patricia bright is one of the uk’s most successful youtubers, a true boss lady and an inspiration to female entrepreneurs everywhere. in 2019, she expanded her brand and became a first time author with heart & hustle.

not much into fashion and beauty myself, i first learned about her when she started her latest youtube channel : the break helping millennial women navigating life like a boss.

(disclaimer : i barely count as a millennial. i found the channel useful and entertaining nonetheless.)

so, mere seconds after learning of her book heart & hustle, it somehow found itself in my shopping cart.

despite of it being a hard cover.

did it hold up to my expectations? let’s see…

nothing new under the sun?

it almost pains me to say, but there is nothing fundamentally new or original about heart & hustle.

just one example : when she explains how to set up a business and gives practical tips on how to do this, it reads a bit like an abridged and warmed-up version of tim ferriss’ the 4 h workweek.

yet, i still got value out of the book and this is mostly due to two reasons.

a vibrant personality

the reason i instantly liked patricia bright’s personal brand is because she is unapologetically herself.

by doing so, she breaks old school clichés of what a woman can or should be like time and time again for everyone to see.

she is both loud and assertive AND glamorous.

she touches on traditionally female topics such as fashion and beauty AND untraditional ones such as personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship.

she earns her living being a youtuber AND she has a background in investment banking.

mostly however, she does all of this in her signature fun, conversational and no bullshit way.

that’s the real value i got out of heart & hustle.

i got to spend a few hours with an inspiring and successful woman whom i can only qualify as a role model.

to understand her and her choices better.

what makes her tick.

so yeah, who cares that nothing she writes about is fundamentally new?

because sometimes one does need a reminder of the most important things, an ever positive cheerleader to nudge you to take that first (or next) step towards what you really want, a voice in your head telling you that it will be worth it and that things will work out, even if they go very wrong first.

autobiographical undertone

things did indeed go very wrong very early in bright’s life as is clear from her account of her upbringing.

a child of nigerian immigrants, she did not get to see the best of what the british immigration system has to offer.

some of her experiences reminded me of the chapter ‘advocating for women’ in do it like a woman from caroline criado perez. the more unsettling part of this however is that it seems to confirm that some government practices in this field are indeed wide spread and quite pervasive in time.

although she is candid about the reality and impact of these formative moments, she never loses her light touch and her trademark positivity.

most importantly, she attributes meaning to these experiences in terms of building her tenacity and resilience and therefore her later success.

and hustle she did.

starting as a teenager, this woman relentlessly worked towards her goals.

i can’t but admire her energy and all the strength and drive it must take her to do what she does and has always done.

a true girlboss turned boss lady if there ever was one.

who this book is for

this book is for readers who

• are interested to see behind the scenes of one of britain’s fastest growing youtubers,
• want to get inspired to do (or keep doing) their own thing, and / or
• are looking for female role models.

feedback

now, it’s up to you : have you read the book?

if yes, do you agree with my sentiment?

if not, did this review help you to make a choice whether you should read it or not?

please let me know in the comments.

idealistically yours,
the simps