In this New York Times bestseller, Kelly Cutrone, the brash, brutally honest boss and mentor to Whitney and Lauren on the hit MTV series “The Hills” and “The City,” and star of Bravo's "Kell on Earth," combines personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out.
"Cutrone works in an industry that is superficial and fickle, but she’s the real deal. Her advice rings true no matter what field you’re in...."— The Associated Press
“In her new book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You, Cutrone shares personal stories and offers practical advice to encourage readers to figure out what they really want to do and to go out there and do it.” (Aol Career Blog )
“Cutrone’s new book If you have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You is a raw, no bullshit, drama and drug–filled autobiographical joy ride that preaches spiritual self-empowerment over self-sabotage..” (Out Magazine )
“Cutrone gives blunt, how-to advice on how to be a “power bitch”... It’s an old-fashioned guide to succeeding in both life and work (phone, not e-mail, you Gen Y-ers!), with a dash of self-styled spirituality and, of course, all dressed up in Balenciaga.” (New York Post )
“Cutrone, 44, is infamous to the MTV generation for her untimely eruptions and cutting commentaries. Her hellish take on the fashion world is her ticket to stardom....If You Have to Cry, Go Outside (HarperOne), reads as a gritty guide for young women entering the fashion world.” (USA Today )
“[A] memoir-ish book of offbeat advice for budding ‘power girls’...” (The Daily Beast )
“The book outlines [Cutrone’s] tumultuous rise from homelessness to the fashion elite and serves as a guide for navigating an alternative career path.” (The Harvard Crimson )
“Though on her TV show Cutrone’s outer bitch is ascendant, in her book, we’re introduced to the softer side of Kelly. Prone to New Age platitudes like, “Celebrate the magic inside of yourself.” This hippie affect is a delightful surprise coming from a woman who also swears like a sailor.” (Slate.com )
“She’s also publishing a memoir/guide, turning her take-no-prisoners approach to the fashion business into a message of girl power...entertaining for all.” (Los Angeles Times )
“Kelly’s book is full of anecdotes from her personal and professional life as well as motivational tips.” (People.com )
“What everyone loves about Kelly Cutrone, owner of fashion PR firm People’s Revolution and The City’s official BS barometer, is that she isn’t afraid to tell it how it is.” (Elle Magazine )
“Part memoir and part career guide, geared toward young women breaking into the workforce.” (The Village Voice )
“If anything, the word that should be used to describe Cutrone is ‘feminist’ - it’s just that her version of female empowerment involves acknowledging that ‘you’re no different from anyone else and deserve no special treatment’. Unless, of course, you’ve earned it.” (The Sunday Times )
“One of the few movers-and shakers who seems to have an enlightened grip on both the dark and light side of the business she navigates with such self-possession.… Clear, concise, to the point, and abrasively, wonderfully honest.” (The L )
“A must-read for career-minded gals entering the workforce – or those who just want to reinvent themselves.” (Star Magazine )
“Intelligent and witty works of wonder...literary bitch-slaps of unfettered straightfoward speech....an honest, instructional pseudo-memoir targeting a new generation of “young girls and gay boys” who want to break into the fashion industry but are unsure they have the chops for it. ” (Bay Area Reporter )
“In her trademark, no bull-shit style Kelly gives us the raw honest truth in If You Have To Cry, Go Outside. It is an easy fun read book you most likely will read over and over and continue to laugh out loud.” (CupcakeMag.com )
“Choice career and style advice from New York’s most outspoken PR woman.” (WSJ.com )
“Part memoir, part self-improvement sermon (and conspicuously published by HarperOne, the spirituality imprint behind some of Marianne Williamson’s and Deepak Chopra’s books), it recounts Cutrone’s own fitful journey.” (New York Magazine )
Kelly Cutrone has long been mentoring women on how to make it in one of the most competitive industries in the world. She has kicked people out of fashion shows, forced some of reality television's shiny stars to fire their friends, and built her own company—one of the most powerful PR firms in the fashion business—from the ground up. Through it all, she has refused to be anything but herself.
