Title: Little Black Book – a toolkit for working women
Author: Otegha Uwagba
Release date: June 15th, 2017
Publisher: 4th Estate
Rating: 5/5 stars
This little book was gifted to me as a going away present a while back and I was immediately drawn to it. Everything about this book just pulled me towards it. The millennial pink cover with a sleek design, the promise of tips for women in the creative industry. I couldn’t wait to get into it. It took me a day to finish and I am sure I will find myself picking it up again soon.
Likes
First and foremost I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. With it being a non-fiction book geared towards women in the creative field, it was just right up my alley. I am currently in school to become a professional web designer so I am very much a part of the target audience for this book. However, I think even if you’re not (in the target audience, that is) you can still get something from this book. It is chock-full of helpful tips on productivity, being a freelancer and networking, among other things. And one of the best parts, in my opinion, there is an appendix full of cool resources in the back. Ranging from useful online tools to places to work all around the world. There is also a Q&A with women in the industry who give advice about things such as maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
I also really liked the feeling of female empowerment this book gave me. There was a real women-helping-women vibe going on and I am all for that!
Dislikes
Even though I really enjoyed reading this book, there were also some things I didn’t like about it. Namely the fact that there wasn’t anything particularly new and enlightening about the contents of this book. It’s all stuff I have heard before such as, get up earlier to be more productive or write down and prioritize your tasks. They are nice little reminders for when you’re in a rut but nothing mind-boggling.
One other thing that stood out to me was the fact that a lot of the tips were geared towards freelancers or people looking to get into freelancing. And although the author does include tips for people working for a company, I still felt like the majority of this book was meant for people who are / want to be self-employed.
Quote
For every natural-born networker there’s another person standing nearby who’d rather drink cold paint than ‘work the room’.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I liked this book and am happy I read it. Like I said earlier, although a lot of the information wasn’t new to me, it’s still nice to remind yourself of those wisdoms sometimes. I also think that the resources and Q&A in the back make it the perfect little book to carry around in your bag for whenever you need some inspiration.
