Sophia Amoruso: How She Got To The Top And How She Plans To Stay There

With women like Sophia Amoruso shattering barriers in the corporate world, the self-titled GirlBoss is showing the world why the future is female.

At the age of 22, Sophia Amoruso founded Nasty Gal Vintage on eBay as a college dropout in 2006. Little did she, or anyone else for that matter, know how impressive this brand would become.

Amoruso’s story is a serious “rags-to-riches” business kind of deal.

Reselling thrifted vintage clothes became a booming international retail business that made $100 million in revenue in just 3 years. In 2014, Amoruso published her memoir, GirlBoss, about the beginning of the NastyGal empire and the tribulations she went through to make it a success. She shared her advice with CNBC on how to become a so-called “GirlBoss”.

Having the best version of yourself at work, not being afraid of taking risks and building your network are her main tactics. Obviously, her hard work paid off when Netflix later bought the rights to Amoruso’s New York Times best-selling memoir, and turning it into a series. This well-deserved success, however, was somewhat short-lived; Netflix later canceled the show after only one season, Amoruso stepped down as CEO in 2015, and NastyGal filed for bankruptcy just the next year.

These hardships didn’t slow her down, however.

Alternatively, Amoruso focused solely on the Girlboss Foundation, which launched in 2014. With the foundation all about women supporting women, she is at the forefront of providing funds for fellow female entrepreneurs. As we strive for equality, her humanitarian pursuits are something we need more of.

Despite Amoruso’s downfalls, her way of “staying on top” is by helping other women to the top as well. Recognizing her unforeseen success has definitely inspired young entrepreneurs, like herself, to pursue their dreams relentlessly; and that way, we can only go up from here.