If You Have To Cry Go Outside: Book Review

I bought the book If You Have To Cry Go Outside, after I watched an episode of Doctor Phil I believe, when Kelly Cutrone was a guest. She had a girl intern for her for a day, a girl who felt like she wanted to go into fashion, but pretty much thought she was too good to do any work. Kelly Cutrone took no shit from this girl, and set her straight by slapping her in the face with reality. It was great, and ever since then I became hooked with her take no shit attitude.

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

One of the few movers-and shakers who seems to have an enlightened grip on both the dark and light side of the business she navigates with such self-possession.... Clear, concise, to the point, and abrasively, wonderfully honest.

Kelly Cutrone, the brash, brutally honest boss and mentor to Whitney and Lauren on the hit MTV series The Hills and The City, and star of Bravo's new "Kell on Earth," combines personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out.

Kelly Cutrone has long been mentoring women on how to make it in one of the most competitive industries in the world. She has kicked people out of fashion shows, forced some of reality television's shiny stars to fire their friends, and built her own company one of the most powerful PR firms in the fashion business from the ground up. Through it all, she has refused to be anything but herself.

Kelly writes in her trademark, no-bullshit style, combining personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out. Let's face it: this is a different world than the one in which our mothers grew up, and Kelly has created a real girl's guide to making it in today's world. Offering a wake-up call to women everywhere, she challenges us to stop the dogged pursuit of the perfect life and discover who we are and what we really want. Then she shows us how to go out there and get it. Much of our culture teaches us to muzzle our inner voice and follow the crowd; Kelly enables us to stop pretending and start truly living.

With chapters on how to find your tribe (those like-minded souls who make your heart sing), how sometimes a breakdown is really a breakthrough, and how there is no such thing as perfection, Kelly also shares practical advice, such as how to create a personal brand and how sometimes you have to fake it to make it.

Raw, hilarious, shocking, but always the honest truth, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside calls upon you to gather up your courage like an armful of clothes at a McQueen sample sale and follow your soul wherever it takes you. Whether you're just starting out in the world or looking to reinvent yourself, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside will be the spark you need to figure out what you have to say to the world and how you're going to say it.

My Review:

I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but definitely a book with a ton of information that can be used for anyone, even if you don't have a future in fashion, like me. She's definitely not the type of woman, nor author, to sugarcoat anything. When you're reading, you're reading the truth - about love, work, and life in general. According to Kelly, we're raised in a Disney type of world, where the woman waits for her prince charming to come and rescue her. It's not like that, nor should it be. We each have our own inner voice, and if it's not screaming "GO FIND A HUSBAND BECAUSE YOU'RE 35!" and that's really your mother's voice, don't follow it. Follow your own path - whether it's marrying and becoming a stay at home mom, becoming the next big thing in the fashion world, or becoming an engineer. Whatever your calling is, follow it. She doesn't want us women to settle and follow our influential expectations of date - marry - live together - baby. Make up your own rules! Talk about girl power ;] 

My Rating: 5 Stars

"I want to help you awaken your inner voice - the voice of your soul - and I want you to use it to chase your destiny" (Cutrone, 2010, p. 6).