Sara Blakely: SPANX CEO on Writing Your Billion Dollar Story

I learn a lot from all the women around me (almost my whole team is women). But today’s guest is extra special.

Not only is she the youngest self-made female billionaire in America (wow, right??), she is also the mother of four young kids, the wife of another podcast guest, Jesse Itzler, and the founder and CEO of the massively popular women’s apparel brand SPANX.

Yes, Sara Blakely is a legend among entrepreneurs. When we got to sit down and talk for the podcast, I kept finding out new things to admire Sara for.

She struggled a lot in school (me too!). She sold fax machines door to door FOR 7 YEARS before she had the idea for Spanx. She was rejected by every manufacturing company she took her idea to.

But she didn’t let any of that stop her. Sara’s hustle and can-do attitude is just one thing I learned about her in this interview. We dive into dealing with grief, how to scale companies the right way, what it’s like to be mentored by Richard Branson, and much more. Welcome to an inspiring interview with powerhouse Sara Blakely in Episode 397.

Some Questions I Ask:How did you meet your husband Jesse? (30:12)How do you stay so grounded and calm with everything you have going on? (32:00)What did you learn from being mentored by Richard Branson? (44:47)What is more challenging for you – running a billion dollar brand or being a mom? (49:46)In This Episode, You Will Learn:What happened in Sara’s life to prepare her for entrepreneurship before she had her big idea (7:12)The list of possible product names Sara considered before she decided on Spanx (11:46)The hardest part of getting her company off the ground (15:55)How Sara guerrilla-marketed her first order of Spanx in Neiman Marcus (20:01)Why being kind to yourself is so important (32:15)How Sara got Warren Buffet to paint his belly for her new book (36:32)What grief and loss can teach us (43:01)