#GirlBoss

Nasty Gal, founded by Sophia Amoruso started as a small eBay store that sells vintage clothes and accessories (under the name Nasty Gal Vintage) to earning nearly $100 million in sales within a span of six years. The success of Nasty Gal also paved way to #GIRLBOSS, Sophia’s autobiography which accounts how she became a successful entrepreneur.

About the author.

Sophia Amoruso was diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder) and depression during her adolescent years which was the reason why she dropped out from school and began homeschooling. Her first job as a teenager was at Subway (sandwiches) and many other jobs thereafter which were just short-lived. At 23, she started selling stuff on eBay and her first sale was a book she stole. Sophia is an artistic young adult with a flair for photography and fashion which later on worked to her advantage. She took thrifting to a whole new level.  She was a one-woman-business at first and did everything from styling her models down to packing and shipping her items. One of the most expensive stuff she sold on eBay was an original Chanel jacket she sold for $2500. Sophia’s ladder to success wasn’t easy because as her career on eBay is beginning to take flight, other eBay sellers, possibly envious of her success, conspired and reported her for violating eBay policies.

Nasty Gal’s success and downfall.

Sophia claimed she left eBay because as per policy they do not allow sellers (like herself) to leave a negative feedback against buyers no matter how unfair some customers are. To make matters worse, other eBay sellers accused her of ‘shill-bidding’ (that she was allegedly in ‘cahoots’ with another eBay seller to manipulate her product’s bidding price) and also for adding external links to her eBay site  which is another violation of eBay policies (although other sellers were also guilty of such practice). Sophia denied these allegations though.  Her disappointments with eBay also served as an impetus for her to launch her own website called Nasty Gal. It was a risky move but since she already gained a huge following (through her avid customers who followed her when she left eBay) she went ahead bravely launched her very own e-Commerce site. 

Nasty Gal became a huge success for many years because Sophia worked her ass off to build her empire considering she doesn’t have any formal business background just 100% passion. Nasty Gal’s revenue sky rocketed from $223,000 (2008) to almost $23 million in 2011 which landed her as one of the richest self-made women in the world by Forbes last year. It wasn’t really an easy path because Sophia started out her young adult life broke and hopped from one job to another and at one point worked at the San Francisco's Academy of Arts University just to get a health insurance and have her hernia treated. Sophia quit her job at the Academy thereafter to follow her heart’s desire, to be her own boss by selling vintage items on eBay since she despised the idea of working for corporations. However, the company filed for bankruptcy last February and Boohoo Group bought Nasty Gal for $20 million. According to analysts, Nasty Gal’s downfall were attributed to lack in product quality which then led to customer dissatisfaction and heavy spending in advertising and marketing.

Girlboss on Netflix.

I was really squeamish to know what happened to Nasty Gal after I finished the book so I scoured Google and was shocked when I found out that Sophia already stepped down as CEO last February. I also found out that Netflix even had a series based on the book however, due to Nasty Gal’s insolvency, Netflix had to cancel the show and eventually only lasted for one season. I thought the show was alright though except they portrayed Sophia like a sociopath or some girl with anger issues lol. 

SO, what’s my take on the book? 

I thought it’s very inspiring and quite addicting to read (except the business stuff during the latter part when Nasty Gal is gradually becoming a corporation). it’s very interesting as well how Sophia worked her way up from being a one-woman-company to a millionaire. I learned so many things about the book from personal finance, feminism, to being a non-conformist, to doing something that you’re passionate about down to the magic of mind-power and optimism just to name a few. Anyways, let me share some of my favorite excerpts from the book:

Sophia Amoruso
photo from Google

“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."

“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 also think you can end up ignoring, and even losing, the positive things in your life by focusing too much on the negative. That’s a huge drain, as well as a waste of time”

Ah oh, I particularly like the part when Sophia spoke for all the “introverts” (myself included). She also cited that psychologists now believe that social media is a really valuable tool which allows introverts to convey and communicate in their own terms. Here are some of the things that Sophia mentioned about introverts which resonated to me:

“A lot of the world’s great artists, thinkers, and even businesspeople are and were introverts (Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and J. K. Rowling, to name a few), so in no way does being an introvert doom you into a life in the shadows.”

“Introverts are naturally more sensitive because they don’t need a ton of dopamine, the “feel-good” neurotransmitter that your brain produces in response to positive stimuli. 

“There’s a certain freedom to being an outsider. You do what you want, say what you want, and move on when you’ve worn out your welcome.”

