6 'unhinged' things Sara Blakely did that ultimately shaped the success of her $1.2 billion Spanx empire | Fortune

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, revealed several things she did when she first started her billion-dollar brand that she now calls “unhinged.” Some of them include pitching Oprah Winfrey on her product in its early days and paying her friends to go buy her product at Neiman Marcus. Blakely is a beacon for female entrepreneurs, having become the first self-made female billionaire more than a decade ago. Sara Blakely ideated Spanx while she was a fax machine salesperson in the late 1990s. She was getting dressed for a party and wanted to wear her white pants that had hung in her closet for months-but she didn’t have the right undergarment to wear with them. She wanted a “smooth look” without the bulk of a classic girdle, so she cut off the feet of her control-top pantyhose-and Spanx was born. “I wanted my clothes to fit better, and so my own butt was the inspiration,” Blakely said during Fortune ’s 2014 Most Powerful Women Summit . “I might be the only woman in the world grateful to my cellulite.” That moment is eventually what would make her a billionaire , but her success story didn’t happen overnight. In an Instagram post , Blakely shared six “unhinged” things she did while starting Spanx, where she served as CEO until 2021. Her company-which she launched with just $5,000 in savings -is worth $1.2 billion today. Blakely became a billionaire in 2012, and was named the youngest self-made female billionaire by Forbes that year. Forbes estimates her current net worth at $1.2 billion . Spanx license plate Blakely said she bought a Spanx license plate as a means of advertising, according to her Instagram post. She said women started following her home asking her for free Spanx, which can now cost up to $148 depending on the product. Now, Spanx relies heavily on celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing. It wasn’t until 2024 that the brand launched its first global brand campaign , “We Live In Spanx,” which featured track star Allyson Felix, social-media star Nadia Caterina Munno, and women’s rights advocate and model Charli Howard. Reality star Against the advice of her parents, boyfriend, and lawyer, Blakely signed up for a reality TV show, The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best. From 2004-2005, Blakely starred on the show hosted by British entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Richard Branson. She finished second, but still won $750,000, and used that money to start her own philanthropic organization. The Sara Blakely Foundation has donated more than $5 million in scholarships and grants to aspiring female entrepreneurs. “20 years ago, I started Spanx with $5,000 in savings and I see this as a time to pay it forward. Small business is the backbone of our culture,” Blakely wrote in a 2020 LinkedIn post. “I know what it’s like to be a small business owner, and I want to provide some relief to these entrepreneurs during this time.” Writing to Oprah Blakely says she mailed her Spanx prototype...

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