By now, you’ve probably heard of the term “girlboss,” coined by nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso, that encapsulated millennial working women’s appetite for ambition.But a decade later-and thanks to Gen Z workers who introduced Bare Minimum Mondays and quiet quitting to the working world-the girlboss era seems to be coming to its end. Now its antihero-the “Snail Girl”-has swept Australian workplaces and gained traction on TikTok.
As the name suggests, Snail Girls are taking their work at a snail’s pace.
“A snail girl takes her time and creates to create,” explained the Australian fashion designer Sienna Ludbey, founder of Hello Sisi, who came up with the concept. “She’s running her own race, and maybe that race isn’t going anywhere but home and back to bed.”
In a column published in the Australian magazine Fashion Journal on why she’s choosing to slow down and be happy rather than busy, Ludbey added being a “snail girl” is not about stopping work completely, but rather not being so hard on yourself-and prioritizing work-life balance.
“Think of it as a time to put yourself first, set personal and professional boundaries, and protect your peace,” she added.
Why a self-confessed ‘girl boss’ chooses to work at a snail’s pace
ludbey came up with the idea after five years of being “consumed with being a girl boss” left its mark.
Having quit her job in 2018 to focus on her online fashion store, she soon became “addicted” to constantly chasing success. But recently Ludbey said she started to see “cracks” in what she “once thought was everything”.
It suddenly dawned on Ludbey success no longer felt like the be-all and end-all-and as the overwhelming sparkle of her girl boss persona “dulled,” her inner “snail girl” was born.
“The next chapter means I’m slower and kinder to myself,” she explained.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long before the concept of slowing down took off, with multiple Australian outlets reporting on the rising popularity of the trend and TikTokers claiming it resonated with them.
“this girlboss is rolling over in her grave,” Maggie Zhou joked on tiktok. “Welcome to the snail girl era. I’m obsessed with this idea.”