Sophia Amoruso Quotes

Learn how to take care of yourself so that the man you marry is the man you choose to be with and not just the man who will take care of you.

It's the age-old concept of like attracts like, or the law of attraction. You get back what you put out, so you might as well think positively, focus on visualizing what you want instead of getting distracted by what you don't want, and send the universe your good intentions so that it can send them right back.

The modern girl is less concerned with everything being a brand name.

A great mantra to have, whether you're breaking up with your boyfriend or you lose your job, or something changes that you didn't anticipate - which is a fact of life, and very much a fact of running a business - is: 'I was OK before this, I will be OK after this.'

Nothing will teach you more about perceived value than taking something with literally no value and selling it in the auction format. It teaches you the beauty and power of presentation, and how you can make magic out of nothing.

You can't convince someone else - whether it's a potential employer, a loan officer at the car dealership, or someone you've been crushing on - that you're amazing and terrific if you don't actually think you are.

I think it's important that everyone understands that there's no real prescription to having an awesome life.

You have to kick people out of your head as forcefully as you'd kick someone out of your house.

If you look at my Instagram, girls are just beating down my door for tips or a job or mentorship. I can't hire every single one of them. My story is one thing that gives them hope. It's an unconventional story with anecdotes, commonsense advice and a big dose of permission to figure things out for yourself.

A cover letter can connect the dots between where you've been, where you are, and where you're trying to go.

I didn't buy the Porsche for status. I hate that, and it's actually kind of goofy now because in L.A., a Porsche is like a Honda. It was just that I could pay that much money for a car and drive it off the lot.

My entire youth has been Nasty Gal. My entire future is Nasty Gal.

I think many people go to business school and learn ways to play it safe, ensuring that they avoid some of the pain that entrepreneurs endure while taking less calculated risks.

You're not bossy, you're the boss.

My philosophy is that you sell things for more than you bought them.

The most important thing to do is to take risks. The risks are where breakthroughs happen, and big shifts take you to new places and create opportunities. They can be really scary and intimidating, but that means it is taking you out of your comfort zone. All designers look at life through a

I believe that there is a silver lining in everything, and once you begin to see it, you'll need sunglasses to combat the glare.

Everyone does a style book, and I wanted to write a business book for people that didn't think they would like a business book.

This ensures that when I'm bogged down with day-to-day bureaucracy and details, I don't lose sight of what I really want.

In San Francisco my friends and I picked a decade and stuck with it. We listened to old music, drove old cars, and wore old clothes.

Nasty Gal Obsessed: We keep the customer at the center of everything we do. Without customers, we have nothing. Own It: Take the ball and run with it. We make smart decisions, put the business first, and do more with less. People Are Important: Reach out, make friends, build trust. No Assholes: We leave our egos at the door. We are respectful, collaborative, curious, and open-minded. Learn On: What we're building has never been built before - the future is ours to write. We get excited about growth, take intelligent risks, and learn from our mistakes. Have Fun and Keep It Weird.

Figure out what you love doing and don't suck at, then try to figure out how to make a living doing that! Don't be scared. We're all going to die, it's just a question of when and how - so

Don't be scared. We're all going to die, it's just a question of when and how - so be brave.

Confidence is more attractive than anything you could put on your body.

fortune favors action.

Every other fashion brand out there - including those that I call 'competitors' - are run by mostly old white men, and the customer knows it.

Start making smart decisions now to avoid paying for stupid ones later.

It's unfortunate that school is so often regarded as a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. And if it doesn't fit, you're treated as if there is something wrong with you; so it is you, not the system, which is failing.

Chaos magic is the idea that a particular set of beliefs serves as an active force in the world. In other words, we choose what and how we believe, and our beliefs are tools that we then use to make things happen ... or not.

I wanted to live spontaneously and to find myself in wild places, with wild people, and have wild times.

If I, and this book, have anything to prove, it's that when you believe in yourself, other people will believe in you, too.

The world loves to tell you how difficult things are, and the world's not exaggerating. But difficult doesn't mean impossible, and out of the bajillions of things in this universe that you can't control, what you can control is how hard you try, and if or when to pack it in.

