How I Built This: Spanx: Sara Blakely

October 6, 2016 11:01 PM

At 27, Sara Blakely was selling fax machines and desperate to reinvent her life. So she came up with Spanx — hosiery that eliminates panty lines — and set to work building her business.
posted by ellieBOA (3 comments total)

This came up unexpectedly for me on NPR One a couple of weeks ago and I really dug it. Obviously there's some measure of spin to her account, but the ludicrous series of "well, what if I did *this*?" moments and the clear tenacity of following up with so many vendors and partners and so on was really charming. She seems down-to-earth and open, and even as a man who will probably never use her product, it's impressive how ubiquitous that brand has become.
posted by psoas at 9:30 AM on October 7, 2016

I'm very late to the discussion but just wanted to say thanks for getting it started. I subscribed because of this and the Sara Blakely episode was a terrific interview. Good storytelling all around and had me laughing, muttering to myself, and otherwise emoting as I walked around my neighborhood listening. Got some odd stares but whatever.

The Cathy Hughes episode was really interesting, too.
posted by mama casserole at 11:07 AM on October 17, 2016

I am loving this podcast! On the Airbnb episode at the moment, really enjoy Guy's interview style.
posted by ellieBOA at 2:31 PM on October 17, 2016