Self Help Book: If You Have To Cry, Go Outside.

As I don’t know much anything about PR and only watched a few episodes of the Hills (just enough to be fucking annoyed with Heidi and Spencer), I had no idea who Kelly Cutrone was. Really. But I did remember reading about this book when it caught my eye in the book store so I picked it up. I liked her face on the cover and as I flipped through the pages it looked like something I would enjoy reading. So I got into it, and got behind it.

Discovery: Annemerel blogged about it a really long time ago (it was published in 2011*). I never got around to borrowing it from my fashion-fabulous friend so hadn’t read it yet! A few weeks ago, I was in the gorgeous Maastricht Selexyz, and I bought it there for 15,99. Turns out you can actually get it here for 13,99.

Subject: The life and lessons of Kelly Cutrone, a woman with so much life and business experience she could put a group of 50-something CEOs to shame. In the book, you read about her life, how she got from a girl who wanted to move to New York to the amazing position she is in now. You read about the successes as well as all the heartache and hardships, and of course all the things she learnt from all of that.

I may not know much about her world, but I instantly liked Kelly and enjoyed reading about her life. She is a power woman in every sense of the word and the stories of her life and business are fascinating and funny. The people she meets (she ushered Michael Jackson through a crowd and told off Donald Trump), the things she has done (PR, palm and tarot reading, almost becoming a rockstar and then back into PR again) and the way she runs her business and raises her daughter: It’s really cool to read about all that.

And there is so much inspiring stuff in there. Even though you may not want to work in fashion, PR, or live in New York: You can find a tip, a truth or a lesson in everything she says.

Kookiness Scale: 3. At one point she writes about a mystical experience that really helped her get rid of a nasty addiction and there is some wolf pack talk, but that’s her philosophy. I don’t think it would be bothersome to anyone. She’s so no-nonsense and clear all throughout the rest of the book.

Favorite Quotes:

• “[Belvy] was prove that finding your tribe, like following your dreams, isn’t always what makes sense; it’s about what your soul needs.”

• “If you’re the kind of person that senses that there is somehting out there for you beyond whatever it is you’re expected to do –if you want to be extra-ordinary– you will not get there by hanging around a bunch of people who tell you you’re not extraordinary.”

• “I tell my employees I died several times while in the same body, each time paving the way for an amazing rebirth (talk about multitasking).”

• “You can’t really know what it’s like to be filled unless you’ve been empty.”

• “You weren’t having a breakdown, you were having a breakthrough.”

• “I am devoted to my job not because I love it, but because I look at it as my spiritual practice. There is a word for this in India: Karmayoga. I am a karmayogi – someone who becomes conscious of herself and the Divine through work, not through meditation in some ashram or saying Hail Marys.”

• “It’s not enough just to listen to your inner voice and ask yourself the hard questions about who you are and what you believe. Eventually you need to get strategic about refining and communicating to others what you are and wht you believe if you want to succeed.”

• “There is a danger in trying to create your brand from the outside in. […] Instead of an internal sketch, we spend half our teenage years cutting pictures out of magazines and pasting them on our bedroom walls, cobbling together how we want ourselves represented.”

• “I firmly believe each woman is a goddess and that deep down inside herself she knows it.”

• “I want you to fearlessly pursue your dreams and your destiny, conscious that you are not what you do, listening to your inner voice,refusing to let superficial things define you, asking yourself the hard questions about what you believe and what you will serve, fighting the fears in your own mind and finally, loving other women in the process.”

• “Ultimately, I’d rather be the one living the life than observing and making catty comments about it.”

Self Help Hipster Stamp of Approval: Absolutely. I dig Kelly — the take-no-prisoners determinism, her brutal honesty and her Momma Wolf philosophy. I think a lot of women can learn a lot from her and this book is perfect for that. Well written, funny and inspiring. I actually like this book so much that her second book ‘Normal Gets You Nowhere’ is the next item on my book wishlist.

You should buy this book if…

• You want to read about a kick-ass power woman and a great example.
• You want an inspiring, truthful success story (that takes place in New York – We Love New York!)
• You like to read more about the PR business and get a peek behind the scenes of high fashion.
• You want to get motivated about becoming a glorious gutsy power girl yourself.

*Talk about a ‘fashionably’ late book review, right? Right?! Come on guys, I am trying SO hard for you. PUNS.