Sara Blakely founded Spanx in 2000 at age 29 after seven years selling fax machines door-to-door and working as a national sales trainer. She used $5,000 she had saved to start the company while still keeping her day job. The product idea originated from cutting the feet off control-top pantyhose to create smoother lines under white pants. Blakely wrote her own patent application, secured the Spanx trademark for $150, and convinced a hosiery mill to produce her prototype after multiple rejections. She rejected outside investors to maintain total control and keep company profits.
"I started it with five grand from selling fax machines and self-funded the entire 21 years,"
"I sat down with myself and I was like, you wanna spend your five grand on a vacation? Or do you wanna try to bet on yourself?"
"I never had a single investor in Spanx other than me,"
Read at Fortune
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