Shark Tank Guest Shark Sara Blakely

The Total Tutor Neil Haley will interview  Shark Tank Guest Shark Sara Blakely.

Sara Blakely is the founder and sole owner of Spanx, the brand that is constantly inventing more comfortable undergarment options for women that just happen to also make your butt and gut look amazing, and now, thankfully, makes killer leggings, too!

The brand was born from a simple goal – find something to wear under white pants to make them more flattering. After some creativity with scissors and control top pantyhose, Spanx is now a successful business with offerings that extend far beyond its original shapewear.

In 2006, Sara also founded her eponymous foundation, which has set aside millions of dollars to empower and elevate women and girls. She also created the Leg Up initiative, which empowers female entrepreneurs to build successful businesses and create economic opportunity in their communities.

Sara lives in Atlanta with her husband and four kids. She is an advocate of women being whatever they want to be, but most importantly being their own boss!

Background

In her early 20’s Sara Blakely worked at office supply company Danka where she sold fax machines door-to-door. She was quite successful in sales and was promoted to national sales trainer at the age of 25.

At age 27, while still working at Danka, she spent the next two years and $5,000 savings researching and developing her hosiery idea. Upon inquiring, she found that there were no female patent lawyers operating in the entire state of Georgia. Unwilling to spend the $3,000-$5,000 quoted in legal fees, she instead wrote her own patent after purchasing a textbook from Barnes & Noble.