#GIRLBOSS Review: The good, the bad, and the result

Let's Begin

A little while ago I heard of this really interesting woman called Sophia Amoruso. She seemed intelligent, relatable, cool - and she had founded an entire company from an eBay store. I needed to know more. In typical Katie fashion, upon finding something interesting or inspiring, I went full-on internet stalker mode and dropped a helpful hint to Alex to buy me her book, "#GIRLBOSS", for Christmas.

After finishing it, it's left me a little divided. I thought I'd split this into the good bits, the bad bits, and what you can expect as a result. Buckle up, it's going to be a long one!

The Good

The power of magical thinking
Although Sophia shrugs off the idea of sticking a picture of something you want to your wall and wishing for it every day, she applies the same principle but in a more realistic way. Sophia says, "I am talking about visualisation that works when we actually get off our asses and do stuff . . . each time you show up to work and work hard and do your best at everything you can do, you're planting the seeds . . . take care of the little things - even the little things that you hate - and treat them as promises to your own future." It's obvious that if you have something in your mind all of the time, you're naturally going to start making steps towards that goal. In my world what I add to this is the power of positive thinking, not just 'magical' thinking. It makes sense that if you think of things in a more positive way it will help to make the things around you also seem more positive - at the very least it'll help to build your resilience for when things aren't going as well, and anyway, who wants to be around negative people all of the time? Stay goal focused, stay ambitious, stay positive.

Know your strengths
Sophia talks about the importance of knowing your strengths; for her, school and having a 'typical' job weren't in that category. Instead she needed to find something that allowed her to be creative, flexible and use her knowledge of people. I liked that despite being a very successful entrepreneur, she says that some people aren't going to be successful that way - I know my strengths, and know that I could never have a job like hers. I need a bit more structure!

Details matter
In #GirlBoss this relates to a number of things; when Sophia first started out on eBay, paying attention to details helped her to get ahead as she was providing a better 'brand' to her customers by ensuring the thumbnails were engaging, the descriptions were thorough, and by providing excellent customer service. For me, this relates to things like ensuring the work I produce is of a high standard; being efficient; having a tidy work space; and even things you'd think were insignificant, like taking a couple of seconds to review an email before sending it to ensure the tone is appropriate. Details can include how you dress, how you stand, whether or not you look interested - these things do matter.

Honesty
I appreciated Sophia's honesty and openness about the lack of experience she had in setting up Nasty Gal - to be fair, that level of success doesn't usually happen so quickly to people who don't really know what they're doing! Sophia learned through speaking to experts, reading books, and...Google. The information is there, so why not? More power to her for using all available resources.

The value of working hard
Again and again this is repeated throughout the book. There's no mention of a magic formula, no get rich quick schemes, just simply: be passionate and work hard. Everyone starts somewhere.

The Bad

The order of the book doesn't make sense
I was expecting each chapter to give me a bit of background info/memoir, followed by a message or #GirlBoss tip. I think the book has aimed to do this, but it still ends up feeling a bit clunky. Some chapters are definitely better than others in terms of being inspirational.

Who is it aimed at?
Because I have no idea. If this book is supposed to be aimed at younger women who are just starting out, then why is there advice about hiring and firing and speaking to investors mere pages away from advice about writing a good resume? Maybe she was trying to capture all audiences, but in the end it just seems a bit confused.

Too much memoir, not enough #GirlBoss
I like Sophia. I think that she's led an interesting life and admire how she's crafted an idea into something very successful without having anything handed to her along the way. It's clear that she has a lot of self-confidence and I don't have a problem with that - I like her attitude. But what I did find annoying was the repetition of how many crappy jobs she's had; that she was a good thief; and that when she was younger she exclusively wore vintage. I get it, your childhood was unconventional. But what I was really after was some motivation, not in-depth knowledge about how to steal expensive oil pastels.

The Result

Overall, it's a solid 3 stars from me.

Despite its faults, it's still a worthwhile read and I'm planning on recommending it to my friends, who are all #GirlBosses. However, seeing as this didn't quite fit the gaps I needed it to, I'm going to go ahead and assume that it didn't for some other women out there too. I don't know much -  in fact I'm barely getting started - but what I can share, I will. Look out for future blog posts where I write my own rules about what being a #GIRLBOSS means to me.