Every Time I Went On

Everything About My Journey To Get Spanx Off The Ground Entailed Me Having To Be A Salesperson - From Going To The Hosiery Mills To Get A Prototype Made To Calling Saks Fifth Avenue And Neiman Marcus. I Had To Position Myself To Get Five Minutes In The Door With Buyers.

When I Was Growing Up, My Dad Would Encourage My Brother And I To Fail. We Would Be Sitting At The Dinner Table And He Would Ask, 'so What Did You Guys Fail At This Week?' If We Didn't Have Something To Contribute, He Would Be Disappointed. When I Did Fail At Something, He'd High-five Me. What I Didn't Realize At The Time Was That He Was Completely Reframing My Definition Of Failure At A Young Age. To Me, Failure Means Not Trying; Failure Isn't The Outcome. If I Have To Look At Myself In The Mirror And Say, 'i Didn't Try That Because I Was Scared,' That Is Failure.

My Advice For An Entrepreneur Just Starting Out Is To Differentiate Yourself. Why Are You Different? What’s Important About You? Why Does The Customer Need You?

I Think Failure Is Nothing More Than Life's Way Of Nudging You That You Are Off Course. My Attitude To Failure Is Not Attached To Outcome, But In Not Trying. It Is Liberating. Most People Attach Failure To Something Not Working Out Or How People Perceive You. This Way, It Is About Answering To Yourself.

I Pledge To Invest In Women Because I Believe It Offers One Of The Greatest Returns On Investment. I Am Committed To The Belief That We Would All Be In A Much Better Place If Half The Human Race (women) Were Empowered To Prosper, Invent, Be Educated, Start Their Own Businesses, Run For Office Essentially Be Given The Chance To Soar.