The billionaire Sarah Blackley says she launched Spanx for only $ 5,000 of the sale of fax machines

“I started with five Grand from selling fax machines and self -financing for 21 years,” Blakely, It is currently valued by an estimated $ 1.3 billionHe said. “I sat with myself and I was like, do you want to spend the major five on vacation? Or do you want to bet on yourself?”

Blakely’s trip with SPANX started in 2000 when she was 29 years old, Work as a national sales coach For Danka, an office provider, after spending seven years selling fax machines from door to door. Her excellent moment came from personal frustration: she wanted to wear white pants, but she could not find the right underwear to create soft lines under it. The solution-which prevents the feet outside the socks of absence-states the basis for what will eventually become a company worth $ 1.2 billion.

Building an empire without investors

What distinguishes Blakely from most entrepreneurs is its refusal to accept external investment.

“I didn’t have a single investor in Spanx with Javafi,” She said.

Florida State University graduated in the field of Forex while she was still working in her daily function in Danka, where she spent nights searching for fabrics, patents and brand designs. She wrote her patent request, and got the SPANX brand for $ 150, and found a sockian mill ready to produce its initial model after multiple rejection operations. But by not hearing external investment, she maintained full control over her company and profits.

Hasr in Niman Marcus

When I was asked about the most crazy thing she did as a business owner just starting, Blakely said she just got a Spanx mode in Neiman Marcus, but after she noticed that she was placed in a “pocket” in the expansion of the store socks, she bought boxes at Office Depot and put them in every cash record throughout the store – “nothing wrong,” she admitted.

She said: “Niman Marcus has a very strict visual department, but everyone thought that someone else agreed to it.” “So I was trying to get the product out of the most sleeping angle in the store and transfer it to where the customers were already … You are doing everything it takes.”

Blackley said that her unauthorized gambled had led her: customers began buying the product “like Crazy”, and at the time the administration discovered the placement, it was said that the CEO said: “Whatever this girl, let her continue to do so.”

“I always say, I ask for forgiveness, not permission,” she added.

Thanks to Blakely’s efforts – and Includes in time on the “Favorite things” list of Winfrey Opera In November 2000 – Spanx A sales of $ 4 million In its first year, and 10 million dollars in its second year.

Entrances and strategic exit

In 2021, Blakely sold the majority share in SPANX to the private stock company Blackstone With a value of $ 1.2 billion, while retaining a large stock center and becoming an executive head. The deal was characterized by the end of its 21 -year -old operation as a single owner, but gave her billionaire. (She became a billionaire years ago, but her net wealth decreased to less than one billion dollars in 2020 during the epidemic.)

When asked about her advice to young people looking to become billionaires, Blackley said it is important to motivate yourself and not be frustrated by foreign opinions and intrusive ideas.

She said: “In today’s world, ideas are the most vulnerable at the moment you have.” “I waited a year before I told any friends or family what I was working on, because I didn’t want the ego to get involved in a very early time. My family was like,” Sarah, if this was a good idea, why didn’t anyone really do that? If I heard those things at the moment when I had the idea, I may still sell fax machines. ”

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