365 Sophia Amoruso: From Depressed, ADD and a Thief to Fashion Icon #GIRLBOSS

"To not make everything an equal priority takes a lot of maturity." - Sophia Amoruso If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/365 Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This is episode number 365 with New York Times bestselling author Sophia Amoruso. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Speaker 00

  Welcome, everyone. I am in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil right now, watching the Olympics, having an incredible time. And I'm so amazed at the greatness that I'm witnessing every single day. I mean, these athletes are coming from all over the world to fight for their dream. And it's just so inspiring for me to watch every single day. I'm running around the city. I'm watching all the different events, the Olympic Park, on the beach, going everywhere and just having a great time, meeting people, connecting with the people of Brazil and really learning about this culture in this city. It's amazing. But greatness is something that is a journey. You know, this is something that these athletes have been pursuing their entire lives.

• 1:17Speaker 00

  It didn't just happen overnight for them. They didn't just train a little bit and decide to show up in the Olympics and win a medal. No, this has been something they have been focusing on, visualizing, experiencing, going through extreme physical and emotional and a mental pain for years and years and years to get here. And they've had incredible coaches and mentors and teachers and other athletes to lift them up and support them in getting to their dreams. And it's all about the journey to greatness. But you've got to have the skills, you've got to have the tools, you've got to have the mindset. And that's what this podcast is all about. It's about bringing you individuals who can share their stories about how they got there, to give you some of those tools, those skills,

• 2:02Speaker 00

  that mindset approach to reaching greatness in your life. Now, some of you don't want to be Olympic athletes, and that's fine. But some of you have dreams in your life. Whatever dreams they may be, they're your dreams and they're very important because you're important. And our guest today, she's an incredible individual and I talk about how I first learned about her when we dive into the interview. Sophia Amoruso is the founder and owner of Nasty Gal, which is the fastest growing online retailer in the country. And at 30 years young, Sophia has become one of the most prominent figures in retail and a cultural icon who has worked from the ground up and landed on top of a fashion

• 2:45Speaker 00

  empire that has brought in over a hundred million dollars in revenue. She has also revolutionized marketing with a business built almost entirely on unpaid social media from day one, today drawing millions of visitors back to the Nasty Gal site every month. She's also New York Times bestselling author of Girlboss. She's the CEO, Creative Director, and host of Girlboss Radio Podcast. I've really been enjoying connecting with Sophia and getting to learn more about her and I'm just amazed at everything she's built and who she is as a human. Without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only, Sophia Amoruso.

• 3:30Speaker 00

  Welcome everyone back to School of Greatness Podcast. I'm here with Sophia Amoruso. Good to see you. High fives in the house. How you doing?

• 3:37Speaker 01

  Good.

• 3:38Speaker 00

  Very excited to have you on. We connected through Chase Jarvis.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, we did.

• 3:42Speaker 00

  Do you remember?

• 3:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, we were just in the same room at the same time and it was like, oh, hey.

• 3:45Speaker 00

  And I was like, hey, you're cool. Let's have you on.

• 3:48Speaker 01

  And then we had sushi.

• 3:50Speaker 00

  We had sushi at Sugarfish and we talked about internet marketing.

• 3:52Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 3:53Speaker 00

  And how to build online courses and brands and funnels.

• 3:56Speaker 01

  Crazy rabbit hole.

• 3:57Speaker 00

  And are you still in that, figuring out that out?

• 3:58Speaker 01

  A little bit. I think that's like a later phase.

• 4:00Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 4:01Speaker 01

  I think I'm still like audience developing.

• 4:03Speaker 00

  You've got so much going on right now though. You've got this book, which is incredible, Girlboss, which has sold how many copies now?

• 4:09Speaker 01

  Over 300,000.

• 4:10Speaker 00

  300,000.

• 4:11Lewis Howes?

  That's like top 1% of 1% of all books, probably. It's amazing. So congratulations for all the ladies especially. Make sure to check this book out, Girl Boss. Hashtag Girl Boss.

• 4:22Speaker 01

  Dudes like, they tweet me and they're like.

• 4:25Lewis Howes?

  It's funny.

• 4:26Speaker 01

  I thought this book was for girls and it's like, I don't really talk about being a girl that much in it.

• 4:29Lewis Howes?

  It's, it's really funny though. There's some good stuff in here and um, so make sure to check this book out. You also have a new book coming out called.

• 4:35Speaker 01

  I have a book coming out October 4th called Nasty Galaxy. Um, and it's a totally different book, but it's a spirit of girl boss. It's still super inspiring, um, really visual. So it's like 10 by 10 hardcover coffee table, linen cover, just super beautiful. Um, and it has like inspirational quotes and essays by me and Q and As with different inspiring women. And Courtney Love wrote the foreword and um, you know, a tour of my house. Did I already say that?

• 5:02Lewis Howes?

  No, that's cool. And you live in Hollywood?

• 5:05Speaker 01

  I live in Los Angeles.

• 5:07Lewis Howes?

  Los Angeles?

• 5:07Speaker 01

  I live in different places. No, I live generally in Hollywood.

• 5:11Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah. Cool.

• 5:12Speaker 01

  I think I can say that.

• 5:13Lewis Howes?

  There you go. We met near there, right?

• 5:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, totally.

• 5:16Lewis Howes?

  We met a sugar fish near there.

• 5:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:17Lewis Howes?

  And um, the book is coming out in October, correct?

• 5:20Speaker 01

  October 4th. You can preorder it at nastygal.com slash book.

• 5:25Lewis Howes?

  There you go. See a cool trailer review? And you also have a show coming out.

• 5:29Speaker 01

  It's next year, so it's currently in development. They're, they've been shooting it for a few months now. They're going to be up in San Francisco shooting it, starting I think next week. Um, and that's called Girl Boss.

• 5:40Lewis Howes?

  Insane.

• 5:41Speaker 01

  And it's going to be on Netflix and it's based on my story. Yeah.

• 5:45Lewis Howes?

  Your name is the character's name, right?

• 5:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:48Lewis Howes?

  First name, last name, or is it just a first name?

• 5:49Speaker 01

  Just the first name.

• 5:50Lewis Howes?

  What's the last name?

• 5:51Speaker 01

  I, I don't think I'm allowed to say that.

• 5:53Lewis Howes?

  Okay, gotcha.

• 5:53Speaker 01

  I don't know what I can, whatever's out there, I can basically say.

• 5:56Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  I don't, Netflix is, is a, is a beast.

• 5:59Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha, that's cool.

• 6:00Speaker 01

  I just want to be good.

• 6:01Lewis Howes?

  You have so many amazing things going on. And you started a company called Nasty Gal, which I was just in Santa Monica.

• 6:06Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 6:07Lewis Howes?

  Did I, I was mentioning that, I was going to text you an image of walking in your store.

• 6:10Speaker 01

  Oh, cool.

• 6:11Lewis Howes?

  It was amazing.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 6:12Lewis Howes?

  On the promenade right there.

• 6:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:14Lewis Howes?

  So you started this company.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  Started Nasty Gal's an eBay store 10 years ago.

• 6:18Lewis Howes?

  10 years ago.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  10 in November, it's been 10.

• 6:20Lewis Howes?

  That's incredible growth in 10 years.

• 6:23Speaker 01

  It's a lot, but like, you know, you start when you're 22, you can only hope you grow a whole lot. Between 22 and 32, geez.

• 6:29Lewis Howes?

  Was that always a dream for you? To start like this retail clothing?

• 6:33Speaker 01

  No, I didn't really, I didn't know what my dream was. I wanted to be a photographer, but I couldn't like. Get over having to like make things up about why my work was important. I just really enjoyed taking pictures and I thought it was important. There's a whole like, you know, rigmarole around, you know, galleries and the art world and I just, I got like a whiff of that and I just felt like I couldn't hack it. Probably really couldn't. Um, I mean, maybe today I have like the social graces or network, but I don't, I'm not planning on becoming a fine artist anytime soon. Um, I, I was 22. I was working in the lobby of an art school because I needed to get health insurance because I had a hernia. And that was a time when you couldn't get health insurance if you had a pre-existing condition. I guess it's totally different now.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  But I had to go get a job through an employer because you had to get group insurance and then they have to take you if you have cancer or AIDS or a hernia.