(so true 👆🏼)

As of last August, Sophia Amoruso was reported to have raised $1.2 million to grow Girlboss Media, her new venture. Girlboss Media include an editorial website, Girlboss.com, and an email newsletter to promote the website content which focuses on personal finance, beauty and fitness.

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Read A Book, Repeat.

ctto https://twitter.com/langleav#timeline

I'm Finally done reading Lang Leav’s “Sad Girls” after ages and yeah t’was alright. First and foremost let me just say I am a big fan of Lang Leav, I adore her flair for writing (prose and poetry) which is the very reason why I got so damn curious when her first novel came out. However, my take on the book would be my honest to goodness opinion. Let me just also say that I purposely eluded any reviews prior to reading this book so my opinion won’t be based on other readers' judgements. So, here it goes. 

“Sad Girls” 

Author: Lang Leav

Setting: 

Australia

Characters:

• Audrey - person speaking in the book; a budding writer 
• Ana - one of Audrey’s friends; committed suicide
• Lucy - Audrey’s childhood friend
• Freddy - Lucy’s boyfriend
• Candela - also one of Audrey’s close friends; a wayward
• Dirk - Candela’s equally wayward boyfriend
• Duck - Audrey’s long time boyfriend
• Rad a.k.a Colorado Clark - Ana’s boyfriend; a budding writer as well; later on became Audrey’s love interest.

Ana's wake.
Ana is one of Audrey’s friends who’s death she felt responsible for because of a “lie” she fabricated. Ana was believed to have committed suicide after she was found in the bath tub with her slashed wrist. Rumor has it Ana had a sexual relation with her own father thus led to her suicide and the rumor eventually spread from an unknown source, and the unknown source was Audrey. Audrey is wallowing with guilt on the day of Ana’s funeral, she never told anyone about the veracity of Ana’s death, not even her close friends Lucy and Candela. The thing was, there’s no truth to the incestuous sexual relation between Ana and her father, it was all concocted probably out of Audrey’s secret hate for Ana. 

Audrey.

Let’s focus on Audrey’s life for a minute here: Audrey had a rough life as well and is seeing a shrink to address her panic attacks which emanated from issues she had in the past such as her mother leaving her father and them kids behind for another man just to come back again to patch things up as if her mistake was irrevocable. Her mother was a control freak as well and is intrusive with her relationship. Audrey’s mother is also responsible why she and Duck became a couple in the first place because her mother and Duck’s mom are good friends. She has not forgiven her mother neither for cheating on her father. Audrey was advised by her shrink to wear an elastic band in her wrist which she could use to snap back to reality when panic attack hits her. 

The third wheel.

Going back to the story, Audrey noticed Rad during Ana’s funeral and found he was her boyfriend. She was undeniably physically attracted to Rad the first time she’s laid her eyes on her. The two left together during Ana’s funeral which even led to further skirmishes. Audrey’s mom was furious with what happened because she felt ashamed for her since she and Duck’s mother are friends. Rad and Audrey on the other hand had a special thing going on which eventually caused a strain on Duck and Audrey’s relationship. Lucy, on the other hand was offered to house sit her kin’s house in Sydney and thought of Audrey since the latter is planning to take a writing job in Sydney plus the tension between Audrey and her mom is getting worse because of Rad. Audrey by the way parted ways with Rad prior to her leaving for Sydney. 

One day, the editor assigned Audrey to interview Colorado Clark regarding his new book. Audrey liked Clark’s book after reading it because she found one of the characters familiar. Little did Audrey know, Colorado is Rad’s real name because his mother wanted to go to Colorado while pregnant with him I think (as far as I can remember). This rekindled Rad and Audrey’s little love affair back home which however led to Audrey and Duck’s break up after the latter learned she’s seeing Rad in Sydney. On the other hand again, their friend Candela, another sad girl, became involved with drugs and took off with her equally addict boyfriend Dirk. 

Fast forward.

Things did not really work out between Audrey and Rad after she admitted she caused Ana’s death. Audrey did not expect Rad to forgive her and they parted ways without closure. Audrey left for Colorado (yes Australia to Colorado U.S) to write, reflect, and probably mend a broken heart. She changed her number and never heard from Rad since. Another little love affair though blossomed between her and a guy named Gabe in Colorado. The two was already planning to go on a road trip when Audrey got a call from Lucy, Candela and Dirk, who both finally got their acts together decided to tie the knot and the wedding is happening sooner than expected. Because of Candela’s wedding happening on a haste, Audrey had to postpone her road trip with Gabe and flew back to Australia. She’s still by the way in love with Rad and never ceased thinking about his whereabouts the whole time. 

