Sara Blakely and the Birth of Spanx

Ian Lee Technology

" Sara Blakely had $5,000 in savings when she decided to invent footless pantyhose for smooth invisibility under clothes. She faced rejection at every turn manufacturers laughed her out of meetings, banks refused to lend. "
Instead of quitting, she invested in her idea, studied customer needs, and handcrafted the first Spanx prototype in her kitchen from sneaking into malls to understand fit and style, to perfecting FABRIC for comfort and compression.After Oprah endorsed Spanx in 2000, sales exploded. In one year, Blakely grew the company to $300 million without any venture capital. She became the youngest self-made female billionaire an icon of bootstrapped success.

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