Girlboss Radio With Sophia Amoruso

From her early days bagging groceries, Alyssa Mastromonaco realized she had a gift for logistics. That gift led her all the way to the White House where she served as President Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff. If you wanted to talk to President Obama, you had to go through Alyssa first. She left politics in 2014, and now works as the Chief Operating Officer of Vice Media. On this week’s episode, Sophia and Alyssa discuss Alyssa’s early days interning for Bernie Sanders, what good leadership means, and Alyssa’s hilarious misadventures in Buckingham Palace and on Marine One.

Alli Webb's career has had numerous incarnations. She’s worked in public relations and she’s been a professional hairstylist. But it wasn’t until 2008, when Alli really found her passion. She started a side business called Straight-at-Home, which provided in-home blowouts on a referral basis in LA. When her business and popularity quickly outgrew her one-woman show, she expanded and opened a brick and mortar called Drybar. Drybar is based on the simple concept of focusing on one thing and being the best at it: blowouts. They now have 67 locations across the country. And her new book, Good Hair for All, tells you how you can achieve a great blowout at home. On the podcast Sophia and Alli talk about Alli's early days working at salons, leaving and returning to the workforce to found Drybar, and the inherent trust of working with family.

Anne Fulenwider is a tour de force in the publishing world. After graduating from Harvard University, she moved to New York and learned the ins and outs of journalism under the tutelage of George Plimpton at The Paris Review. And she continued to work alongside the greats including Graydon Carter at Vanity Fair and Joanna Coles at Marie Claire. In 2011, Anne left Marie Claire to become the Editor-in-Chief of Brides where she completely rebranded the magazine to expand its reader base, but she couldn’t stay away from Marie Claire for long. She returned to the magazine as their Editor-in-Chief where she continues to push the brand to speak to today’s modern woman with its in depth reporting, fashion guides, and entertaining and informative features. On the episode Anne tells us how she puts together a magazine every month, how simply raising your hand can get you the job your want, and why networking is useful even if the word itself can feel disingenuous. 

Before Brit Morin could light that creative spark in all of us, she had to find that creativity within herself. After working for Google for four years, she left her stellar job working under Marissa Mayer to start her own company. But first, she decided to give herself a 6-month break. And those six months were, as Brit describes it, some of the most transformative months of her life. She enrolled in classes at a creative space for makers, and she abandoned the laptop screen for laser cutters, 3D printers, and clay. That experience ultimately inspired her to found Brit + Co, a new media and commerce company that enables creativity through inspirational content, online classes and do-it-yourself kits. The company now has partnerships with brands such as Target, and Brit is a regular DIY and lifestyle contributor to the Today show. On the podcast, Brit discusses her six month sabbatical after Google, how leadership roles can become political, and why everyone is a creative.

When Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter was asked to serve as the first female Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department, it was her dream come true. She left her tenured position at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and commuted weekly from Princeton to Washington D.C. to work under then Secretary of State and current presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But between the grueling hours, a rigid work schedule, and raising two teenage sons back in New Jersey, Anne-Marie was struggling. As much as this was a dream job, she knew her family needed her at home. She ultimately left the State Department after two years to return to a full workload at Princeton.  Anne-Marie wrote about the difficulty of women achieving work-life balance in her widely read 2012 Atlantic article “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All”, which became one of the magazine’s most read articles in its history. She continued this conversation with her book Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, and Family

Journalist Jessica Bennett and her friends were all creatives striving for professional success in New York City. But some subtle (and not so subtle) bouts of sexism in the workplace were getting in the way of their hustle. So they sought refuge by creating a feminist fight club - a group of New York women in creative fields who meet once a month to share advice, vent, and support each other through their careers. Jessica’s penned her difficult workplace experiences, hilarious tips, and other useful advice for women in the workplace in her new book Feminist Fight Club. Jessica is an award-winning journalist and critic who writes on gender issues, sexuality and culture. She is a feature writer and columnist at The New York Times and her work has also appeared in Newsweek, where she began her career as a staff writer. On the podcast, Jessica discusses her early days as a crime beat reporter, who a bropropriator is, and why women should support other women.