• 7:24Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 7:25Speaker 01

  So that's why I got my last job and I was working in the lobby of an art school in San Francisco, checking student IDs. Um, I was like a, like a glorified, uh, like security guard, but my title was campus safety host.

• 7:38Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 7:39Speaker 01

  And I just sat behind this desk.

• 7:40Lewis Howes?

  Twenty one?

• 7:41Speaker 01

  Twenty two, yeah.

• 7:42Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  So I dropped out of community college, decided I wasn't going to go to art school, decided to work at one because I need to get my hernia fixed. And was just checking IDs in the lobby.

• 7:51Lewis Howes?

  That's it, all day.

• 7:52Speaker 01

  That's all I did. I just sat there. Um, my title was campus safety host.

• 7:57Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 7:57Speaker 01

  Anyway, yeah. Uh, it was like thirteen dollars an hour maybe. And even that kind of seems like a lot now, but, um.

• 8:05Lewis Howes?

  It's not bad ten years ago.

• 8:06Speaker 01

  No, right? Yeah. Um, and, and I was just, I had time to dick around on the internet and I was getting friend requests from eBay sellers who were trying to promote their vintage eBay stores to me and I checked it out and realized, holy crap, like I know where to, how to, where to find this vintage. These girls are just like selling stuff that I know how to find for eight bucks and it's, people are bidding on it. The customer is determining the price.

• 8:31Lewis Howes?

  What, a couple hundred bucks or whatever?

• 8:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, eighty bucks, two hundred bucks for stuff that I knew where to find it, like at Goodwill. So I was like, I have a laptop. I've got a digital camera. Actually, I didn't even have a laptop at that time. I think I started the store on like my dome iMac.

• 8:46Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  That was like my graduation gift. When I actually did graduate high school. I graduated something.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  I feel like a toddler in this chair.

• 8:55Lewis Howes?

  Too short. There you go. Nice.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  There you go. Uh, and

• 8:59Lewis Howes?

  So you started taking photos?

• 9:00Speaker 01

  So I got my hernia fixed.

• 9:02Lewis Howes?

  Oh, that's good.

• 9:02Speaker 01

  And decided to give this eBay thing a shot.

• 9:05Lewis Howes?

  Were you double dipping and working at the desk while you were working?

• 9:09Speaker 01

  No. No.

• 9:10Lewis Howes?

  Like emailing people back on eBay and like selling?

• 9:12Speaker 01

  But no, I was just like, F this job. I'm gonna get my hernia fixed. I'm gonna go like

• 9:17Lewis Howes?

  And then get out?

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Yeah. Go just buy a pile of stuff and put it on eBay and see what happens.

• 9:21Lewis Howes?

  And that's what you did?

• 9:22Speaker 01

  And that's what I did. I bought eBay for Dummies.

• 9:25Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 9:26Speaker 01

  Yeah. I think I bought another book called Tax Loopholes for eBay Sellers, actually.

• 9:30Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 9:32Speaker 01

  Which I never read, because I just like hired an accountant. But, uh, yeah, so I started taking pictures of stuff, found models on MySpace, made my own MySpace page, figured out how to promote it. Was really engaged, really active with anyone who would accept my friend request and responded to every question on every image that I would post, every item that I had for sale. I would post a bulletin, you know, it was MySpace. Like, I feel so old talking about MySpace.

• 9:59Lewis Howes?

  I was on MySpace.

• 10:01Speaker 01

  How old are you?

• 10:01Lewis Howes?

  Thirty-three.

• 10:02Speaker 01

  Okay, well, I'm thirty-two. Yeah, so, same. Post a blog and a bulletin and then you'd upload all the photos and then there'd be like a piece of fire that on MySpace that was like so-and-so has eleven new photos. And then people would go, you know, see what

• 10:16Lewis Howes?

  Check it out and go bid on it.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  I was sending traffic directly from eBay to MySpace to eBay and realized at a certain point, you know, and I was doing really well on eBay. At a certain point, I was like, wait, why am I giving all my traffic away to this place where people can just comparison shop? Why wouldn't I?

• 10:32Lewis Howes?

  With other people's stuff?

• 10:33Speaker 01

  Yeah. So like anytime you list something on eBay, it'll say like other items you might like. And it has like all your competitors underneath. Like, why would you, you know, at that point, starting a website was a lot more difficult than it is today.

• 10:45Lewis Howes?

  Ten years ago, yeah.

• 10:46Speaker 01

  There was no Squarespace, like, you know, it was like

• 10:49Lewis Howes?

  No WordPress?

• 10:49Speaker 01

  Like a shopping cart called Interspire out of Australia and had like a friend from high school put it together. But, um, yeah, I was like, why am I giving all of my great customers and all my marketing efforts away to someone else? So.

• 11:02Lewis Howes?

  You built a site.

• 11:03Speaker 01

  Launched the website.

• 11:04Lewis Howes?

  Nasty Gal.

• 11:05Speaker 01

  Nasty Gal. It was actually nastygalvintage.com. Then it was shopnastygal.com and then I finally bought nastygal.com.

• 11:11Lewis Howes?

  How much?

• 11:12Speaker 01

  Bought nastygal.com for eight grand.

• 11:14Lewis Howes?

  That's not bad.

• 11:15Speaker 01

  From, never mind.

• 11:17Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 11:18Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:20Lewis Howes?

  I could imagine.

• 11:21Speaker 01

  Yeah. So, uh, not while I'm in the room.

• 11:28Lewis Howes?

  When was this? When was Nasty Gal?

• 11:29Speaker 01

  This was, I launched the website in mid 2008.

• 11:33Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 11:33Speaker 01

  June 13th, 2008, actually. And it was a Friday and the website just like sold out instantly.

• 11:40Lewis Howes?

  Really? I mean, all your inventory?

• 11:41Speaker 01

  All the inventory. So when you're on eBay, you have 10 days to let stuff just sit there. And your auctions go up and it sits there and people bid on it and then you're like, "Cool, I don't have to ship anything for 10 days." I know when all my orders are coming in, you launch a website and you have one of a kind items.

• 11:56Lewis Howes?

  They expect that, right?

• 11:57Speaker 01

  People are like, "Oh my God, I have to get it now." It sold out super fast. And I was like, "Oh my God, like I'm drowning in orders. How do I handle this?" I just got, I handled all the orders and I just ended up sick for like two weeks straight after that. But kept having to stock the store and it was just like a totally different flywheel of, of, of work. That was when I brought on my first employee.

• 12:19Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 12:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:20Lewis Howes?

  So you were doing it all yourself first?

• 12:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:22Lewis Howes?

  And then you brought your first person on?

• 12:23Speaker 01

  For like the first year and a half.

• 12:25Lewis Howes?

  So 2008, you had your first employee?

• 12:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:27Lewis Howes?

  And how many employees are there now, do you know?

• 12:28Speaker 01

  A few hundred.

• 12:30Lewis Howes?

  A few hundred.

• 12:30Speaker 01

  Always fluctuating. Yeah. So we have a team in Kentucky that does fulfillment, customer care. And then in LA, we have, you know, design, production, planning, merchandising, finance, marketing, photography, graphic design and art direction. You know, the executive team, social media, our editorial team. I mean, it kind of goes on, but.

• 12:53Lewis Howes?

  It's a lot of people, yeah.

• 12:54Speaker 01

  It's running a lot of different businesses, a little bit.

• 12:56Lewis Howes?

  Different businesses?

• 12:57Speaker 01

  Well, when you have that, I mean, you have to be an expert at marketing.

• 12:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  To have a brand.

• 13:00Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  To sell online, you have to be an expert at fulfillment.

