You’ve probably heard of Spanx. Maybe you even own a pair, or two—or six. But did you know that Spanx were born out of a need? Required to wear pantyhose at her then-sales job in humid, muggy Florida, Spanx founder Sara Blakely didn’t mind how the hose made her body appear more firm and eliminated panty lines, but she hated how hosiery looked in open toed shoes. What Sara needed was an alternative to pantyhose—a problem she fixed with a pair a scissors. Little did she know that a how-to-write-a-patent book and the $5000 she saved selling fax machines door-to-door (it was the ‘90s after all) she was building the foundation of her empire.
Sara cold-called buyers and pleaded with male hosiery mill owners to make her a prototype, but they did not see the value of her idea. Luckily one manufacturer’s three daughters encouraged him to take Sara’s request and Spanx was officially born. Add in a sprinkle of Neiman Marcus, a giant splash of Oprah, and Spanx soon became the household name it is today.
In 2012 Forbes announced Sara Blakely as the youngest female self-made billionaire, and since then she’s only been on this rise. Sara’s a dedicated philanthropist with her Sara Blakely Foundation which helps women through education and entrepreneurial training. She is also the first female billionaire who, alongside Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, signed the ‘Giving Pledge’ which pledges to donate half of her wealth to charity.
Sara’s a mother of 4, wife to entrepreneur Jesse Itzler, and she sat down on ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ to discuss how she does it all.
“My dad is this strategic, persuasive attorney, and my mom is this very soft spoken, compassionate artist.”
“One of my favorite things to do was to go and watch my father’s closing arguments in court.” -Sara Blakely, early on, wanted to be a lawyer
Sara used to convince her neighbors to decorate for Halloween and then charge the all the other kids to tour through – a young entrepreneur!
Sara, the youngest female billionaire, had a roundabout journey to success – starting w/ failing the LSAT and being too short to play Goofy!
“I sold fax machines door-to-door for seven years in Florida. I learned how important it is for you to get your message out there quickly.”
“I heard the word NO for two years when I was trying to get SPANX made, but I had experience with that.”
“The true Aha! moment that led me to SPANX was my own butt!”
“I wrote: I want to invent a product that I can sell to millions of people that will make them feel good.”
“This might be why our undergarments are so uncomfortable: the people making them aren’t wearing them all day!”
“Use words like ‘I know’ and ‘I will,’ instead of ‘I think’ and ‘I like’.”
“I get flashed everywhere I go! The most conservative women will whip out their bra to show me what they like and dislike.”
“Ideas are the most vulnerable the moment we have them.” -Sara Blakely didn’t tell her friends and family about her SPANX idea for a year
“I just approached it like I was talking to my friends over a drink.” -Sara Blakely on designing the first SPANX packaging
“In her first SPANX pitch, Sara brought the buyer into the bathroom to show her before and after on her own body!
“I learned very quickly that my biggest obstacle was where I was located in the store.”
“I ended up creating outposts, and I would stand at a table elsewhere in the store and sell SPANX.”
“I’d buy card holders from Target, throw some SPANX in them, and put them at every register. Everyone thought someone else approved it.”
I asked friends and family to buy SPANX and sent them a check for reimbursement, so I made sure I showed good numbers.”
“I put it in a gift basket with a heartfelt note and sent it to her.” -Sara Blakely on gaining @Oprah‘s early support of SPANX
“Being a fish out of water has its advantages!” -Sara Blakely on founding SPANX in Atlanta
“What you don’t know can be your biggest asset. It’s going to ensure you do things differently from everyone else.”
“I own 100% of SPANX, it’s 16-years-old, and we’ve never advertised.”
“Courage is the strength to do things in spite of fear, not without fear.”
“Growing up, at the dinner table, my dad would encourage us to all share what we’d failed at. The only failure is not trying.”
“What you risk is in direct proportion to the magnificence of the journey!”
If you hashtag #siriusxm on one of her photos, you just may win a pair of SPANX leggings!
And, of course, we’ve gotta send a big #Welcome2Instagram to Sara! Follow her on IG at @sarablakely!
Join Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg every Wednesday only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET/9am PT!!
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[…] is the strength to do things in spite of fear, not without fear,” she said on a radio episode of “Dot Complicated.” “The only failure is not […]