Sara Blakely Quotes & Sayings

I got a call from the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah had chosen Spanx as one of her favorite products in 2000. I had boxes of product in my apartment and I had two weeks notice that she was going to say she loved it on TV and I had no shipping department. — Sara Blakely

I think my story says that, when women are given the chance and the opportunity, that we can achieve a lot. We deliver. — Sara Blakely

My first account was Neiman Marcus. I cold-called them just like I had cold-called businesses when I was selling fax machines for seven years. — Sara Blakely

Courage is doing something despite the fear, and I've worked hard on being a courageous person. — Sara Blakely

I always joke and say I want to invent a comfortable stiletto and then retire. — Sara Blakely

Ideas, even million-dollar ones, are most vulnerable in their infancy; don't share them with too many people. However, don't hide your plan from people who can help you move it forward. — Sara Blakely

When something I can't control happens, I ask myself : where is the hidden gift, where is the positive in this? — Sara Blakely

I knew that I wanted to start my own business. I knew that I wanted to work for myself. I was no stranger to the word no. You just have to keep going. — Sara Blakely

Where I get my energy is: 'How can I make it better?' — Sara Blakely

I made a conscious decision not to tell anyone in my life. Now I tell people - don't tell anyone your idea until you have invested enough of yourself in it that you are not going to turn back. When a person has an idea at that conception moment it is the most vulnerable - one negative comment could knock you off course. — Sara Blakely

I pledge to invest in women because I believe it offers one of the greatest returns on investment. I am committed to the belief that we would all be in a much better place if half the human race (women) were empowered to prosper, invent, be educated, start their own businesses, run for office essentially be given the chance to soar. — Sara Blakely

I started thinking about joy. Everything in our society is so purposeful. Let's bring joy back to the experience. — Sara Blakely

I think failure is nothing more than life's way of nudging you that you are off course. My attitude to failure is not attached to outcome, but in not trying. It is liberating. Most people attach failure to something not working out or how people perceive you. This way, it is about answering to yourself. — Sara Blakely

I was trying to convince all these men to try to make a product that they didn't even wear! Or if they did wear them, they were not admitting it! There was the problem right there. No wonder their hosiery was so uncomfortable. — Sara Blakely

Within the first year of launching my company, Spanx, I decided to go over to England and cold-call Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges the same way I had cold-called Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's here in the United States. — Sara Blakely

I have this system where if I buy three or four new things, I give away three or four things. Sometimes, it's a very painful system, but shopping is even better when you know that someone else who needs it will be getting. Keep the clothing karma going, I say. — Sara Blakely

When I cut the feet out of my pantyhose that one time, I saw it as my sign. I had been visualizing being self employed prior to this happening. It was my mental preparation meeting the opportunity in that moment. — Sara Blakely

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. — Sara Blakely

I've always leaned toward a feminine, funky style, even in business settings. I used to paint my nails blue in 1993, before it was mainstream. — Sara Blakely

What I most identify with is effortless fashion, looking as if someone's not put a lot of effort into their look. — Sara Blakely

If we can put a man on the moon, we can make pantyhose comfortable. — Sara Blakely

It's important to be willing to make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is you become memorable. — Sara Blakely

Whatever you can think, you can create; just have a very clear vision ... Once you have your snapshot, work on filling in the blanks to get to that place. — Sara Blakely

Everything about my journey to get Spanx off the ground entailed me having to be a salesperson - from going to the hosiery mills to get a prototype made to calling Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. I had to position myself to get five minutes in the door with buyers. — Sara Blakely

The thing about fashion - it's like ducks going quack, quack quack. It's being dictated from above, and it just makes me want to rebel against it. — Sara Blakely

My revenue was $4 million my first year in business, off of one $20 item. — Sara Blakely

I didn't like the way it looked in white trousers, and I couldn't find anything to work underneath them. — Sara Blakely

Having a mental snapshot of where you are, where you are going, and what you are moving toward is incredibly powerful. — Sara Blakely

I grew up in a house where my father encouraged my brother and me to fail. I specifically remember coming home and saying, 'Dad, Dad, I tried out for this or that and I was horrible,' and he would high-five me and say, 'Way to go.' — Sara Blakely

The smartest thing I ever did was to hire my weakness. — Sara Blakely

I couldn't figure out what to wear under my clothes. The body shapers were too thick at the time. — Sara Blakely

In the next decade, I see Spanx going worldwide. Everywhere. No butt left behind. It's going to be all over the world and it's going to be an aspirational brand that transcends categories. There's so many things we can improve upon and make better. — Sara Blakely

It's really a full-time job to manage our lives. — Sara Blakely

I cut the feet off of a pair of panty hose and it allowed me to wear a pair of great strappy sandals. I didn't see lines but the hose rolled up at my feet - and that's how Spanx born. — Sara Blakely

Don't let what you don't know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset. And if you do things without knowing how they have always been done, you're guaranteed to do them differently. — Sara Blakely

The thought of my mortality - I think about it a lot. I find it motivating. It can be any time that your number's up. — Sara Blakely

Failure to me became not trying versus not succeeding — Sara Blakely

The word 'Spanx' was funny. It made people laugh. No one ever forgot it. — Sara Blakely

When I was 7, I came up with the idea of 'charm socks.' My mom would take me to buy bags of plastic charms, we would sew them on frilly white socks, and I sold them at school. — Sara Blakely

Most of the reason we don't do things is because we're afraid to fail. I just made a decision one day that I was not not going to do things in my life because of fear. — Sara Blakely

My saddlebags are why Spanx exist! Now that I have a baby I also have a muffin top. — Sara Blakely

I'd never worked in fashion or retail. I just needed an undergarment that didn't exist. — Sara Blakely

