My top 10 highlights from the book: 

1.  One of the most important lessons I've learned is to always retain majority ownership and control.

2.  Their horizons were always remarkably limited.  When I'd say, "I'm going to start a luxury shoe brand," they'd say, "Perhaps you might take a job in a shoe store." In other words—don't be grandiose. Think small. One day at a time. My response to that was: "No fucking way.”

3.  I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. (She was just fired and living in her parent's basement.)

4.  A luxury brand offered the owner the opportunity to profit from ideas and image, with almost limitless prospects for scaling up. One of the first to see the opportunity was Bernard Arnault. 

5.  I was the customer I wanted to reach.

6.  The other force at play was a demonic drive for the financial security I hoped would keep me out of her clutches. My worst fear was remaining under my mother’s thumb.

7.  A magazine feature could reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers for a fashion brand.

8.  I was not going to be easily deterred.

9.  I cared about the business we were in. The product. The people. I wasn't merely passing through.

10.  My most fundamental piece of advice is to follow your instincts. If you have the wrong instincts for what you're trying to do, that will become evident soon enough, and it may require you to change course, but being blown back and forth by the winds of conflicting opinions will get you nowhere.

Listen to #389 Founder of Jimmy Choo: Tamara Mellon on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.