Okay, #GIRLBOSS (by Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso) came out in May and I’m a little late to the game, but I’ve been on the waiting list for it at the library for months, and I finally got the email the other day – your book is ready to be picked up!
The story goes like this: former homeless metalhead eating dumpster bagels rises to well-respected #GIRLBOSS with hundreds of employees and millions in the bank.
That’s the short of it, but she offered some pretty good advice while detailing her journey to success that applies to all of us professional females out there, whether you’re running a business or running up the ladder to your ideal career:
1. No Detail is Too Small
I had to assume that my customer was as particular and as concerned with aesthetics as I was.
This lesson is weaved throughout the book, from where she started in her bedroom all the way to the boardroom, because attention to detail (though not just aesthetics) should always be a part of the plan.
Everything from carefully affixed shipping labels to ruminating over the perfect words for a product description helped Amoruso build a strong and credible reputation for Nasty Gal. If you’re considering giving your money to a business who then shows you they don’t care, you’re not going to do it, are you?
We don’t all have the luxury of time on our hands, so obsessing over every little thing may not be very efficient, but when you do things with care, you’ll please your customers, your boss, and you’ll save a lot of time having to fix any errors later on.
Thinking, “Oh, it doesn’t really matter,” is a slippery slope. Take pride in your work, and do it – all of it – well.
2. Your Customers Are People, Too
Many companies were spending millions of dollars trying to nail social media, but I just went with my instincts and treated my customers like they were my friends.
Honestly, there’s no giant secret to social media. The reason there are specialists like us is because a great strategy takes a lot of hard work, but the main idea is that social media exists to give your company a personality and your brand an opportunity to show some humanity.
When Amoruso started Nasty Gal in 2007, selling vintage on eBay, she also developed a robust MySpace presence with a lot of happy customers because she treated them like human beings, always being friendly and always responding to their comments. “It just seemed like the polite thing to do,” she wrote, and it is.
Also… listen. Rather than taking her original idea of the company and running with it with her fingers in her ears, she took her customers’ feedback and let them help shape Nasty Gal along the way. Your first idea (or your fifth or your twentieth) isn’t always fully formed, so learn to be pliable and to accept constructive criticism.
3. Cash is King – Spend it Wisely
When your time spent making money is significantly greater than your time spent saving money, you will be amazed at how much you can save without even really thinking about it.
An entire chapter of #GIRLBOSS is dedicated to Nasty Gal’s pretty amazing accomplishment – the company has never had debt, because Amoruso lives by the mantra that “Cash is King.” In just three years running her business this way, in 2010, she had almost a million bucks in the bank.
When Nasty Gal moved into its Los Angeles office, the office manager splurged on high-end chairs for everyone on the company dime, to the tune of $12K, no less – a crazy comfortable way to work, but an action that did not align with Nasty Gal’s philosophy of frugality, so they had to go back (another lesson lies herein – pick a company philosophy and stick to it).
When your income increases, don’t automatically increase your spending accordingly. How will you grow your business (or if you’re reading this as professional female rather than business owner – how do you expect your savings to increase) this way? If you make smart decisions and put the business first, you will prosper, and eventually, yes, you can have your Herman Miller chair.
4. You’re Not Above Helping Out
At the end of the day, we’re all here for one reason and one reason only – to make the company succeed.
In a startup, and even in larger companies, we all have to wear multiple hats sometimes. Even the folks at the top of the food chain have a responsibility to get their hands dirty when the time calls for it – like when Nasty Gal’s warehouse manager quit right before Black Friday, and Amoruso and employee all across the pay scale worked until 4:00AM to make sure customers got exactly what they ordered.
A true #GIRLBOSS is willing to help out with jobs that are both below and above her, because we’re all in this together, and a #GIRLBOSS would never say, “That’s not my job.”
5. “Failure is Your Invention”
It is she who listens to the rest of the world who fails, and it is she who has enough confidence to define success and failure for herself who succeeds.
In other words, the age-old adage: learn from your mistakes. Let them empower you and inform what you do in the future, not get you down.
Amoruso was a shoplifter, hitchhiker, dropout… she hasn’t let one of these things hold her back. Instead, she’s taken those life experiences and found opportunities to grow.
At Metter Media, we have a very supportive team, but everyone is expected to strive for the same goal – never make the same mistake twice. Yes, we’re human, yes, things happen – but the point is, don’t get down on your mistakes, learn from them, know how to avoid them in the future and get better every day.
Choose to define pitfalls as learning tools rather than failures, and you’ll be on the right path to becoming your own #GIRLBOSS.
Metter Media LLC is a Boston-based social media management company that implements community-based, localized social engagement strategies for small businesses and corporations alike. Need help with your social media? Email Lauren today.
