What It's Like Inside Spanx Headquarters Failure is supported -- and even encouraged -- at the billion-dollar shapewear brand.
By Hayden Field • Originally published
This story appears in the December 2019 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
When Spanx founder Sara Blakely was young, her father would ask her at the dinner table, "What did you fail at this week?" After sharing her missteps, she'd receive encouragement to keep trying. It's a lesson she infused in her billion-dollar shapewear brand -- to be bold and take risks, because removing the fear of failure can lead to great things. That's why employees at Spanx are encouraged to work on projects outside their department, and team activities are designed to inspire courageousness. Meanwhile, the company doesn't take itself too seriously: Puns abound at its Atlanta headquarters, which is home to meeting spaces with names like Booby Trap and Brallywood. The room overlooking a popular burger joint? It's called Shape Shack.
Related: Spanx Founder Sara Blakely Has 99 Pages of Business Ideas