Kelly writes in her trademark, no-bullshit style, combining personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out. Let's face it: this is a different world than the one in which our mothers grew up, and Kelly has created a real girl's guide to making it in today's world. Offering a wake-up call to women everywhere, she challenges us to stop the dogged pursuit of the “perfect life” and discover who we are and what we really want. Then she shows us how to go out there and get it. Much of our culture teaches us to muzzle our inner voice and follow the crowd; Kelly enables us to stop pretending and start truly living.
With chapters on how to find your tribe (those like-minded souls who make your heart sing), how sometimes a breakdown is really a breakthrough, and how there is no such thing as perfection, Kelly also shares practical advice, such as how to create a personal brand and how sometimes you have to fake it to make it.
Raw, hilarious, shocking, but always the honest truth, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside calls upon you to gather up your courage like an armful of clothes at a McQueen sample sale and follow your soul wherever it takes you. Whether you're just starting out in the world or looking to reinvent yourself, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside will be the spark you need to figure out what you have to say to the world—and how you're going to say it.
Kelly Cutrone is the founder of the fashion public relations, branding, and marketing firm People's Revolution, which has represented clients such as Longchamp, Vivienne Westwood, Valentino, Jeremy Scott, Paco Rabanne, Thierry Mugler, Bulgari, Christie's, and more. She stars in Kell on Earth on Bravo and has appeared on MTV's The Hills and The City. Prior to founding People's Revolution, Cutrone cofounded Cutrone & Weinberg and was the director of PR for Spin magazine. Cutrone lives in Manhattan with her daughter, Ava.
I decided to read this book because I've always had an interest in transitioning into publicity/PR and the book sounded like a great read for female professionals. I thought that, though I'm not necessarily interested in fashion, this would offer some solid career tips from someone that has seen it all. It did have a few tips here and there about being tough, but ultimately, it is titled and positioned incorrectly. It isn't about lessons for career women, but rather the author's memoir about how she landed a career in the fashion PR industry after a drug-ridden and messy period of time earlier in life. There is also an out-of-place section on her spirituality and there are spiritual tips sprinkled throughout.
In fact, the lessons for the readers don't actually start until page 149 in the chapter - "If You Have to Cry, Go Outside." Up until that point, it is a story about how she was addicted to drugs, was saved by her powerful tribe at times, and eventually became really successful. The name-dropping is a bit much. We get from the start that she knows and has worked with some well-known celebrities, but it is overly discussed throughout.
I wasn't looking for a tale of morality, but the whole thing seemed rather shallow. In a section titled "Everything Good Happens After Thirty," one bullet point of advice is: "it's time to step it up a notch and charge headlong into the land of overpriced luxury accessories." Is that really an important part of turning 30? And as my review title states - it is extremely over-indulgent and self-inflated. For example, on page 100 she writes, "A lot of women ask me, 'How do you have it all?...'"
If you are curious of the inner workings of the fashion PR industry or if you are a fan of Kelly Cutrone, then it would be a good book for you. She is witty and there were parts that were interesting. If you are a career woman looking for solid advice on being powerful, I think there might be better sources of inspiration for you.Read more ›
(Writing this under my Husband's account) A good friend recommended this book so I felt obligated to read it from cover to cover. I hated every minute of it... I kept hoping the book would improve. I thought that I'd suddenly turn a corner with Kelly and realize that she had stopped being a self-indulgent, go against the grain just to create waves, name dropping, self important person. Sadly, that never happened and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I finished the last page.
