Career advice. It's everywhere! (Raises hand: totally guilty: that's what C&C is all about.) But we've also talked plenty about how there is no one-size-fits-all for anything and that there are no rules for making it. Success is equal parts passion, hard work, and your personal touch-- the latter of which is the puzzle piece you need to figure out all on your own. 

Sometimes we hear advice that doesn't sit well with us. Or apply.

So we asked 5 successful women at various points in their careers what is common career advice that doesn't pass muster with them. 

SOPHIA ROSSI, CO-FOUNDER, HELLO GIGGLES thinks you've got the power within. 

"I don't agree that asking questions can give you the answers you need. Often we have all the questions within us ready to be answered."

JOAN BARNES, FOUNDER, GYMBOREE, heard the standard financial advice and then did things her own way. 

"After growing Gymboree organically into a successful Bay Area franchise business, I had the opportunity to expand nationally and internationally, which would require venture capital. All the advice I received cautioned that this would subject me to investors' financial goals  and drastically change my personal life. I went ahead, nonetheless, and Gymboree became one of the most successful consumer IPOs in history!"

EVA GOICOCHEA, CO-FOUNDER TINKER WATCHES & MAUDE, doesn't think you need to stay in a job two years. 

"My philosophy has always been that you should treat a job like an education: That is, you should be motivated to do your best because it is providing you with growth and learning opportunities. The moment that this ceases—or the point in which your trajectory is hindered by other BS (think work drama, bad culture, poor pay)—it's time to graduate and move on, even if you're only six months in. Why? Because the value you provide as an employee is your knowledge and your work ethic and if you've learned little and were deflated by your former job just because you waited until the two-year mark, then you're not going to be your best self for the next place."

RACHEL ASHWELL, FOUNDER, SHABBY CHIC, says no to succumbing to commerce trends. 

"I have been advised from time to time to sign off on a product or compromise design direction because its deemed to be commercial. But in cases where it’s not authentic and true to my brand, it doesn't sell. In my world of shabby chic there are specific values, qualities and it’s my job to stay true to those values no matter what the rest of the world is doing. " 

"It’s my job to stay true to my values no matter what the rest of the world is doing. " 

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JEN STITH, VP COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAND DEVELOPMENT, BUMBLE, thinks it takes more than "one person saying yes."

"Most people think that all you need is one person, one opportunity, one door to open to change your entire career-- that's true, to a degree, but it's only a quarter of the equation. If you feel stuck you need to be the one beating down every door you can until someone gives you the opportunity to prove yourself in a new arena. It's on you to go out and find it. And then you have to work equally, if not harder, to hold on to it." 

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