Spanx Creator Sara Blakely Turns $5,000 Into A Billion | Forbes

Sara Blakely is the inventor of a product that you've probably heard of at least you females have probably heard of it called Spanx she debuts on the billionaires list she's the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world she went from $5,000 in savings at age 29 to age 41 running a company that's worth a billion dollars and she owns all of it for me I feel like money just makes you more of who you already were it just holds a magnifying glass up to the person that you are I don't subscribe at all - money is the root of all evil I think money is a wonderful thing and it's great to share and it's fun to spend and it's fun to make and I've always had a very positive outlook about what money can do I had always thought I would be a lawyer growing up and so I took the LSAT I basically failed it and I remember at that moment it being this life-changing moment that sent me on a different course in the way that I initially handled it was try again I took the course I tried it again and then when it didn't go as I planned I asked myself a lot of questions you know what is life trying to tell me do I have a different path maybe I'm supposed to be open to something else and that's what set me on the journey that ended up creating Spanx good bran a pair of Spanx is the Holy Grail pair Spanx and change your room I think what surprised me the most with the spanks journey is the emotional impact that this brand and this these products have had on women's lives I just didn't expect that I was looking for no panty lines and a smooth look in white pants and women literally are incredibly emotionally impacted and moved by our brand and that's an amazing feeling that things I would be wearing this skirt they're a life saver always wearing them right now we thank God for Sarah and spanks spanks has been around now for 10 and half years almost 11 years can you tell us talk us through a little bit about what moments of your career so far that you're most proud of achieving the things that I'm most proud of achieving are achieving this level of success that is beyond my wildest dreams and doing it in a way that I feel like I can still look myself in the mirror and feel really good about how I got here my Oprah moment getting the call from her my first chance to sell my second product on QVC and selling over 8,000 in six minutes and realizing I'm not a one-hit wonder and then launching internationally building a team there were different moments where it just started feeling like I was so proud of different stages of the Spanx journey can you tell us a bit about whose influence do in your path to success the people that have been most influential to me other than my family have been Wayne Dyer Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson Wayne Dyer he mentored me from afar basically through these CDs and taught me how to think in a way that I think allowed me to live up to the potential of myself that I am at at this point in my life Richard Branson is you know all about stepping way outside of your comfort zone we have a lot of similarities with the branding of our companies and sort of the marketing and PR aspect of him being the face of the Virgin brand I've learned a lot of tips by observing and speaking to him about that and Oprah she's always taught me from afar the power of paying things forward and also the power of being authentic she's just authentically who she is and that's very powerful so some examples of how I've been paying it forward is it Spanx we have a leg up program where we highlight an female entrepreneur that's just starting out like I was and we put her in our catalog that goes out to over a million subscribers we don't gain anything from doing it other than hoping that she gets that big step forward in the beginning part of her business where do you see Spanx going in the next decade in the next decade I see Spanx going worldwide everywhere no but left behind it's going to be all over the world and it will become a aspirational brand that transcends categories we're already transcending age we're now into men's so I really see there's so many things we can improve upon or make better and that's the true inspiration behind the brand Spanx

Channel: Forbes

Views: 350,093

Keywords: Forbes, Forbes Media, Forbes Magazine, Forbes Digital, Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Investing, Personal Finance, Spanx, Sara Blakely, Billionaire

Id: 7a6wGw_9lk8

Length: 4min 18sec (258 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 07 2012