“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

—Thomas A. Edison

Today’s story is about Sara Blakely.

Every night at dinner Sara’s dad asked, “What did you fail at today?” Sara would excitedly report back, “Dad, I tried out for this sport today and I was horrible!” Or that she auditioned for a play—and was wonderfully bad!

Dad’s response? “Way to go!” A high five came next.

Sara Blakely at the 2012 Time 100 Gala
Photo: David Shankbone

Sara Blakely’s nightly failure reports, and celebratory high fives, ended up shaping her life. It was a lesson from Dad that paid off big! This 42-year-old entrepreneur recently graced the cover of the Forbes billionaire issue. (The youngest self-made female billionaire to do so).

Sara is the founder/inventor of Spanx — special slimming, no panty-line underwear. Thousands of women around the world swear by them. Reality star Kim Kardashian wears Spanx. Jennifer Lopez does too. Over 10,000 retail locations carry the product.

There are over 200 types of the body-shaping garments, even Spanx designed for pregnant women. Spanx swimwear. Yes, even Spanx for dudes, too. READ MORE