• 13:03Lewis Howes?

  Traffic generation, yeah.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, that's, I mean, that's how it is for everybody today, you know, but. Yeah, I feel like there's companies that just become like a marketing agency and that's like the only thing they have to know how to do almost. And then we have to like understand inventory and turn and

• 13:21Lewis Howes?

  Retail.

• 13:22Speaker 01

  Like, ah, it's a lot. It's a lot.

• 13:24Lewis Howes?

  Staging, right?

• 13:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, like the creative. Absolutely. Yeah. So it's been, it's been a lot of work, but it's been super fun.

• 13:32Lewis Howes?

  When you started the first year of this, did you think like, okay, I want to build this into this huge quarter of a billion dollar brand?

• 13:38Speaker 01

  No. The first year, I never even knew that was possible. I mean, I didn't even really even considered a business for a long time. You know, I was like, I got an eBay store.

• 13:46Lewis Howes?

  This is just making you money to survive.

• 13:48Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, I kept the money in the business. I didn't like take it. I didn't want things at that time in my life. I didn't like need vacations. I was 22. I was just like happy to go like scoot around at a dive bar with my friends and, you know, that, you know, I still do that once in a while, but it gets old at a certain point.

• 14:05Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 14:05Speaker 01

  Um, yeah. So I just kept socking money away. At a certain point, uh, the company had saved, and I have a screenshot of this. I'd saved a million dollars cash in like, just like, yeah, in profit. Uh, and then I had like, I think I had like eight grand to my name. Like you can see both the accounts. It's like corporate inc. corporate accounts. And it's like $975,000. Then mine's like $8,000. Like, I don't know.

• 14:33Lewis Howes?

  Why would you pay yourself?

• 14:34Speaker 01

  I was, but I just didn't like, I didn't really want stuff. I was so busy working. You know, when you find something that you love doing that much, that is that rewarding and you can tweak out on it and people enjoy it. And then you realize that the better you do it, the more people engage and the more customers that you have and the more demand there is, it's like, there's nothing more, there's nothing more exciting than that.

• 14:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Did you say tweak out on it?

• 14:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:01Speaker 01

  I mean, I've never done tweak or whatever, you know, I don't even know what, you know, yeah.

• 15:07Lewis Howes?

  That's the way of it. Yes.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  But I've seen people like do that and it's very descriptive.

• 15:14Lewis Howes?

  Now I'm curious, the thing that impressed me about you, I think I first heard about you is when you were on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine. I think that was a couple of years ago.

• 15:22Speaker 01

  It was a while ago. That was maybe 2013, 2014. I can't, I don't remember.

• 15:27Lewis Howes?

  And I remember you were like, who is this person? I've never heard of you, never heard of this company. I mean, obviously I'm not a girl that buys.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  No, it's fine. Yeah, unless you were like into vintage.

• 15:34Lewis Howes?

  Right. And I was like, who is this girl? And then I just, after that point, it's like I saw you everywhere. You were just on the cover of Forbes Magazine. I don't know if it's still out this month, but it was last month, right?

• 15:43Speaker 01

  It was last month I was on the cover of Forbes.

• 15:46Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy. You're like a press magnet. And I don't understand, I'm curious how you've done it. Because obviously you've got to have a great company that you build so you can talk about that in your story, but.

• 15:56Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 15:57Lewis Howes?

  Like you have tapped into something that most female entrepreneurs don't do.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think, you know, the fact that I'm a community college dropout and have a history of petty theft that I published in my book. My story is different. I'm not proud of, you know, either of those things necessarily. I'd love to finish school at some point, but, you know, I think a lot of the female leaders that, you know, we've had to look up to are really hyper educated and worked their way up the ladder. And there's less female entrepreneurs that have been, that have been highlighted. And I think that's really changed since, you know, I mean, Forbes was who broke my story, not on the cover, but in 2012, they did a four pages.

• 16:42Speaker 01

  And that was like the first business feature ever on Nasty Gal and on me. Yeah, it was amazing. But today, you know, starting a business is so much easier. There's, I mean, there's still a huge disparity in women getting funded as, you know, entrepreneurs. But, but there's more and more of us and that feels really different. But I feel like I was the first one to like come out, maybe? I don't know. Just be like, hey, guys.

• 17:06Lewis Howes?

  Leading the charge, yeah.

• 17:07Speaker 01

  Yeah. And, yeah, I've learned a lot about marketing and publicity and the power of it. And I used to think it was dirty and it's important, it's important.

• 17:18Lewis Howes?

  You think it was dirty when you were doing it on MySpace or?

• 17:20Speaker 01

  No, because I was like behind a computer, but there's something about like. You know, just your face being everywhere.

• 17:27Lewis Howes?

  Promoting yourself.

• 17:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, but self-promotion. I was always promoting my business. Yeah, yeah, that.

• 17:32Lewis Howes?

  This.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Exactly, right? You know, our pose is almost similar.

• 17:35Lewis Howes?

  Right, well.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  Almost identical.

• 17:37Lewis Howes?

  Yours is much more.

• 17:38Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 17:39Lewis Howes?

  Girl bossy.

• 17:39Speaker 01

  I have a smaller waist. It's okay. You can say that.

• 17:42Lewis Howes?

  You know, it's interesting, talking about book covers. I remember when I was writing the book, I was like, you know what? I don't want my face on this cover. I want it to be like this, you know, I don't know. I don't want it to be about me. I don't want it to be like too promotional and self-centered, but to be honest.

• 17:56Speaker 01

  Your publisher was like, no.

• 17:58Lewis Howes?

  They're like, we have to. And then the more I do it, like, no one recognizes Malcolm Gladwell necessarily, like, walking down the street. Maybe, like, now that he's got his face out there for different things, but for his books, like, no one, you wouldn't recognize him. And I think it adds a lot of value when you build a personal brand. You can generate more speaking gigs, there's more credibility.

• 18:16Speaker 01

  People follow people, you know?

• 18:17Lewis Howes?

  That's it. Not just like a cover of like.

• 18:19Speaker 01

  And people follow authors, but you know, it's, it's, it's a tool. And if you're comfortable, I've gotten comfortable, and I'm still an introvert. Like, I.

• 18:26Lewis Howes?

  I can tell.

• 18:27Speaker 01

  I was totally wasted yesterday after, not drunk, but just like.

• 18:30Lewis Howes?

  Exhausted.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I did an all-day shoot where I had to like pretend to use an iPad, like, I mean, I, I can't talk about it, but I was like, I was just like, you know, I don't know how actors do it, you know? I thought people were like, oh, you work so hard. And I'm like, yeah, but I'm doing stuff. Like, pretending to do stuff is really hard, and it requires so much patience and, and there's so many people telling you what to do and where to go and, you know, go do whatever. I'm just, whatever. Anyway, when there's that many people demanding things, like, in person, I kind of melt down. And I felt that yesterday. I think I have a little bit of a hangover today, actually.

• 19:06Lewis Howes?

  It's all good.

• 19:06Speaker 01

  Which is why it's nice that, you know, I have headphones on right now.

• 19:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's like you're in a safe space.

• 19:11Speaker 01

  There's not even 500 people.

• 19:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:13Speaker 01

  Looking at us.

• 19:13Lewis Howes?

  That's it.

• 19:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:14Lewis Howes?

  That's it. I'm curious, without press or building your personal brand, do you think your company would do as well or be where it's at today if you weren't in the news as much as you are, in the mainstream TV and magazines and?

• 19:27Speaker 01

  I don't know, you know, you could never, I mean, in terms of my personal brand and girl boss, absolutely not. With Nasty Gal? You know, I think the brand itself has always been strong outside of all of that press and it's always been for the customer and it's always

• 19:42Lewis Howes?

  The quality of the product's been great?

• 19:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's always been like for that girl and you know, it has been a lot of word of mouth. Do I think it's helped? Yeah, absolutely. And I think that as a brand, you know, we want to have an untraditional strategy, but you know, it's just, yeah, marketing can be really, can be really fuzzy, I think, and how to get it right, especially when you have a brand that's as unique as Nasty Gal.

