Spanx's Sara Blakely Has Wisdom For All

Spanx founder Sara Blakely had a huge, multibillion-dollar idea. But she’s still producing new ones—and eager to share her inspiration.

- Liz Brody

Ladies’ underwear has long been revolutionary territory—bras burned, girdles sacked. But when Sara Blakely, a 27-year-old fax machine saleswoman, discovered she was making less than her male colleague at the same job, she was inspired to take scissors to tights to invent what would give power to the pantie (and anyone who wore it), and launch her own business. Twelve years later, she landed in Forbes as the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. You know the story: Blakely’s company, Spanx, started with $5,000, is now to shape wear what Kleenex is to tissue, baptized by Oprah as a “favorite thing” and worn unapologetically by the famous, from JLo to Reese Wither spoon. It’s even made its way into MoMA. Blakely, who was inducted into Babson College’s Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs last month, is still on a roll—and finding new ways to share her wisdom.

What’s new at Spanx? Blacktie Spanx? Spanx for dogs? Anything in the pipeline?

There are three things in the works that are specifically inventions I can’t talk about. But I’m really excited about our new leggings. And the denim we just launched.

You’ve done this for 18 years. Do you have another venture up your sleeve?

I’ll never say never. I keep an idea book. Right now it’s 99 pages, single-spaced, and a lot of the ideas have nothing to do with Spanx. But what I am working on that’s new is a digital platform of my insights, because I’m asked multiple times a day for 15 minutes of my time. And the question is always the same: How did you start Spanx? The real answer is it started way before I cut the feet out of my pantyhose, with the work I began doing at the age of 16 on myself. So the digital platform is in beta now.

Can you share some of your insights as you’ve grown the company to nearly 200 employees?