While selling fax machines, Sara Blakely cut up pantyhose to solve a clothing problem; Spanx later helped make her a self-made billionaire, Forbes reported in 2012

Most people who dislike a certain outfit simply change into something else. However, Sara Blakely took a different approach. Blakely was 27, working a sales job in Florida for fax machines and preparing for a party when the thought of her cream pants came to her mind. She decided her pants needed smooth, sheer hosiery underneath, with no toe lines showing through her open-toe shoes. Blakely reached for the first thing she could find that would solve her problem: her scissors. She cut off the feet of her pantyhose, according to Forbes, and that led to Spanx. That small act led to the creation of Spanx and made Blakely the youngest self-made female billionaire in the magazines' history by 2012.

The sales job that funded her first idea

Before introducing Spanx, Blakely worked as a salesperson, promoting Danka fax machines. She had enough skill to be promoted quickly and, in her mid-twenties, train other salespeople. Blakely had no experience in fashion, clothing retail, or manufacturing and knew little about the industry. The gap between her prior work experience and her intention to create products for women was immense, and she had no connections to help her. It took Blakely years of hosiery frustrations and several attempts to find a solution while keeping her full-time job.

How Blakely developed the patent

Cutting the feet off her pantyhose immediately solved the visible-seam problem, but created a new one: the extra fabric at her legs tended to roll up her thighs. To solve this new issue, Blakely had to design an entirely new garment, a more involved process than adjusting a pair of pantyhose. She spent about two years working on her idea and using her own money before she had a prototype she could send to a factory to begin manufacturing. Blakely also filed a patent application herself, rather than immediately involving a lawyer. The patent, which is owned by Blakely (or her company), is listed as a U.S. Patent titled "Pantyhose Under Garment" and was granted in 2001. The patent was an important legal foundation for Spanx's founding.

From an apartment floor to department store shelves

Having no sales team to help her and no money to advertise, Blakely had to persuade one hosiery manufacturer after another to take her idea seriously. After finding a manufacturer willing to work with her, Blakely went into a department store and personally showed the garment to the buyer, since she had no other way to demonstrate what her creation was all about. It would soon be available in stores after she met with a buyer. The product had to be shipped, so for a while, Blakely's home served as both a living room and a warehouse. After the garment was featured on a television program that highlighted the year's best products, demand grew quickly, and the young company grew so much that it could no longer be managed by one woman.

The Forbes billionaire list moment, and what came after

Spanx has seen a significant increase in value over the past decade without being sold to shareholders. It has been a private and independent company for years. Nevertheless, in 2012, Forbes magazine named her the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. According to Forbes in 2021, Blackstone Group bought a controlling interest in the company from its founder in a deal worth $1.2 billion, and Blakely became the executive chairwoman while retaining a significant share of ownership.

What her playbook actually teaches

The lesson from this story isn't that you should quit your job and start hacking up your clothes. It is a narrower lesson than that. Blakely recognized a problem she had and tested a solution with the money she had, while continuing her job as a salesperson and figuring out whether her idea could sustain beyond her own closet. To anyone wrestling with investing in a side project at the expense of a steady paycheck, that prioritization matters more than the shears. The idea itself cost little to test. The two years of testing, the patent application she filed herself, and the cold calls to manufacturers who consistently said no eventually added up to a number worth naming in Forbes.