Spanx founder Sara Blakely gives staff $10,000, plane tickets

NEW YORK — (NEW YORK) -- Sara Blakely is probably going down as one of 2021's best bosses ever.

The Spanx founder recently announced that she is giving the company's employees two first-class Delta plane tickets to travel anywhere in the world.

She also gave $10,000 for them each to spend on the trip.

"I really want every employee to celebrate this moment in their own way and create a memory that will last them a lifetime," Blakely captioned a video celebrating the moment.

Ahead of sharing the exciting news with her staff, Blakely choked up on the video as she reflected on initially writing down that Spanx, an underwear company focused on shapewear, would one day become a $20 million-dollar business.

"Everybody laughed at me, but I really believed that," she continued.

Fast forward, a little over 20 years later and Spanx is valued at $1.2B, according to Business Wire. Global investment firm Blackstone also recently bought a majority stake in the company.

Since posting the special occasion on Instagram, it's been viewed a million times with many comments.

"So inspired by you and what you created and the women you've impacted along the way Sara," said former professional football player Lewis Howes.

Cat Oshman chimed in saying, "This had me in tears of joy. Love this so much and I admire the accomplishments + all the encouragement Sara brings to women today. Here's to building our dreams and bringing others along the way!"

When asked where they are going to go, Spanx employees responded with destinations such as Croatia, South Africa and Antarctica.

One employee said she'd be taking her gifts to go on her honeymoon to Bora Bora while another said he would fly to Sweden and elope with his girlfriend.

"GMA" reached out to Spanx for comment.

In a previous post, Blakely opened up about the brand's milestone in selling to Blackstone saying how proud she is.

"I've bootstrapped this for 21 years and I can't wait to see what we can do for our customers with Blackstone's full global resources behind us," she said. "I'm eternally grateful to the customers, employees (past and present), vendors, retailers, friends and family who stood by me while I took the leap. Let today inspire all the dreamers out there who care the most."

She continued: " After meeting with the all-female deal team, I knew they were the right partners to grow our mission and scale our purpose. Now together with Blackstone, we will have even more opportunity to further our mission of making the world a better place… one butt at a time!"

In 2012, Blakely was named Forbes Magazines' youngest self-made billionaire.

Today, the company offers leggings, clothing, activewear, maternity wear and more.

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