• 20:08Lewis Howes?

  Sure. If there's a female or male entrepreneur listening who is in the middle of starting a brand, or maybe they've already done a couple of years and they're trying to get it to the next level, what would you give them advice about press? Would it be more about honing in on your story and making sure you're unique? And would you say put energy into getting press or into something else first?

• 20:28Speaker 01

  I would say definitely have people, other people pitch press on your behalf, never ever pitch your own press.

• 20:32Lewis Howes?

  Really? I feel like that's all I've ever done.

• 20:35Speaker 01

  Really? If it works?

• 20:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, for me it does, but

• 20:37Speaker 01

  But like, in the same way that like, if you're gonna send like a threatening letter to somebody, you want it to be like one degree separated, or if you're gonna be like, excuse me, this isn't okay, like, having people that can act on your behalf puts you in a position to, I mean, it looks like you have a team, you know?

• 20:51Lewis Howes?

  Yes, of course.

• 20:52Speaker 01

  So even if it's you writing from like a blind email address, like, hi, I represent Louis.

• 20:56Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:57Speaker 01

  It looks like you've got like more going on.

• 20:59Lewis Howes?

  Sure. That makes sense, that makes sense. I think I've always

• 21:01Speaker 01

  I mean, I'm shameless too, but I do think that pitching yourself is tough. And then I think just like bring your A-game. I mean, the first thing I learned, you know, there was a woman named Julie Supan who coached me through that first Forbes piece, and I had no idea what I was doing, had no idea to how to tell the story. They will write the story that you present to them. They'll write the story that, of what happens in the room when you're there, of, you know, if there is or isn't a podcast producer here, if Louis answered his own door, if, you know, whatever it is, they're gonna tell the story of whatever happens. And you can architect that, which is creepy,

• 21:37Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  but strategic. And in many ways, you can write your own stories. And then, I think my last piece of advice would be like, bring your A-game. Like, I learned like, you want more space in Forbes, bring them photos that they're gonna wanna use, you know?

• 21:53Lewis Howes?

  Right. So you get four pages, it's supposed to one.

• 21:55Speaker 01

  So it's a little superficial, but I don't know, you know, it's like everything is at some point. Just bring your A-game.

• 22:04Speaker 01

  You know, look at the magazine and say like, what would, if there's no stylist on the shoot, or whatever it is, bring what you think they're gonna wanna publish. So Forbes wants you to look like you might, you could be a billionaire someday, so that later on, they could be like, "Look, we talked about her back in 2012, and I didn't look like a ragamuffin." They like, want that, that game, and every publication is different. So, reverse engineering, what you think the art director or the editor wants, when there's not someone there to do it with you.

• 22:35Lewis Howes?

  Especially someone like Forbes.

• 22:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, right?

• 22:37Lewis Howes?

  They're not having an art director there, or stylist, probably.

• 22:39Speaker 01

  They didn't, even for the cover.

• 22:41Lewis Howes?

  That's crazy.

• 22:42Speaker 01

  That is crazy, right?

• 22:43Lewis Howes?

  They're so like, corporatey business.

• 22:44Speaker 01

  And you know what I did? I went on Netaporter, and I dropped a shitload of money, and then I wore a dress, and I kept the tag on it, and I returned everything, and that was like, three months ago, so...

• 22:52Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 22:53Speaker 01

  I'm still pretty cheap.

• 22:53Lewis Howes?

  What's Netaporter?

• 22:54Speaker 01

  Netaporte.

• 22:55Lewis Howes?

  Netaporte?

• 22:56Speaker 01

  You don't know what that is?

• 22:57Lewis Howes?

  No, educate me.

• 22:58Speaker 01

  It's like a bazillion dollar European, it's like the Amazon of luxury. It's like, one of the earliest ecommerce.

• 23:04Lewis Howes?

  I buy like, t-shirts.

• 23:05Speaker 01

  That's fine. I buy like-

• 23:07Lewis Howes?

  For women, they probably know what it is.

• 23:08Speaker 01

  Water bottles. Women know what Netaporte is.

• 23:09Lewis Howes?

  Okay, gotcha.

• 23:10Speaker 01

  I mean, it's just, it's super expensive.

• 23:12Lewis Howes?

  Is this like, uh-

• 23:13Speaker 01

  But I like, returned everything, so...

• 23:14Lewis Howes?

  What's the other thing called, Save the Dress, or what's it called?

• 23:16Speaker 01

  Oh, Rent the Runway?

• 23:17Lewis Howes?

  Rent the Runway.

• 23:18Speaker 01

  Save the Dress.

• 23:18Lewis Howes?

  I don't know what I'm thinking.

• 23:19Speaker 01

  It's kinda what they're doing, yeah.

• 23:21Lewis Howes?

  It's like a luxury-

• 23:21Speaker 01

  No, that's great, yeah, and she's an amazing entrepreneur.

• 23:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 23:24Speaker 01

  Should have her on the podcast.

• 23:25Lewis Howes?

  Have you had her on yours?

• 23:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, she's great.

• 23:27Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. Now, I'm curious, Nasty Gal's blowing up, and then you decide to write a book, this book, Girl Boss, why the book?

• 23:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, good question.

• 23:36Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious, you know, everything is already going so well for you, why do this?

• 23:39Speaker 01

  Um, so, I met an attorney, just randomly, cuz I needed someone to do some work for me when I moved to LA, on regu-, just regular stuff, like, "Hey, can you have a phone call with like, an architect?"

• 23:51Lewis Howes?

  Where were you living before?

• 23:52Speaker 01

  Or look at a contract. I'd moved, I moved the company here in late 2010, from San Francisco.

• 23:56Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 23:58Speaker 01

  And I was in, introduced to an entertainment attorney, and I'm not sure why, who had been at, uh, Ziff and Brittonham, which is just, like, a huge top firm for 25 years, and was like, "Listen, this is child's play, what do you wanna do? You've got amazing stuff going, you wanna do, you wanna be on TV, you wanna book, what do you wanna do?" And I was like, "Ew, I don't wanna be on TV," you know? And I've been on TV and who knows what's gonna happen, but this was way back, you know, this book has been out for two years, almost two and a half years now. And he was like, "A book?" And I was like, "I don't know, a book would be cool because it's such a legacy item." It is. It is something you put on your shelf. You have kids, you have grandkids, it doesn't matter if anybody buys your book, you still wrote a book. You did. It's so cool. You know, if anybody else likes it, that's great.

• 24:42Speaker 01

  But like, I got to put a lot of stuff that I believe I marked a moment in time, it's like legacy building, you know? And that's just cool, you know, because so much stuff lives and dies on the internet. So, I mean, this is in libraries, like, that's so exciting that people are like- Incredible, right? "I couldn't afford your book and I read it in the library and like, changed my life." Like, the library comments on Twitter are like- (laughing) But I was getting a lot of comments on Instagram and on social media, just like, "Oh my god, how did you do it? I'm starting a business, can you give me some advice?" They'd maybe read some of the business press, knew that this was an eBay store at some point, some people had followed me from the eBay days and were watching, you know, how Nasty Gal had blown up.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  And, you know, I met with an agent at WME named Andy McNichol, who's amazing, and she was like, you know, I've since set her up with other people and she's like, "Yeah, no, they don't have a book in them." Like, we sat down and she was like, "What would you want to do?" And I was like, "I want to do a gateway drug for the business book section." For girls, because, and it's not, I mean, for girls, it's for anybody. Mm-hmm. But there's no books that are like funny and entertaining and educational and like really relatable, like, they're all like real square. Like, we're so square, and they're so self-serious, and they're really dogmatic, and they tell you that if you follow all these steps, then your life is gonna be whatever, fill in the blank, and that's just not how it works.

