@sophiaamoruso
If you love fashion, chances are you have heard of Sophia Amoruso. She is the founder of Nasty Gal and was able to launch the business at just twenty-two! Born in San Diego, she is of Portuguese, Greek, and Italian descent. Growing up, school presented her with difficulties because she was diagnosed with both ADHD and depression. Dealing with them caused her to drop out of school and homeschool instead.
Sophia moved around as she got older, and while Sophia was growing up, she would hitchhike, steal, and dumpster dive to survive. After moving to San Francisco, she discovered that she had a hernia in her groin. With no health insurance or money for the surgery, she worked for the Academy of Art University lobby. She would check the IDs and ensure that everyone was safe.
While working there, she opened Nasty Gal Vintage on eBay. After issues with eBay, she opened her store online and in 2016, was named one of the richest self-made women in the world. While she did experience a setback and had to file for bankruptcy, she has bounced back and founded Girlboss Media though she has stepped down as CEO of Nasty Gal.
Here are nine interesting facts you may not have known about the legendary Sophia Amoruso:
A Thrift Store Queen
As the Nasty Gal Founder, Sophia’s thrifting came in handy. When it started, most of the inventory for Nasty Gal came from thrift stores and local estate sales. She was extremely talented at buying low priced items and flipping them for higher prices. An example of this is when Sophia found two Chanel jackets in a thrift store for eight dollars each. She was able to flip them for over a thousand dollars.
She Irritated Other Vintage Sellers
When Sophia Amoruso operated her eBay store, she was making great money. However, there was one big issue that she couldn’t ignore. Her store came out of nowhere and became an overnight success. Her store, therefore, irritated all of the other vintage sellers because they couldn’t make any money. No one would buy from the other vintage sellers if they could buy from Sophia.
They came together and decided that she must be shill bidding on her auctions. Shill bidding is when someone creates a separate account to bid higher on their auctions to get higher prices. To this day, Sophia denies that her sales were due to shill bidding and says they were simply due to good photos and finding what people wanted.
Her First eBay Sale
If you could guess the first item Sophia Amoruso ever sold on eBay it would probably be something relating to fashion. However, that is not the case. The first item Sophia ever sold on eBay was a book that she had stolen.
She Produced A Show Based On Her Life
Well…loosely based. In the Netflix show called Girlboss, we watch Sophia Amoruso played by Britt Robertson deal with dumpster diving, stealing, and having a rough go before gaining popularity on eBay. Her character is flawed. She can be selfish, arrogant, and rude, as well as foul-mouthed. We see her evolve on her journey, and when she finally gets her happy ending, you can’t help but cheer at the achievement that she’s finally made her dream come true.
Sophia Is An Author
Sophia doesn’t just sell clothes like a boss; she considers herself a “Girlboss” and has a book that tells you all about it. In her book Girlboss, she tells her life story and the hardships she faced starting Nasty Gal. Sophia now has various books under her belt, but Girlboss remains the favorite of fans. She depicts the story of a girl with a troubled childhood rising and making herself an unequivocal success.
She Built Nasty Gal With No Debt
It might surprise you, but when she became the Nasty Gal founder and moved the store from eBay to her own site and locations, she built it without any debt. The reason behind this is because she had terrible credit. No one would give her a business loan, and Sophia couldn’t get a credit card. In her Girlboss show based upon her life, you see her explain that she opened Victoria’s Secret credit card and never paid it off. That damaged her credit in ways she didn’t realize, and it affected her business later. Because she couldn’t get a business loan, she avoided the debt that other business owners carried.
Net Worth
Sophia’s net worth has been a hot topic for the better part of a decade, but it’s been concluded that in 2021 she is sitting at a net worth of over $300 million dollars. The money has been accumulated through her brand Nasty Gal, her Girlboss empire, and her book sales. She also runs her website, offering advice and selling her latest books there.
Another way she’s managed to make her money is the show Girlboss. While it may not have gained two seasons, it became wildly popular, was a phenomenon, and was translated into a plethora of languages. It was one of Netflix’s most popular shows when it came out, with many signing up for a subscription to watch Sophia’s show.
Founder of Girlboss Rally
Sophia founded Girlboss Rally which is a conference and community for ambitious women. In 2019, they celebrated the fifth Girlboss Rally, which had over fifteen hundred people in attendance. She also hosted a radio show of the same name and gained twenty million downloads.
Sophia Amoruso aims to help women all over the world strive to be the best they can and uncover their inner fire. With her book and knowledge, many women have said that they have found excellent tips that have helped them push past boundaries and be the Girlboss they knew they could be.
Moving On After Hardship
Everybody has heard the expression “when it rains, it pours” but Sophia has actually lived it. Her husband decided to leave her, and she was unable to eat because she was so upset. What happened next? She had to file for bankruptcy because Nasty Gal had struggled for years. But the beautiful thing is that she came out of both stronger and wiser. She now lives with her true love, and they have a happy life with their dogs. She tells interviewers that she’s happy, thriving, and has a life of love and laughter now. She also states that she can truly be herself and share a part of herself that no one has ever known. Instead of letting her hardships knock her down, she answered it with a bat and came out swinging.
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