Yesi Ortiz has been called 'The Voice of LA' and man, does she know how to use that voice. Her dream was to work at Los Angeles' Power 106 radio station, and after enrolling in broadcasting school, she worked at all costs to make her dream come true -- that meant commuting from Long Beach to Las Vegas, taking a radio job in Mexico, and fighting big egos along the way. In 2006, through sheer talent and drive, Yesi realized her goal, and she's now Power 106's midday host. But what makes Yesi even more of a Girlboss is what she's accomplished outside of work. Off the air, Yesi is a single mother to her six children. She adopted them from their biological mother, Yesi’s sister, when she was just 25 years old. On the podcast, Yesi discusses developing a work ethic at her uncle's supermarket, how she suddenly became a single mother to her six children, and how work can be a haven.

Musician Yuna was already an accomplished singer and songwriter in her home country of Malaysia when she moved to Los Angeles six years ago. She always had her sights set on making it in the music world in the United States, which meant having to restart her career from scratch. Yuna worked hard, stayed true to her values, and lived by her mantra 'undersell and overperform.' Now, she's selling out venues around the world and collaborating with greats like Pharrell and Usher. On the podcast, Sophia and Yuna talk about forgoing career expectations, the subjectivity of sexiness, and her newest album Chapters.

When Grace Bonney moved to Williamsburg in 2003, she noticed a DIY design culture in Brooklyn that wasn't being covered in design magazines. So she covered it herself with Design*Sponge, a blog which originally highlighted the creative design aesthetic we now know as Brooklyn chic. Since its founding in 2004, Design*Sponge has transformed into an expansive lifestyle website, which The New York Times called the “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials.” On the podcast Sophia and Grace discuss finding your crowd, managing employees remotely, and Grace's new book In the Company of Women.

Model and Transgender activist Geena Rocero understands the power of speaking your truth and taking control of your narrative. At 17 years old, Geena immigrated from the Philippines to the U.S. to pursue a modeling career. Over the next 12 years, she modeled for brands like Target, Rimmel, Cover Girl, Marriott Hotels and Macy’s, but she didn’t feel like the people around her knew her full story. So when Geena turned 30, she courageously ‘came out’ at her TED talk as trans to bring more visibility to the transgender community. Since then, Geena co-founded GenderProud, an advocacy and media production company that produces media to elevate justice and equality for the transgender community. On the podcast, Geena discusses her first job as a transgender beauty queen, seeing the 'F' on her driver's license for the first time, and the challenges facing the transgender workforce today.

If life is all about the journey, then Melissa Biggs Bradley is doing things right. The founder and CEO of the boutique travel agency and website Indagare has traveled to over 100 countries, six continents, and can rattle off hotel recommendations at the drop of a hat. Prior to Indagare, Melissa worked at Town & Country magazine for 12 years and launched Town & Country Travel which was nominated for a National Magazine Award for General Excellence by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). On the podcast, Melissa recounts her long childhood plane rides to Australia, gives us some trips for traveling on the cheap, and tells us about her incredible #girlbossmoment.

Hollywood glamour can seem unattainable, but Cassandra Grey puts that glitz within reach with Violet Grey. The luxury beauty company curates the top makeup products in one space. Every product on their website and in their gorgeous Melrose store is rigorously vetted by their prestigious Violet Code, a group of magazine editors, makeup artists and designers who rank their favorite brands. Sophia and Cassandra discuss Cassandra's hippie days in Asheville, North Carolina, the challenges of merging content and commerce, and the brilliant marketing strategies of Beanie Babies.

Money can be one of the hardest things to discuss with friends. That's exactly why Sophia talks to her good friend Alexi Wasser on this week's special episode of Girlboss Radio. The two of them tackle some of our biggest questions when it comes to finances. They go deep about finances when it comes to feminism and relationships, and they even open up about their own money struggles with each other.  This episode of Girlboss Radio is in partnership with Prudential. Prudential solves investment, insurance and retirement challenges, helping individuals, organizations and communities reach their goals. Sophia is teaming up with Prudential and their 4.01K Race for Retirement, which is on September 17th at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.