• 26:05Speaker 01

  So, like, an honest, kind of like, "Here's what I know, but I'm totally gonna unlearn it by the time I write a third book," and watch me. Right. Watch me. I am. Really? Uh, yeah. You know, here's what I know. Here's what I have to share. Take, take it and then throw it away and then go live your life.

• 26:24Lewis Howes?

  Go take action.

• 26:26Speaker 01

  Yeah. So that's really what Girlboss is about.

• 26:29Lewis Howes?

  300,000 copies later. It's pretty impressive.

• 26:31Speaker 01

  That's my report card.

• 26:32Lewis Howes?

  What's that? That was your report card?

• 26:34Speaker 01

  Yeah. Chooses to disturb others.

• 26:38Lewis Howes?

  I wish I had some of that stuff from childhood.

• 26:39Speaker 01

  It's great, right?

• 26:40Lewis Howes?

  Gosh.

• 26:41Speaker 01

  Were yours good or bad?

• 26:43Lewis Howes?

  I mean, I was in the bottom four of my class.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  Oh, wow.

• 26:45Lewis Howes?

  All through school.

• 26:45Speaker 01

  Oh, that's amazing.

• 26:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I couldn't read until about 16. Yeah.

• 26:49Speaker 01

  Where'd you grow up?

• 26:50Lewis Howes?

  I was in a small town, Delaware, Ohio. I was in the special needs classes.

• 26:55Speaker 01

  Amazing.

• 26:55Lewis Howes?

  With like three kids in wheelchairs and me.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Because you were playing sports?

• 26:58Lewis Howes?

  No, I wasn't good at sports then either. I was just an idiot.

• 27:01Speaker 01

  Obviously.

• 27:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I couldn't read, I couldn't write, I couldn't do anything.

• 27:04Speaker 01

  I don't believe you, but that's amazing if it's true.

• 27:06Lewis Howes?

  I cheated on every, every single, every single test. I don't know if I actually told this, but I cheated, I cheated on almost every single test in middle school all the way through high school until I graduated because I literally...

• 27:16Speaker 01

  It's not because you were dumb, it's because you were like lazy.

• 27:19Lewis Howes?

  I was a good test taker. I would practice and study and study and study. I could not comprehend the information. I couldn't learn it. And then I would just be frustrated. So I'd be like, screw this. And I would go and I became a master at cheating.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  Oh, wow.

• 27:31Lewis Howes?

  Luckily for Scantrons.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Welcome to the school of greatness.

• 27:33Lewis Howes?

  That's it, right?

• 27:34Speaker 01

  No, no, no, no.

• 27:35Lewis Howes?

  I'm not proud of this either. There's things we both know we're not proud of.

• 27:38Speaker 01

  Totally. You only learn by failing, right?

• 27:41Lewis Howes?

  And I, I learned that. I, I learned in a different way. You know, the reason I did the school of greatness was because I was like, there's so many things that they didn't teach us in school that I wish they would have. Principles that actually helped us achieve the life of our dreams, relationships, business, whatever it may be, our health. Like, they didn't teach me that or I didn't learn it. So...

• 27:58Speaker 01

  They don't really teach you much in school that, honestly.

• 28:01Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 28:01Speaker 01

  And, and high school at least. It's like, why do I need to know about like weird trigonometry?

• 28:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:07Speaker 01

  And no one's going to tell me, you know, about debt?

• 28:10Lewis Howes?

  Right. The things that are important.

• 28:12Speaker 01

  What to do when credit card offers come in the mail?

• 28:14Lewis Howes?

  What do I do?

• 28:15Speaker 01

  Or get a parking ticket? Like, come on.

• 28:17Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 28:18Speaker 01

  That's life, like...

• 28:18Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. I hear you.

• 28:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:20Lewis Howes?

  Was so much really struggling for you? School?

• 28:24Speaker 01

  Educationally, I mean, if I was interested in something, I did really well.

• 28:28Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:29Speaker 01

  If I liked the teacher, I would do pretty well. And it was like, I just didn't respect, like, I didn't respect, I just felt like kind of trapped. You know, I felt like I was put in a room, the same room, every day, at least in high school and middle school, you're there for a certain period of time, a bell rings, and like, like a rat in a cage, it was like a Plaine and Janelle song or something, or what?

• 28:55Lewis Howes?

  You gotta scurry to the next class.

• 28:56Speaker 01

  Go to the next one every day. Like, how soul crushing is that for children? I'm like, I'm not, I'm not gonna be like a hippie parent either, if I'm ever a parent, but like, to like, put a child in the same chair every day, have a bell ring, and tell them, like, go do the same thing. Oh, it's just like, yes, I think education's really important. I just, I don't, I don't have it figured out, but I do think that, like,

• 29:19Lewis Howes?

  It's important to learn.

• 29:19Speaker 01

  Everybody learns completely differently.

• 29:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 29:21Speaker 01

  I learn from doing things. I learn from engaging and asking questions. If you talk at me, I like glaze over, especially now that there's like iPhones and stuff.

• 29:29Lewis Howes?

  You're just like, what?

• 29:30Speaker 01

  But I'm like, what? I never heard anything. If you don't, if you don't text me, I didn't hear it, like, no, but yeah, we all learn really differently, and I just feel like the public school system was not set up for me.

• 29:41Lewis Howes?

  Me either. Well, there's something in common.

• 29:43Speaker 01

  So I homeschooled. I homeschooled my senior year.

• 29:45Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 29:46Speaker 01

  And moved out before I graduated.

• 29:48Lewis Howes?

  Super introvert, then?

• 29:49Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah, I was just like, I like, would go like, and cry and like, eat my pizza with my teacher. And I wasn't like,

• 29:55Lewis Howes?

  Was it just you and your teacher? Was there a couple of you, or no?

• 29:57Speaker 01

  No, I just would go like, hang out with my like, uh, political, like, my social studies teacher, or whatever. Uh, that was like, before I homeschooled.

• 30:04Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha, gotcha.

• 30:06Speaker 01

  And then I homeschooled and, uh, just was like,

• 30:08Lewis Howes?

  Was it just you?

• 30:09Speaker 01

  My parents split up that same year, and I was like,

• 30:11Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 30:11Speaker 01

  I was like, an only child, and they were kind of strict, and I was like, See ya. Thanks, guys.

• 30:16Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 30:17Speaker 01

  I've been taking care of myself. I mean, they were great. They, I love my parents, but I was like, I had to like self fill in the blank in like many ways. I think that grew me up pretty quickly, so.

• 30:29Lewis Howes?

  Who was more influential to you, your mom or your dad?

• 30:32Speaker 01

  I can't answer that because like if ever my mom or dad listens to this, they'll be like, you said, you mentioned your dad more in your book than you mentioned me.

• 30:40Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 30:41Speaker 01

  You said you're Greek, but you didn't say you're Italian or whatever. They're, they're great.

• 30:45Lewis Howes?

  I'll shift the question.

• 30:46Speaker 01

  Shift it.

• 30:46Lewis Howes?

  What's, uh, what's the most, um, the biggest lesson you learned from each of them growing up?

• 30:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, I guess my dad's like a mother effer, you know, he's like hardcore. Like we would go on bike rides and he'd be like a mile ahead of me like, hurry up. Like it wasn't like,

• 31:01Lewis Howes?

  We'll be the worst.

• 31:02Speaker 01

  la di da. Like it wasn't like we're going to, you know, do recreation. This was like, I'm going on a bike ride and you're coming with me, kid.

• 31:08Lewis Howes?

  We're training.

• 31:09Speaker 01

  You know, so I was like treated like a boy and which I think is many ways is, is like awesome, you know? And yeah, so just like keep up. I think I learned from, I mean, he was very critical. So like I learned to be self critical.

• 31:26Lewis Howes?

  Do you think that hurts you in any way?

• 31:28Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, totally. But that's like mine to work out and like, I'll be fine, you know? I told you, just like, it's up to you to turn like your damage into a strength and like, that's like, that's kind of like, and yeah, and it's just to keep learning and taking feedback about who you are, how you behave, what your triggers are, whatever. Like I don't go to that much therapy, but like I know some stuff.

