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In 2012, Sophia Amoruso’s e-commerce start-up, Nasty Gal, brought in $100 million in sales. Four years later, the company rakes in triple that revenue, and Amoruso herself is the author of the New York Times best-seller #GIRLBOSS (with another book on the way). Oh, and according to Forbes, she is richer than Beyoncé.
These are incredible triumphs for a woman who says she was a dumpster-diving, petty-thieving community-college dropout just a decade ago—but she had a great sense of style. At 22, she started an eBay store for vintage clothing—named Nasty Gal Vintage after a song by funk and soul singer Betty Davis—and catapulted her success into a storefront, then a warehouse, and finally to Nasty Gal’s current sprawling downtown Los Angeles headquarters. Her tale of victory and grueling hard work was outlined in #GIRLBOSS, and her second book, Nasty Galaxy, out Tuesday 4, has bucket bags of more wisdom to drop. Amoruso describes her new “life bible” as “part scrapbook, part tour of my home, part interviews with inspiring women. There’s some really funny how-tos and mini-essays. If there was a galaxy filled with all the things that orbit my world, this would be it.”
Within that orbit exist Amoruso’s greatest inspirations, which include ’70s female-centric revenge films, outspoken female musicians (like Betty Davis) and just plain weirdos. Amoruso exalts other disruptors in her book, like Alyssa Mastromonaco, COO of Vice Media and former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, as well as model and trans activist Geena Rocero. She also talks to guests on her podcast, #Girlboss Radio, who range from YouTube star GloZell to Glossier’s founder and CEO Emily Weiss, and has a Netflix show in the works based on #GIRLBOSS that boasts Charlize Theron and Pitch Perfect writer Kay Cannon as executive producers.
Begging to meet this badass? Head to one of her book signings. “There are going to be hundreds of stylish, inspired, ambitious girls there, so even if I’m boring, there will be a cool group of women in one place stoked on having an amazing life,” says Amoruso. She’ll also be in conversation with Laura Brounstein, special projects director of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, on Tuesday 4 at Barnes & Noble in Union Square and chatting with Mastromonaco at Villain with WORD on October 5. Expect insight on how to be the best version of your Nasty Gal self, but in the meantime, Amoruso says a Nasty Gal is “the best-dressed girl in the world, who’s not afraid of turning heads but is dressing for herself, who’s bold and living out her dreams.” Amen.