Back for Good?

With Audrey’s return in Australia she asked about Rad’s whereabouts and Lucy told her he may not be ok. Audrey looked for Rad and found him working for a park and living in a trailer. She learned that Rad became miserable after a supposedly big writing break did not work out so he decided to live a life of a recluse and stopped writing. Fast forward again, Audrey and Rad are back again and she told him about her plan of writing a book which he of course supported. Rad started writing again and was offered a screenplay gig in L.A. until a startling news broke out. 

Weather the greatest storms..

Audrey got a call from Candela, Lucy’s boyfriend Freddy died from a car accident. Freddy was Audrey’s good friend as well, she always thought Lucy and Freddy are perfect for each other. Lucy told Audrey she already asked Freddy to move in with her before the accident and warned her to be careful with Rad.

Revelation.

Audrey found from Lucy that Freddy read Rad’s suicide note on the latter’s Mac book (he left the mac book to Freddy’s care before he went on hiatus) and was on his way to Lucy’s when the accident happened. Lucy told Audrey what Freddy read on Rad’s suicide letter which stated the whole truth about Ana’s death. Audrey learned from Rad’s suicide letter that Ana allegedly died and hit her head after her and Rad had a fight. Rad felt Ana’s pulse and found nothing so he dragged her to the tub and slit her wrists to stage a suicide. Audrey confronted Rad and he admitted everything. Audrey abhorred Rad for what he did because she carried this guilt with her for a long time.

The novel then ended with Audrey reading through Ana’s handwritten suicide note she accidentally fished through her coat’s pocket which will furthermore justify Ana’s suicide intent. So, should Audrey feel just as culpable as Rad for Ana’s death then if there was a real intent to commit suicide on Ana’s end? My answer is just read the book lol. 

Well, seriously they’re both accountable for Ana’s death in my opinion depending on the circumstance. If Ana committed suicide due to the emotional, social, mental, psychological damage the rumor may have caused (say the rumor served as an impetus for Ana to kill herself then if proven true) Audrey goes to jail. In Rad’s case, whichever way you put it, he goes to jail for staging Ana’s suicide: he moved Ana’s body what more slitting her wrist. If he called for help the medics could’ve revived Ana because in the real world murder is only murder if there is an intent to kill and in Ana’s case she tripped which might’ve caused her death which can be then ruled out as accident provided Rad did not purposely push her then he’s off the hook. Anyways, my love for suspense thrillers and Nancy Drew books as a kid drifts me away from time to time lol.

My Review.

Going back to “Sad Girls” which took me a long while to finish because I got to the point where I just wanted to find out if Audrey’s story has a climax at all since reading the novel felt as if I’m listening to a classical music and I’ve been waiting for the crescendo but it went melodiously on and on. Lang Leav’s impeccable choice of words was very romantic reminiscent to the sound of water lapping or waves crashing if that makes sense, very languorous, that serene vibe even if the novel is quite dark and rueful. The book is a myriad of beautiful words but did not have that many surprising revelations I was waiting for the whole time I was reading it. I have also reached the point wherein I thought the book's release was just overrated because of the success of her previous books (Love & Misadventure, The Universe of Us etc.) that I may have expected too much from the story until I read through the last chapter and thought yeah, it’s not so bad at all although honestly I was only able to appreciate the book when I was down to the last chapter. “Sad Girls” was alright, it's just too melancholic for me. It was beautifully written hands down it's just the lengthy poetic ramblings, they bored me like hell. There was a downpour of words almost half of the book, way too much until your anticipation is gone with the wind. 

On to my next read, Sophia Amoruso’s #GirlBoss. I’m hoping to finish it in less than a month’s time. I must, I will. 

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Mirage #2

Mirage, Book 2 | Kristi Cook

I just finished the second book from the 'Haven' trilogy this morning and yes as soon as I woke up I flipped through the few remaining pages excited to know how it would end. This trilogy is just my guilty pleasure not realizing I would enjoy it more than twilight. Well, Meyer's Twilight is the heavy drama version as opposed to Cook's trilogy.

Anyways, a new character came in at Winterhaven, Tyler, from another psychic school called Summerhaven which sounded kind of funny to me cuz I never thought Cook would coin such name for a school considering she named the first one Winterhaven.

