Hey guys, I'm Brany Channing, hanging at the Young Hollywood Studio with the ultimate Girl Boss, Sophia Amoruso. How are you?

Good. How are you?

I'm very good. So, you just came out with the paperback. I was calling it the softcover. It's Kind of the same. It's kind of the same thing I guess. Yeah, but the paperback version of Girl Boss, which I remember the first time my friend told me about this book and she was like, you need to read this. This is the kind of book that you pass around to all your friends. It's like the traveling book, yeah. Did you?

No, truly, it is, you know, and it, yeah, it's like the sisterhood of the traveling Girl Boss book. Yeah, and since I've been, like, I've done a couple of events and signing the paperback, people are bringing the hardcover now, and if they're all tattered, there's all these notes and inscriptions from friends and they've passed it around. It's pretty cool.

Did you ever think that it would be such a phenomena?

No, I mean, I think everybody wants their book to be a best seller and so it wasn't something that we, you know, that we didn't talk about, but I, you know, I've never written a book before. I don't know how that whole world works. It was very new to me. And, yeah, it was just kind of like it's an easy book to read on a Sunday. It's not super heavy, but it's entertaining. It's It's not like a if you do these five things, this will happen to you. A lot of storytelling and anecdotes and fun quotes.

What's your favorite story in here? What's your go-to?

Oh, God. Um, I mean, I think, you know, a lot of people ask, when was the moment that was kind of it was like a turning point for you? And for me, it was a really crazy time. I was on eBay and, um, went to a thrift store was just looking around and found a Chanel jacket for $8. 00 and, you know, I had no idea how much it was worth, but I was like, wow, Chanel, $8. 00, cool. I'm gonna buy it. Put it on eBay for $9. 99. It could have sold for $9. 99, but, of course, people bid on it. It's an auction. And after a week, it went for like over $1,000. 00. And that was just like, yeah, just such a cool vote of confidence that something was working.

You're like, wait, I think I have something here. So then how long were you on eBay for?

I was on eBay for about a year and a half, selling vintage clothing, and then launch Nasty Gal. com. Oh my God. Like, it's been now almost, maybe, eight years or something. In total, it's been almost nine. It's like my whole, you know, youth, basically.

Right.

Yeah, and now we have our own designs. I'm wearing one of our skirts, and we sell other brands, but we still sell vintage.

And your story is so interesting. And when you first start reading the book, you kind of give a little bit of a timeline of, you know, your journey. And it's it's interesting, everything's very down to Earth. And then you go from, I think, one point where you're just kind of talking about how you started your business, and then all of a sudden you cut to kind of present day. And it's just for you, do you look back on those that kind of gap of that eight years, and how do you feel about those eight years? Has it gone quick or is it

It's it's gone quick, but it's been really hard and it's still just as hard. So, yeah, I'm on the cover of a book, and, yeah, I'm an author, and, yes, Nasty Gal is a sizable business, but it's not any easier than it was nine years ago, and I think that's the thing that I thought would be the case. Um, but I think that's just how how life happens. But, yeah, I mean, in retrospect, you can connect the dots in, you know, looking to the future, it's hard to it would have been hard to guess that I would be doing what I'm doing today.

What would you have guessed that you would be doing?

I really wanted to be a photographer. That's what I wanted to do, and I got into art school, but it was just so expensive. It was like $50,000. 00 a year, and I didn't know how I was going to pay that back. And took community college classes for photography, but, um, and used a little bit of, you know, my skill with photography to start the eBay store. But, um, I don't know, I was not, yeah, it was a super professional photographer.

Are you still shooting?

Um, no, not as much as I'd like to be. But, you know, I've been behind the camera, I've styled models, I kind of know how things look on camera, which is really helpful. And, yeah, I just I've I I like being involved with the creative kind of 360 all aspects of it.

You have a whole chapter that's dedicated to creativity in your book.

Yeah. I think creativity is really important because I think we categorize things like this is creative, and this is business. And I think you can be creative making a sandwich, you know, my first job was at Subway. I think you can be creative running a business with like the people that you choose to fill your life with. And that's a way of curating things. And that the way that you combine things is is a creative act. So, you know, and and creativity as like a, you know, as a profession or as just something that people do is really important to me, and so I founded the Girl Boss Foundation about a year ago, and we've given over $75,000. 00 in grants to women in, you know, art, music, design, fashion. It's it's really exciting to support female entrepreneurs and just women who are making their way in the world now, and I think it's time to tell their stories. I've told mine. Um, but there are so many stories of people who are doing incredible things at all different levels of success, whatever that means. Um, and that inspires everybody.

Well, I think it's very interesting because you've completely inspired a generation of women that, you know, want to feel empowered or want to do something. And the the word Girl Boss, is that in a dictionary yet? Cuz like, It's like it's become a

It's definitely in the Urban Dictionary for sure, right?

American lexicon. Yeah.

And if, you know, I built I built Nasty Gal over almost a decade now. If you look on Instagram, hashtag Nasty Gal has half as many impressions than hashtag Girl Boss, and the book's just been around for like a year and a half. And it's just a book, you know.

Right. How'd you come up with Girl Boss? The name?

Yeah. Um, there's this like 1970s female revenge movie called Girl Boss Gorilla, but G U E R R I L L A, and it's all these like, it's like a girl gangs in Japan in the 70s just looking super amazing and like fighting each other with knives and slapping each other. It's just like Tarantino borrowed a lot from this genre. Um, and I just was like, Girl Boss is such a good name. And it's really just about being a boss of your life. It's not about, I mean, yeah, being a girl is something that um, I relate to. Um, but it's not about being a boss of other people. It's just about like being the boss of your own life.

