So you wanna be a boss. Netflix andchillwill yourself to get off the couch already.How to Be a Boss (According to Your Favorite Shows)is your excuse to binge all the TV you want. It’s career inspiration, right? As for me, chain-watching teen dramas now qualifies as research to bring you this informative series. We all win.
我已经觉得监禁的日常工作:cells (windowless cubicles), solitary confinement (no perks), wardens (terrible bosses). But I could rage-quit any time I pleased—the trundle bed in my parents’ basement is still a step up from a prison bunk. There’s no quitting in actual prison, though. That’s the point.
难怪Litchfield Prison-th的囚犯e setting of Netflix’s dramedy series,Orange Is the New Black—have to find creative means to get the things they want. The result: a pretty impressive bartering ecosystem. The underground network runs the gamut from contraband cell phones to skimming panties from a sewing production line. Inadvertently, the women are learning valuable leadership skills in spite of the abysmal education program.
What they experience though, as they vie for power and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, isn’t all that unlike being your own boss on the outside. Resources are limited. Competition is fierce. And the power struggle is real. Here are 16 lessons about being a boss, according to the inmates—and staff—of Litchfield:
1. Find a trustworthybusiness partner, even if she’s the one who got you into this mess in the first place.Cara Howe / Netflix2. ...or the one who sold you out for a reduced sentence.JoJo Whilden / Netflix3. Yourfirst business attemptmay not be your best, but we all have to start somewhere.JoJo Whilden / Netflix4. Test your idea with a focus group. What else do they have going on?JoJo Whilden / Netflix5.Stop working for The Man. Or the two angry women you used to date.JoJo Whilden / Netflix6. ...and try out consulting for a while.JoJo Whilden / Netflix7. Seek professional advice.JoJo Whilden / Netflix8.Don’t underestimate your competition,迅速处理。JoJo Whilden / Netflix9. Finda community group of entrepreneur types. Like the mobile phone–peddling gang in C-Block.JoJo Whilden / Netflix10. Get your message out through all channels available (even if the only one is a make-work jailhouse radio station).JoJo Whilden / Netflix11. …and remember that word of mouth marketing is free (commissary credit is better spent on Kit Kats and instant ramen).JoJo Whilden / Netflix12. Find a quiet place to work out your ideas.JoJo Whilden / Netflix13. Celebrate your little wins.Cara Howe / Netflix14. Dress the part. How will anyone take you seriously in an orange jumpsuit?JoJo Whilden / Netflix15. Make an entrance at your next pitch. A cast says, “I mean business.”JoJo Whilden / Netflix16. And finally,embrace failure. You’ve already hit rock bottom—it’s all up from here, sis.Cara Howe / NetflixFeature image by Niall McClelland
About the author
Dayna Winter
Dayna Winter is a Lead Writer at Shopify, telling stories about the humans behind brands and the moments that motivate them to create. On the side, she resells vintage, runs a film-themed vacation rental, and is working on her green thumb.