Sophia Amoruso Learned a Lot From Her Shortcomings

Women still make up less than a quarter of all STEM professionals, command only 6 percent of CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies, and hold just 21 percent of congressional seats—you get the idea. There’s still a lot of work to do. And from Silicon Valley to Hollywood, the latest suggestion for closing the opportunity gap has been to promote mentorship. But what does that really look like? It can seem like just another corporate buzzword based on the unlikely scenario in which a seasoned professional decides, out of the goodness of his or her heart, to spend time and emotional labor guiding a mentee up the ladder. And that’s a shame, because mentorship truly could be the key to making sure women are represented on screens, in boardrooms, and around Capitol Hill. This month, ELLE asked some of the top-ranking women in tech, fashion, finance, and media to demystify what it means to mentor, whom you should really be turning to for help, and how to level up—with or without a mentorship fairy godmother. No buzzwords, just really good advice.

Sophia Amoruso founded cool-girl retailer Nasty Gal; has written three books about her career; and was the inspiration for a Netflix show, Girlboss, based on her scrappy origin story. Sounds great, right? And yet in 2015, she stepped down from running Nasty Gal (though she stayed on as executive chairwoman); the following year, the company declared bankruptcy. Amoruso’s marriage fell apart around the same time, and then the Netflix series got canceled. She carried on, growing Girlboss—a media company that hosts a website, a podcast, and two annual conferences, called the Girlboss Rally. She also launched the Girlboss Foundation, which has given out $130,000 to women-owned small businesses. Here, Amoruso explains the upside of making mistakes.

ELLE: You’ve always been candid in talking about career setbacks.

Sophia Amoruso: Yes. I think a lot of people experience quote-unquote failure as something that’s unique to them, and the fact is, we’re all experiencing it at different levels all the time. Being honest about our shortcomings and being comfortable with who we are, wherever we are, and knowing there’s a community to support you? It’s a new way of seeing the world. You don’t learn from winning.

Something you’ve mentioned in the past is this idea of redefining success. Why is that important to you?

We want to start a conversation within our community that gives people different perspectives on what life can look like. We want to demystify achievement and debunk the myth that you have to have a certain amount of money in the bank to do anything beyond survival. Success doesn’t mean just one thing. It’s the intersection of who you are at work and who you are at home and in your relationships.

What form does mentorship take for you?

To a certain extent, I crowdsource my mentorship. I’m usually on 10 different texts with 10 different investors or advisors or friends, asking them questions constantly.

Do you think the word mentorship is overused?

SA: It’s not like there are these people in the clouds waiting for you to show up and ask, “Will you be my mentor?” Anybody can be a mentor: Your peers, your friends, even YouTube can be a mentor. A lot of people are happy just to give advice to someone who’s on their way up, who’s curious and smart, because they feel like they can contribute.

This article originally appeared in the August 2018 issue of ELLE.

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