In the Company of Women

Book image via Grace Bonney on Amazon

Artists, designers, chefs, musicians...makers of all sorts are featured in the book, In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney. Each woman featured in the book is an entrepreneur and through an interview style approach, Grace learns information about the women’s views of success, business and working as a female maker.

Image via Design Sponge : Seeing the artist in her workshop allows readers to envision working as a maker.  

The Whisper of Change

“It’s hard to register differences in the status quo. Like trying to measure slight drops in temperature without a thermometer. But Ms. Sandberg was right about something. We had to lean in. It was the only way to hear the whispers.”

What whispers would we hear if only we leaned in? What do the roles of women, our interactions in the workplace and the steps we take each day for our careers say about us as a gender, a society and a culture? 

Going Forward

Original images of Rachel and books via The HollisCo

What’s good? The sight of a rainbow after the storm, the smell of cookies baking and the sound of a cat purring. The list of all that is good in life is endless, but would we be able to fully appreciate the good and beautiful if we didn’t already survive the bad and ugly?

 

Author Rachel Hollis invites us into the conversation in her latest book, “Didn’t See That Coming.” In it, she tackles this very question as she reveals lessons and routes to recovery for even the hardest of seasons. 

“What’s good will always be good, and one of the most awful, beautiful things about the hard seasons is that unless we experience hardship, we’ll never truly appreciate and remember the good that was always good.” 

A global pandemic, death, job loss, betrayal, disappointment...we have all had our share of hard experiences. But as Rachel points out, you either burn up as you go through the fires of horrible events, or you come out newer and stronger. 

Though it may not always feel possible, we each have the power to fight for the life we want and the recovery we envision. Rachel helps walk readers through steps to take today, tomorrow and forever in order to move forward into the next stage of life. 

The Glitter Plan

Oceanside in luxe terry cloth track suits and smelling like couture. Candy colored ads like these became synonymous with the brand. 

Once upon a time, in a far-away land called Los Angeles, there were two girls that dreamed of fashion in the sweetest of colors. It was fashion that felt luxurious, fit like a dream and delightfully came in every color of the rainbow. 

It was Juicy Couture. 

Dreamy ad campaigns that included oversized perfume bottles, pastel pups and stylish grannies were captured by photographer Tim Walker. 

For designers Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, they didn’t need a business plan. They needed a glitter plan. As they created a world full of terry cloth tracksuits, California style and casual luxury, they didn’t follow the rules. Instead, they embraced a “specifically female, punk-rock style of entrepreneurship.” And in the process, they reshaped the fashion landscape and created a global brand. 

Their story is told in the book, The Glitter Plan: How We Started Juicy Couture for $200 and Turned it into a Global Brand in a tone that is funny, approachable and authentic. The book gives insight into the evolution of their entrepreneurial journey from maternity wear, to t-shirts, to the famous track suit, to a global empire. 

The brand often played with historical references to famous figures like Marie Antoinette. Sky high hair, luxurious fabrics and decadent details made the way for modern-day Marie Antoinette style. Painting: Marie Antoinette in Court Dress by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, 1778 (via Wikimedia Commons).

Girl, Make Your Move

Original book image via Amazon

“It’s time to stop apologizing for who you are. It’s time to become who you were made to be.” 

These are the final words of Rachel Hollis in Girl, Stop Apologizing. Though used as a conclusion, they also serve as the perfect start to the journey with her book. 

Rachel speaks to the reader as a friend, sister and mentor. The words are at once open and honest, as she lays out key mindsets, actions and skills that are needed to help you reach your full potential. Whether you dream of becoming a CEO, a hairdresser, an event planner or mom of the year, the book is full of insights ready to help you soar. 

“I believe deeply in what you’re capable of. I think you can achieve anything you set your mind to, but you’ve got to set your mind to it. You’ve got to be relentless in your pursuit and flexible in your methods.”

Girls Who Run the World

Who runs the world? GIRLS. 

Beyonce confirmed this fact in her 2011 song and author Diana Kapp proves this again in her recent book, “31 CEOs Who Mean Business: Girls Who Run the World.” With colorful illustrations from Bijou Karman and insightful writing from Diana, the book introduces readers to 31 women changing the face of business. 

Jenn Hyman from Rent the Runway

With women from industries that include fashion, food, science, technology and companies like Stitch Fix, Spanx and Farmgirl Flowers, the profiles are presented in a relatable and insightful story format. Readers get to know more about these amazing women through a question and answer section, before diving into stories of starting up, floundering and find their way to success.