Spanx: Sara Blakely

In this episode of How I Built This, Sara Blakely narrates her inspiring journey of founding Spanx, a revolutionary shapewear brand. Blakely's ambition started after she failed the LSATs and found herself working as a ride greeter at Disney World and later selling fax machines door-to-door. During this time, she faced a disconnect between the undergarments available and what women actually needed, leading her to innovate.

The turning point came when Blakely, frustrated with traditional shapewear, cut the feet off her pantyhose to create a new type of undergarment that would eliminate panty lines while being comfortable. With only $5,000 in savings, she dived into patent research and prototyping. Despite not having any background in fashion or manufacturing, she persisted through cold calls to manufacturers and eventually found one willing to help her.

Blakely faced numerous challenges, including skepticism from or complete indifference of manufacturers. However, her enthusiasm and a crucial meeting with a manufacturer who had daughters interested in her product led to her first break. The product's name, Spanx, was also a whimsical journey of linguistic creativity, combining phonetics with a catchy twist.

Once in Neiman Marcus, she leveraged grassroots marketing, including asking friends to buy Spanx to create buzz and even hustling at stores to demonstrate her product directly. A pivotal moment came when she sent Spanx to Oprah, which led to massive publicity when Oprah featured it as a favorite product. Eventually, going on QVC allowed her to sell thousands of pairs in minutes, catapulting her company to success. Blakely emphasizes her connection to the product and her belief that ideas are vulnerable in their early stages. Today, Spanx stands as a testament to her innovation and determination to improve women's undergarments.