Books – Page 2 – Glitter and Pr*f@n!ty

You Are A Mogul: Book Review

The Background:
I have an ongoing frustration with the current trend of “female empowerment” books essentially being written by privileged white women who try to be “relatable” to the average person, but then talks about going to the Oscars with their major studio executive husband. *cough*rachelhollis*cough* So, I typically go in to most of these styles of books with my side-eye half cocked.

I got You Are A Mogul: How To Do The Impossible, Do It Yourself, & Do It Now as part of my Sparkle Hustle Grow box. In my experience, those books have been hit or miss with me. Judging by the cover, I thought this was gonna be a little too ass-patting for me. Anytime I see a book discussing how it’s going to inspire you, I brace myself a little.

Don’t judge books by their covers. I really liked this book, y’all.

Tiffany Pham started On Mogul in her bedroom as a side project and quit her job to build it in to the platform it is today. In “You Are Mogul”, she talks about her moving from Paris to Texas as a child and trying to fit in to a new environment, the choices she made, good AND BAD, that lead her down her path, and what drove her decision making processes as she joined or collaborated with people to create amazing projects that she was passionate about. THEN SHE WALKS YOU THROUGH STEPS TO DO THE SAME. There is insight from other “big names” on the Mogul team on how they’ve made their marks. There’s practical advice along with the pep talks for when you feel overwhelmed. Plus, it’s a comfortable length where you can finish it in a long weekend.

It’s so refreshing to read someone who has done these unbelievable things acknowledge when they’ve gotten lucky or shows their incredible work ethic. Tiffany is gracious in giving credit to the people who have helped her out along the way and humble when talking about the ballsy power moves she’s made in her career. I’ve actually bookmarked things and taken notes on how I can work some of this advice in to my own life. It’s also not lost on me that it was written by a WOC, which makes much her tenacity that much more inspiring.

You Are Mogul lives up to the claims on the cover. You too can do these big amazing things; here’s how Tiffany did it, and here’s how it can work for you. If you are looking to start a new career or stuck in a rut, this book can be the catalyst to help you drive yourself to your next destination.

Make Anything Happen Book Review

Mini Fangirl Confession: I love Carrie Elle. I have seen her speak twice (at two Winter Planner-Lands) and regularly peep her instagram and blog when I should be doing other things. She’s one of the people in the Planner-verse I find extremely relatable. When I saw she had a book at her booth this year at WPL, I snapped it up (and got her to sign it too, because of course I did).

Make Anything Happen: A Creative Guide to Vision Boards, Goal Setting, and Achieving the Life of Your Dreams is part guide book, part activity book, and part confessional. The book is broken up into three sections; defining your dreams, visualizing those dreams, and making them happen. Carrie Elle walks you through with little tales from her own life that have worked, or caused her to make those changes. No major adversity or mountains to climb; no tales of redemption or heros journey’s to get through. Just the things that have worked for her, and some that didn’t but maybe they might for you. Overall, it’s a nice, easy breezy read that gets you motivated to put those ideas in to practice. It’s not a deep read by any means, but it’s a handy motivational tool to have on your bookshelf if you are struggling with a brain block and need a creative way out.

Some highlights for me were the talk about creative notetaking and how your brain remembers info better when it’s doodled as opposed to just written down and the connection she made to her poster covered high school bedroom walls essentially being a giant vision board. There are a handful of worksheets sprinkled in to nudge you along the way, but not so many that you feel like they’re just padding the length of the book.

Additional perks include additional book recommendations for relevant topics sprinkled throughout, links back to full worksheets and templates on her blog, a facebook group, and beautiful photos that are a bit like an ISpy of craft items.

It’s a fun way to get motivated and creative to make a vision board. There is even a template that you can use to get started. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon productively procrastinating. I made mine instead of doing my laundry!

Reading Make Anything Happen was like having a conversation with your “has it all together” friend over coffee who assures you she puts her pants on one leg at a time and then gives some tips on how you can get going down that road yourself. The advice isn’t preachy or deep, but helpful reminders on how to go about setting and achieving goals that you can go back to again and again. It’s a worthwhile addition to the crafting cart.

Don’t Be Self Helpless

I am an anxious person.

With the combo of my personal life hitting some hard bumps last month and the routine “happy stress” of the holiday season upon us, I thought I’d take a moment to discuss the current self-help Lord and Savior that the internet has bestowed upon us unworthy influencer followers.

5 Star Rating System

(Updated 9/5/2021)

When I’m not playing with my adult-level sticker book or being sassy on the internet, you can find me reading. I love to read and I love to talk about the books I’m reading. What I don’t love is trying to quantify them. However, it does seem to be helpful to give some visual indication on how I feel about the things I read. So, after much thought and a late night cup of coffee, I have come up with my star rating system.

Did Not Finish – DNF

❌

This should be fairly self explanatory, I did not finish the book. Usually this is because it either did not suit me at that time (and I might pick it back up later and try again), or I did not like it for some reason. I probably will not post any reviews on any of these unless they are epically bad or highly riffable.

One Star

⭐

Honestly, I don’t see the point of a 1 star rating. I think of this as a spite read… I don’t like it but I felt I had to finish it for some reason. Probably was a required reading book of some sort. I bet the pages are sticky too. Rude.

Two Stars

⭐⭐

If you’ve ever played Rhythm Heaven on Nintendo DS, I want you to hear the “Just OK” noise when you see this rating. This means the book wasn’t bad, but it was a solid meh. I probably took at least a little something away from it though.

Three Stars

⭐⭐⭐

Although this is the official “middle ground” of the star rating system, I would say that 3 stars is more heavily weighted on the “good” side than the “bad”. This was a decent read; maybe a little light or not exceptionally memorable but kept me enough to see it through.

Four Stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

You know the feeling when you take first big drink of a McDonalds Coke and make that involuntary “ah!” sigh after you swallow. This book made me feel the same way. Enjoyable. Refreshing. Perhaps even worth a reread down the road. I might not keep the book on my shelf forever but I will be hard pressed to give it away.

Five Stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5 stars, baby! This must have been a really great read! Maybe it was the single best piece of written content I’ve ever laid eyeballs on. Maybe it just touched on the right nerve at the right time. Whatever it is, it probably made me cry. I’m probably going to keep this book forever and reread it multiple times. I will buy you your own copy instead of lending it to you.