Sara Blakely

Sara Blakely
Sara Blakely (2014)
Born	(1971-02-27) February 27, 1971 (age 46) Clearwater, Florida, U.S.
Residence	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Alma mater	Florida State University
Occupation	Businessperson
Known for	Founder and owner of Spanx Minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks
Net worth	US$1.04 billion (March 2017)
Spouse(s)	Jesse Itzler
Children	4

Sara Blakely (born February 27, 1971) is an American billionaire businesswoman, and founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100" annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. As of 2014, she is listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Blakely was born February 27, 1971, in Clearwater, Florida. She is the daughter of a trial attorney and an artist. She attended Clearwater High School and graduated from Florida State University with a communication degree, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

Although she initially planned to become an attorney, she reconsidered after placing very low on the Law School Admission Test; she instead accepted a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where she worked for three months. She also occasionally worked as a stand-up comedian during this period.

After her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted a job with 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. Forced to wear pantyhose in the hot Floridian climate for her sales role, Blakely disliked the appearance of the seamed foot while wearing open-toed shoes, but liked the way that the control-top model eliminated panty lines and made her body appear firmer. For her attendance at a private party, she experimented by cutting off the feet of her pantyhose while wearing them under a new pair of slacks and found that the pantyhose continuously rolled up her legs, but she also achieved the desired result (the original pants are now enshrined at Spanx headquarters).