The major theme through this book is to create your own religion. She warns not to worship inside a temple, church, whatever because you're limited in that capacity. What she fails to recognize is that her polytheistic approach to her "religious beliefs" leaves her twisting the word of all leaders, all people she might consider to be her God(s) and creates her own ideal. She even goes so far as to brag about this. As a Christian, I was offended several times when she reaffirmed society's tainted view that a woman can not possibly find herself in motherhood, by being a wife, by working in her church or by having a career that isn't the sole focus on her life. Should everyone by a stay-at-home mother and wife who bakes cookies all day and makes sure the house is spotless? NO! In fact it would put most women in their graves. I get that. What Kelly fails to do is recognize that there are some mothers who aren't failing to meet their fullest potential because they do choose to stay at home, bake cookies and do their best to make sure their house is spotless... and fail miserably in most cases. I'm not easily offended. I too have a mouth that needs reminding once in a while. If you're offended by bad language, Kelly makes an art out of using the "f" word repeatedly through this book.... I wasn't bothered by this so much as disappointed. Apparently, according to Kelly, she is a very intelligent and accomplished woman. I would hope that she would be more creative in her word choice. Of course, again according to her, it's because she's successful that I criticize her.
Kelly's book is almost a handbook of sorts for anyone that might dare work for her. She talks about how abusive she is to her interns but then quickly makes it okay, again by twisting words, by explaining that she's really just taking care of them and teaching them valuable lessons. She creates social classes in her office by not allowing her interns to eat until everyone else has.... yea, that's cool Kelly. It's all about power and social status that determines one's value right? Go ahead and put down arranged marriages in other cultures that you don't understand but foster the caste system while you're at it.
As I became increasingly angry, I started to come up with choice phrases to call her. As luck would have it, she ends her book with a chapter explaining that it's okay to be a "Bitch." Of course it is because that's exactly what she has touted throughout this book. This book did nothing for me and I definitely don't recommend it.Read more ›
I saw the author on the Dr. Phil television show. She was smart and articulate. This book was recommended by Dr. Phil, and I generally like what he has to say, so I bought the book on his recommendation. Big mistake. I own over a thousand books and I have never had the urge to literally dispose of a book in the garbage before. This book is going in the trash. I was expecting advice for young women in the business world. I was not expecting the self-centered hedonistic memoir liberally doused with rudeness. I found this book offensive - it's definitely not worth your time or money.
I never heard of Kelly Cutrone until I saw her on a Dr. Phil episode and immediately liked her tell-it-like-it-is candor so I looked forward to reading her book.
The book and Cutrone herself aren't what I expected but her journey is her own and this is her book so I won't deny her the right to tell her story in her own way and in her own voice even if that includes the frequent use of the "f-word". But this is not really a book of advice for women wanting success in a career despite the self-help designation. It's more of a memoir as she writes about moving to New York, getting caught up in drugs, sex, and partying all night; fighting her way to success in the fashion industry (public relations), and creating her own religion based on Hindu goddesses. In fact, the tone of the book is heavy on the religion of self and the goddess mentor she calls Mother as she encourages readers to create their own dream religion in which anything goes.
There are tid-bits of advice along the way on making it in the PR side of the fashion industry as a woman. A few times I laughed as she recounted stories in her dry humor way, and I mentally applauded as she wrote about how she handled the abuses of certain high-profile people even though it meant losing them as clients. I do admire her ability to get results, let her yes be yes and no be no, and to not settle for less than what she wants for herself or from her employees. Unfortunately, the book seems to promote that a woman has to be, as she proudly describes herself, a [...] to achieve her level of success, something I don't believe is true....
Cutrone writes about having to pay her dues to get where she is but some of that was because of her own irresponsible choices as much as battling the attitude toward powerful women in the corporate world. In the book she advises readers to detatch themselves from influences such as parents and Christianity as things that will hold them back, yet elevates herself as a guru, mentor, and "Mama Wolf" to young women, replacing those influences with her own views of morality, success, and religion.
By the time I finished reading the book I wasn't convinced that she is as self-assured and satisfied with her life as we're led to believe which simply means she's as vulnerable and human as the rest of us and she'd probably be the first to admit that.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for review but the opinion of it is my own and wasn't solicited.Read more ›