I, like every #GIRLBOSS, am a wolf in wolf's clothing.

When I think about the future, I know that the most fantastic things are too awesome to even imagine today. Great entrepreneurs are like Indiana Jones: They take leaps before seeing the bridge because they know that if they don't, someone else will get that holy grail. That holy grail is yours for the taking.

I can show up at a Goldman Sachs conference wearing a Judas Priest T-shirt - and I have - while everyone else is wearing the same dress.

A little bit of skin + attention to silhouette + an attitude + a vintage piece or two + a decent price tag = Hello, Nasty Gal.

If you're working, you're working hard, and if you're not doing that, what are you doing?

Clothing is ultimately the suit of armor in which we battle the world.

I tried the obvious route of hourly jobs and community college, and it just never worked for me. I'd been told for so long that the path to success was paved with a series of boxes you checked off, starting with getting a degree and getting a job, and I kept trying and failing at these, it sometimes seemed that I was destined for a life in the loser lane. But I always suspected that I was destined for more, and that I was capable of, something bigger.

It was easy for me in my bathrobe to provide really great customer service. As an introvert, it's really much easier to do than when standing in a retail store.

Now, I'm not trying to give every slacker a free pass to cut class and head straight to Burger King, but I do think we should acknowledge that school isn't for everyone.

Abandon anything about your life and habits that might be holding you back. Learn to create your own opportunities. Know that there is no finish line; fortune favors action. Race balls-out toward the extraordinary life that you've always dreamed of, or still haven't had time to dream up. And prepare to have a hell of a lot of fun along the way.

When I do things because I want to do them, and not because I have to, I can accomplish a lot.

One of the best books I've read was George S. Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon, which offers financial advice in a collection of parables.

It was around this time that a psychiatrist diagnosed me with both depression and ADD. Though there was no doubt I was depressed, I refused to take the pills that he prescribed, instead throwing them away. I knew then that my utter misery and universal disinterest were not due to a chemical imbalance. This wasn't something that could just be medicated out of me - I just hated where I was.

We trusted our instincts, and stuck to the two tenets of my philosophy: Sell things for more than you pay for them, and save more than you spend. Simple, yes, but that is the philosophy that ultimately led to a really big business.

Never let go of your appetite to go after new ideas, new experiences, and new adventures. Compete with yourself, not with others. Judge yourself on what is your personal best and you'll accomplish more than you could ever have imagined. Life stops for no one, so keep moving. Stay awake and stay alive. There's no AutoCorrect in life - think before texting the universe. Breaking the rules just for fun is too easy - the real challenge lies in perfecting the art of knowing which rules to accept and which to rewrite. The more you experiment, take risks, and make mistakes, the better you'll know yourself, the better you'll know the world, and the more focused you'll be.

The #GIRLBOSS who is willing to do a job that is below her - and above - is the one who stands out.

At the bare minimum, you need to be in your position for a year before you ask for a raise or title change.

I'm a capitalist, I'm a CEO, I run a big business, I'm an employer.

confidence to define success and failure for herself who succeeds. These words were not invented for an incremental life. "Success" and "failure" serve a world that is black-and-white. And as I said before, it's all just kinda gray.

No amount of money can buy you style. Having good style takes thought, creativity, confidence, self-awareness, even sometimes a little bit of work.

Treat your mind like your money; don't waste it.

Creativity is incredibly important, but drive is equally so.

It just means that your talents lie elsewhere, so take the opportunity to seek out what you are good at, and find a place where you can flourish. Once you do, you're going to kill it.

You want to know what four words I probably hate the most? 'That's not my job.'

I'm telling you that you don't have to choose between smart and sexy. You can have both. You are both.

A lot of young people who I employ expect a raise after three months or expect not to have to put in more work than what's in their job description.

The time making money should be greater than the time that you are spending money.

Don't you dare alter your inner freak-she's got your back.

You combine hard work, creativity, and self-determination, and things start to happen.

My first job was as a sandwich artist at Subway.

Abandon anything in your life and habits that might be holding you back.

Money looks better in the bank than on your feet.

The last thing the world needs is another boring person or another boring brand, so embrace all the things that make you different. Alter your clothes all you want, but don't you dare alter your inner freak - she's got your back as much as I do.