Tyler happened to be Violet's fencing counterpart at Summerhaven and the two became friends. Aidan got a little jealous of Tyler because Violet spends a lot of time with him as they were fencing partners. Another new character came in, Dr. Matthew Byrne, a young professor with Phd at Winterhaven who teaches Science and became Violet's precog coach. The girls at Winterhaven called him Mr. Hottie because he was goodlooking ang young for a professor.

Violet and the gang got busy with SAT and scouting for a perfect college/university after high school whilst Aidan spent more time at the Laboratory trying to perfect his serum/elixir that would turn him to a somewhat normal human being again.

Dr. Byrne kept his regular coaching sessions with Violet to improve her precog ability and enable her to playback her visions vividly.

A vampire stalker on the lose started victimizing random targets until one day a female body was found on Winterhaven grounds. Tyler learned that Aidan is a vampire and suspected he might be the culprit. Violet started having doubts neither.

Among Violet's significant visions; putting a stake at Aidan's heart and Whitney getting chased by someone unknown.

Violet learned about her Megvéd who happened to be Matthew or Dr. Byrne, a match for a sabbat.

Came Christmas brake, whilst Patty, Violet's step mom is away for a holiday with her new boyfriend, Whitney called Violet to let her know she is sleeping over at Patty's apartment where Violet is headed for the holidays. Violet got a call grom Trevor to warn her something is wrong with Aidan and must immediately stay away from him for the time being. Too late because Aidan already got to Patty's apartment and Whitney asked him to come up. Violet asked Whitney to leave the apartment to run away from Aidan.

Matthew called Violet and already knew what's bound to happen. The two started looking for Whitney and Violet realized her visions about her friend. The two were able to save Whitney from Aidan. Aidan realized what he did decided to turn himself to the tribunal.

On the other hand, Trevor and Matthew have this resolve that Aidan is the vampire stalker as he wasn't himself every time he injects the serum.

Aidan and Violet believe that there is someone messing with the serum at the lab whos intent is to destroy Aidan. This was also one of Violet's vision, an unknown person getting a hand on the test tubes.

Aidan, broken hearted, bid Violet goodbye and asked Matthew to look after her.

Book 2 did not end happily and I already started reading book 3 as I am writing this bloggie. I don't wanna spoil what's to unfold next :)

posted from Bloggeroid

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a review: ocean at the end of the line by neil gaiman

setting: sussex, england

characters:

• the hempstock ladies - old mrs. hempstock /gran (the gradma) ; ginnie hempstock (lettie's mom); lettie hempstock, youngest hempstock

• main character, the boy 

the main character of the story came back to his hometown to attend a funeral and that's when he went back in time as a little boy in sussex, england.

his mother decided to accept tenants to their family home to get by financially which was to his dismay because he dislikes strangers invading his attick room. they once had this opal miner tenant who accidentally ran over the his kitten.

the opal miner was found dead in a car close to the hempstock's farm down the road. while the police investigate the crime scene, lettie, the little hempstock, approached the boy to veer him away from the scene. 

the hempstock ladies claimed that all the hempstock men already left the family which left him bewildered. 

along came ursula moncton, the newest tenant at his house. i'm sure that the boy's name was ever mentioned in the book but i can't recall which chapter it was so i guess i'll just suit myself calling him the boy geez. he hated ursula but his family adored him. ursula became his arch enemy. 

the story was strange i think cuz the hempstock's had powers of some sort. ursula happened to be his enemy and eventually lured his father. she almost drove him out of his own home until lettie and family interfered. ursula is a witch of some sort i think as well because she can fly and bully the poor little boy.

ursula was vanquished by the hempstocks and he was safe again except for the vermits (flock of raven black birds) chasing him and claiming that they need 'something' that belongs to them from the boy. lettie defended him and almost died from the battle with the vermits. the hempstock women made it appear that lettie is bound to australia for good, returned the boy to his family and they never saw each other again until he grew up. 

lettie beforehand taugh him that the pond at the farmhouse is an ocean which i think she meant figuratively. 

moving on, lettie never showed up after the night that she almost died until the day the boy, who's now a grown man paid his childhood home a visit and noticed then that ginnie hempstock, lettie's mom, did not age. 

the end.

the book is profound because there's this intrinsic meaning to everything. the story is hard to decipher really because it's not superficial. NOT your mediocre chidren's book. expand your horizon :)

