above, people are different. There are extroverts and introverts, and each type has an environment that works best for them.

Extroverts flourish when they’re interacting with others. This personality type is well-suited for working on Wall Street, for example, where you have to push and shove and shout to make trades. But such an environment would be a nightmare for an introvert.

In Amoruso’s case, her inner introvert blossomed thanks to social media. She built customer relationships online, where she could interact with fans in a measured, non-aggressive way.

Follow an unconventional path and try odd jobs to discover what truly drives you.

If you want to achieve greatness, it’s important to realize that no matter how motivated you are, there’s no straight line to success.

And in fact, trying to follow a straight path will only limit you, as you might miss out on new and surprising opportunities.

To succeed, become an expert at what you love to do. Collect experience and try everything.

Once you’ve figured out what you love to do, how can you succeed in doing it?

Start by becoming an expert in your field, and learn everything you can. If you’re in the business world, the best way to gain expertise is through experience.

Ask, and you shall receive; be creative and break some rules, but don’t break the law.

There are no stupid questions. But there are questions that go unanswered because they were never asked in the first place.

So if you want to do something, you have to start by asking for it.

You can’t control what others think of you, so ignore it. Stay positive and focus on your goals.

So we’ve learned that there are some rules you can break, and others you can’t. But there’s also the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Basically, this means if you put positivity out into the universe, you’ll receive the same in return.

Set yourself apart by connecting your entrepreneurial side with your creative passions.

When we’re children, creativity comes from paint sets, crayons and paper dress patterns. But as adults, we learn that problem-solving too is inherently creative.

And when you combine creativity with business, you can set yourself apart.

Find like-minded investors and employees that will support your dreams, not undermine them.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to choose the right team of employees and investors. But how?

The best sort of team to work with is honest, hard-working and loyal.

In business and in life, there’s nothing cooler than confidence. Wear it with pride.

You know how some people have a glow? It’s all about confidence; when you feel good in your own skin, you look good too.

This holds true both on a personal level and on a business level. If you know what you are as a company, you’ll be able to feel comfortable and confident following your own path.

#GIRLBOSS summary