• 31:49Lewis Howes?

  Just three times a week, no big deal.

• 31:50Speaker 01

  No, no.

• 31:51Lewis Howes?

  I'm just kidding.

• 31:52Speaker 01

  Um, from my mom, gosh, I mean, I think like writing, she's an amazing writer and she's a great communicator. And she's like, she's really cerebral to the point of like over communicating sometimes and she, she would be surprised. She wouldn't be surprised if I said that. Um, and I've learned to like chill on that because some things, you know, I've learned about time and space and letting people come to their own conclusions and like subtlety and not just like, I can be very knee jerk and that's my dad. And then I can also be very knee jerk and communicative, which is like, oh my God. Uh, so yeah, but like being responsible with those gifts is something that I've learned and keep learning.

• 32:36Lewis Howes?

  What would you say is the moment, uh, in growing up that you're the least proud of?

• 32:41Speaker 01

  Hmm, um, probably a relationship I had in Portland with a alcoholic, absentee dad, who was a fry cook. Um, yeah, it was like, I'd like, my first real relationship was pretty trashy. But I, I didn't, I don't even know how I went up there. I just wound up, I just wound up there and you're like, wait a second, like, this is so not me. I'm like, I'm like yelling and this guy like, just like threw the TV on the floor. Like, this doesn't happen. I grew up with this garbage. Like, how do I make sure that this is not my future? I eventually figured it out.

• 33:16Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 33:17Speaker 01

  I don't yell or throw things or slam doors, but...

• 33:18Lewis Howes?

  That's nice.

• 33:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:20Lewis Howes?

  Okay, and what would you say is...

• 33:21Speaker 01

  But I can be really mean.

• 33:22Lewis Howes?

  Can you be?

• 33:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:24Lewis Howes?

  In what way?

• 33:25Speaker 01

  I'm not proud. I don't know. I just like...

• 33:28Lewis Howes?

  Things you say, the way you act.

• 33:29Speaker 01

  But like, the best part is like, being capable of it and then just restraining yourself and letting people drive themselves crazy. You know what I mean? There's crazy chicks and crazy dudes.

• 33:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's crazy guys, crazy chicks.

• 33:37Speaker 01

  It's like, they exist.

• 33:38Lewis Howes?

  Absolutely.

• 33:39Speaker 01

  It is what it is.

• 33:40Lewis Howes?

  Do you have a lot of stalkers?

• 33:41Speaker 01

  Uh, I had one.

• 33:42Lewis Howes?

  Girl or guy?

• 33:43Speaker 01

  A guy.

• 33:44Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 33:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's a restraining order.

• 33:46Lewis Howes?

  No way. Still?

• 33:48Speaker 01

  I've never talked about this. I mean, I don't think it like, goes away. I don't know.

• 33:52Lewis Howes?

  I don't know.

• 33:53Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 33:54Lewis Howes?

  I never had to put one on someone.

• 33:55Speaker 01

  If you're out there.

• 33:56Lewis Howes?

  I've got a bat in here.

• 33:58Speaker 01

  I've got a dog that speaks Polish and only responds to me.

• 34:01Lewis Howes?

  Wow, what happened? Are you allowed to talk about this or no?

• 34:03Speaker 01

  No.

• 34:04Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 34:05Speaker 01

  I don't know. I'm allowed to talk about whatever I want, but I'd rather not. Don't get any ideas.

• 34:08Lewis Howes?

  Okay, there you go. Wow. Is that scary for you, being in the public eye so much now?

• 34:13Speaker 01

  It's, yeah, it's pretty scary.

• 34:14Lewis Howes?

  Being a girl, I mean, I feel...

• 34:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's scary, but mostly it's just like, cool girls. You know, people get really excited and they jump on you sometimes.

• 34:20Lewis Howes?

  That's good, you don't want to take photos.

• 34:21Speaker 01

  And you're like, oh my god, my personal space, help. You know, it's a lot of like, you know, but I welcomed it to my life. I mean, I love the girls that read the book, that come to the book events. Like, it's so rewarding. I mean, I had like, 400 girls singing Happy Birthday to a girl who came to a book event on her 18th birthday by herself.

• 34:37Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 34:38Speaker 01

  And I was like, you guys, it's her birthday, can you please sing her Happy Birthday? And like, 400 girls sang Happy Birthday at a Barnes and Noble.

• 34:43Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 34:44Speaker 01

  In Union Square. Um, but, yeah, as like, an introvert, it can be very psychically draining.

• 34:50Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 34:51Speaker 01

  Uh, so I have to have time to like...

• 34:53Lewis Howes?

  Recover.

• 34:54Speaker 01

  Recover. Yeah.

• 34:56Lewis Howes?

  What would you say is the most proud moment that most people don't know about you?

• 34:59Lewis Howes?

  Proud thing you've done or proud moment?

• 35:02Lewis Howes?

  Big or small?

• 35:03Speaker 01

  Proud moment. Um, I, I mean, I think it was just buying my first car. I bought like a Nissan used.

• 35:11Lewis Howes?

  When was this?

• 35:12Speaker 01

  This was like two thousand eight, maybe that same year I launched the website, but I had never really, you know, I had like a three thousand dollar Volvo that my parents had helped me buy and it was like an eighty seven and I loved it. But it didn't have any cup holders. I really wanted cup holders and so that's why I got the Nissan. But, um, yeah, I, yeah, I was just like, I saved up like, I put like ten grand down on like an eighteen thousand dollar car and then had like an insane like, I'd like eleven percent interest on the remainder. And so as soon as I could, I paid it off. But, yeah, like buying, I've driven a Porsche. I drive a different car now. Uh, like, I, I bought that Jaguar F-type for like four months and I was like, this thing drags every, it drags on the ground like,

• 35:57Speaker 01

  I can't even fit the shit I buy like in the back. Like, how is this luxury? So I like, I kinda like cars.

• 36:04Lewis Howes?

  I saw you driving some vintage car last week that broke down and you had to tow it or something.

• 36:07Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have, I have a vintage Mercedes and it was like an eighty seven dollar fix, but I did have to get it towed. But like, um, there's nothing like buying your first car. It's just you're never as proud. Like, it doesn't matter like how nice your interior is on the next one. Like, there's a first. You do something the first time. It's never that exciting again. I don't know. I'm only thirty two, so.

• 36:28Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 36:29Speaker 01

  I might be wrong.

• 36:29Lewis Howes?

  What brings you the most fulfillment in your life right now? When you're doing what it brings you the most joy and fulfillment?

• 36:35Speaker 01

  When I'm with my friends. When I'm with my friends and my family, cause you know, there's, work is really important and a lot of what I do isn't work. It doesn't feel like work. It's really rewarding. Um, but I would just say like, the people who really matter are so important to keep close and they'll be there for you. When the shit hits the fan and, um,

• 37:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I think just like leaning on your friends is like, or just them leaning on you, you know, is like, or just hanging out, like, I don't know, just being like, wow, I've had this friend for 10 years and it's great.

• 37:17Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. Okay. You know, I feel like women have a challenge right now as female entrepreneurs. I feel like it's in general, it's harder for them to become more entrepreneurial. I think more and more it's happening. There's a lot of women out there who are doing it. But what do you think is the, the biggest thing they're gonna have to overcome? Knowing what you've done in the last 10 years, if they're just starting out, they're having a little bit, maybe they're making six figures in sales in their business, but they're trying to grow. What's the biggest challenge they're gonna face?

• 37:44Speaker 01

  I mean, I think it's different for everybody.

