I watched an inspiring documentary about a lady entrepreneur and I think her story is worth sharing. Her name is Sara Blakely. She took $5,000 in personal savings and transformed it into a $500 million dollar-a-year company called Spanx…and she revolutionized women’s undergarments in the process.
What makes it more remarkable, is that she has never taken a business class in her life, or even worked in a related industry. Read below & be inspired- the principles of success are timeless and borderless:
Blakely was born to a Jewish family on February 21, 1971, in Florida, the daughter of a personal injury lawyer and an artist. She attended Clearwater High School and graduated from Florida State University with a degree in communications.
Her plan to become an attorney was altered after twice doing poorly on the LSAT and she instead took a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida where she worked for 3 months. She also worked as a stand-up comedian from time to time.
After her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted a job with Danka, an office supply company, where she sold fax machines door-to-door. She was quite successful in sales and was promoted to national sales trainer at the age of 25.
Her plan to become an attorney was altered after twice doing poorly on the LSAT and she instead took a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida where she worked for 3 months. She also worked as a stand-up comedian from time to time.
After her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted a job with Danka, an office supply company, where she sold fax machines door-to-door. She was quite successful in sales and was promoted to national sales trainer at the age of 25.
Having been forced to wear pantyhose in the hot Florida climate, Blakely disliked the appearance of the seamed foot while wearing open-toed shoes but liked the fact that the control-top eliminated panty lines and made the body appear firmer. She experimented by cutting off the feet of her pantyhose while wearing them under a new pair of slacks; unfortunately the experiment was not successful as the pantyhose continuously rolled up her legs (the original pants are now enshrined at Spanx headquarters).
At age 27, she moved to Atlanta, and while still working at Danka, spent the next 2 years and her entire $5,000 in savings researching hosiery patents and visiting craft stores to find the right material for her product. Eventually coming upon a solution, she wrote her own patent from a Barnes & Noble textbook and incorporated her company under the name Spanx.
At age 27, she moved to Atlanta, and while still working at Danka, spent the next 2 years and her entire $5,000 in savings researching hosiery patents and visiting craft stores to find the right material for her product. Eventually coming upon a solution, she wrote her own patent from a Barnes & Noble textbook and incorporated her company under the name Spanx.
Turned away by numerous mills who did not see the value of her idea, she eventually found a hosiery factory in Asheboro, North Carolina, which was willing to make her product. She successfully pitched her idea to Neiman-Marcus by personally taking the buyer to the ladies restroom to show her the benefits of Spanx in person. Bloomingdales, Saks, and Bergdorf Goodman soon followed. She handled all aspects of the business from marketing, logistics, and product positioning (preferring that Spanx be sold alongside shoes rather than in hosiery).
In November 2000, Oprah Winfrey named Spanx her favourite product of the year and sales took off; soon after Blakely resigned from Danka. Spanx had $4 million in sales in its 1st year and $10 million in sales in its 2nd year. In 2001, she signed a contract with QVC, the home shopping channel, where she sold 8,000 pairs in the first 6 minutes.
In 2012, Forbes named the Spanx founder and inventor the world’s youngest, self-made female billionaire. With Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement, 20,000 pairs of Spanx were sold in less than a day. Spanx can now be found in over 50 countries worldwide.
She owns 100% of her company, has no outside investors, and has never spent a penny on advertising. As with many inventions, it all began as a solution to a nagging problem.
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