Show Notes

Spanx has become the de facto brand name for an entire category. Like Kleenex or Q-Tips. But in the ’90s, the shapewear company’s founder, Sara Blakely, was enduring relentless rejection as a door-to-door fax machine salesperson. When one day, she cut the feet off her pantyhose.

This week we tell Blakely’s inspiring story, from being ridiculed for her idea to becoming one of the youngest female self-made billionaires. 

The major sources for this episode include:

1. Sara Blakely – Keynote At The 2012 NAPW National Networking Conference
2. Forbes: Undercover Billionaire: Sara Blakely Joins the Rich List Thanks to Spanx
3. How I Built This with Guy Raz: Spanx: Sara Blakely
4. CNN: She Was Too Short To Play Goofy. Then She Invented Spanx. Now She’s A Billionaire.
5. The Story Exchange: How Billionaire Sara Blakely Refused To Let Rejection Stop Her
6. New York Magazine: How Selling Fax Machines Helped Make Spanx Inventor Sara Blakely A Billionaire
7. Inc: Billionaire CEO Sara Blakely Says These 7 Words Are The Best Career Advice She Ever Got

From the creators of Under the Influence:
Executive Producer & Host: Terry O’Reilly
Writer & Host: Sidney O’Reilly
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Researcher: Allison Pinches
Engineer: Keith Ohman
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner

This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Company and powered by Acast.