• 37:47Speaker 01

  I think it's, I think it's really like an individual thing. It's really hard to kind of, to be broad about that. I would say,

• 37:57Speaker 01

  I would say you have an advantage in many ways, um, right now. Cause more and more people want to invest in female run businesses. I would say if you can get into something that isn't like, um, I guess they call it shrink it and pink it. Like just obvious women's stuff, like I got into fashion, but I took investment way before like, you know, fab.com like went bust and, you know, e-commerce is just in a different space in terms of taking investment. So if you can be in a science or technology or engineering area, you're really rare. I think just like going where other people aren't going is always a good idea. And just not showing up in the room and being like, I'm, you know, fill in the blank.

• 38:40Speaker 01

  I'm different because I'm a girl. I'm different because I'm, don't have a college education. I'm different because I haven't done what everyone else here has done. I just think like showing up and not being cocky, but like knowing that you're in the room for a reason is really important. Um, and participating like you belong there. Um, and that goes for anybody.

• 39:00Lewis Howes?

  Sure. What do you think people misunderstand about you the most?

• 39:04Speaker 01

  I think people think that I'm like, um, you know, I'm not, I'm not smiling on the cover. You're smiling on the cover of your book.

• 39:10Lewis Howes?

  A little bit.

• 39:10Speaker 01

  I'm not.

• 39:11Lewis Howes?

  You've got a little.

• 39:12Speaker 01

  I've got, I like, my eyes are a little soft. Yeah, I'm like sneering, sneering at you. No, um, you know, I'm like in a power pose and I have like a harsh haircut and, you know, I think my hair, you know, I, I think I can look severe, but I. But like, once you talk to me, I'm like, really easy, generally pretty easy to talk to. So I think it's maybe the perception that I'm like, you know, some like Russian spy caricature who's like, you know, whatever. Do you know what I mean?

• 39:44Lewis Howes?

  Sure, of course.

• 39:45Speaker 01

  Like, I don't, that's just not the case. But I do think that I, I, I photograph that way, so.

• 39:50Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's all good. It's a great shot, though.

• 39:52Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 39:54Lewis Howes?

  What's the big fear for you right now? I mean, again, a quarter of a billion dollar company, you've had so much success, book, Netflix show, podcast, which I want to make sure everyone goes and listens to as well, which we'll talk about.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  Fear.

• 40:04Lewis Howes?

  Do you have a big fear of anything?

• 40:08Speaker 01

  Big fear?

• 40:11Lewis Howes?

  You've gotten so big now. Is it too big?

• 40:12Speaker 01

  The fear is like, yeah, living up to the noise. And some of that noise is my own creation. Some of it's the creation of other people. Doesn't really matter. You take responsibility for it publicly regardless. I think, you know, continuing to win. I think that even though I have a really honest story, like, I've achieved something and it's expected that I just like, keep winning. And so far, like, I'm not, you know, like, I'm not like, losing, but there's ups and downs to anything. And what if I want to drop off the planet for a year? What if I just want to like, go chill or like, do something for myself? I have a responsibility to an audience, as do you, you know?

• 40:57Speaker 01

  That I think is, you know, that's just, it's, you know, a fear, yeah, I think, is like, not, I mean, I'm not going to live up to it. I think my fear is just knowing that I'm not going to live up to it.

• 41:08Lewis Howes?

  Live up to what? The hype?

• 41:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 41:10Speaker 01

  It's just, you don't. You just, and maybe you're the only person that knows that.

• 41:14Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 41:15Speaker 01

  And maybe you just die in fear. I don't know, but.

• 41:18Lewis Howes?

  Sure. Do you feel like if you-

• 41:20Speaker 01

  So inspiring.

• 41:21Lewis Howes?

  Do you feel like if you spent, you know, let's say, six months to a year where you're like, I'm gonna take a vacation from it all?

• 41:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:25Lewis Howes?

  And no more press, no more social media?

• 41:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:29Lewis Howes?

  I'm not going to be creating content, no more podcasts? No more book writing and then you try to come back.

• 41:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:35Lewis Howes?

  How hard would it be for you to come back and be kind of at the top?

• 41:38Speaker 01

  I have no idea. I have no idea. I don't know. I'd have to like ask people who have done that or have worked with managed or been publicist or agent or I'm sure people have done that. I think you tell a story around it like they had a baby or like that's a good, that's probably a good excuse, you know? It's the only reason to have children.

• 41:58Lewis Howes?

  Do you want to have a family in the future?

• 41:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, at some point.

• 42:00Lewis Howes?

  Some point.

• 42:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:02Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What, um, I'm curious what your vision is next. Again, with all this going on, like, why do you keep bringing new things on?

• 42:10Speaker 01

  I'm a masochist. I'm a masochist. No, I really am. I like have an idea and I'm like, nobody said I can't.

• 42:18Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 42:19Speaker 01

  Well, I'm gonna go do it. You know, that's it. It's just like

• 42:21Lewis Howes?

  Do you have a vision or is it just?

• 42:23Speaker 01

  Um.

• 42:23Lewis Howes?

  Random?

• 42:24Speaker 01

  No, it's not random. Uh, you know, I've learned to pace things out better than I used to. I used to be like, I want to do everything at once. And that's just, that's so hard on teams.

• 42:33Lewis Howes?

  It's hard on your

• 42:34Speaker 01

  It's really hard on your, it's really hard on yourself. It's hard on anything. So, um, I would say my vision is to keep doing stuff that inspires people, that's honest. That is fun where I get to create things, you know, I get to do projects now. I get to executive produce a show and see what that's like. I get to write a book and, um, you know, be a podcast host and, um, you know, it's so fun to stretch yourself in ways that you never would have anticipated. And who knows where that will go. I think it's, um, as much about like personal growth and enrichment for me as it is about like the actual thing that I'm doing.

• 43:17Speaker 01

  I think a lot of it is just like stretching, you know, expanding like, you know, like a thing you put in a shoe that's a little too small. That's just like

• 43:28Speaker 01

  all I do all day.

• 43:29Lewis Howes?

  That's good. Okay. But you've learned to pace it better now.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  I'm, yeah, a lot, a lot. Especially having, I have a really great assistant who's like

• 43:36Lewis Howes?

  She's out there.

• 43:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:37Lewis Howes?

  It's great.

• 43:37Speaker 01

  Holly, uh, yeah. Yeah. I think just, she's like I think this is a little too much. And you know, I've had assistants who are also great, but were like, you know, maniacs like me. And they were like,

• 43:48Lewis Howes?

  Let's do it. Let's do it.

• 43:48Speaker 01

  Bring it on. Let's just do everything like, you know, to not make everything an equal priority takes a lot of maturity.

• 43:54Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, sure.

• 43:55Speaker 01

  I have a little maturity now, so.

• 43:57Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 43:57Speaker 01

  That's nice.

• 43:58Lewis Howes?

  What's a question, um, no one's ever asked you that you wish they asked?

• 44:03Speaker 01

  I don't like wish people ask me questions, right?

• 44:05Lewis Howes?

  That you like to answer.

• 44:06Speaker 01

  Who like wakes up and says like, I wished, I wish people would just ask me like, I don't know. Um.

• 44:13Lewis Howes?

  Or is there anything that you've always wanted to share that you haven't been able to share yet?

• 44:16Speaker 01

  I've shared everything.

• 44:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:17Speaker 01

  It's disgusting.

• 44:19Lewis Howes?

  We've got three final questions for you.

• 44:21Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 44:21Lewis Howes?

  Okay. Uh, before, before I ask them, I want to make sure everyone goes, gets this book, Girl Boss, and also download the podcast, Girl Boss. It's in the top hundred. It's crushing it on iTunes. You're only interviewing women, right?

• 44:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:34Lewis Howes?

  Who are just crushing it in life and business, entrepreneurial,

• 44:37Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 44:37Lewis Howes?

  Brands. You've got some amazing people on there. I saw you had Jessica Alba. Who are some other names you had on there?

• 44:42Speaker 01

  Jessica Alba hasn't been on it yet, but she was at my office and I Instagrammed.

• 44:45Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 44:46Speaker 01

  Um, we've had.

• 44:48Lewis Howes?

  Farnooshan is a mutual friend of mine.

• 44:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Um, we've had, uh, Beth Comstock, who's the vice chair at GE.

