Like many career-focused women, the PR founder and content creator was an early adopter of the movement’s ‘all or nothing’ approach to building her work-life. “I started out as a social and PR assistant at L’Oreal at 20 and left as a paid media manager because of my desire to progress quickly.”
At the end of her time with the beauty magnet, Curtis says there was “tension between me and some of the slightly older women in the company”. The brand owner says, “I was even described as ‘money hungry’ during a career conversation, which at the time felt laughable as I was living off beans and toast”. However, adds Curtis, “I think lots of this difference of opinion over my approach to working felt like a projection, one that came from their experience with the toxic elements of ‘girlbossing’”. Concern that Curtis tells Glamour, often felt “conflicting because you were being told not to work overtime or burn yourself out, but also the work structures are built as a way to force that kind of working via expectations.”
It’s what served as the catalyst for the 25-year-old’s decision to set up her own business.“ I wanted to take control of my career, I wanted more,” says Curtis. “More without having to navigate the red tape that comes with other people being in charge of my career prospects.”
“I hate the word girlboss because it’s cringe, but right now, I run a female founder network of 250 women, and I’d happily say we are all girl bosses, because we are women who are strong and entrepreneurial.”
Similarly, Abbianca Nassar, a 26-year-old journalist turned business owner, says, “I think the girlboss era got a bad rap when ultimately it has opened up the door for us to have more of a say in how we build our careers.”
For Nassar, who started her career at 15 with a self-published magazine, before becoming a reporter for the Evening Standard at 18, a traditional route to work was never a consideration.
“I was very aware, thanks to my own upbringing and financial awareness, that success was the only real option for me in order to achieve the life I wanted”, explains the 26-year-old.
“After interviewing a lot of venture capital firms and people in the US raising millions and millions, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Wait a minute’, these people are on good money, and I’m working my arse off and not really earning as much. So I made the switch to sales”. Throughout her career, says Nassar, “I’ve remained money motivated, and I’ve been contributing to my family since I was 18, which has been part of the reason for my drive.”