By Gillian Zoe Segal – Wikipedia

Top 10 Facts about Sara Blakely


 

Sara Blakely was born on 27th February 1971 in Clearwater, Florida. she is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. Sara Blakely was married to her husband Jesse Itzler in 2008 at the age of 37. Sara Blakely is the founder and the owner of the shapewear brand Spanx, an American Intimate apparel company that sells undergarments, swimwear,  pants, and leggings in over fifty countries. The company was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been listed by Forbes as one of the most peaceful women in the world. Her husband Jesse Itzler is the founder of the private jet membership company Marquis jets. She has also been named in Time magazine as “Time 100” annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

1. Sara Blakely the founder of Spanx

Sara Blakely is the founder of Spanx a brand that sells undergarments, pants, swimwear, and leggings in over 50 countries Blakely came up with the idea of Spanx in the late 1990s at the age of 27. She got the inspiration of opening such a brand when she was working as a salesperson selling fax machines door to door a job that required her to wear tights and she quickly became infuriated by the seam of the garment. She focused on the best placement and partnerships for her products Neiman Marcus validated her product and opened the floodgates for success after she sold a table to him using a before and after picture of her own behind as her major marketing tool. From its first year in business, Spanx proved a success.

2. Sara experimented with her Invention

 Sara Blakely founded Spanx. However, the company primarily manufactures pantyhose and other underwear for women but has also produced male underwear since 2010 Sara was getting ready for a party when she realized she did not have the right undergarment to provide a smooth look under white pants. She didn’t like the panty lines that showed through her open-toed shoes. Then she decided there must be a way to have one without the other. Armed with scissors and sheer genius she cut the feet off her control top pantyhose and the SPANX revolution began.

The main purpose of Spanx is to smooth out any bumps ensuring your clothes fit just right and creating a flawless finish. In Spanx, there are three levels of compression to choose from based on your needs. The first level is smooth; the most minimal, this type feels like a second skin. The second level is shaped; items in this category are firm and slim in specific areas. The third level is sculpting; through maximum compression, sculpting transforms your figure.

3. She wanted to become an attorney

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Sara Blakely is the daughter of artist Ellen (née Ford) and trial lawyer John Blakely. Since she wanted her father’s dream. intended to become an attorney, but after receiving a low score on the Law School Admission Test, she changed her mind. Instead, she accepted a three-month position at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, but also she worked as a stand-up comedian on the side. She, later on, graduated from Florida State University with a communication degree and is now an entrepreneur.

4. Her career life

After school, Sara started a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida for three months. She also sometimes showed up to work as a stand-up comedian while still working at Walt Disney World. After those three months, she went to work with the office supply company Danka. Her role was to sell fax machines door-to-door.

She made a good salesperson until she was promoted to national sales trainer at the young age of 25 years. After two years she relocated to Atlanta, Georgia but still worked at Danka company. The reason for relocating was to research and develop her hosiery idea. Later she founded the Spanx company due to her frustrations with pantyhose. Spanx is now a billion-dollar company. At the age of 41, Blakely became the youngest self-made woman to join Forbes` world billionaires list in 2012, earning a spot on the cover.

5. She has received critics

Sara had research and wanted to know how she could develop her hosiery idea. She traveled to North Carolina where most of America’s hosiery mills reside. Everywhere she went to present the idea she was turned down by representatives saying that they were used to dealing with established companies and so they did not see the value of her idea.

As a result of this negative report, she drove back. After two weeks she received a call from a mill operator based in Asheboro, North Carolina who had offered to support her concept. This whole process made her realize that the Hosiery manufacturing industry was overseen solely by men who were not using the products they were producing. Sara states that being underrated can sometimes work in your favor. Sara says that at the beginning of Spanx, being underestimated made it more challenging but also worked in her favor. It’s really fun to prove people wrong she says. Sara motivates people to be confident that they will figure it out and to be positive in their journey.

6. Blakely and her husband were part of the group led by Tony Ressler that paid for the Atlanta Hawks

By Created by user: JohnnySeoul, Wikipedia

 

Blakely and her husband Jesse Itzler were part of a group led by Tony Ressler that paid $850 million for the Atlanta Hawks in 2015. However, the Atlanta Hawks are a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hawks are a member of the National Basketball Association Conference Southeast Division. The team’s home games are held at State Farm Arena. With 63 seasons without an NBA championship, the Hawks currently have the second-longest drought. Meanwhile, they had gone 48 years without making it past the second round of any playoffs before finally breaking through in 2015. The Hawks, on the other hand, are one of only four NBA teams in the twenty-first century to have qualified for the playoffs in ten consecutive seasons. They accomplished this between 2008 and 2017.

7. She participated in “The Rebel Billionaire” contest

In 2005, Blakely was a contestant on the Rebel Billionaire, however, the reality television series brought her close to Richard Branson who supported her to achieve her dreams and goals as an entrepreneur and Philanthropist. In the contest, she took the second position. Additionally, Richard Branson congratulated Blakely for being the youngest self-made billionaire and an inspiration to women around the world. Hence, he handed her $750,000 to start her charity. Now the creator of Spanx footless panty house is paying it forward by donating $1 million to Oprah Winfrey`s recently opened Oprah Winfred Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa school.

Other than being a contestant on the television series, she has also made a debut in television; she starred as one of the judges on ABC’s reality television series, American Inventor, alongside George Foreman, Pat Croce, an

8. Her Philanthropical efforts were recognized

Sara Blakely gave her pledge letter stating that since she was a little girl she knew she would help women. At Spanx, they say it’s their goal to make the world a better place. Philanthropy is part of Spanx`s culture. Sara says that she hopes that her continued investment in Spanx will pay dividends to help women. Blakely is a charitable giver who has given much to help on issues such as education. In 2006 she introduced the Sara Blakely Foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training.

She got support from friends such as Richard Branson whom she meant when she was contesting during the” The Rebel Billionaire” show, it is told that they surprised her by 750,000 US Dollars to start the foundation. She also donated 1Million US dollars to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. During the corona pandemic, she pledged to donate 5 million dollars to support female-run small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

9. Marriage life is a successful one

By Art of Charm – Wikipedia

Sara Blakely was married at the age of 37 in 2008. She was married to her husband Jesse Itzler. She shared a piece of advice when it comes to finding the one. Blakely first met her husband Jesse at a poker tournament, as a customer of his company Marquis jet and they met at a customer appreciation event. After they first met Blakely and Jesse emailed back and forth for seven months then they began to date. Jesse is the co-founder of Marquis jet, at the Gasparilla Inn and club in Boca Grande, Florida, U.S. Jesse is an entrepreneur, a former rapper, and an author. Jesse is known for pushing himself to his limits both physically and mentally. Sara and Jesse have four children. Their wedding was awesome and was attended by great people and actors such as actor Matt Damon and Olivia Newton-John surprised them by performing for them. They not only have four kids together but are now a great power couple that advises people on successful marriages and businesses.

10. She gifted her employees with a plane ticket and $10,000

Sara Blakely celebrated her billion-dollar deal by giving each of her employees two first-class plane tickets to any destination of their choice. She, therefore, surprised employees with the generous offer while also announcing the sale of the company to Blackstone for $1.2 billion in a partnership. However, some employees stated that they planned to visit South Africa and Antarctica. while one person stated that he planned to elope with his girlfriend in Sweden, while another stated that she planned to honeymoon in Bora Bora. Blakely explained that she wanted each employee to celebrate this moment in their unique way and make memories that will last a lifetime!

 

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