Sara Blakely is an American businesswoman and founder of Spanx, a multi-million-dollar
undergarment company. In 2012 Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100" annual
list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and also entered the Forbes list
of the world's wealthiest people, as the world's then youngest self-made female billionaire.
As of 2014, she is listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Early life Blakely was born on February 27, 1971, in
Clearwater, Florida, United States, the daughter of a trial attorney and an artist. She attended
Clearwater High School and graduated from Florida State University, where she was a
member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, with a degree in communications.
Career Although she initially planned to become an
attorney, an unsuccessful Law School Admission Test performance caused her to reconsider,
and she instead accepted a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, U.S., where she
worked for three months. She also occasionally worked as a stand-up comedian during this
period. After her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted
a job with office supply company Danka, 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.
Forced to wear pantyhose in the hot Floridian climate for her sales role, Blakeley disliked
the appearance of the seamed foot while wearing open-toed shoes, but liked the way that the
control-top model eliminated panty lines and made her body appear firmer. For her attendance
at a private party, she experimented by cutting off the feet of her pantyhose while wearing
them under a new pair of slacks and found that the pantyhose continuously rolled up
her legs, but she also achieved the desired result.
At age 27, Blakely relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., and while still working at Danka, spent
the next two years and $5,000 savings researching and developing her hosiery idea. On enquiring
she found that there were no female patent lawyers operating in the entire state of Georgia.
Unwilling to spend the $3,000-$5,000 quoted in legal fees, she instead wrote her own patent
after purchasing a textbook from Barnes & Noble. Blakely then drove to the state of North Carolina,
the location of most of America's hosiery mills to present her idea but was turned away
by every representative. Used to dealing with established companies, they did not see the
value of her idea. Two weeks after arriving home from her North Carolina trip, Blakely
received a call from a male mill operator based in Asheboro, North Carolina who offered
to support Blakely's concept, as he had received strong encouragement from his two daughters.
Blakely further explained in 2011 that the experience of developing her idea also revealed
to her that the hosiery manufacturing industry was overseen solely by males who were not
using the products they were producing. The creation of the initial product prototype
was completed over the course of a year and involved Blakey, her mother and her friends
personally testing the garments—this was innovative at the time, as the industry did
not test products with people. Blakely's research revealed that the industry had previously
been using the same-size waistband for all hosiery products to cut costs, and a rubber
cord was also inserted into the waistband. For her product development, Blakely created
different waistbands to suit different-sized consumers.
Blakely then returned to a patent attorney to finalize her application prior to her submission
to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and he agreed to assist Blakely for
a sum of US$700. Following the submission of the online application, Blakely then worked
on the packaging of her product, which she intended to be bold and colored red, as the
other brands at the time were all packaged in "beige, white or grey", and displayed the
same type of female model. In addition to coloring her packaging red, Blakely used three
animated images of different-looking women, which was also novel at the time. In terms
of the other information that is displayed on hosiery packaging, Blakely bought 10 different
product brands from a department store to use as a guide.
Requiring a brand name for her product, Blakely was frustrated after not being able to settle
on a title she was satisfied with after about a year-and-a-half of ideation. At the time
of finalizing a brand name, Blakely knew that Coca-Cola and Kodak were the two most recognized
brand names in the world, with both containing a strong "k" sound. Blakely read that the
founder of Kodak liked the sound so much that he used it as the beginning and end of his
brand name and then proceeded to create a functioning word based upon this foundation.
Blakely had also been informed by comedienne friends that the "k" sound is a trade secret
to ensure laughter from an audience. Then, while sitting in traffic, the name "Spanks"
came to Blakely and she decided shortly afterwards that she would replace the "ks" with an "x",
as her research had shown that constructed names were more successful and were also easier
to register as a trademark. Blakely then used her credit card to purchase the "Spanx" trademark
on the USPTO website for US$350. Blakely managed to arrange a meeting with
a representative of the Neiman Marcus Group, at which she changed into the product in the
ladies restroom in the presence of the Neiman Marcus buyer to prove the benefits of her
innovation. Blakely's product was sold in seven Neiman Marcus stores as a result of
the meeting; Bloomingdales, Saks, and Bergdorf Goodman soon followed. At around this time,
Blakely sent a basket of products to Oprah Winfrey's television program, with a gift
card that explained what she was attempting to develop.
Blakely initially handled all aspects of the business, including marketing, logistics and
product positioning, preferring the location of Spanx alongside shoes in retail outlets,
rather than in hosiery sections; however, her boyfriend at the time, a healthcare consultant,
later resigned from his job and joined Blakely in the running of the nascent business. Blakely
was contacting friends and acquaintances, including those from her past, and asking
them to seek out her products at select department stores in exchange for a check that she would
send to them by mail as a token of appreciation. In November 2000, Winfrey named Spanx a "Favorite
Product", leading to a significant rise in popularity and sales, as well as Blakely's
resignation from Danka. Spanx achieved US$4 million in sales in its first year and US$10
million in sales in its second year. In 2001, Blakely signed a contract with QVC, the home
shopping channel, and sold 8,000 pairs in the first six minutes of operation.
In October 2013, Blakely explained that her ambition is to design the world's most comfortable
high heel shoe prior to retirement. As of 2014, she is listed as the 93rd most powerful
woman in the world by Forbes. Television
In 2005 Blakely attained second place as a contestant on The Rebel Billionaire, a reality
television series that introduced her to Richard Branson, who would later support Blakely in
her endeavors as both an entrepreneur and philanthropist. She later starred as one of
the judges on ABC's reality television series, American Inventor, alongside George Foreman,
Pat Croce and Peter Jones. Philanthropy
In 2006 Blakely launched the Sara Blakely Foundation to help women through education
and entrepreneurial training—Blakely had considered the establishment of a non-profit
foundation prior to the founding of Spanx. Richard Branson acted as a mentor to Blakely
and, at the conclusion of The Rebel Billionaire, surprised Blakely with a US$750,000 check
to start the Foundation. Since its launch, The Sara Blakely Foundation
has funded scholarships for young women at the Community and Individual Development Association
City Campus in South Africa and Blakely appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, donating
US$1 million to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. In 2013 Blakely became
the first female billionaire to join the "Giving Pledge", Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's pledge,
whereby the world's richest people donate at least half of their wealth to charity.
Personal life In 2008 Blakely married former American rapper
Jesse Itzler at the Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande, Florida, U.S. The wedding
was attended by actor Matt Damon and featured a surprise performance by singer Olivia Newton-John.
The couple is raising three children. See also
Women in business Intellectual property
References
Bibliography L'Ambition, ou l'épopée de soi, Vincent
Cespedes, Paris, Flammarion, 2013, p. 263-273. External links
Official website