Sophia Amoruso has been in her words, “A dropout, a nomad, a thief, a shitty student, and a lazy employee.” Then in 2006 she set up Nasty Gal Vintage, an eBay shop selling vintage clothes. Fast forward to 2014 and she’s the CEO of Nasty Gal a $100 million-plus business selling vintage and contemporary fashion online, without ever having to borrow a penny along the way (she couldn’t due to ruining her credit rating when she didn’t pay off a single purchase made on a Victoria’s Secret store card). Oh and she celebrated her 30th birthday this year. Impressive or what?
Sophia’s written a book, #GIRLBOSS, sharing the secrets of her amazing career journey so far (how on earth she found the time to write a book when she’s already got a pretty huge day job I have no idea). As you would expect it’s full of inspirational career advice and I really wish it had been around when I was a teenager. But hey, it wasn’t, so here are five pieces of wisdom from the Nasty Gal boss that it’s worth remembering whatever stage you’re at in your career.
Tip 1: Details matter
I like to think that part of the reason Nasty Gal has been successful is because my goals were never financial ones. I believed in what I was doing, and fortunately other people believed in it as well. I cared as much about the process as I did about the results. No decision was too small. Whether it was the word choice in a product description or the expression on a model’s face, I treated everything with the utmost care.
Tip 2: Ask for what you want
If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting what you want, stop for a second: Have you actually flat-out asked for it? If you haven’t, stop complaining. You can’t expect the world to read your mind. You have to put it out there, and sometimes putting it out there is as simple as just saying, “Hey, can I have that?”
Tip 3: Think positively
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.
Tip 4: Love yourself
You can’t convince someone else that you’re amazing and terrific if you don’t actually think you are. This isn’t the false confidence that comes from getting a bunch of “likes” on our Instagram selfies, but a deep-down unshakeable self-confidence that persists even when things aren’t going all that great.
Tip 5: Be open to opportunities
While I truly believe that you must have intentions to fulfill your dreams, I also think you have to leave room for the universe to have its way and play around a bit. Don’t get so focused on one particular opportunity that you’re blind to other ones that come up.
You can buy #GIRLBOSS here
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given? Do share below!
Sophia’s story is amazing, it’s such an inspiration and I love the fact that she’s clearly such a character. It’s such an inspiration that she hasn’t had this perfect, manicured life – yet has achieved so much. V impressive.
I’ve had two useful piece of careers advice:
1) Be true to who you are – I used to get feedback that I should ‘be more assertive’ and sell myself more. This isn’t my style – I like to do a good job so that people recognise and trust me – and I’ve realised that I don’t have to be really bolshy to get ahead – some people do and it works for them which is great. But honestly being natural will, in my opinion, always get you further than pretending to be something you’re not.
2) Be brave – this is in relation to not staying somewhere when you’re not happy! I was at this one place where I had to work with an internal client who was a complete bully. I was so miserable but felt compelled to stay there because I’d only been there for a few months. Someone told me to be brave and take a risk, so I looked for another job and moved – best decision I could have made! Life is way too short to be stuck somewhere and miserable.
Totally agree with you Kate, people hire someone and then try and change them into someone else, why is that?! And yes, it definitely pays to be brave from time to time, life is short and being miserable sucks, if you’re not happy change something!
Kate your advice really resonates with me. Feedback I’ve had before was to be more confident in my ability and be assertive. But I also believe that if you do good work, then that speaks for itself and you shouldn’t have to shout it from the rooftops. Sometimes I doubt that that is the right approach so I am really glad you also believe that. x
Absolutely Sian, good work should speak for itself, and a good manager should notice good work and appreciate team members who just get on with doing a good job, as opposed to constantly demanding attention and praise!
I hear what you’re saying about being bolshy and assertive… I’ve recently had a problem because I wasn’t “flagging up” my work and successes but I can’t go into much detail because it’s in my current role. Since when was getting your head down and doing your job not enough? I really can’t abide office politics, I’m not a game player 🙁
Me either Kitty, I particularly hate the political cc – so annoying!
Right! So would you stand in the middle of the office and complain about someone/something they’ve done in front of their manager and all their colleagues? Probably not! So why would you do the equivalent in email??
Ha! I have the opposite problem in that I’m quite assertive (and consequently quite good at getting shit done under difficult circumstances), maybe its because I’m 36 now but quite frankly, I’m not going to tone it down because its part of who I am and why I’m pretty bloody good at my job!!
And why should you Claire?! I’ve definitely become more assertive as I’ve gotten older.
I literally just ordered this book. Weird. So looking forward to diving into it.
Hmmm… Career advice. I haven’t been given much, but there’s a few things I’ve deduced myself over the last year.
1. It’s never too late to course correct. If you don’t like your career path, change it.
2. You don’t have to “take-it”. If you’re being mistreated, disrespected or undervalued, put your big girl pants on and stand up for yourself because no one else is going to.
3. It’s ok to be a human being. We all fuck up. Don’t try to hide mistakes, broadcast what you’ve learnt from them. By owning your fuck up’s you gain experiential authority and people respect you for it.
I have so many I could keep going. But three seems like a good number to end on.
Agree with all your advice Naomi, particularly number one, it’s definitely never too late to change direction and these days I would say it’s smart to keep adding to your skill set too.
oh oh, number 2 is SO important! I’ve lost count of the number of times people have complained to me about someone’s inappropriate behaviour at work (of any kind) but done naff all about it!! It makes my blood boil (especially when its gender related), maybe there should be some kind of stamp that says ‘put your big girl pants on’ that can be deployed for just such occasions
Yes to the stamp Claire!
Interesting – i have been to a lot of career talks recently, one from Women on Boards, another from Lynette Allen a very successful career coach they both pointed out that unless you do speak up and tell people what you are doing – be it your manager, their manager or colleagues then people might not know what you are doing. But the people who are really good at doing this is men…. so that’s why others are trying so damn hard to get all your ladies to be more confident and speak up more. Good managers will and should notice your work but not everyone has a good manager, and it might not be your direct manager making the calls.
I would really recommend Cheryl Sandbergs book and Ted Talk for all women (& men!) as it was a real eye opener, she also isn’t self employed so I found it a bit more relevant to where I was at.
Would love to see more posts on these topics!
Very good point Sarah, that your direct manager might not be making the calls, and so it’s crucial that the higher-ups know what you’re contributing to the company. Have been meaning to read Cheryl Sandberg’s book and will definitely check out her TED talk too.