Julie Wainwright, the founder and CEO of The RealReal, has just published one such memoir. In it, she goes deep inside her rocky road of a career as a skilled, successful entrepreneur. In this book is the story of those challenges. Not to mention one large hurdle—her sudden firing from The RealReal in 2022, a company she founded in 2010 that first began to crack open the online luxury consignment market. Wainwright’s narrative provides readers with a blend of personal struggles and professional challenges, showcasing her resilience and the lessons learned along the way.
Then in 2022, Wainwright went through a major shocker herself. The board members she had handpicked personally voted her out of The RealReal. This surprise exit sent her into what she describes as a “deep, dark, long winter.” In between, the only offers she got were to take the reins of turnaround efforts at faltering firms. And Wainwright, as always, is honest about the rounding-up-the-cats emotional fallout from all her failure. She’s dealing with the extreme effects of abandonment and loss.
Wainwright is no stranger to adversity. In the year 2000 alone, she led the IPO of Pets.com. She closed it down later that same year because of the dot-com bubble burst. On the day she informed employees about the closure, she faced an additional personal blow: her husband requested a divorce. This double whammy prompted Wainwright to ponder her future, admitting, “My work is gone, I’m getting a divorce, and I don’t have children,” at the age of 42.
Her time with Pets.com was likely complicated by the media circus that ensued after its closure. To Wainwright, the reporting was “absolutely excessively negative and intrusive.” By next week, reporters were knocking on her door, although we doubt she answered it. This increased scrutiny contributed to her distress during what has been one of the most difficult times in her life.
Even in the face of these obstacles, Wainwright found a way to get back up. She started The RealReal, bringing on their first hire and drawing heavily on that experience to help shape their inner workings. Just because she moved on from the company, she never gave up on it. She vigorously defended the current CEO from critics as he tried to push the company into the future.
Wainwright has continued to speak out about her negative experience leading to her departure from The RealReal. She frames it as a short-term “power play.” An investor, dissatisfied with the performance of the company and financial returns on his investments, thought he could better manage the company’s day-to-day operations. “No founder is ever going to say they need to be shot and removed,” she remarked, reflecting on her complex relationship with corporate governance.
What we get in Wainwright’s memoir is not just the story of her journey, but the hard-earned, practical wisdom that came from it. She paints out ideas such as a leadership-evaluation quadrant picked up from McKinsey bigwigs, wanting to arm would-be entrepreneurs with the rich lessons. “I personally wrote it for entrepreneurs to give them a realistic view and hopefully inspire them and, you know, maybe they’ll think twice and not make the mistakes I made,” Wainwright stated.
Her entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop once she left The RealReal. In 2019, Wainwright took her nutrition business, Ahara, through the classic IPO path. She started her company Ahara to develop DNA-driven nutritional recommendations tailored to individual needs. From unforgettable concerts and raves to much-needed political gatherings, this was her second successful journey to Wall Street—a feat few entrepreneurs have achieved.
Wainwright’s journey is one of clear victories and painful challenges, highlighting reality of what it means to be an entrepreneur. She openly discusses how some individuals “need to bully and coerce and to be on top supersede their abilities,” providing a stark warning about destructive leadership styles.
Wainwright’s memoir is much more than an event-oriented travel narrative. It explores broadly and deeply the theme of resilience, especially in the face of adversity. Her refreshing candor shines through as she names names and shares tough truths that can benefit current and future leaders.