- 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 this week, 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 $1.3 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 and a handwritten note to media mogul Oprah Winfrey, telling her how much Winfrey had inspired her and asked her to try her invention.
In 2006, Oprah praised Blakely’s invention, and even named it as her favorite product of the year.
“Spanx really changed the way I wore clothes,” Oprah said on her show in 2006. “When Sara first came on The Oprah Show to tell us about her idea for Spanx, I knew it was brilliant. We’d all been cutting off our pantyhose for years! So from the moment I wore my first pair, they became a staple in my wardrobe.”
Paying her friends
Blakely also admitted she paid all of her friends to go into Neiman Marcus department stores and buy her product so “it wouldn’t tank.” The product launched at Neiman Marcus in 2000. Blakely said she had just 10 minutes to first pitch Neiman Marcus and she had to buy her own flight from Atlanta to Dallas to visit the company’s buying office.
“The buying rep immediately said ‘Oh I get it. It’s brilliant—and I’m gonna put it in seven stores,” Blakley said during the Fortune MPW interview. “It was unbelievable.”
Shipping with no tracking
While Spanx was still in startup mode, Blakely said she shipped out orders in regular envelopes with “absolutely no tracking numbers.” Now, Spanx has its own sophisticated e-commerce site and is sold across many department stores in more than 50 countries.
Sneaking into stores
Blakely also admitted she would sneak into stores where Spanx were being sold and would move the products from the back corner to right by the cash registers.
“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Blakely wrote.
