You’ve got to embrace what you don’t know.

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.

Within the first year of launching my company, Spanx, I decided to go over to England and cold-call Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges the same way I had cold-called Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's here in the United States.

I think very early on in life we all learn what we're good at and what we're not good at, and we stay where it's safe.

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know.

When something I can't control happens, I ask myself : where is the hidden gift, where is the positive in this?

Perseverance is the key to starting a successful business.