Free #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso Page B

pretty unusual feat in the business world. And yes,once I finally got a job and started working for my money, I was extremely responsible with it. But what these stories usually leave out is that it wasn’t by choice that I built the company debt-free. It simply wasn’t an option, because no one would even give me a credit card, never mind a business loan. This was frustrating; however, it was also a blessing in disguise. As I had no financial cushion to support me while the business ramped up, I had to bust my ass and make it profitable from day one. In the end, this meant that I grew Nasty Gal to $28 million in revenue without borrowing a dime.
    But I’ve also had to accept that credit is not something you can ignore. While I don’t agree that the world should reward people for spending money they don’t have, it happens to be the way things work. You can only ignore this fact for so long before it returns to bite you in the ass.
    Like my A-cup bra did for me, it is the little things that can and will wreck your credit. As distasteful as it may seem when you’re busy plotting to take over the world, it’s equally important to stay on top of your bills. Parking tickets can end up costing you thousands of dollars and court dates. You could suddenly find the apartment of your dreams only to be denied because of that goddamned Target card you signed up for and forgot about while buying a mop, a sports bra, and mayonnaise. When you take care of the little things, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that the big things often happen much more easily.
    Shared living situations are also a blueprint for financialdisaster, so try to spread the utility love among your roommates rather than volunteering to have all the bills in your name. Better yet, if you’re worried someone might not pull her weight, don’t live with that person. Living in the party house is a blast until the party’s over and you’ve got an $800 gas bill and your roommates—who are, like, your best friends and you guys are gonna know each other forever—are suddenly MIA.
    Bills, sadly, are not an ignore-it-and-it-goes-away problem. If you’ve been getting an overdue notice from the cable company every two weeks for the last three months, and all of a sudden it stops coming, that does not mean that they’ve gotten over you and moved on to someone else. Big companies are like the mob—they never forget, they never give up, and they always get their money. Get them before they get you: Pay up, and pay on time.
    Cash Is King
    Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises.
    —Artistotle
    When my parents pulled me out of Catholic school in fourth grade, I thought that they were doing so because they were the coolest parents in the world, rescuing me from thetortures of being misunderstood. When they filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter, I realized the reason I wasn’t going to Catholic school anymore wasn’t because I didn’t want to go, but because my parents couldn’t afford for me to go. I vividly remember going with my mom and dad to the credit counselor’s office and watching them slice their credit cards into a jar filled to the brim with the shards of other people’s bad financial decisions.
    From that point on, my dad preached a mantra of “Cash is king,” and that has always stuck with me. It’s so simple, yet so difficult for a lot of people to understand: Do not spend more money than you have. Sadly, doing just that is not only the norm for a lot of people, but also a signifier of success. Growing up in the suburbs, I saw it all the time: the flaunted backyard pool or new monster truck. These things often weren’t a sign of what these people could afford, but only of what they could borrow.
    For the obvious reasons detailed in the previous chapters, my parents cut me off financially when it became