5 Books Every Female Entrepreneur Should Read this Summer

I don’t know about you guys, but I love to read!

Not a kindle, not a book on tape, not a podcast…but a plain old book. There is something so gratifying about turning another page, making notes in the margins and dog-earring my progress along the way.

There are so many days when I lived in San Diego the past few summers where I just grabbed some watermelon, a towel, some sunscreen, and a good book and spent days soaking up the sun with my nose buried between the pages.

So today I am sharing my summer reading list! Some are all-time faves, some are books I am reading now, and some are books on my radar! BTW – If any of you are bookworms too, I would love your suggestions! 🙂

xx,

Jess

5 Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List

The Alchemist | I read this book once a year because it is such a beautiful reminder that no matter how much we want to be in control of our own destinies, what is meant to be, ultimately will be. It is like comfort food in book form. #itwaswritten
Power Your Happy: Work Hard, Play Nice and Build Your Dream Life | This book is written by girl boss, Lisa Sugar as in the founder of POPSUGAR. The title pretty much says it all, this is my current read and I am really stoked to learn about her journey in the blogosphere and bask in her inspiration.
The Artist’s Way | This book is supposed to help harness creativity and offer artistic renewal. I want to see if it helps me work through things like writer’s block, etc. At times, this can be a lot to handle, but there are times where you do get a burst of inspiration which is always great. Almost like a creativity cleanse. This is one of those books that my mom gave me when I was like 16 and I looked at her like she was nuts, so I ultimately donated it to Goodwill when she wasn’t looking…only to come back this Spring over a decade later with my proverbial tail between my legs…because now I want to read it. Thanks for copy number 2 mom! xx
How to Get Sh*t Done | This book is written for women who have a tendency to over-schedule themselves and want to improve their productivity and work less. The author Erin Falconer, was recognized by Refinery29 as ‘one of the top 10 women changing the digital landscape, for good.” Erin offers insight on how to do a lot less, but get way more done…sounds AH-mazing right?!
Harvard Business Review: How To Write a Great Business Plan | I am currently in the process of several different new business ventures and so writing a business plan is super important. When I started working for myself, I admittedly went by the ‘wing it’ method, but these days I like to run a tight ship especially when it comes to business.
Ask every entrepreneur and they will tell you that they have the dream of being successful. What’s the point in starting a business if you don’t want to be the best you can be? I am no different. I never expected it to be easy, so that’s why I’ve had some extra help through reading these books along the way. What they don’t tell you though, is how to prepare for unexpected circumstances. As entrepreneurs, we have control over our business operations, but we don’t have control over outside factors that could diminish moving forward.

Take the finances, for example. If you build a business plan, you will have a rough idea about what you need to get started, but what happens when something shifts in the industry, or the economy takes a big hit? I was hoping the Harvard Business Review would give me the answer, but it actually came in the form of my friend. She said that she uses something called Scenario Analysis Modeling with places like Synario, (https://www.synario.com/features/scenario-analysis), which allows you to create plans based on different scenarios, so that if something like this were to happen, you will have a better idea about how to handle it. Sounds good, right? If you ask me, this is something that you won’t learn in a book. Even though, they can be good with inspiring you and giving you a helping hand along the way, some things are taught through your own life experiences. Planning your finances can be easier when you have a better idea of the kinds of services offered to businesses by banks. Take a look here for an example of the kinds of things businesses can make use of to help keep themselves afloat and financially secure – https://www.atlanticunionbank.com/business/checking.

With that being said, don’t be afraid to get stuck into my recommendations above. It may just be the best thing that you ever do. Let me know what you think!