5 Must Reads For The Female Entrepreneur

I truly believe if you want to be successful in life, you've got to read. Whether it be book on tape, audible, or cracking open an actual book, reading is key to winning in life. If you read my Year Of Growth blog post then you know this year I have been making it a focus to consume more books than years prior, and I've been doing that. I love the quote "you don't know what you don't know". It's so true. You have to seek knowledge to gain it. It doesn't just magically enter your brain, although that would be nice. Now that I am a mom, I have had to get a bit creative with how I get through all of these books, so here is a little tip for busy mamma out there, I pop in headphones while I go on walks with baby G. I have all of the books I want to read on my phone via Audible or  a Podcast. Its much easier for me to fit it in that way. The odds of me sitting down every night with a book are slimmer than me listening to the book throughout the day. Everyone has their preference, but I think you've gotta find what works for you and stick to it. As long as the content is entering your brain, I don't think how it gets in there matters that much. 

If you are new to this blog and have no clue who I am, my name is Danielle and I love all things leadership, business, creative, marketing and entrepreneurship. The most successful person in my family is my Grandpa and he was a business owner, he owned a print shop back before online printing was a thing. He did well, really well. The other most successful people in our family is my great Aunt and Uncle in Maryland, they own Dolle's Candy, an extremely successful candy business on the East Coast. In my head I've linked success with being a business owner from the time I was little. Then my husband and I joined network marketing at the young age of 19, which is where our personal sales, marketing and business skills began. Years later I started a blog, which if you're unaware is all about business and online marketing, and as of recent we opened an online boutique selling the cutest women's clothing. You can read all about that journey HERE. I am passionate about creating things, being self employed and being a full time mommy who is also running businesses on the side. I know that if I am going to be successful at anything I start, I must commit to learning and growing. 

Over the years I've read tons of books, I have not a clue the exact number. I thought it would be fun and hopefully beneficial to you if I shared my top 5 favorite books that I believe are must reads if you are a female entrepreneur, "mompreneur" or if you consider yourself a "#girlboss" (which btw is also a great book but probably #6 so it didn't make this list. Sorry Sophia. 

1. Girl, Wash Your Face

This is my #1 favorite at the moment. Chapter two rocked my world y'all! I'm telling you, if you are a no BS, straight to the point, love transparent people type of person then you will love this book. Rachel Hollis has been one of my favorite bloggers for years now. I started following her I think in 2015, before she was a New York Times Best Selling Author, before her Instagram was over 100k, and before she had the stunning hair she has today... Just like people like to claim they loved a band before the masses, I like to say I was a Rachel Hollis fan-girl before the masses. She inspires me so dang much. To see how she built her Media Company, branched out from her blog, started an amazing community that is #chictribe... it all inspires me. She is coming out with another book called Girl Stop Apologizing and I can't wait!

2. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

I read this book years ago, and then went through it again in 2016. I love it. John C. Maxwell has the most amazing leadership books, he truly is the leadership guru in my opinion. Of all 10,000 of his books (kidding), this one is my favorite. In each chapter he breaks down a law and gives amazing real life stories and examples to paint a picture in your head so you truly understand how to apply these principles to your life and business. In any business leadership matters. Whether you are in direct sales, a boutique owner, own a coffee shop or run a media company, you have to have leadership and people skills. This book is a great start. 

3. Big Magic

Elizabeth Gilbert is amazing! If you aren't familiar, she also wrote Eat Pray Love!! Which is about her life! I had the privilege of hearing her speak a few years ago and she's just as amazing in person as in her books. If you're a creator of some sort, a designer, a blogger, inventor, writer, singer, etc. you'll love this book! This book connected so much with my desire to create and connect, the part of me that loves blogging. One of my biggest takeaways from this book was the idea that ideas float around and if you are so lucky to have an idea land on you, you either take action on it or not, but if you don't that idea will simply just float to someone else. She told a story about a book idea she had, one that she didn't finish, then some time later another author wrote practically the SAME book!! At first she thought the other author somehow stole her idea, but then she realized that the idea was going to make its way into the world with or without her and she missed her chance. How many times do we get brilliant ideas and never take action on them?... it sure does make you think, what if?

4. High Performance Habits

This book was recommended by Rachel Hollis (Girl Wash Your Face author). She kept raving about it on her Instagram stories so of course I bought the book that day! I must admit it was difficult for me to transition from reading two super girly books back to back, one by Rachel Hollis and the next book was For The Love by Jen Hatmaker, and then start reading a book written my a man. It felt a bit dry, but once I realized the content in the book was life gold, I put my girly desires aside and started enjoying the book for what it is. I am currently reading this actually, I am on section two, habit 6. I still have about 1/3 of the book to go, but just from 2/3 of the book it deserves to be on this list. He has a podcast where he offers the book on audio too, if you're no much of a reader and more of a listener. The title of this book really sums up what it is about, it's self explanatory and fairly simple. It is all about the habits of successful people. Brendon Burchard, the author, coaches extremely successful people from all walks of life so he has story after story to give you real life examples that really help to paint a picture in your mind of these habits and how they look and work in the real world. 

5. You Are A Badass

I think every woman needs a little empowerment! This is totally the book to get you feeling ready to conquer the world; a book to jump start your confidence and help you embrace everything about yourself! It has actually been years since reading this book, I picked it up at an airport a few years ago. I was so pleasantly surprised with I cracked that binding, this book is the real deal. I really need to read it again, I'm sure I've already forgotten so many good nuggets this book offered, but I haven't forgotten the overall feeling this book left me with. And that is enough in itself for me to know I need to recommend it to you.