I don't lead with an iron fist. I don't yell at people. I have a way of making my opinion clear.

The energy you'll expend focusing on someone else's life is better spent working on your own. Just be your own idol.

Spell check exists for a reason.

'Have you ever considered changing the name Nasty Gal?' is probably the dumbest question I've ever heard.

He said that he felt like he'd "gotten off at the wrong stop," as if there's a bus traveling through space and time that randomly opens its doors and drops souls off to live through whatever time they're assigned. I don't believe we're all fit for the time we're assigned. It's a weird world we live in, and until time travel exists we've all got to make the most of where we land.

I never assisted anyone; I just gave it my all.

In my teens I saw the world in only black and white. Now I know that most things exist in a certain gray area. Though it took a while to get here, I now call this gray area home. I once believed that participating in a capitalist economy would be the death of me, but now realize that agonizing over the political implications of every move I make isn't exactly living.

Life is short. Don't be lazy.

My days of being the tardy employee at the record store gave me a cultural and musical understanding that was more unique than if I'd just listened to garbage-y pop on the radio my entire life.

The straight and narrow is not the only path to success.

You belong wherever you want to belong.

In my book (and this is my book!) magical thinking is the alchemy that you can use to visualize and project yourself into the professional and personal life that you want.

I don't have a lot of style icons. There are not a lot of people today who I look to.

My parents taught me the value of money and working hard. And I kind of got that in me intuitively.

When your time spent making money is significantly greater than your time spent spending money, you will be amazed at how much you can save without even really thinking about it.

People only have as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.
-Emma Goldman

There's a certain freedom to being an

It sounds incredibly platitudinal, but no one will ever be able to love you if you don't love yourself. What's beautiful about it is that if you love yourself enough you don't need the validation from anyone else.

outsider. You do what you want, say what you want, and move on when you've worn out your welcome.

Who cares if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it? The tree still falls. If you believe that what you're doing will have positive results, it will - even if it's not immediately obvious. When you hold yourself to the same standard in your work that you do as a friend, girlfriend, student, or otherwise, it pays off.

What do you do when you're living in a hut for $500 a month and subsisting on Boston Market and Subway? You just keep doing what you're doing.

decided then that I don't want to spend time thinking about things that I don't want to have a place in my life. You have to kick people out of your head as forcefully as you'd kick someone out of your house if you didn't want them to be there.

It's the beauty of the Web. You can pretend to be anything you want. But people figure out pretty quick if you don't live up to it.

The cover letter is all about what you want. Nasty Gal gets so many cover letters that detail a "passion for fashion" and then proceed to talk about how this job will help the applicant pursue her interests, gain more experience, and explore new avenues.
If a cover letter starts out like this, I usually end up reading the first couple of sentences before hitting the delete button. Why? Because I don't care about what a job will do for you and your personal development. I know that sounds harsh, but I don't know you, so the fact that you want to work for my company does not automatically mean that I have an interest in helping you grow your career. I have a business that is growing by the day, so I want to know what you can do for me. It's as simple as that.

Finally, though, I arrived at a point where I decided this was bullshit. I stopped feeling as if I didn't belong anywhere, and realized that I belonged anywhere I wanted to be - whether that was a boardroom, business class, or on

When I was 22, I wasn't too proud to do anything. I was taking out trash, buying stinky vintage clothes, and pulling gross Kleenex out of the pockets.

I think I've just gotten really good at accessorizing personally. I've always been good at accessorizing other people, and intellectually, I've known how to accessorize, but I was pretty minimal personally - although I was wearing a ton of rings.

Though you may be paid minimum wage, to the customers you are the face of the entire company.

I've never worked in a retail store, but I did sell shoes at Gimme Shoes in San Francisco, a job I was fired from.

So You Want to Be a #GIRLBOSS? Life is short. Don't be lazy.

It takes a lot of hard work to 'get there,' and once you get there it takes even more hard work to stay there.

I'm really good at hiring good people.

Success is about playing to your strengths.

Unless you're powered by an ungodly amount of spite, it's pretty impossible to succeed while doing something that you genuinely hate.

Compete with yourself, not with others.