If You Have to Cry, Go Outside

I bought this book just a few months back, and I can't believe I haven't done a post about it! 'If You Have to Cry, Go Outside, and Other Things Your Mother Never Told You' lets you in on the life of Kelly Cutrone and is, at the same time, a guidebook on how to survive in one of the most competitive industries in the world, the fashion business.

For those of you who have watched 'The Hills', 'The City' and/or 'Kell On Earth', Kelly Cutrone needs no introduction. As the owner of People's Revolution, a PR company specialised in fashion, she guided 'The Hills' stars Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port while they were taking their first steps in the fashion industry.

Official book description

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 opinion

I always find it interesting to read how those selfmade powerwomen got from the bottom of the ladder to the top. I love a good success story. It shows that anything is possible and that it's okay to follow your dreams, even if that means overcoming many obstacles on your way to get there. 

While reading this book, my admiration for Kelly only grew stronger. Instead of giving up after losing everything, she got back up and kept on trying. Eventually her great work paid off, she became the owner of her own PR firm and now she's using her life experience and knowledge to guide young girls that have the same dreams as she had. I can only say how lucky they are, to be able to learn from a person that is so honest and true, when you're working in such a superficial industry. 

In the book she's sharing some of the advice that she's giving to everyone who's working for her. It's just as the book description says, her style is recognizable troughout the book: raw, hilarious, shocking, but always the honest truth. I find this book very inspirational and a must read for anyone that wants to start out in fashion or has doubts about persuing their dreams. I can't wait for the sequel!