Our series “How I became a …” digs into the stories of accomplished and influential people,finding out how they got to where they are in their careers.
From her beginnings starting an eBay store called Nasty Gal Vintage that turned into the booming fashion retailer Nasty Gal to writing New York Times bestseller #GIRLBOSS and founding the digital media brand and community Girlboss, Sophia Amoruso has been at the forefront of brand-building in the digital age.
USA TODAY caught up with Amoruso to talk about everything from learning tough lessons the hard way to being thirsty for knowledge.
Question: How did you get your start in the business world?
Sophia Amoruso: At 22, I started an eBay store called Nasty Gal Vintage, and it exploded. In a few years, we went from $250,000 to $1.1 million to $6.5 million to $30 million in revenue. I had never even worked in an office before, but I followed my nose and built a really big business. That brand spoke to women in a way beyond fashion – Nasty Gal was a community, and that’s the throughput with Girlboss. When a customer bought a motorcycle jacket, it was something that was a promise to herself to be just a little more bold in her life, and it was beyond a motorcycle jacket – it was something that made her feel more confident to go out into the world. That’s very much what Girlboss is – we’re doing that more directly with our professional network that we just launched – and her being able to see herself in a life that she wants and being able to take small steps forward to achieve that and see other people that are doing it is very much what I’ve done throughout my career.
In terms of Girlboss, it’s another thing that exploded. I wrote a book (“#GIRLBOSS) five years ago now, and the hashtag’s been used 17 million times on Instagram, the book’s sold half a million copies, Netflix put a show called “Girlboss” to 100 million homes, and it’s very much part of the zeitgeist. As a company, we’re two years in, and we have a podcast network, a yearly conference called Girlboss Rally, but what we’re really doing that that all ladders up to is building a digital professional network for ambitious women.
Q: What does a typical workday look like for you?
Amoruso: I usually take calls from home in the morning, and come in around 10. I have a lot of meetings, more than I would like, but there’s a lot to do. Those things can range from looking at creative to talking about our road map to having touch bases to recording a podcast. There’s a lot of shifting gears and a lot of variety in what I contribute to and spend time on (with) Girlboss. I have therapy twice a week, so part of that takes me across town, but I often work in that area after therapy and have meetings closer to West Hollywood. I go home at maybe 7, and for the most part I cook dinner for myself – I enjoy cooking – and I’ll often work from home for several hours after that, just catching up because there’s so little time to clean my inbox or do deeper thinking while I’m at the office.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Amoruso: Being able to learn. Our platform is in beta, but I’m beta, and I’ll always be beta. I get to learn things that I would never otherwise be able to and that I never even knew existed. Just learning, really every day – it’s such a privilege to be in a place where our business requires that.
Q: To what do you credit your success?
Amoruso: Resourcefulness, gritand curiosity.
Q: How do you balance work, lifeand such a busy schedule?
Amoruso: Unless I’m traveling, I don’t work on weekends. I make sure that if I need to work from home, I do. The whole team works from home on Fridays, which is really nice, and we’re able to work from anywhere. I rarely do business dinners – I go home almost every day and spend time cooking for myself, taking care of myself, and having some time alone until my boyfriend gets home, which is usually a little later than I get home. I make sure to do small self-care things, whether it’s doing yoga or something like getting my nails done – just stopping, taking care of my body, and feeling like I’m investing in feeling good and my body and who I am going out into the world. I also eat really healthfully: I don’t eat sugar, I don’t eat gluten, and that’s been really great because that 3 p.m. slump I get, I no longer get, and it’s been really great eating more healthfully.
Q: What have been some of your career highlights?
Amoruso: The cover of Forbes was huge; publishing “#GIRLBOSS” was an unparalleled experience; opening our first store with Nasty Gal was so exciting, and founding Girlboss. Being able to focus on Girlboss full time three years after the book was published, knowing that there’s been a community waiting for us to build what we’re building today for girls that have read the book and have been inspired by the Girlboss ethos – that we have now built a place for her to go and connect with one another and advance her career professionally. That’s really, really, really rewarding.
Q: What has been one of the biggest tough lessons you’ve had to learn as an entrepreneur?
Amoruso: Holding executives accountable. That’s something I could have done a better job atat Nasty Gal. I hire people, and I trust them. The advice is to let smart people do their jobs, but at the same time, everybody needs that kind of guidance. I had hired executives who had careers longer than I had been alive when I was in my twenties, and I thought they’d show up and dive into business and just do what needed to be done, but I could’ve stayed closer to their work. That’s something I’ve learned the hard way.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Amoruso: Try a lot of things and find what resonates and what you’re good at. Especially when you’re young, you cannot fail. You have all the permission to jump around and try different things. Find smart people around you who have been there and done it. Seek out great advice, and stay curious. Use all of the resources you have at your disposal: read books, Google things, watch YouTube videos – whatever you need to answer the questions that you have. Find where you can gain that information and knowledge. A lot of that is on Girlboss – what we’re building with this social network is what I wish I’d had. To be able to connect with tens of thousands of women who have been there and understand what you’re going through more so than a Google search would is so, so powerful. There’s ways that you can fast-forward without having to learn those lessons the hard way by connecting with people who have done it.
Quick hits
•What’s your coffee order? Iced almond matcha right now from Intelligentsia here in Silver Lake.
•What’s your favorite book? I learned so much from “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” by Nir Eyal, about building digital products that people love.
•What’s your favorite song of the moment? “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens
•Who has been one of your biggest mentors? My executive coach, who I’ve had for like seven years, Jeff Welch. He’s coached me through good times and bad times, and taught me a lot about leadership and has just been so committed and someone who’s always there. It’s rare that you have someone involved in your career trajectory for so long.
•What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done? Hiked the Kalalau Trail in Kauai. I did 11 miles in a day, and it’s one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. There’s this area called Crawler’s Ledge, and you’re literally on all fours crawling across. I had 30 pounds on my back – we backpacked in and out – and it was terrifying. I cried.
