Founder of Nasty Gal Sophia Amoruso revealed that she was a stripper and shoplifter before starting the successful business.
She appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Dragon's Den star Steven Bartlett to tell all about her career from starting with nothing and making money selling stolen clothes to the CEO of fashion giant Nasty Gal. She is now a best-selling author and founder of Girlboss Media.
On the podcast, she also spoke about stepping down as the CEO of Nasty Gal, which she did amid accusations that the company had a toxic work culture, among other problems. She posted on Instagram about her appearance on the podcast, including clips of some of the conversation she had with Steven.
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On the podcast, she said: "I was rebellious from a very early age. I was stripper. I wasn't even 21, I used someone else's ID to work there.
"I built an online business, and the first thing I sold on there was stolen. I'd get a whole shopping cart of stuff, put it on Amazon for $0.10 less than the other resellers, and then I got arrested for shoplifting. I'm a little dark.
"I realised I could connect my creativity to something legitimate. So I started Nasty Gal, selling vintage."
Steven added: "Nasty Gal went from doing $150,000 a year to doing $150,000 over lunch" and Sophia said: "I didn't realise the amount of responsibility I had, being the poster child of entrepreneurship, then I was this Girlboss, but my naivety and lack of experience did send me to the grave."
She also spoke about the fall of Nasty Gal before it was purchased by Boohoo, and her Netflix series Girlboss, which came out in 2017.
On Instagram, people were excited to listen to the episode. One person said: "I’m interested to listen to this interview because I was a Sophia Amoruso fan growing up. She really created the “Girl Boss” era back in 2014." Another wrote: "I read her book Girl boss a few years ago, without knowing the brand or her business. I was so inspired and in awe of her after that. She really has grit and is an amazing human being. Excited her responses to your incisive questions".
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