• 44:58Speaker 01

  Charlize, who's producing the Netflix show, was the first guest. I've had Kate Cannon, who's also working on the Netflix show, who wrote Pitch Perfect to Pitch Perfect 2. It's like, it's not super celebrity heavy. I've had Alyssa Mastromonaco, who was the deputy chief of staff to President Obama.

• 45:14Lewis Howes?

  Whoa.

• 45:14Speaker 01

  She's now the chief operating officer at Vice. She's amazing. That's a really good one.

• 45:19Lewis Howes?

  Top girl bosses.

• 45:20Speaker 01

  Top, top, top and in the middle, you know, it's like, but women who have like an interesting story. Everyone's started in a different place. Some of these women went to great schools. Some of them didn't go to school. Some of them are creative. Some of them are business people. And I try to find like a humanizing, like, common ground element through that, which is just that everybody starts somewhere.

• 45:42Lewis Howes?

  Sure. That's cool. Okay. Well, make sure everyone go and download.

• 45:45Speaker 01

  Girl Boss Radio.

• 45:46Lewis Howes?

  Girl Boss Radio. Check out the Netflix show, which will be out in what, a year?

• 45:51Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, sometime next year, 2017.

• 45:52Lewis Howes?

  And get the book when it comes out. You can preorder it right now.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 45:55Lewis Howes?

  The new book, Nasty Galaxy.

• 45:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:58Lewis Howes?

  And then you have a personal site as well?

• 45:59Speaker 01

  Um, just girlboss.com.

• 46:01Lewis Howes?

  Girlboss.com, and all your socials on there. Follow you everywhere because you're hilarious and amazing.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  Follow me at Sophia Amoruso on the Instagram, the Snapchat, and the Twitter.

• 46:09Lewis Howes?

  The Insta Snap now.

• 46:10Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, yeah. I don't even know about Snapchat. Forget it.

• 46:13Lewis Howes?

  I don't think I'm gonna be on it anymore.

• 46:15Speaker 01

  But I still like messaging. I do like messaging a little bit, but...

• 46:17Lewis Howes?

  But you can do it on Instagram.

• 46:18Speaker 01

  Oh, you can do messaging too?

• 46:19Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 46:20Speaker 01

  Oh, the DM thingy. Yeah. I still like Snapchat better because it disappears.

• 46:25Lewis Howes?

  So does Instagram.

• 46:27Speaker 01

  I don't know enough then.

• 46:28Lewis Howes?

  Well, it's only one day, so...

• 46:29Speaker 01

  It's been out for a day.

• 46:30Lewis Howes?

  It's been out for a day. Give it some time.

• 46:32Speaker 01

  Alright, I'll give it some time.

• 46:32Lewis Howes?

  Um, what are you most grateful for in your life recently?

• 46:36Speaker 01

  Um, I'm grateful for adversity. I'm grateful for the garbage that shines a light on the things that really matter so I can constantly be reminded of like why life is worth living. And why I still have so much to learn.

• 46:55Lewis Howes?

  That's great.

• 46:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:57Lewis Howes?

  A lot of adversity right now?

• 46:58Speaker 01

  I mean, yeah, personally.

• 47:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:01Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 47:03Lewis Howes?

  This is a question called the three truths.

• 47:05Speaker 01

  Oh god, okay.

• 47:06Lewis Howes?

  Alright, so imagine in your life many, many years from now, uh, and it's the last day for you. But all of the books you've written, the thousand books you've written at this time, because you're a maniac and you write that many.

• 47:19Speaker 01

  Thousand.

• 47:20Lewis Howes?

  All the movies, TV shows are gone. For whatever, they're erased. They're gone. Something happened to them, they're gone. Uh, and everyone's there, all your friends and family, the people you love the most, and they say, "We don't have anything else to remember you by. Can you write down three things you know to be true on a piece of paper as your final three thoughts?"

• 47:40Speaker 01

  That's a great question.

• 47:41Lewis Howes?

  So what would be your three truths?

• 47:45Speaker 01

  Oh, man. It's like what I am or what I want to be. That's the question. And I can pick, you know, I can flatter myself or I can be honest.

• 47:54Lewis Howes?

  Three things that you would...

• 47:56Speaker 01

  That I want to be remembered by.

• 47:58Lewis Howes?

  Or your three truths for the world?

• 47:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:02Speaker 01

  Creative.

• 48:05Speaker 01

  Honest. Maybe generous?

• 48:08Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 48:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:09Lewis Howes?

  These will be the three things you want to be remembered by.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:12Lewis Howes?

  So what about three things?

• 48:13Speaker 01

  Like things, like books?

• 48:14Lewis Howes?

  Like, uh, like, uh, three messages, truths.

• 48:17Speaker 01

  Truths.

• 48:17Lewis Howes?

  So like, love is all you need.

• 48:19Speaker 01

  Oh, like, okay.

• 48:20Lewis Howes?

  Like a message that you would give to the world.

• 48:22Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 48:22Lewis Howes?

  Of how to live.

• 48:23Speaker 01

  Not like about me.

• 48:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 48:24Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 48:25Lewis Howes?

  Those three things are great about you. I like those.

• 48:26Speaker 01

  All right, whatever. Thanks.

• 48:27Lewis Howes?

  Those work. So three truths that you would give back to the world is like, here's my three points of the Bible.

• 48:35Speaker 01

  You don't know shit.

• 48:38Speaker 01

  Don't give up.

• 48:40Speaker 01

  And, uh, be compassionate.

• 48:44Lewis Howes?

  Those are great. I like those.

• 48:46Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 48:46Lewis Howes?

  Do you feel compassionate?

• 48:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 48:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:49Lewis Howes?

  That's good. Okay, I've got one final question. Before I ask it, I want to take a moment to acknowledge you, Sophia. I want to acknowledge you for your incredible drive. And your incredible creativity.

• 49:00Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 49:00Lewis Howes?

  Your incredible passion and energy for the vision that you had and bringing it to life.

• 49:05Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 49:05Lewis Howes?

  There aren't that many people that have done what you've done, especially 32-year-old women who have used to dive in dumpsters to get food and, uh, you know, check IDs all day and build something from a simple idea without having proof or evidence that it was going to come to life like this. So I acknowledge you for the consistency over a decade of just showing up and constantly learning.

• 49:29Speaker 01

  That's all you just have to keep showing up.

• 49:30Lewis Howes?

  It's amazing what you've created, so I acknowledge you for all of it, of course. The final question is what is your definition of greatness?

• 49:40Speaker 01

  My definition of greatness is being happy with the results of how you spend your time. I don't know. I think it's like, I think it's just, it's a personal definition that you have to make for yourself. Because if other people make it for you, you're probably never gonna get there. Even if you make it for yourself, you'll probably never get there. I think it's just showing, again, it's showing up every day. That's it. Like, I think that's greatness.

• 50:09Lewis Howes?

  Awesome.

• 50:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:10Lewis Howes?

  Thanks for coming on.

• 50:11Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 50:11Lewis Howes?

  I appreciate it.

• 50:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's fun.

• 50:16Speaker 00

  I hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure to check out the full show notes and the video interview at lewishouse.com/365. And check out her book, Girlboss. Go pick up a copy today. Let me know what you think. Make sure to send me a tweet @lewishouse and let me know what you thought of this episode as well. And share your feedback with Sophia. Connect with her on social media, on Twitter and Instagram. And let her know what you enjoyed most about her interview and what she shared. Again, lewishouse.com/365. And if you haven't signed up for the Summit of Greatness yet, make sure to send an email, [email protected] with the password. And let's get you signed up ASAP so I can see your pretty face in Columbus, Ohio in

• 51:01Speaker 00

  less than six weeks. All right, guys, I'm gonna get back to the Olympics and watch some games. Thank you so much for being a part of this community. Thank you so much for giving your heart and sharing this episode with your friends. It means the world to me, and I know Sophia will enjoy that as well. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.