Seven Career Tips Straight from Rachel Zoe's Resume

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In a video for Glamour, stylist/designer/EIC/soon-to-be talk show host Rachel Zoe walks us through her resume to explain how she ended up with all those varied titles. She dishes a little bit about her long-running Bravo reality show ("it was very good for for my business but very hard for my personal life."), but the video is mainly an interesting look at how Zoe jumped from one high-profile gig to the next. Here are seven of her most inspiring quotes from the video, organized by the career tips we honed in on:

Working at a restaurant prepares you for life. "I think restaurant experience is one of the greatest jobs. You’re getting your hands dirty, you’re working crazy hours. I think it’s like a boot camp."

Go above and beyond for your dream job. Even though Zoe didn't major in anything fashion-related, she scored a job as a fashion assistant at YM through a recommendation from her "parent’s friends’ daughter-in-law’s sister’s friend." She said in the video: "I got paid pretty much nothing, working three days a week. But I wanted to go in five so I would just go in on my off days because it was all I wanted to do."

Don't be afraid to take a leap. Zoe left her gig as senior fashion editor at YM to style pop stars like Britney Spears. "You know what, I’m 25, it's now or never, close my eyes hold my nose and jump. And I did."

If you don't trust the people you're working with, walk. She says of her time in 2007 working as a creative consultant to Halston: "I don’t think I’d ever been more excited about anything in my life. But I think at the end of the day, when you realize that you can’t trust the people that you’re working with everyday, you have to leave. Immediately, if not sooner. Run, don’t walk."

Timing is everything. "Everyone had always asked me, ‘When are you going to be a designer?’ I said not yet, not sure if I’m ever going to do it. I knew the reality of what it takes to be a designer, so I really needed to wait until I was ready to make the jump."

Focus on your triumphs. "When I got inducted to the CFDA for me that was dream fulfilled. I literally had the biggest smile on my face. I look at it everyday and it makes me happy. Because that was a thing I never thought I could be a part of, ever.

It's all hard work. "The sky’s the limit for what you can do, but don’t expect anyone to hand it to you. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It’s really hard work, all of it. Go for it."