The whole idea of what a girl boss is got lost somewhere in the Instagram, Twitter, Facebook shuffle. 

Ask social media, and it’ll tell you that a girl boss is an entrepreneur; a business owner who sets her own schedules, racks up her own clients and doesn’t report to a cubicle Monday to Friday.

Sure, I can agree that all these things do encompass what a girl boss is…heck, this is my life!

But I’m also smart enough to realise that this isn’t all being a girl boss entails.

A girl boss is any woman who works tirelessly, day in and day out to achieve her goals and dreams. She’s in control of her career, is mapping out her own financial future, demands respect and never accepts less than she deserves.

She commands attention without ever speaking a word and is the architect of her heart’s desires. A girl boss takes charge of her own situations in life and on the job.

A girl boss could clock in at 9 am or wake up at noon.

She could be taking a conference call in the boardroom or pulling up to a coffee shop to read and send client emails.

Girl bosses aren’t solely defined by the ability to walk off a job and start your own business. In fact…

[bctt tweet=”You don’t have to quit your 9 to 5 be a girl boss! ” username=”iamianthia”]

Way before I even quit my job, I considered myself a girl boss! Yes you heard right!

I was highly respected in my field, was working on my own projects late at night and charting my own course. I made my job work for me and found a way to balance the 9 to 5 and then the 7 to midnight.

The 9 to 5 Girl Boss

A girl boss shows up to a press conference with the prime minister and later that night is shooting episodes of her web show. A girl boss anchors the national newscast and then heads to a meeting with the cable company to discuss scheduling her shows in the weekly programming lineup. She uses her media contacts, passes and perks to network and build her personal brand.

She uses her lunch breaks to drive to interviews when she hears her favorite celebrities are in town, or schedules her shoots on holidays, weekends and Sundays.

This was me back in the day, girl bossin’ even with a 9 to 5. 

READ MY LATEST BLOG? I quit my job three years ago and built a badass brand…in 5 steps! 

My road to entrepreneurship didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t wake up one day and say, “I think I’m gonna quit my job today!” I’d been working full-time in media for 10 years before I made the leap. For me, it was a natural progression, not a forced mistake. 

With the rise of social media, came the rise of the creative. Writers and entertainers and media mavens, painters and artists who are told that in order to be respected in this sphere, you have to be an entrepreneur, you have to do it all alone!

There’s this constant need to redefine what success is, while forgetting what it always has been.

And what it always has been, is wholeheartedly going after what you want, never quitting until you get it.

Someone reminded me recently that the telltale sign of being a girl boss is the hustle and heart you put in. Girl bossin’ is for someone who is aggressive, isn’t easily deterred, needs minimum supervision, is willing to put in the work and is focused.

The one thing to remember is that your journey is yours and no one else’s. My journey was mapped out solely for me and I promise you that no one could walk it the way I did. In the same way, your journey is yours and yours alone.

Whether that means girl bossin’ your way up the corporate ladder or killin’ it from your home office; as long as you wake up each day and smash your goals…you’re a #girlboss in my eyes!

What does your #girlboss journey look like? Tell me below!