Sophia Amoruso Talks Business, Relationships at Women's Empowerment Conference
Jakarta. Sophia Amoruso, founder of the fashion company Nasty Gal, talked about the ups and downs of her business career and personal life during her keynote speech at the women's empowerment conference Resonation in The Kasablanka Hall in South Jakarta on Saturday (29/04).
Amoruso, who dropped out of college to pursue her fashion line, said she finds herself continuously learning about entrepreneurship since Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy and was sold to UK-based Boohoo for a fraction of its estimated valuation in recent months.
"[Entrepreneurship] is seen as something glamorous, of a much higher bar than it actually is, depending on how far you want to go. But it is an amazing way to find out your level of incompetence, and to try to move past that, which takes a lot more than getting there," she said.
The San Diego-born entrepreneur said she was not an easy child growing up and always questioned authority. However, Amoruso ascribes that rebellious side as a main factor in her decision to quit school and pursue her own company.
"The only difference between you and the people who are doing what you want to do is that they actually decided to do it. There’s no secret, really. It can seem very mystifying, but having a healthy disregard of authority, within reason, is important."
The writer of two novels, "Girl Boss" and “Nasty Galaxy,” Amoruso said she is currently focusing her efforts on the publishing business, particularly on her website Girlboss.com, where her editorial staff runs three short stories per day.
She also recently hosted Girlboss Rally, a conference for businesswomen in Washington, D.C.
"At this point in life, I’m just glad to do something else after 10 years. It is a long time to do the same thing."
More than a thousand women turned up at Saturday's event, ranging from high school students to business managers.
Amoruso, who also went through a divorce at the time of her company's bankruptcy, said she's not keen on dating and has had only two relationships in the past eight years.
"I haven’t figured it out. There is the stereotype for women to stay at home and raise children and do what’s expected of us. Sometimes that’s what women dream of doing and that’s okay. I don't want women to think that’s not a noble thing to do. But it’s incredibly difficult," she said.
"People say, don't sacrifice yourself for men. It’s very personal, and people make their own sacrifice. You should hope to date someone who wants to figure it out with you. It’s really hard, but you’re not alone."
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