Every time I went on stage I was so terrified I almost threw up. — Sara Blakely

Don't solicit feedback on your product, idea or your business just for validation purposes. You want to tell the people who can help move your idea forward, but if you're just looking to your friend, co-worker, husband or wife for validation, be careful. It can stop a lot of multimillion-dollar ideas in their tracks in the beginning. — Sara Blakely

I aim to be pretty - I gave up dressing to be sexy in the eighties. — Sara Blakely

I've always had that gratitude that I had the opportunity to pursue my potential. So I think my story says that, when women are given the chance and the opportunity, that we can achieve a lot. We deliver. We can make the world a better place, one butt at a time. — Sara Blakely

It's the power of the brand. We've never formally advertised. — Sara Blakely

I feel like money makes you more of who you already are. — Sara Blakely

I didn't want women to walk out of the dressing rooms feeling depressed and wanting a cocktail. — Sara Blakely

We don't have the luxury of time. We spend more because of how we live, but it's important to be with our family and friends. — Sara Blakely

You've got to visualize where you're headed and be very clear about it. Take a polaroid picture of where you're going to be in a few years. — Sara Blakely

When I'm bored or tired of being blonde, I'll throw on a wig. It's a lot less of a permanent way to change your look, and I have about 10 - all different colors, shapes, bobs, long hair, short, feathered. — Sara Blakely

My training of cold-calling and everyone under the sun telling me no, and my keeping going, was a huge part of the first two years of Spanx. — Sara Blakely

My husband is such a healthy eater. Except when it comes to sweets. He never consumes anything except fruit until noon. And then from noon on he might have some brown rice and some tofu, and then, come eight or nine at night, he orders three mud-pie double-chocolate pieces of cake and eats all three of them. — Sara Blakely

There is a hidden blessing in the most traumatic things we go through in our lives. My brain always goes to, 'Where is the hidden blessing? What is my gift?' — Sara Blakely

I took a Fear of Flying class, and I always missed the class, because I was always flying. — Sara Blakely

I'll mix a lot of things. I'll wear a Temperley dress with flip flops, or I might be in head-to-toe Gucci and have on a ring that I got from a gumball machine for 50 cents. — Sara Blakely

Money is fun to make, fun to spend and fun to give away. — Sara Blakely

Shapewear is the canvas and the clothes are the art. — Sara Blakely

I cut the feet out of my control top pantyhose to wear under these white pants and that was the ah-ha moment that started Spanx. My own butt was my own inspiration! — Sara Blakely

Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is my go-to song to pump myself up if I'm having a tough time or if I get really nervous right before a speech. — Sara Blakely

I'd get kicked out of buildings all day long, people would rip up my business card in my face. It's a humbling business to be in. But I knew I could sell and I knew I wanted to sell something I had created. I cut the feet out of those pantyhose and I knew I was on to something. This was it. — Sara Blakely

Everything in our society is so purposeful. — Sara Blakely

When I was a child, my father used to encourage my brother and me to fail. At the dinner table, instead of asking about the best part of our day, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something to tell him, he would be disappointed. When we shared whatever failure we'd endured, he'd high-five us and say, 'Way to go!' The gift my father gave us by doing this was redefining what failure truly meant. — Sara Blakely

My advice for an entrepreneur just starting out is to differentiate yourself. Why are you different? What's important about you? Why does the customer need you? — Sara Blakely

I think very early on in life we all learn what we're good at and what we're not good at, and we stay where it's safe. — Sara Blakely

My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. Don't be afraid to fail. — Sara Blakely

I'm just like so many women - I was frustrated, I had these white pants that I had spent a lot of money on, and you get home and you think, 'What am I really supposed to wear under this?' So it was a frustrated consumer moment. — Sara Blakely

What you don't know can be your greatest asset — Sara Blakely

I did not like the way I looked in a pair of white pants. — Sara Blakely

If somebody can do something 80 percent as good as you think you would have done it yourself, then you've got to let it go. — Sara Blakely

When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother and I to fail. We would be sitting at the dinner table and he would ask, 'So what did you guys fail at this week?' If we didn't have something to contribute, he would be disappointed. When I did fail at something, he'd high-five me. What I didn't realize at the time was that he was completely reframing my definition of failure at a young age. To me, failure means not trying; failure isn't the outcome. If I have to look at myself in the mirror and say, 'I didn't try that because I was scared,' that is failure. — Sara Blakely

I cut the feet out of control top pantyhose one night, threw them on under my white pants and realized that the toning and shaping was perfect and that the hosiery material is thin enough that I could make shape wear out of it. — Sara Blakely

I failed the LSAT. Basically, if I had not failed, I'd have been a lawyer and there would be no Spanx. I think failure is nothing more than life's way of nudging you that you are off course. My attitude to failure is not attached to outcome, but in not trying. It is liberating. — Sara Blakely

Perseverance is the key to starting a successful business. — Sara Blakely

Failures are life's way of nudging you and letting you know you are off course. Trying new things and not being afraid to fail along the way are more important than what you learn in school. — Sara Blakely

Embrace what you don't know, especially in the beginning, because what you don't know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else. — Sara Blakely

You've got to embrace what you don't know. — Sara Blakely

Most of us want to tell our coworkers or friends, or husbands or wives, our ideas. For what reason? We want validation. But I feel ideas are most vulnerable in their infancy. Out of love and concern, friends and family give all the reasons or objections on why [you] shouldn't do it. I didn't want to risk that. — Sara Blakely

Instead of failure being the outcome, failure became not trying. And it forced me at a young age to want to push myself so much further out of my comfort zone. — Sara Blakely

I shopped for body shapers for the first time in my life and I was horrified. They were thick - it was like wearing workout clothes and they all had a leg band on one side that showed through the pants. — Sara Blakely