Summer Reading List -- #GirlBoss

**Reviewed because GirlBoss is on Netflix, and I loved it.**

Following my graduation, I started having some transition-from-college-related challenges at work.  A series of misadventures, and many 11 and 12 hour days in a row without real weekends, lead to some serious burn out.  This was particularly frustrating because I had been so desperately excited to be at work.  I was starting to dread coming in because there was just too much to do, and it seemed like I had aggravated everyone I work with due to my excessive level of enthusiasm and sudden and constant presence.

Anyway, that's an extremely redacted version of what happened, but suffice it to say that things are much better now, and I'm settling into a fairly normal routine.  At about this time, I also had the happier realization that I am no longer obligated to read on assignment, and I can begin reading again for fun.  I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and take my newfound free time in the evening and before bed to read something that might help me at work.

While I was at school, #GirlBoss by Sophia Amoruso was a featured book in the library, and I walked by it regularly.  As a rule, I'm not particularly inspired by books that are supposed to help girls in business.  To make a very blanket statement, I can find something inspiring and motivational in anyone who has achieved success in the face of adversity, or innovated in a stagnant environment, and I am not particularly bothered by issues of gender or nationality when doling out my admiration.  To that end, I am somewhat off-put by books that are specifically for girls because I don't feel that I need to be pandered to; if the subject of the book is inspirational, I will be inspired regardless of whether it was sold to me as something I should find inspirational.  All of this is to say that I was hesitant to read the book, for fear of it being a bit hokey in its inspirational ability.

But in light of my difficulties at work, I went online to GoodReads to reconsider my attitude toward the book.  I wish I had saved some quotes from people's reviews, because it is awesome how their critical reviews galvanized me to buy the book.  Most of the reviews suggested that she was condescending, and that her success was due to luck, and that other people have likely worked harder than she has with much less success.  This kind of rhetoric always rubs me the wrong way, because I am an optimist, and I am resilient, and as hard as it has been going to work when I felt helpless and overwhelmed, I get up in the morning because I wholeheartedly believe that my hard work will lead to success.  I am not lucky, I am well prepared.  I don't get opportunities, I make them.  And it sounded to me like they were knocking the author of #GirlBoss for exactly my attitude.

So I bought the book, and was SO RICHLY REWARDED.  First of all, she absolutely writes with the same voice inside my head.  I gobbled up the first 45 pages in one night.  I knew I had made the right choice when I came across page 14:

"I have never once in my life thought that being a girl was something I had to overcome.  My mom grew up doing the cooking and cleaning while her brothers got to enjoy their childhoods.  In my mom's experience, being a girl was most definitely a disadvantage.  Perhaps because both of my parents worked full-time, or because I had no siblings, I never witnessed this kind of favoritism.  I know generations of women fought for the rights that I take for granted, and in other parts of the world a book like this would never see the light of day.  I believe the best way to honor the past and future of women's rights is by getting shit done.  Instead of sitting around and talking about how much I care, I'm going to kick ass and prove it."

What a #GirlBoss!!  I love this!  I agree!  Huzzah, my beliefs summarized in a snazzy paragraph!  Love it.

I also love her story.  She spent some time being an adolescent vagrant, and an anticapitalist rebel.  She talks about how she realized, as she gained some success and got some money, that buying expensive things does not make her a sell out, it is a reflection of all the hard work she had put in to be able to afford it.  It's that Manifest Destiny, Protestant work ethic that America was built on, and that says that delaying gratification doesn't mean living an austere life forever.

I love that she did some soul searching to get where she is.  I love that she saw a niche and jumped into it.  I ABSOLUTELY love that she recognized what her brand meant for her customers, and how much bigger it was than simply selling clothes.  Her brand strategy is clean and consistent, and I think it helps her that her brand is so closely tied to her personality.  It's easy to make decisions for the business when you basically are the business. 

I'm mixed on her opinion about making a business plan.  I agree that you should dive into things and start making, and making mistakes, but I am a planner.  I don't think I could ever get away with not making a business plan when I start a new project.  But, different strokes.

My favorite quote: "The only thing I smoke is the competition."

All in all, I adored this book, and found it delightful.  It was not particularly educational for becoming a better boss myself, and the marketing advice she gave was fairly well known to me, since I literally just stepped out of school.  This was a very inspirational book, and definitely helped me get out of my funk at work.

I lost my ever loving mind at the book store recently, and came home with a bundle to read.  I've posted a picture of my haul, and will slowly be making my way through them, and posting my thoughts here for storage.  I'm also working through the first book in the Outlander series, so it will be slow going, but I'll get there.