On My Night Table

IF YOU HAVE TO CRY GO OUTSIDE AND OTHER THINGS YOUR MOTHER NEVER TOLD YOU BY KELLY CUTRONE WITH MEREDITH BRYAN

I wish I had read this when I was around 20.  This book is filled with great advice for late teenagers or early twentysomethings regarding work and life. This quick read felt like a school-of-life-lesson from Kelly Cutrone and there are many valuable things for the reader inside the book.

Kelly Cutrone first came to my attention on "The Hills" where, as the owner of People’s Republic, she became Whitney Port’s boss. Dressed all in black and with her no-nonsense style, I thought, “This is the kind of boss I wish I had.”  She may seem scary and, at times, harsh, but she is direct, specific and a good communicator.  She seems like the kind of person it would be hard to screw up for because she tells you exactly how, when, where and why she wants what she wants from you as an employee.  Many bosses could use more of this style.

When Kelly moved on to her own show, “Kell on Earth” I followed eagerly.  Watching her  run the New York office of her business was great.  Because she was the star, we got to see what seemed like a more realistic version of who we saw on "The Hills." Without Loren and Whitney as the “stars” of the show, we got to see the nuts and bolts of Kelly’s business which is a Public Relations Firm that deals with Fashion.  Watching her produce fashion shows and mentoring her young staff made me really, really like this woman.

Reading her book, I found her advice on life and career to be intelligent, pertinent and amusing.  She tells her story as well which is fascinating. I don’t want to give it all away, but learning that she went from the top of New York’s PR scene to to drug addiction to reading Tarot cards on Venice Beach and back to PR made me that much more impressed with Kelly.  

If you are young and just starting to enter the workforce, or know somebody who is, this would be a great book to read or give as a gift.  With words of wisdom that may seem obvious to some like, “Be the first one in and the last one out.” Kelly shares simple things in straight-forward language that someone who hasn’t worked for various organizations over many years wouldn’t know.