Tyler Haney has always been #DoingThings. The founder and CEO of Outdoor Voices was always an athlete, but the neon, black, and mesh apparel on the market, along with its competitive mentality, stopped resonating with her. Tyler realized what inspired her to stay active was completely different; she enjoyed a balanced, fun, and freeing approach to exercise. So she created Outdoor Voices, an active lifestyle brand that believes in freeing fitness from performance, and embracing activity with ease, humor, and delight. On this week’s episode Tyler tells Sophia about building a makeshift office from a bunkbed, traveling with her dad to a textile and mill convention in Utah, and the importance of building communities through activity.

City living ain't cheap. Rent is high, happy hours add up, and many of us have tons of student loans. How can we even begin to save when we're already in so much debt? On this week's special episode of Girlboss Radio in partnership with Prudential, we brought in an expert who has lived twenty-something city struggles. Farnoosh Torabi is the host of the CNBC show Follow the Leader, her award-winning So Money podcast, and the Finance columnist for O Magazine. Sophia and Farnoosh talk about getting out of $30,000 of debt, the beauty of 401Ks and how anyone can save. 

Sometimes our careers take us places we never thought they could. That's certainly true for Roya Rastegar, who began her career on Wall Street and realized shortly after, she needed a radical change. She applied and was accepted into UC Santa Cruz's PhD program where she studied the history of consciousness under civil rights activist and famed academic Angela Davis. From there she used her studies to curate independent films and now works as the Director of Programming at the Los Angeles Film Festival. On this week's podcast, Sophia and Roya talk about the anxieties and joys of being an outsider, how to make small and large changes in your life, and why representation on and off screen is essential.

So many of us adopt our financial habits from our parents. Did they teach us how to save? Or are we saving because they didn't at all? And where are they now when it comes to retirement? Many baby boomers refuse to retire - either it's not an option or they can't see themselves leaving the workforce. We wanted to hear from someone who's on the other end of things -- who's lived a full life filled with financial ups and downs. Someone who can dispense wise words about saving and maybe how she'd do things differently. So on this special episode of Girlboss Radio, Sophia invites the original momboss to the podcast: her mother Dena.  This episode of Girlboss Radio is in partnership with Prudential. Prudential solves investment, insurance and retirement challenges, helping individuals, organizations and communities reach their goals. Sophia is teaming up with Prudential and their 4.01K Race for Retirement, which is on September 17th at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. You can register for the race at run401k.com. 

A very dope queen joins us on this week's podcast: Jessica Williams. At 22 years old, Jessica became the youngest correspondent and first on The Daily Show, and her hilarious and insightful segments on gender and race made her a necessary voice on the show. Since leaving the The Daily Show earlier this summer, Jessica has been busy co-hosting her podcast 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson and creating her own sitcom for Comedy Central. On the episode, Sophia and Jessica discuss auditioning for Jon Stewart, the pressure of being the first in any field, and bathroom tips.

Suzy Batiz is the queen of the crapper. Fed up with the lack of natural bathroom odor solutions, Suzy combined her knowledge of essential oils and entrepreneurial passion and formulated Poo~Pourri as the first natural, truly effective solution to a universal problem: poop happens, and it stinks! Since 2007, 17 million bottles of Poo-Pourri have sold and annual sales now top $30 million. On this week's episode, Suzy discusses how her childhood fostered a maker mentality, how she survived two bankruptcies, and the viral video that put Poo~Pourri on the map.

Sara Christensen has experienced all sides of the business world. In 2000, she predicted the rise of the juice craze when she co-founded Liquiteria, the first micro pressed juicery in New York City. After starting a successful brand herself, Sara wanted to help others grow their businesses, so she became an angel investor and venture capitalist. Most recently Sara served as the Managing Director of The Raptor Group, where she invested in companies like Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat, Spotify and more. On this week's episode, Sophia and Sara discuss walking away from Liquiteria, why investing in female-founded companies is important, and Sara's tips for pitching venture capitalists.