Last week, 800 attendees gathered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for two days of inspiration, community building and talks from some of the world’s best known companies—from Spanx, JetBlue, Birchbox, Away, FitBit, Edible Arrangements, Stacy's Pita Chips, Drybar, Allbirds to Instagram—and the movements they built.
Regardless if they were working with footless pantyhose, fruit-shaped into flowers or wool shoes, the themes that ran through the event were kindness, compassion and hard work.
Kindness is free to give and, ultimately, good for business. If you are a solo founder or a team of five, no one can build a company alone, and it’s integral to collaborate with your team, partners and community. And lastly, founding and building a company is difficult, both mentally and physically—it’s gritty, messy and very hard work!
Photo: Brian Byllesby, NPR (via Twitter)
Thoughts from the event:
You don’t have all the answers: Marcia Kilgore (Beauty Pie) and Sara Blakely (Spanx) emphasized that having a lifelong learner mindset was key to their success. Both still keep journals to this day, writing down new ideas that come to mind.
Be customer obsessed and take feedback: When Jen Rubio (Away) crowdsourced for the perfect suitcase, Away received so much feedback that it was almost paralyzing. Ultimately, it’s up to the team to decipher the signal from the noise and to trust your instincts. Customers don’t always know what they want until they see it, and of course what they will actually pay for might be something different!
Build something you love: No one starts a company with an exit strategy in mind. For Stacy Madison (Stacy’s Pita Chips), she set out with two objectives: to make a living and not waste old pita bread.
Harness the power of the community: Jeni Britton Bauer (Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream) brought it back to her roots and shared that, if you ask for help, people will show up for you. She credits Jeni’s headquarters, Columbus, OH, as a strong community that has supported her for the last 17+ years.
Being surrounded by so many hardworking, inspiring stories at How I Built This Summit reminded me that change can happen anywhere, anytime. Change isn’t limited to a zip code, your current job, or your background—you can still be creative and make an impact!
Have you listened to the How I Built This podcast? You really can’t go wrong with any episode, but sharing my top five to get you started:
How I Built This: Spanx
How I Built This: Dave’s Killer Bread
How I Built This: Stitchfix
How I Built This: Chicken Salad Chick
How I Built This: Dippin Dots