She saved $5,000 selling fax machines door-to-door. She cut the feet off her pantyhose
She saved $5,000 selling fax machines door-to-door. She cut the feet off her pantyhose. Every manufacturer rejected her. In 2021, she sold her company for $1.2 billion—then made her employees millionaires.
Florida, 1998.
Sara Blakely was 27 years old, selling fax machines door to door. She was good at it—she’d learned resilience, rejection tolerance, persuasion skills.
But she knew this wasn’t her future.
One day, getting ready for a party, Sara faced a problem familiar to millions of women: she had cream-colored pants, she wanted a smooth line, but regular pantyhose had visible seams and the feet showed through open-toed shoes.
So she grabbed scissors and cut the feet off her control-top pantyhose.
Simple. Practical. Effective.
That small act of improvisation would spark a billion-dollar idea.
Sara had saved $5,000 from her sales job. That was her budget to start a business.
No investors. No business degree. No connections in fashion or manufacturing.
Just $5,000, a notebook, and an idea: footless pantyhose designed for smooth lines under clothing.
She spent the next two years teaching herself everything. How fabrics work. How patents are filed. How manufacturing operates. How the hosiery industry functions.
She researched at the library—this was pre-Google. She made countless phone calls to manufacturers. She developed prototypes in her apartment.
Then she started calling hosiery mills.
Every single one dismissed her.
Most wouldn’t even take a meeting. A woman with no industry experience, no business background, calling about “footless pantyhose”? They assumed she didn’t understand the industry, wasn’t worth their time.
But Sara kept calling.
Finally, one textile mill owner in North Carolina agreed to help.
Not because Sara’s pitch was perfect. Because his daughters convinced him after he went home and told them about “this crazy idea.”
They immediately understood what Sara was trying to create. They told their father: “Dad, this is brilliant. You have to help her.”
He called Sara back and agreed to manufacture her product.
In 2000, Sara launched Spanx.
The name came from combining “spank” and replacing the -ings with -x because she’d read that made-up words with X were memorable and successful.
Her approach was revolutionary:
She was CEO, marketer, and model. She did her own marketing, modeled her own product, personally demonstrated how it worked.
She sold it herself. She personally pitched to Neiman Marcus buyers, taking them into the restroom to demonstrate the before-and-after effect.
It worked. Neiman Marcus placed an order.
Her messaging was different. Most shapewear was about “hiding” or “fixing” problems. Sara’s message: This makes you feel confident in your own body. Not hiding. Not fixing. Enhancing confidence.
Then, within months of launching, Oprah Winfrey named Spanx one of her “Favorite Things.”
In 2000. The same year Sara launched.
Oprah’s endorsement meant millions of women suddenly knew about Spanx. Sales exploded.
Sara built Spanx into a billion-dollar company while remaining sole owner for years. No outside investors initially. She maintained complete control of the company vision.
In 2012, Forbes named her the youngest self-made female billionaire in America at age 41.
Self-made. No inheritance. Built from $5,000 and an idea.
But she didn’t just focus on building wealth. She launched the Sara Blakely Foundation—funding education and entrepreneurship programs for women worldwide.
Her philosophy: “When you help a woman fulfill her potential, magic happens.”
In October 2021, Sara sold a majority stake in Spanx to Blackstone private equity for $1.2 billion.
But here’s the remarkable part:
She gave each Spanx employee $10,000 for every year they’d worked at the company, plus two first-class plane tickets to anywhere in the world.
Some employees became millionaires from this bonus.
This wasn’t legally required. This was Sara saying: The people who helped build this deserve to share in the success.
At 53, Sara Blakely is still involved with Spanx, still advocating for women entrepreneurs, still running her foundation, teaching entrepreneurship, raising four children.
She signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of her wealth.
Her story isn’t over. It’s ongoing.
Sara’s success wasn’t about luck. It was about persistence—calling manufacturer after manufacturer despite rejection. Intuition—trusting that other women would want what she wanted. Resourcefulness—learning everything herself with $5,000. Authenticity—being her own model and marketer. Generosity—using success to lift others.
Sara Blakely changed shapewear, changed perceptions of women’s entrepreneurship, and showed that generosity and authenticity could be part of massive business success.
She demonstrated that $5,000 and a good idea could become a billion-dollar company if you refuse to quit.
This isn’t a historical story. This is a current story.
Sara Blakely is 53 and still building.
Who started with $5,000 saved from selling fax machines.
Who cut the feet off pantyhose and saw a business.
Who faced rejection from every manufacturer.
Who launched Spanx in 2000.
Who got Oprah’s endorsement that same year.
Who became the youngest self-made female billionaire.
Who sold for $1.2 billion in 2021.
Who made her employees millionaires with bonuses.
Who runs a foundation supporting women.
Who signed the Giving Pledge.
Who is still building, giving, and inspiring.
She turned $5,000 and cut-up pantyhose into a billion-dollar company.
She made her employees millionaires.
She’s giving away her wealth to help other women.
And she’s not done yet.
