Sara Blakely’s innovation led her to a billion-dollar business brand that changed the way women feel about their clothes. Sara Blakely’s, the founder and creator of success with Spanx shows what happens when you refuse to give up on an idea. Sara Blakely the entrepreneur and founder of Spanx, a multi-billion-dollar hosiery company, started by selling door-to-door fax machine. Frustration over absence of good fitted undergarment for her white pants led to germination of an idea that unknowingly became the stepping stone for Spanx.
Sara Blakely, youngest female billionaire
Despite having no experience in fashion, retail, or business leadership, Sara Blakely founded the now famed shapewear company Spanx in 2000. In 2012, Blakely was crowned the youngest self-made billionaire by Forbes, appearing on its cover at age 41. Today, at 53, she ranks 22nd on Forbes’ list of America’s self-made women with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
Who was Sara Blakely before Spanx
Sara Blakely born on February 27, 1971, in Florida to Ellen and John Blakely completed her high school from Clearwater High School and attended Florida State University. Her dream was to be a lawyer just like her father, but failed in her LSAT twice. At this point, she decided to look in a different direction. She auditioned for the part of Goofy in the Disney world but was not selected due to her height. Later in her life, she started selling fax machines, going door to door without any leads or sales lists. During her tough times, she never gave up hope. After a few years of selling fax machines, she understood she was good at sales and wanted to create a journey of her own story with her own product.
How Spanx founder Sara Blakely became successful?
In 1998, the founder and former CEO of the women’s shapewear brand Spanx was working as a fax machine salesperson when she got the inspiration for the same. She had a white pant which she was hanging in her closet for good eight months without wear as she was unable to get the “smooth look” she wanted. Blakely wanted to wear something can avoid showing her panty lines. She also wanted something that come without the bulk of the girdle, that’s when she cut the feet off control-top pantyhose. And that simple fix gave her the idea to create a product that could solve the same problem for millions of women and made Blakely a billionaire.
Small investment big return
Blakely had never taken a business class in her life, nor had she worked in fashion or retail and she had only $5,000 to her name to invest in the business. A string of hosiery manufacturers turned Blakely’s initial pitch down. At first, no one believed in her idea. Hosiery mills rejected her. Potential partners dismissed her. But Sara didn’t take no for an answer.
Sara Blakely’s big break
In 2000, Sara pitched her product to Neiman Marcus. Blakely was about five minutes into her pitch when she realized her idea wasn’t totally resonating with the buying representative, so she made a snap decision to model the product. She guided the buying rep to the bathroom, modeled her white pants with and without Spanx on and in that moment, her concept was received. Neiman Marcus placed their first big order for Spanx.
Sara also got affirmative nods from Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Bergdorf Goodman. Sara used to sit all night, packing Spanx and mailing them off. She was a 24/7, one-woman customer service machine. Then, Oprah featured Spanx on her Favorite Things list and that one moment catapulted the brand to success.
By the end of year one, Spanx made $4 million in sales. By year two, that doubled to $10 million.
Personal touch
Sara didn’t follow a traditional business model. She ran her company with a personal touch, connecting directly with customers and employees. She spent two years visiting stores herself, talking to shoppers, and building trust. Instead of focusing on perfection, she embraced vulnerability. Sara even used her own “before and after” photos to promote the brand.
Sara: A one man army
Sara Blakely was determined that she wanted no outside funding. She made a critical decision to put everything she earned from Spanx back into the business. This allowed her to keep 100% of the equity in her company. Though her growth has been slower than what she expected, but Spanx was her own company. To this day, Sara owns her company outright. No partners. No stockholders. and no board of directors. All the profits go in Sara’s pockets.
It’s all about mindset
Sara believes success starts in the mind. After personal hardships at 16, she began focusing on mindset practicing visualization, overcoming fear, and ignoring what others thought of her.
One of her key lessons? “Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself.” Sara believed that facing embarrassment head-on takes away its power.
Sara Blakely Foundation
In 2006, Blakely established the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation. This foundation supports women through entrepreneurship, education, and arts. She has donated to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and, in 2013. She also became the first woman to join “The Giving Pledge”, a movement founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet through which some of the world’s wealthiest people have pledged at least half of their overall fortune to charity.
Sara’s journey, specifically focuses on identifying a market gap, believing in the product, self-funding, and direct-to-consumer strategy, provides valuable guidelines for any entrepreneurship. The Spanx story encourages everyone to transform personal frustration into innovative solutions and potentially successful businesses. Sara’s resilience and rising from failure is an inspiration for millions of young entrepreneurs due to her massive success. Sara’s success story with Spanx is proof enough an idea, the courage to act on it, and the determination to keep going can make one go places.
