At around this time, Blakely sent a basket of products to Oprah Winfrey's television program, with a gift card that explained what she was attempting to develop. Blakely's product was sold in seven Neiman Marcus stores as a result of the meeting Bloomingdales, Saks, and Bergdorf Goodman soon followed. She managed to arrange a meeting with a representative of the Neiman Marcus Group, at which she changed into the product in the ladies restroom in the presence of the Neiman Marcus buyer to prove the benefits of her innovation. Following the submission of the online application, she then worked on the packaging of her product.īlakely used her credit card to purchase the "Spanx" trademark on the USPTO website for $150. īlakely then returned to a patent attorney to finalize her application prior to her submission to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and he agreed to assist her for a sum of $750. The creation of the initial product prototype was completed over the course of a year. Blakely further explained in 2011 that the experience of developing her idea also revealed to her that the hosiery manufacturing industry was overseen solely by men who were not using the products they were producing. Two weeks after arriving home from her North Carolina trip, Blakely received a call from a mill operator based in Asheboro, North Carolina, who offered to support Blakely's concept, as he had received strong encouragement from his three daughters. She was turned away by every representative these companies were used to dealing with established companies, and did not see the value of her idea. īlakely then drove to North Carolina, the location of most of America's hosiery mills, to present her idea. Īt age 27, Blakely relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and while still working at Danka, spent the next two years and US$5,000 savings (equivalent to $9,000 in 2022) researching and developing her hosiery idea. 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. 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. She was quite successful in sales and was promoted to national sales trainer at the age of 25. Īfter her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted a job with office supply company Danka, where she sold fax machines door-to-door. She also occasionally worked as a stand-up comedian during this period. Career Īlthough she planned to become an attorney, she reconsidered after scoring 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. In 2014, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine's " Time 100" annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
She is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. Sara Treleaven Blakely (born February 27, 1971) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist.
0 kommentar(er)
