Plain and simple, Sara Blakely wanted her bottom to look better in white pants. She was 27 and peddling fax machines to businesses, making cold-call after cold-call, facing way too many slamming doors. But at this moment, standing in her tiny Atlanta apartment, scissors in hand, she teetered on the verge of invention. One-size-fits-no-one pantyhose didn’t do the job, so Blakely lopped off the feet with two, crisp snips. Read the rest of the story on SUCCESS.com.

4 Responses to “Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, on Failure”

1. Kevin Cullis Says:
   June 1st, 2009 at 9:46 pm

   Thanks for seeing the “other side” of failure and the support that your Dad gave you.

2. Mike Says:
   December 1st, 2009 at 7:22 pm

   I love this! I saw Sarah’s story some time ago on CNBC “THE BIG IDEA WITH DONNY DEUTSCH “. One of my takeaways was that she was relentless in her pursuit to market/sell her products. “no” meant nothing to her and after seeing this video I better understand the roots of that.

3. Jami Says:
   February 11th, 2010 at 3:56 pm

   What a great gift her father gave her – letting her know that failure wasn’t bad, only not trying something because of the fear of failure was bad. That would be a hugely valuable lesson to teach children now – instead of the “here’s a trophy just for showing up” philosophy that has made so many kids and young adults completely unable to deal with not always being “the best”.

4. Travis Says:
   April 27th, 2011 at 4:14 pm

   I love the idea her father gave her. I am going home tonight and ask my kids what they failed at. The look on my wife’s face is going to be priceless.

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