Narrator Sara Jes Austell conveys all the hip and rough-edged savvy you’d expect to hear from the founder of Nasty Girl, the vintage women’s wear Internet seller the author started on a shoestring and grew into a major fashion company. Austell’s performance is seamless, free of glitches of any kind, and remarkable for her infectious confidence, off-key likability, and spontaneous phrasing. She’s a big part of the effectiveness of this energetic discussion of how women can succeed as leaders without being sucked into corporate stereotypes of how they should behave or how businesses should operate. With its candid personal stories and down-to-earth strategies for handling a variety of start-up challenges, this is an audio that’s as useful as it is fun to hear.
Pub Date: May 6, 2014
Duration: 4 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780698162303
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The readers can't compensate for the unbearably pompous prose style of this extended parable about corporate politics and strategy.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Henslee’s warm, unhurried narration makes listeners feel like the next success story could be theirs.
Barbara Henslee narrates with an intimate, upbeat delivery and a sunny Southern warmth that feels like being personally recruited to the Mary Kay empire. Her voice suits the material perfectly, drawing listeners into a bygone era when women built empires through gatherings around kitchen tables and on front porches, long before they could open their own bank accounts. Henslee never oversells, just gently persuades, mirroring the company’s own quiet pitch to millions of women that economic independence and personal transformation were within reach. The balanced treatment of the realities of multilevel marketing, alongside the truly inspirational story of founder Mary Kay Ash, make this a compelling listen for anyone curious about the often mocked world of direct sales.
Henslee’s warm, unhurried narration makes listeners feel like the next success story could be theirs.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 24 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217281879
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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