Sophia Amoruso

My philosophy is that you sell things for more than you bought them.

I would say I'm a boss who's learning, and I hope people have the patience for the fact that I'm learning along the way because that's a tough thing.

Sometimes in the world, there's such pressure to follow a certain path that we forget the importance of learning as we go.

Every woman who has a business book has a platform. For the most part, they're either a television personality or someone who had the perfect pedigree and worked their way up the career ladder.

I often say my naivete early on in my career worked in my favor.

You want to know what four words I probably hate the most? 'That's not my job.'

My first job was as a sandwich artist at Subway.

I've never worked in a retail store, but I did sell shoes at Gimme Shoes in San Francisco, a job I was fired from.

Everyone is told to go to high school and get good grades and go to college and get good grades and then get a job and then get a better job. There's no one really telling a story about how they totally blew it, and they figured it out.

If you look at my Instagram, girls are just beating down my door for tips or a job or mentorship. I can't hire every single one of them. My story is one thing that gives them hope. It's an unconventional story with anecdotes, commonsense advice and a big dose of permission to figure things out for yourself.

I feel like there's so many places to shop today that just feel like an Excel spreadsheet put between four walls.

The best wisdom is earned through experience, particularly mistakes.