Digital Goddess: The Unfiltered Lessons of a Female Entrepreneur by Victoria R. Montgomery Brown

231 Pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
Release Date: October 6, 2020

Nonfiction, Business, Leadership, Finance, Business Start Up, Empowerment, Self-Help, Mental Illness

The book is divided into the following chapters.

Chapter 1: Never Lie to Your Investors (Even When You Just Got Arrested)
Chapter 2. Who Goes First? Raising Capital Before You Have Any
Chapter 3: Grow a Pair – What It (Really) Takes to Get a Business Off the Ground
Chapter 4: Get Personal: Working with People You Like and Saying Goodbye (Fast) To Those You don’t
Chapter 5: Boss Not B*tch – Notes on Transitioning from Founder to CEO
Chapter 6: Work It – The Advantages of Being the Only Woman in the Room
Chapter 7: Ah, the Romance, The Complicated Dating Life of a Woman in Power
Chapter 8: Your Other Marriage – How Not to Divorce Your Business Partner
Chapter 9: Don’t Panic! Running a Startup without Having a Breakdown
Chapter 10: Trying Harder to be Softer – Finding Joy at Work

The author discusses hiring and firing, taking disciplinary actions and working through issues with partners. She also talks about how you can be feminine and strong at the same time. She receives great advice from mentors which she shares with readers. Her writing style is a no-nonsense style and she shares the good and bad. What can I say about this book? It is a must read for any woman in business, especially in leadership positions.

Digital Goddess shares advice for entrepreneurial women from a Harvard Grad and founder of Big Think.
She shares her personal journey of setting up a startup, getting investors and shares tips on how to build a business from the scratch and survive. Shares the importance of forming relationships and friendships that last as  well. Helpful at places.

Okay, here it goes. I know zilch about starting a business. Honestly, I read this to possibly boss-up my digital presence. That is not this book. But then I got to thinking that if my ideas are on the internet, that is a business and brand.

So readers not around in the '80s or '90s could get lost in the earlier memoir aspect of the book but don't let the dates or references fool you. These are the classic problems we all deal with-money, connections, and power.

Yes, it is mainly the author's stories. At the end of her personal examples, she gives reflections. They are like summaries at the end of the chapters and are good advice. The author's clearly been there and done that so she's trying to save you the trip.

I liked that she was honest about power dynamics and how she worked around them. Sometimes it is being lucky or born into the right circumstances. For the rest of us, it is about putting the bulldozer in drive and going for it.

Now I want to see her how-to book on becoming an actual Digital Goddess.

I didn’t expect a book on entrepreneurship to read like a gripping page-turner that’s also packed with good advice, but this one actually does. I appreciated the no-BS tone of the book as well; it’s not trying to sell you on some online leadership program, it’s just one (impressive and successful) woman entrepreneur relating her story of how she got a start-up off the ground, overcame obstacles, and what she learned along the way. Interesting read if you want to hear how women experience and can excel in entrepreneurship.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Victorias book is absolutely amazing.  She has a down to earth style and is transparent and honest about the experiences she had when things did not go well for her.   Her encounter with mental health made her endearing to me, as I know how bad a struggle it can be when a person is not at peak performance.   Her successes and triumphs are an encouragement to any one who has a dream and who can reach for the stars.   Victoria is a success because she knows how to skilfully weave the highs with the lows and to reach the stars.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be assured that dreams can come true.  Ms Montgomery Brown is indeed a digital goddess!

Digital Goddess is a book about and for entrepreneurial women. It doesn't matter at what stage of life you are if want to know what it actually takes to build a business, in a world that’s not always fair, predictable, or politically correct. In the world where you are in many cases the only woman in the room or when your words and/or professional skills are not perceived trully. This is a very interesting personal story of a woman entrepreneur.

Interesting read. I wish I was still in school because I would use this as a topic of discussion in my women's studies classes.

Powerful yet compassionate book of advice for women in leadership and business.

Even though it's a fairly short book, it took me a long time to finish it because I wanted to fully absorb the information Montgomery Brown shares. "Digital Goddess" is basically an essential reading about how to be a female leader or professional in the digital age - a time when the gender gap is said to have nearly evaporated compared to the previous century, though it clearly continues to prevent many women from succeeding in the business world. Montgomery Brown outlines various problems a woman would face in the business and leadership settings concerning investment, being the only female at the table, or interpersonal relationships with investors. Not only that, but she also talks about personal issues such as romance when putting all of your cards into your career.

As an aspiring female entrepreneur, I think this book is absolutely packed with advice I'm planning to put into a good use. The word "aspiring" is key here - I can't tell if all the advice is one hundred percent accurate or correct since I don't have this experience. Nonetheless, the author has effectively drawn my attention to lots of aspects of developing my career, and I'm willing to bet money that this is priceless.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.