Sara Blakely
"It took a lot of persistence. I was coming in and disrupting an entire industry."
Sara Blakely invented footless control top pantyhose and created the Spanx brand, which has revolutionized and become synonymous with shapewear. Founded with a $5,000 personal investment, Spanx Inc. grew into a billion-dollar company, and Blakely became the youngest self-made woman billionaire and a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Blakely was born in Clearwater, Florida, in 1971. Growing up, she frequently developed creative ideas, from sock charms to a neighborhood newspaper to a game she called “Adventure.” She attended Florida State University, earning her bachelor’s degree in communications in 1993, and then took a job selling fax machines in Florida, and later in Atlanta, where she became a national sales trainer. “When I was selling fax machines door to door, I kept feeling like I'm in the wrong movie,” Blakely recalled in an interview with NPR’s “How I Built This” podcast. “I was really determined to create a better life for myself.” Her path came into focus as she identified a need for a better undergarment.
In 1998, as Blakely got ready for a party, she wanted the smooth look and feel of pantyhose under a pair of white pants, but she didn’t want the hosiery to show on her feet. Footless pantyhose did not exist, so Blakely cut the feet off hers. Her experiment worked, but with one notable drawback: the pantyhose would constantly roll up. So, Blakely set out to not only improve her idea but also turn it into a successful new product.
After conducting a patent search at the Georgia Tech library, Blakely asked a sales associate at her local Neiman Marcus if customers would be interested in buying footless pantyhose. Blakely recalled that the associate’s face “lit up” as she said that many customers had been making their own homemade version of just such a product. With this answer, Blakely understood there would be a market for her invention.
While selling fax machines, Blakely spent her nights and weekends turning her idea into a reality. “I didn’t have experience in fashion. I had never taken a business class in my life. I didn't know anybody in the industry,” she said. To develop a prototype, she called many potential manufacturers and then drove to North Carolina to meet with the most promising one. Initially, this manufacturer rejected Blakely’s idea, but when he went home and had dinner with his three daughters, they convinced him to work with Blakely. “It took a few visits and a lot of persistence,” Blakely said. “I was coming in and disrupting an entire industry. They were making hosiery to be seen on the leg, and I didn’t need it to be seen anywhere. It was actually going to be hidden under clothes. It was a new type of undergarment.”
Blakely wrote her own patent and her mother, an artist, provided the prototype sketch. She then found a patent lawyer to help complete the patent application process, and she trademarked the Spanx name. “I'd read that made-up words do better for products than real words do, and they're easier to trademark,” Blakely explained. She also felt that brand names containing an “x” can be especially attention-grabbing. She chose the Spanx name in part because it was “kind of funny and a little risky.”
The Spanx product design featured a LYCRA® fiber waistband and elastic leg bands that enabled adjustable placement and prevented rolling. The cotton gusset – more comfortable than nylon – allowed for stretch and recovery, keeping it in place and increasing comfort during movement. Impressed by Blakely’s before-and-after product demonstration, a buyer at Neiman Marcus introduced Spanx at seven stores, and Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman soon followed. Blakely also sent her products to Oprah Winfrey, winning over her first of many celebrity customers.
Following the publicity generated by Winfrey naming Spanx one of her “Favorite Things” in November 2000, Blakely resigned from her sales job, and in 2001, she signed a contract with the QVC home shopping channel. Within her first five minutes on the air with QVC, she’d sold 8,000 pairs of Spanx. Blakely never took outside investment and owned 100% of Spanx Inc. for its first 21 years of business. Until 2016, the company never paid for advertising. Instead, it relied on Blakely’s media appearances, high-profile endorsements and word-of-mouth to become a household name. Spanx brought in $4 million during its first year on the market and $10 million in year two.
After finding early success, Blakely founded the Red Backpack Foundation (RBF) in 2006 (formerly the Sara Blakely Foundation). The RBF is committed to changing the way women see themselves and the way the world sees women by empowering them through education, entrepreneurship and the arts. The foundation has supported initiatives including partnering with 3DE to launch the Mindset Series based on Blakely's insights for high school students; investing in Rethink Impact, a venture fund backing women leaders driving innovation; and creating the Belly Art Project, a movement and book celebrating motherhood while supporting the cause of making childbirth safe for women everywhere.
Blakely has funded scholarships for thousands of girls to engage in hands-on invention education at Camp Invention®. “Only 13% of primary patent holders are women, and when I started Spanx, that number was even lower … it was only 6.8%," Blakely said. “My hope is that this gift will inspire the next generation of female leaders and industry disruptors. Women have so many gifts to bring into the world … imagine if their full potential could be realized.”
Blakely was named one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People” by Time Magazine in 2012. In 2013, she signed the Giving Pledge, in which individuals commit to giving a majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime or wills. Continuing to invent, Blakely launched Sneex in 2024, a luxury hybrid heel (hy-heel) brand that combines the style of a stiletto with the engineering of a comfortable sneaker.
