Can We Please Discuss Nasty Gal?

“It is she who has enough confidence to define success and failure for herself who succeeds.”

-Sophia Amoruso

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If you don’t know, Sophia Amoruso practically coined the term #girlboss. Amoruso is a major success story; a woman who dropped out of college, was homeless for a while but through her talent and intuition grew her business into a multi-million dollar online presence- Nasty Gal. The company is notorious for it’s one of a kind vintage pieces and a place to get gritty chic fashion forward pieces, as well as cheaper designer dupes. In the past few years, Amoruso drew from her success story to write two books that became major sellers: #GIRLBOSS and Nasty Galaxy. If you haven’t read them I really can’t recommend them enough!

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Nasty Gal was valued at $300 MILLION in revenue at the end of 2015 and Amoruso was estimated to be worth $280 MILLION! However last week the happy success story took a downward turn.

The company just filed for bankruptcy! I’ve been following Amoruso and her story for a while….

1: I knew Amoruso stepped down at CEO last year but retained the position of Executive Chairwoman.

2: I knew there were several lawsuits filed against the company. (By discontent formal employees and by designers upset with dupes created by Nasty Gal.)

There are several business reasons that factor into why they are bankrupt (legal teams aren’t cheap) but I want to talk about  Amoruso and her relationship with it. She said in 2015:

“Everyone knows Nasty Gal requires me.”

Initially, I was upset when I found out she stepped down and almost angry with her for leaving when I found out the company was filing for bankruptcy. I felt she knew her creation needed her but she abandoned it for something else. My question is: knowing this, why did she step down from her successful CEO position? She shot for the moon and nailed a perfect 10 landing; Amoruso is the #girlboss who achieved her dreams and inspired others to do the same.

Was Nasty Gal her  ultimate dream, or is her true calling card the #girlboss media presence? Sophia Amoruso is Nasty Gal- the effortless cool smart presence that women everywhere want to be; without her behind it, the store is just another online e-tailer. For Amoruso, this isn’t the end of her dreams but the launching pad to potentially even more success:

“I’m a creative. I’m a brand-builder. I’m a rainmaker.

I’m a pretty good marketer, but that’s not something I want to do every day.”

After thinking about it for a week (I’m so GLAD I didn’t fire off a super angry post without thinking on it!), I realized Amoruso built a brand- her brand, not Nasty Gal but #GIRLBOSS. Just like so many other babes use one creative thing as a jumping off point into other more creative outlets (i.e. Chiara Ferragni and The Blonde Salad), Sophia used her store to create a career as an author, public speaker and influencer of #girlboss babes everywhere.

How do you feel about the Nasty Gal news? Are you a fan of the e-tailer or its founder? I’d love to hear what you think! Btw I linked some of my current favs from the site below!

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