GIRLBOSS, the most motivational fashion book to read this year

It's hard to summarise Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso's #GIRLBOSS; part-biography and part self-empowerment manual, at the beginning she writes what it clearly isn't: "This book will not teach you how to get rich quick, break into the fashion industry, or start a business. It is neither a feminist manifesto or a memoir."

What the book is filled with is a mix of candid anecdotes, some that Amoruso is less than proud of - such as when she regularly shoplifted, to unapologetic tales of the time a team member purchased eye-wateringly expensive office chairs, which she then tasked someone with selling on Craiglist, the US equivalent of Gumtree.

If you're not familiar with Amoruso, then she can be best described as the accidental founder and CEO of a $100 million-plus fashion e-tailer which employs around 350 staff in its cool Los Angeles head office. Oh, and that she only just turned 30.

#GIRLBOSS isn't full of annoying hashtags as the title might suggest. Far from it - instead, it is Amoruso's tale of how she transitioned from a part-time vintage seller on eBay to becoming the head of one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. What's endearing about the San Francisco-raised character is how she's been forced to adapt to her new-found 'fame' as, afterall, she admits to starting an eBay business so that she wouldn't have to talk to members of the public.

While Amoruso's rise to the top of the fashion food chain might have been an accidental one, her work ethic and attention to detail is something readers from all walks of life can take heed from. She is considered and hard-working. What's also appealing is the fact that she considers herself as a sort of 'fashion outsider' - so there's no endless chapters on who she networked with while at Fashion Week, or name-dropping about many millions she's frittered away in shops on Rodeo Drive. One chapter is aptly entitled 'Money looks better in the bank than on your feet' - a motto I felt compelled to #share on Instagram.

Amoruso built Nasty Gal, which now ships to over 60 countries, without any outside funding and connected closely to her community of thrift-loving shoppers. The book is interspersed with passionate accounts from successful bloggers such as Leandra Medine, as well as fashion editors and her own staff who discuss how being a female leader affects them.

So get a cosy spot, pay attention to Sophia's commandments and you'll feel compelled to turn that business idea into something closer to a reality.

#GIRLBOSS is released on May 29, 2014 and is published by Penguin

Sophia Amoruso

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