Fast Company Spring Mar/Apr 2020

This edition of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies may be our most diverse and surprising yet. Our signature list, featuring the top 50 businesses pushing boundaries today, includes an entertainment company in Seoul; an arts collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico; a Hong Kong–based mobile operating system; and a sustainable packaging company in Gilbert, Arizona. Add in our 44 targeted lists, which identify the year’s most innovative companies by industry and region, and this issue features 434 businesses from 39 countries that have inspired our editors with their inventiveness, impact, and relentless belief in their ideas. As varied as these lists may be, several themes have emerged, which reveal a lot about innovation in 2020. Consumer and enterprise demand for sustainable solutions has never been greater, and honorees such as Footprint,…

Qwatasia has a full-time job as a fraud analyst in Dallas, where she works the third shift—5 p.m. to 2 a.m.—Monday through Friday. But she finds it difficult to live on her salary. Sometimes, she’s short on rent as she waits for her next paycheck to hit. Qwatasia got a flat tire a few months ago. In the past, she might have put the $187 she needed to fix it on a credit card reserved for emergencies. But this time, she had another option: a cash advance from Dave, a banking app developed by a Silicon Valley startup that endears itself to users with help from its cartoon mascot, a bespectacled bear. “Dave helped me out, because I could set a date when I would pay him back,” Qwatasia tells me—then corrects…

Instagram @ABSTRACTSUNDAY Christoph Niemann is an artist who does work for The New Yorker. He takes dayto-day subjects and makes them into something clever. TV Show THE CROWN I like watching how the Windsor family continues to maintain their dynastic rule, funded by the public. Twitter @CHRISSYTEIGEN I struggle with Twitter and I’m not really a user, but when I need a little break I do always check in with Chrissy Teigen. Podcast EVERY LITTLE THING I love the episodes explaining why our body does weird things and the origins of random social behaviors. Slip Silk Sleep Mask ($50, SLIP.COM) “Using this mask helps me get into a meditative mindset, plus it’s so soft and I love how squishy it is.” —Tamara Mellon, founder and CEO, Tamara Mellon OFF SWITCH How to Wind Down “I lay out my workout clothes and make sure I have everything I…

01 Waking Up FROZEN’S “LET IT GO” OR “WHAT’S UP DANGER,” BLACK-WAY, BLACK CAVIAR My son loves both: We play them in the morning while we brush our teeth, get dressed, and dance. 02 Driving “HYPNOTIZE,” THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. My driver’s license lapsed over 10 years ago, but when I drove, I loved listening to ’90s hip-hop. 03 Working Out “MORNI BANKE,” GURU RANDHAWA Bollywood music gets me hyped, so it’s my go-to for working out, especially when I am doing sprints. 04 Hard at Work “FORMATION,” BEYONCÉ No one works harder than Queen B. 05 Psyching Up “DANCING ON MY OWN,” ROBYN My theme song. It makes me feel amazingly brave. 06 Mellowing Out “ALL OF ME,” JOHN LEGEND This song instantly puts me at ease no matter what else is going on in my day. Recess Drinks (8 FOR $39.99, TAKEARECESS.COM) “The CBD-infused…

The first thing you see when you walk into Omaze is a wall of employees’ childhood photos. The photos act as a reminder to employees of the Los Angeles-based company, which raises money for charity by offering chances to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences. “When you’re a kid, you use your imagination to think about what’s possible, to dream big without limits,” explains co-founder and CEO Matt Pohlson. “The photos remind us all to bring our inner child to work every day.” “Dream the world better” is the core of the Omaze vision. The company brings that vision to life in two ways. First, it does so through the chance to win incredible experiences, like a walk-on role in Star Wars or Pope Francis handing over the keys to a brand-new Lamborghini, and second,…

The fitness-guru streaming pioneer takes our career questionnaire. What is your best habit, and what is your worst? My best is being super consistent with my workouts, being present for my children, showing up for my family, making good food choices. My worst is being nonconfrontational. How do you unplug? I work hard until I know I totally deserve to truly unplug, so I can. What do you do when you’re creatively stuck? Deal with the roadblock. When I get stuck, it means I am not living truthfully in some way, so I face it and then the space opens up again. Is there a famous person you admire? Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Having that level of commitment to change any system or having a conversation with a culture before it is ready is powerful. What’s…