"You might be tempted to underestimate me, but let me save you some time . . . don’t." - Jamie Kern Lima

Believe It is an incredible story of a woman on a mission. This book has a little something for everyone. For the entrepreneurs, she tells the story of how she started her company in her living room and turned it into a billion (with a B) dollar brand. For the dreamers, she talks about her role in changing the way the world sees beauty. For the person who has lived through extraordinary family circumstances, she vulnerably shares her experience. For anyone who needs it, she offers inspiration and encouragement. But more than that, Jamie gives all of the love in her heart to everyone that reads this book. It is evident in every word she writes and how I felt when I read it.

A couple of quotes that spoke to me:

"Your intuition is more powerful than anyone else’s advice."

This resonated with me on so many levels and is perhaps my favorite quote in the entire book. Believing in yourself and trusting your gut are the most important things you can do when building the life of your dreams.

"So many women are still so critical of ourselves and other women. And this just holds us all back. We need women to take chances, launch businesses, challenge industries, speak out against injustices, and shine their own lights brightly, without being afraid to fail or worrying about getting shamed for it. We need to have grace for each other. We need to lift each other up. And celebrate each other."

It is very obvious that supporting and lifting up other women is a calling for the author. In this book, she does just that and recommends readers do the same.

I always appreciate when a book "sounds" like its author. Jamie's voice can be heard and her passion can be felt on every page. As a woman and as an entrepreneur, I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jamie does such a great job of sharing her pain, joy, losses, and wins with raw emotion that it feels more like a conversation than a "self-help" book as it is labeled.

Yes, this is about a woman's journey, but it's not just for women! I dare you, men! READ THIS BOOK!

I've shared excerpts from the book with others and encourage all to buy and read. I'm ready to read it again!

When I signed up to be on the launch team for Believe It, I didn't know much , if anything, about Jamie Kern Lima and her story. While I waited for the digital copy to be available, I looked her up and found impressive stats. Then, I read the book and was wowed by her story. She had such drive and ambition to take her brand, IT Cosmetics, from her living room to being worth $1.2B in a sale to L'Oreal. There were hard times along the way. I'm sure after the 5th no, I would have called it quits, but not Jamie! I am a huge Big Brother fan and to know that she was an OG on Big Brother Season 1 was awesome! Even then she was a pioneer. I loved her message about inclusivity in her brand wanting to show how makeup looks on ALL skin types, not just the flawless skin of a model. I myself have uneven skin tone and half the time my face is beet red, especially when nervous or stressed. So, I'm impressed that she went on her QVC appearances with no makeup to show what her product actually does. Such a great book and Jamie is so inspirational! Believe It comes out February 23rd!

I haven’t finished this book yet. I would say I am about half way through but I will say as someone who has enjoyed personal development for almost five years now this book is one of the books I know I will come back to again and again. Jamie is wise in her words and speaks from her heart. She is a warrior in making sure all woman see their beauty within. Loving this book and grateful for the opportunity to read it before it is released to the world

I received an ARC from Netgalley. Before reading Believe IT, I had not heard of Jamie Kern Lima. Now I feel like I personally know Jamie and want to be invited to her house to wear comfy seats as well as eat homemade chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough. Jamie may be the first female CEO of a brand in L'Oreal's history and on the Forbes richest self-made women list, but the success didn't happen overnight. She heard no many times before finally receiving a yes. In Believe IT she takes us on a journey through all the low points to the eventual highs.
I had many key takeaways from the book, but here is a small sampling:
1. "Knowing when to let go of a dream is as important as knowing when to follow one."
2. "Wherever you may be stuck right now, that doesn't indicate where you're going in the future."
3. "Rejection, failures, and even the times our gut turns out to be wrong, are all gifts along life's journey."
4. "Your intuition is more powerful than anyone else's advice."
Those are from just the first chapter. This book is very inspiring.

Soooo many things from Jamie have touched my heart! She’s really helping me get my belief in myself back!!!

Wow! Just wow! This book had me crying one minute, laughing the next, and cheering her on the next. I haven’t cried so much reading a nonfiction book in years. So much of this book hits home and in a good way. This took me longer than normal to read because there was so much good advice that I had to go back and reread it, give it time to process, move on then go back and read it again. This is a book all women of all ages should read. But don’t just read it to yourself, share what you are learning with the people in your lives too. I read excerpts of this to my sons because there are so many things that guys need to hear as well. Little by little Jamie is changing the world and this book is another avenue. I am so glad I read this book! This book made me feel seen, heard and understood!

Thank you to Gallery Books, NetGalley and the author for a DARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. WHAT a book! It's not just business, inspiration, partial memoir...it's all of that. I have so many highlighted passages, and I've already ordered a hard copy to receive when it's published. I know that will be a book that I gift to women in my life, as well as my daughters. We forget how powerful we are, and we let others try to bring us down. Jamie Kern Lima shows us that sometimes hard work, being nice and finding your own place in the world wins. It's only January, but I suspect this will be one of my top 5 this year.

Jamie is such a blast of light!! The way she weaves her story was like being with Miss Frizzle on the magic school bus. Having Jamie take us back in time to highlight how a past encounter was shaping a current action reiterated over and over that we are all so unique because of how we were individually shaped.

Some of the quotes that I loved the most were in chapters 1 and 13. In chapter 1, she writes, "knowing when to let go of a dream is as important as knowing when to follow one." YES!! Then chapter 13 the nugget that was born out of her Meg Whitman encounter was, "No matter what, somethings got to give." And at my house, that would be cleaning.

The importance of believing in your inner knowing is weaved well into the book, as Jamie writes about the power greater than ourselves guiding us with deep knowing.

I just finished this amazing book, it came to me at a perfect time in my life.

I am in the process of growing my coaching business to transition out of a corporate job that is no longer feeding my soul. Your encouragement to follow my gut and to not listen to the haters is what I needed to hear today.

Thank you for empowering women to follow their dreams, stand up for themselves and acknowledge how awesome we are!!

I absolutely loved this book! Very inspirational. Well-written & fun to read. Had me laughing and crying.