At 29 she founded a multi-million dollar fashion business and at 30 she wrote a best-selling book.
But for Sophia Amoruso, 40, of California, it wasn’t founding fast-fashion brand Nasty Gal or writing the New York Times bestseller #Girlboss that led to her best year yet.
Instead, the newfound freedom and confidence she’s experienced since turning 40 is giving Sophia her favorite year yet.
Taking to InstagramSophia explained: ‘I built a $100 million business at 29. I wrote a New York Times bestseller at 30. I got married at 31. I got divorced at 32. Nasty Gal fell apart the same year.’
“I’m 40 years old, single, childless, happier, freer and more confident than ever. What’s meant for you will find you. What’s not will be your teacher.”
Sophia Amoruso has revealed that she is ’40 years old, single, childless, happier, freer and more confident than ever’ (seen in 2014)
Sophia’s wise words follow her tumultuous life story, which saw her rummage through bins as a teenager to become Forbes’ richest woman in 2016, with an estimated net worth of $280m (£213m).
Talking with Perth now In 2016, Sophia revealed that she left home at age 17 after her parents declared bankruptcy and admitted to scavenging through dumpsters to survive.
After reading How to Start an eBay Business for Dummies, community college dropout Sophia decided to sell secondhand items for a higher price on her eBay account.
“I didn’t have any big aspirations,” he told Perth Now. He added: “I wanted to make some money doing something I thought was fun.”
In 2006, she launched an eBay store, Nasty Gal Vintage, where she sold clothes she found in thrift stores.
She sourced vintage pieces and began engaging in bidding wars that saw her items sell for thousands of dollars more than she bought them for, including a Chanel jacket she found for $8 (£6) and sold for $1000 (£761).
In 2008, she launched her own e-store and her entire collection sold out in one day.
“The growth has been explosive,” Ms. Amoruso told the publication on the subject of Nasty Gal’s success at the time.
The 40-year-old college dropout founded Nasty Gal in 2006, selling secondhand clothes on eBay at premium prices.
She revealed that despite her successes in previous years, she is now “happier, freer and more confident than ever”
In 2014, Sophia established herself as a bestselling author with #GirlBoss, which shares her extraordinary story and offers career advice to young women.
Despite her successes in the literary world, Sophia stepped down as CEO of her company, Nasty Gal, a year later, naming the online retailer’s then-president, Sheree Waterson, as her successor.
Ms. Amoruso told Re/Code she made the decision on her own and noted that she would continue as Nasty Gal’s executive chairman and oversee the company’s creative and brand marketing teams.
But in 2017, the situation took a turn for the worse and the company filed for bankruptcy and was bought by retailer Boohoo.
The state of her business was a reflection of her marriage, which ended that same year after her ex-husband woke up unexpectedly one day and decided they weren’t right for each other.
Streaming giant Netflix adapted Sophia’s autobiography, Girlboss, into a television series in April 2017.
The business mogul, pictured here, is seen at the Girlboss premiere in Los Angeles in April 2017.
In conversation with FashionableSophia explained: “The divorce came first. Totally out of the blue, the man I had just married woke up one day and decided we weren’t right for each other.
‘There I was, that lady screaming into a pillow in the Beverly Hills Hotel for four nights, unable to eat, heartbroken.’
She continued: “Then came the bankruptcy. Nasty Gal had been struggling for years, so unfortunately this was a minor surprise.”
Sophia explained that despite giving her all to the company and playing to her strengths, her efforts came too late to save Nasty Gal.
Still, she continued to find success with her novel that year when streaming giant Netflix adapted it into a television series.
Inspired by Amoruso’s autobiography and starring Britt Robertson, the 13-episode series debuted on the streaming platform in April 2017.
Sophia currently runs several business websites, including Trust Fund, which invests in small startups.
The 40-year-old author has revealed that she is single and childless, but is happier than ever.
Girlboss followed the rebellious Amoruso (played by Robertson) and her journey to becoming an unlikely entrepreneur after discovering her passion for selling vintage clothing online.
Three months later, Netflix cancelled the show. In an Instagram interview at the time, she said: “So that Netflix series about my life was cancelled.
‘While I’m proud of the work we did, I hope to control my narrative from now on.
“It was a good show and I had the privilege of working with some amazing talent, but living my life as a cartoon was difficult, even if it was only for two months. Yes, I can be difficult. No, I’m not a jerk.
“No, I was never fooled by someone named Shane. It will be nice to tell the story of what happened over the last few years someday. I’ve learned that people read the headline, not the correction.”
The show received poor reviews, scoring just 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which some attributed to its “unlikable” central character.
“We’re creating a show where the protagonist can be unlikable,” executive producer Kay Cannon said at a panel in February, adding that Netflix was on board with the idea of having a female lead as complex as any male lead.
“We presented the program in another place and the response was absolutely overwhelming,” he revealed in a second panel.
Sophia regularly appears in a good mood as she shares photos of herself with her 644,000 Instagram followers.
Fast forward to today, and while Sophia may not be running a fashion brand or working on a Netflix show, she’s happier than ever.
She has never been out of the public eye, and the business mogul now works in numerous endeavors, including writing a newsletter for more than 130,000 subscribers on topics such as business and marketing.
At the same time, he invests in startups, including water company Liquid Death, through an early-stage venture capital firm called Trust Fund.
Meanwhile, he educates future business founders through Business Class, a membership-based digital entrepreneurship community.
It’s a combination that, coupled with her newfound confidence and freedom, has made her realize she’s having her best year yet at 40.
While urging her to 644,000 Instagram In a message to her followers asking them to subscribe to her newsletter, she explained: “I’m 40, single, childless, happier, freer and more confident than ever. What’s meant for you will find you. What’s not will be your teacher.”