You've probably shopped there; or have a mate who shops there. You have to be savvy and fashion forward; the kind of girl who like e-browsing and a sexy-meets-casual mode of LA-style dress. But what else do you know about Nasty Gal, a veritable emporium of mid-range labels and excellent designer vintage, which caters to the millennial girl's every whim? Well, for starters, we bet you don't know that the super hip 30-year-old CEO Sophia Amoruso is such a business icon in the States that the New York Times have branded her the millennial equivalent to Sheryl Sandberg. (The slightly divisive Nasty Gal name, fyi, derives from a Bette Davis song.)
Established in 2006 by college dropout Sophia as a small eBay store selling vintage clothing, Nasty Gal now has 300 employees, a yearly revenue of $1 million and a (sadly yet unpublished in the UK) new book out,* #GIRLBOSS*. From social media marketing savvy, to a tenacious skill at sifting through thrift stores - buying a Chanel jacket for $8 and re-selling for $1,500, for example -Amoruso is an inspiration not just to e-store owners, but tech gurus and business execs too.
Sadly, we can't yet get our hands on a copy of #GIRLBOSS, as it doesn't have a UK publishing date. But we've read every interview/book review out there and aggregated it for you - to bring you Sophia Amoruso's work/life lessons that it sounds like we should all live by. Yes, we're Nice Gals, like that.
1. Start at the very beginning
Sophia started her e-store armed with a copy of eBay For Dummies. For real. So ditch the pride and learn the basics - and remember that self-teaching does not mean you aren't qualified. 'I felt like a fraud, for a long time,' she writes, in #GIRLBOSS. Now, of course, there are many alternatives to eBay (which she soon outgrew); other great platforms are Etsy, Amazon Marketplace and the Swedish Tictail, which unlike the other platforms doesn't take any of the seller's cut.
2. Know every aspect of your business, inside out
From teaching herself graphic design so she could make a funny logo (which has been since revised) to doing all her own photography, styling, buying and shipping, Sophia had to learn every aspect of her business. Now, of course, she has almost 350 employees to help her out with that. But to build a business, you don't have to be an expert; you just have to be involved in every area, from the outset. And if it something doesn't work? Try again.
3. It pays to be the truffle pig
In Sophia's case, she was a vintage-seeking truffle pig; picking up two $8 Chanel jackets and re-selling them on eBay, at the very start of her e-store, for $1,500 each. But this can apply in other areas, too; it pays dividends to search for a bargain, basically, so that you can make the biggest possible profit margin. Good things come to those who hunt.
4. Get people to invest in your business
No, we don't mean financially - but emotionally. 'There's no great compliment than having a brand people care about so much that they aspire to be a part of it,' Sophia recently told Lucky mag. 'Practically every girl on my Instagram is begging for a job, and I wish I could hire them all. The best I can do is tell them how to get a job or create their own business, or to tell them the kind of person that I'd like to hire. Maybe they can be a great employee or start something awesome on their own and be a great boss for themselves.'
5. Don't care what other people think
'For most of my life I didn't believe in the concept of a role model,' Sophia writes in #GIRLBOSS. 'I don't want to be put on a pedestal. The energy you'll expend focusing on someone else's life is better spent just working on your own. Just be your own idol.'
6. Don't resent making the coffee
'A lot of people in my generation don't seem to get that you have to work your way up,' Sophia writes in #GIRLBOSS. 'An entry level job is precisely that - entry level - which means that you're not going to be running the show or getting to work on the most fun and creative projects. I've heard so many people in their twenties complain about thier jobs because they "have so much more to offer", but first and foremost you have to do the job that you're there to do.' In short? The shit jobs prepare you. So get on with them.
7. Always keep your GSOH
You don't have to be a churlish biz exec in pinstripes to build a successful business. 'The spirity of Nasty Gal is not one that can get outdated,' Sophia tells Lucky. 'I am never going grow up in the sense that I lose my sense of humour or my desire to try new things. I don't think I will ever be a wallflower, so Nasty Gal is more of a spirit that guides everything we do.'
8. Get karmic
'You get back what you put out, so you might as well think positively, focus on visualising what you want instead of getting distracted by what you don't want,' Amoruso tells The Cut. Focus on the good stuff, don't brood upon the negative, basically.
9. Sky's the limit
Exciting news for West Coasters is that Nasty Gal are soon launching a bricks and mortar store in LA. They're also expanding into makeup and homeware.
10. Step in and step up
'A few years back, our warehouse manager gave his two week's notice exactly two weeks before Black Friday,' Sophia writes in #GIRLBOSS. 'On Thanksgiving night, our creative director, merchandisers, girls from the buying team, me, and whomever else we were able to round up headed down there and shuffled around a dusty warehouse until 4:00 a.m..... at 2:00 a.m., as I was counting and recounting bustiers, I did not give a shit whether people were creative or whether they loved fashion - I was just thankful to have employees who were willing, even enthusiastic, to step up and work hard.'
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Picture: Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.