Business Minded

I've been a reader - and fan! - of Carly's blog for years, so I was very excited to read her book! It's part business instruction manual, part guide to prioritizing your health, and part workbook - all for anyone who runs, or is thinking about starting, their own business. It's split into two sections - the first focused on more business-related chapters, and the second focused on health (the "minded" section). Each chapter has advice written by Carly, plus interviews with a variety of other small business owners. It was really great, especially for someone like me who has no business school training. The only thing I wish is that there was a little more personal insight from Carly herself, but that's just because I want to learn as much about her success as I can!

Carly Riordan is a social media influencer and professional blogger that has been in the industry for over a decade. Her unique perspective and success in this more niche sector brings a really refreshing and relevant point of view to the genre of business books.
Business Minded is a guided workbook for those interested in starting or strengthening their business. Not only does it empower readers, setting them up for success by providing guided questions regarding practically every aspect one should consider when starting a new business, it includes images, graphics, and worksheets that will increase productivity and comprehension as you make your way through this book. When you’d normally be reaching for a pen and paper to quickly scribble down notes as somebody is giving you tremendous advice, you simply have to follow along in the well-flowing workbook. Throughout, you also find short interviews with successful female entrepreneurs, many of whom fans of Carly’s blog will recognize, such as the powerhouse teams behind Dudley Stephens, Chappy Wrap, Margaux, and so many more.
As somebody who’d been a fan of Carly’s for over five years, I think this books gives a unique look into the behind-the-scenes of her success and the hard work she puts into her business besides the picturesque content her readers see on her blog, Instagram, and Tiktok. This book truly chronicles the idea that behind many of the best and most successful businesses are people who are also prioritizing their overall wellbeing. It perfectly balances work and wellness, being broken into two parts- the first of which takes you through everything from drafting a business plan to walking you through the basics of accounting. The second part helps you to identify areas of your life where you can continue to prioritize wellness, such as through meditation, volunteering, and finding healthy mentorship relationships.
I think this book will primarily be a hit with veteran fans of Carly, but also any women interested in starting a small business and women in the early stages of new businesses. This would be my go-to starting point if I, or anyone I knew, decided to start a business of sorts. While I myself don’t plan on starting a business right now, I’m in the middle of contemplating a career shift and found a lot of her advice to be incredibly relevant and helpful. The ‘Mindful’ portion of the book is relevant to anybody looking to reconfigure their work-life balance.

I started reading @carly’s blog when I was a junior in high school. I consumed it the way one consumed blogs in 2009: voraciously, soaking up as much knowledge from others as I could. Her book Business Minded is a guide with tips for running your own business, but also taking care of yourself physically and mentally.

As a long time reader of Carly’s blog, I was really impressed that she was able to find new ways of communicating her ideas. You would think after all this time of writing she would run out of things to say but just the opposite is true.

There are generally 4 to 5 pages in each section: an introduction, more information, practical tips, and then offers to apply these tips yourself. The section on continuing education gave me things to think about as well, even 6 years out of college.

I specifically liked the interviews with entrepreneurs and the sections on journaling and finances - we need to teach personal finance to students! This book is a guide that would be a great New Year's gift for any college student in your life.

Thanks to @netgalley and @dkbooks for this copy of @carly’s book - out December 28!

3.5

I've followed Carly's blog now for about 10 years so I feel like in a lot of ways I have grown up with Carly. I was so grateful when NetGalley granted me access to an advanced copy of her upcoming book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I am not an entrepreneur or someone who has ever entertained the idea of starting their own business. That being said, I am (in the absolute loosest sense of the words) a content creator and someone who currently works in the corporate world. Accordingly, a lot of the things in Carly's book felt appropriate and useful for me even if I may not be the exact target audience.

I would be remiss to not mention the aesthetics of this book. So many business books are marked towards men and they look like it. This book felt almost calming to look at and there was clearly a lot of time and consideration put into the graphics and overall branding of the book, fitting in with Carly's overall branding as well as what women entrepreneurs might like to have on their bookshelves.

I appreciate that Carly took a lot of this book to focus on burnout and priorities and mindfulness because I feel like a lot of our generation have been told if we aren't being productive with work than we aren't being productive at all. I will definitely take a lot of her journaling and meditation encouragements to heart.

I do think a lot of the advice here is very surface level - this book isn't going to help you plan your business, but it is a good starting point and asks targeted and pointed questions to help when you first think this is something that might interest you. I can't speak to the accuracy of the other parts of this book but as a corporate lawyer I appreciated her breakdown of different organization types because I feel like a lot of people don't understand the types of liabilities involved and how important that is.

One thing that I wish there was more of was personal anecdotes and reminders that Carly wrote this book. Carly added in some personal touches but at some points the book felt very inpersonal and I wanted more examples from her life and business. She kept things very vague and while I understand the inclination to do that, part of the reason I am picking up this book is because of Carly and I wanted to learn more about her experiences. Similarly, I wish there was maybe a bit more diversity among the types of other entrepreneurs both in the kinds of people interviewed as well as their businesses.

Overall this is a great starting point if you are wanting to start a business or want to learn more information.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Business Minded is part how to start a business and part stories of business owners. It’s a great compilation of interviews with successful entrepreneurs that inspires future entrepreneurs. The instructional part is very helpful for beginners and covers everything from ideation to taxes.

I’ve followed Carly on her blog for years, so was excited when she wrote a book! I think this book would be perfect for new grads or folks starting out their careers. It is a beginners guide for sure, including lots of worksheets. I wished it were a little more personal to Carly, but I did love all the interviews with her friends and business associates!

This book is a very good basic manual of advice for people looking for help in starting a business. The author describes her journey from part-time blogger to growing her blog to become her full-time job. This book would be an excellent starting point for people trying to start a business. It was beneficial to have other female business entrepreneurs describe their processes of starting their own businesses, also. I like Carly’s honest and helpful approach and know this book will inspire and help others to start their own successful businesses.

This is a super interesting book that I think my students might enjoy. Many students love shows like Shark Tank where you see someone bring their passion to life but might not know how to do it themselves. This is a fantastic book that can bridge the gap between an interest or passion and success.