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in lieu of technology

Iinferno by dan brown

setting : italy

prof. robert langdon, who's impeccable knowledge on symbols and dante's writings (dante alighieri's, divine comedy) led to the unfolding of an already viral virus. langdon and the genius doctor sienna brooks became hand in hand in unravelling what the video message of zobrist (scientist & siena's ex, he made the virus) meant.  prof. langdon woke up at a hospital in italy. he was told he was shot whilst he was on a sabbatical.

the world health organization sent langdon on a mission to found out what the WHO can't in relation to zobrist's plans. his mission is to release a virus of some kind to ward off population explosion. he then commited suicide by jumping off a historic building afterwards scheduled the release of his video borrowing phrases from dante a. for the experts to figure. the WHO suspected langdon's loyalty and later on was on a hunt to find langdon as he might have taken on a new leaf and started working for the enemies. but, that was just an assumption on the WHO's end. langdon didn't know brooks got involved with zobrist and so on and so forth.  fast forward. langdon was made believe that people are after him. that, he was shot in the head and brooks was out to help him out of the situation just for him to find that she's not indeed an ally but someone after to propagate the virus made by zobrist which was again an assumption on langdon's and the WHO's end. the two traveled as far as turkey to prevent the virus from spreading just to find that they're too late. the virus already gone airbourne which inflicted tons of the population already. the virus was meant to avoid population growth thus will turn vast of the population infertile. the virus can no longer be reversed but there was no indication on the book that they will let it go on widespread unresolved. the book ended well, langdon now ok with the WHO, was again friends with sienna then went back to boston.

t'was  an exciting read although it took me long to finish it because i can't wrap my head around too many jargons used in the book and i'm not into science and stuff that much although i felt like i was running with robert langdon and sienna brooks in the streets of italy.

• out of the easy by ruta sepetys • 

setting : new orleans, La

i found the book very exciting to read. 

characters:

•josie moraine - main character; daughter of a prostitute.

•patrick - charlie's son; josie' s closest childhood friend

•charlie - patrick's dad, former writer and has turned looney, owner of a bookstore; gave josie a small space on the 2nd floor of the bookshop when she could live.

•jessie - josie's love interest

•willie - owner of a brothel house where josie's mother works.

josie and her mom were settlers in new orleans. josie's mom is a prostitute but she described her not in a filthy way. she accept gifts from men and loves money more than her daughter. josie's mom was ambitious and once told her she was supposed to go to hollywood to pursue a career as an actress until she got pregnant with her. what kind of momma blames a daughter for her misfortunes? josie met a fine man named mr. hearne at the bookstore where she and patrick works, he said he's in new orleans to watch a game and drop by at the bookstore to find himself nice reads. he assumed josie's in college. josie was born out of wedlock so he once dreamt of having a father and the man was too fitting to be his father. josie dreamt about going to college  because she met charlotte, a girl who goes to school uptown. she goes to Smith where fine young girls goes to school. charlotte invited josie to apply to Smith. willie, owner of the brothel house where josie works as a cleaner, heard of josie's plan of going to smith so discouraged her to apply  and instead advised her to go for northampton. willie was supportive of josie's dreams despite her harshness towards her. josie once told willie that she's her fairy godmother.  mr. hearne died all of a sudden, someone slipped a drug on his drink at the bar. josie's mom was the suspect as she was last seen with him. her mom left new orleans with cincinnatti, a thief and and a dick who hurts her mother. her mother got away with her involvement with mr. hearne's death but josie was asked for 5 grand to pay off the group who covered up for her mom. willie helped josie. 

josie & patrick - the two kissed but their relationship never prospered because patrick said he liked josie as a friend because he's now with a girl named kitty. 

josie's mum along with her bf stole her college funds which was raised by cokie (works for willie and protects josie like a friend and father). josie was devastated. she failed Smith to aggravate the situation.  jessie became josie's crying shoulder.

willie had a heart attack after josie told her how her mother stole her money and ran off with cincinnatti. josie got willie's vacation home in shady grove. cokie and sadie (willie's trusted brothel house employees), all got their share as stated on willie's last will and testament. 

josie ended up with jessie and as the book ended she's headed to northampton to pursue college.

t'was enticing to read because of the swift turn of events. i didn't even notice i was down to the last few pages as i was expecting for more. but then, i couldn't think of a better ending for josie.  it is indeed a nice read. i was addicted at some point. sometimes i judge the book by it's cover and most of the time the cover tells so much about the book if you will just take notice. there's always a gem lurking in each and every book i guess. 

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