Nasty Gal itself is inspired um, behind

Yeah.

pretty powerful women as well.

Yeah, by an album called Nasty Gal by a woman named Betty Davis, who was married to Miles Davis in the 70s and was just the super, uh, super outspoken funk singer and really raunchy, like super stylish lady.

Yeah. Who are some women, maybe your peers or other people in your lives that really you look up to or inspire you?

You know what? The most inspiring thing is is meeting the girls that have read this book and are like, I lost my job and it was the best thing that ever happened to me, but I only figured that out when I read your book. Like, anyone who's doing something in their life that is true to to them, that's right for them and is making difficult decisions and is comfortable being themselves is, you know, my hero.

All right, so let's go into some looks right now. We're going to start off with the job interview. In the book that you you say that you've gotten every job that you've interviewed for, pretty much.

Almost. You can get every job. Nordstrom didn't hire me. No.

And now you're like, hey, I got my own stuff. Um, how do you get the job interview nailed every time? What do you do?

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think it's first starts with having an awesome resume and cover letter. I mean, most of us are doing it digitally, but if you can, design something beautiful and not have it look like you just plopped it out of a template, um, it's going to stand out.

Would you say your outfit and what you're wearing into the interview has a lot to do with it as well, how you carry yourself?

Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, you know, wearing something that's, you know, stylish is important. Um, but also, you know, not too revealing, but you don't have to be super buttoned up. I mean, something like, you know, a cape blazer is really nice. Um, this is from Nasty Gal, you can wear it with skinny black jeans and like a pump. Super simple, just like a black t-shirt under it. Just it's an easy thing to throw on and look professional.

And that's one of your staple items, right? Staple pieces.

Yeah.

These have been really great for us. Um, I love these. We have dress cape dresses.

No, I love that too, because I feel like that's kind of a one-stop a lot of your stuff is kind of like one-stop look. You know, you can wear it throughout the day, you can wear with sneakers and make it casual, and you can throw on heels and go to dinner and onto the next thing.

Absolutely. Yeah, with the right tank top under that, you can peel it off and look like super sexy at night. Yeah. After you get the job, because you're going to get the job wearing this, right? You're going to go into your power meeting. What are you going to wear? We're going to get the job. This is probably good. I mean, you should wear like a camisole under it because it's a little sheer, but I mean, I think the neck tie is really stylish, but you can also untie it. This tucked into like a high-waisted skirt, a pencil skirt, um, or even some really nice like wide-leg pants is a is like a very, very good look for the for the workplace.

What about leather in the workplace? Because leather is really trendy. I mean, leather's always kind of been around, but, you know, especially right now we're seeing a lot of leather, we're seeing studded leather, lots of different things. How can you wear leather in the workplace without being a little bit too

Well, I think it really depends on where you're working. Um, so a motorcycle jacket might work some places and it might not work in others. I think leather as a material is totally fine. You just don't want to be the girl in the like leather like Vava Voom dress like at work because it's just going to be distracting to everybody and, you know, it's just not the place for it.

Yeah. That's perfect. So know your workplace, know your audience and and go from there kind of thing.

Absolutely.

So going into night time then. Are you are you a night owl? Or would you say you're more of a day time?

It depends. Um, I'm not a morning person, but I'm not particularly a night owl either. I used to be a night owl, and I don't know, I still find myself up staying up pretty late. And I like to go out every so often, but, yeah.

So what would you wear for a night out then?

Let's see. Um, I mean, something like this is really nice for night out. It's super comfortable, doesn't look like you're trying too hard. You're not the girl in the strapless dress that every girl in Vegas is wearing, you know? Um, so it's, you know, I feel like the Kardashians pull off this look really well. You can wear it with like just like a really simple strappy heel, throw a motorcycle jacket on over it. This is one of Nasty Gal's staples. This is just like a little guy that's just easy to throw on over everything. You can throw it over your shoulders, and that way you can see more of the dress, or you can actually put it on and it's still short enough to show some of your shape. Um, which is really nice. And I mean, it's if you're going to a place that's like less of a club and more of like a lounge, something that's not quite as casual, this guy's really cool. This is something you could probably even get away with in the workplace with like a blazer over it. Um, but this is just kind of like a little, you know, 60s inspired dress, but it's maybe more fitted than something that someone would have worn, you know, back then.

I love that all of the pieces are kind of like simple silhouettes too, but they have a little something extra. You know what I mean? You might have a scarf, or you might have some nice detailing. You're so confident.

Oh, thanks. That's I love that.

What are you what do you say about confidence and owning it?

I just think, you know, when you see someone walk by a piece of glass or a window or a mirror and check themselves out, like, it's, you know, I maybe it I just know that that is not a good look. So, um, being confident just like looks better and other people are more comfortable, you know, being confident puts other people at ease, and that's just such a nice thing to do for everyone involved. I'm not confident everywhere that I go. There's a lot of places where I'm like, I don't belong here, these aren't my people, whatever. And then after, you know, a few minutes, I'll find someone who's really interesting, and sometimes it's people you would never expect. So I would just say be open and know that there's something to learn everywhere you go and that people can be interesting even if they're not wearing Nasty Gal. But they're more interesting when they do. I think so.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Sophia.

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Thank you.