Sara Blakely: The Undercover Billionaire

Background & Biography

• Born in Clearwater, FL in 1971• Daughter of an artist and a lawyer• Wanted to be a lawyer, but changed direction after

scoring poorly on LSAT twice• 7 years of sailing fax machines before following her

dream of being an entrepreneur• Launched Spanx based on a need that she felt was

unmet in her own life• Invested $5,000 in savings and two years of late nights

to developing and launching her business• Grew a one product business sold and marketed out

of her apartment (in 2000) to a leader in the undergarment industry, generating $250M…all without investment or advertising

AchievementsYoungest, self-made female

billionaire in the world

Still owns 100% of Spanx equity

Breakthrough after Oprah chose Spanx for Favorite Things episode

Undergarment provider to the stars

Mother and Wife Extraordinaire

Married to fellow entrepreneur and former rapper Jesse Itzler; 3-

year-old son Lazer

$17.5M raised through Sara Blakely Foundation

Educating and Training Female Entrepreneurs

Despite fear of heights, flying, and being on stage

Runner-up on Rebel Billionaire

Connecting Her Domains

Work Community

• Aligns community involvement with passions (entrepreneurship, female empowerment)

• Raised $17.5M for her foundation so far

• Includes her family in her volunteer work

• Leveraged a personal want and need to launch her company

• Embeds herself “in the DNA” of Spanx (mascot, comedy)

• Space that supports “recreational thinking” and fun

• Actively used network to achieve her success

Connecting Her DomainsSelf

Home

• Shares passion for entrepreneurship with husband

• Dinner time is sacred• Limited after-hours work talk• Hires personal assistants, chefs,

nanny, etc. to maximize quality time spent with family and friends

• Maintains position as the ultimate decision-maker in home

• Strong core values have guided her actions in all domains (e.g. resilience)

• Takes time for “recreational thinking” and strong believer in visualization

• Keeps health as top priority – hired live-in Navy Seal to train her

Lessons Learned

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Visualize your own success…see it and be it

While reading about her life, I could hear my own father’s voice. The following are lessons that he has always told me, but Sara’s success story demonstrates that my dad may just know what he is talking about.

Permission to fail, encouraged to rise again

Do what you love and the money will follow