Spanx founder Sara Blakely has been named in Time magazine’s Time 100 list and Forbes’ list of the most powerful women in the world, but she hasn’t forgotten her humble beginnings.
The Florida woman launched Spanx, a renowned innerwear and outwear brand with offerings such as activewear, apparel, denim, shapewear, swimwear, intimates, leggings, and hosiery, in 2000, and as of early 2025 is now worth an estimated $1.04bn (€882m).
The reason Sara has for looking back is reflecting on her days as a young business owner, juggling mom duties.
On Wednesday, Sara shared a snap of herself looking nowhere near he now uber-glam self as she checked into the five-star Ritz Carlton in New York many moons ago.
She captioned the photo: ‘I checked into the Ritz Carlton in NYC like this. I was a new mom, running a company, sleep deprived, probably wearing whatever I found on the floor of my closet… and yes my purse was a gift with purchase. 😂.’
‘Shoutout to all the mom’s out there with two full time jobs – mom and career,’ Sara continued. ‘Feel free to share this photo with any other woman you know trying to make it all work. I love you.’
Sara commanded praise for her openness and honesty, with one LinkedIn user writing: ‘This makes me feel so seen as a new mom of an 8-week-old a toddler lol.’
‘You are the gold standard! This is so relatable, thank you for giving us permission to exist and build and let it be messy. Favorite post of the day!,’ another wrote.
Sara’s story is an impressive one; 25 years ago, she invested $5,000 to design underwear suitable to wear under white trousers, as she couldn’t find any pair that didn’t show panty lines through the material. After cutting the feet off pantyhose, she came up with her own underwear.
Sara retained her day job selling fax machines, and worked tirelessly on the Spanx prototype nights and weekends. She had no investors and instead funded herself when she began her start-up.
The mom-of-four expanded her undergarment empire without any outside investment, debt, or even a cent spent on traditional advertising: no magazine spends, no TV spots, no billboard buys. Unheard of!
From her bright red and pink packaging to her tongue-in-cheek humour, Sara pulled out all the stops to make her brand stand out in the lingerie aisle.
Now, 25 years later, Sara has transformed her brand into a billion-dollar empire.