It came as a shock to many when Sophia Amoruso’s fashion company Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy. At the same time, her marriage broke down. As someone in the public eye with a second book to promote and a Netflix show about to air, it’s safe to say, that must have been a lot to weather.
However, Sophia was determined to not let this, what she describes as a ‘reset’, deter her from happiness and success in life and love. As she shared with InStyle, she made every effort to bounce back and be honest about the struggle.
Something that Sophia touches on, which is so relevant right now, is to not buy into everything you see on Instagram: “Behind those dozen-oyster Instas and dream vacays, I was struggling. By age 32, my one-year marriage had ended, and my company, Nasty Gal, had filed for bankruptcy.”
Sophia goes on to talk about how she found out about the bankruptcy at the same time as promoting her second book, Nasty Galaxy. The announcement was looming just as she was about to do an inspirational talk for thousands of women, yet Sophia didn’t back out. Instead, she explains that she ‘showed up’:
“I covered the things I generally talk about onstage: my rise, my books, and what I’ve learned along the way. And as much as I wanted to slip out of this public appearance without having to discuss the crumbling of my entire adult life’s work, I had to. All I could say, with tears running down my face, was, “Hey, it was my first business, and I think I got pretty far.” Because as a community-university dropout from Sacramento, Calif., with no pedigree, I did.”
Now, Sophia solely focuses on the incredibly popular Girlboss platform and community she’s built, which empowers women to go after success on their terms. She also has a foundation that has given over $100,000 in grants to women working in design, fashion, music, and the arts.
The cherry on top is that she’s in love, and it’s different this time around: “My poodles have a father again, and I share things with him that I never could have shared with the man I married. We laugh a lot.”
Sophia’s story reminds us to see setbacks as resets, instead of downfalls. With the right mindset, life can so quickly switch to a much better path.
