Of Web 2.0 darlings and underwear

The story of underwear entrepreneur Sara Blakely is full of useful nuggets that will inspire any budding entrepreneur, on the net or off. Her story is proof that being small and resourceful can work for you even if you’re not *gasp* working on the next Web 2.0 darling. For a little background on who in the world I’m talking about, peruse this link. Sara inspires me because she was able to parlay a meager $5000 in savings into way over $100 million dollars by doing everything her own way; from writing her own patent to doing the product design, development and PR herself, Sara infused everything with her sweat, tears, and sense of humor. She recently took a few minutes to answer a couple questions I had for her.

1.) Okay, let’s start off with the most important question first - when’s the last time you did stand up comedy and did you kill? Are you tired of people asking you about that? 6 years ago right before Spanx took off. I obviously wasn’t that funny, I had to invent something to earn a living.

2.) Do you have a joke that would translate in a written form? I know you’ve got one, so don’t hold out on us. My humor was every day observational stuff like… waiting in line, going to the car wash, gyno, dating, you name it. I just think people are funny. One thing that comes to mind, I would talk about how stressful vending machines are and why they had to make the selection process so difficult. A 44, why can’t it just be A? At that point, if you are standing there you are probably hungry and broke so you are not on your best game to begin with… And everybody has the same fear that they are accidentally going to choose the pork rinds.

3.) I read here about your copy machine sales days and how you went through a bunch of motivational tapes to get through it all. How exhausting and crazy was it to psych yourself up every day?! Do you still pinch yourself when you think about how much better things are now? Definitely! My life is so different, but I still listen to tapes. My favorite is Wayne Dyer. I’ve been listening to him since I was 16.

4.) What went through your mind when you saw Oprah, aka “the sign”, lifting her skirt to reveal that she cut off her hose too? Was it like electricity, elation? That was 1999 right? And weren’t you going through manufacturer rejection at the time? How discouraged were you before that Oprah show? Did you shout out loud in jubilation, or dance a jig, or something fun like that? All of the above. The mills had been telling me I was crazy for over a year. I got really frustrated and “released” it and asked for a sign. It was a couple months after that that Oprah was my sign. I was in a hotel room in Detroit when I saw it and yes, I jumped off the bed danced and did a jig (which pre-Spanx wasn’t pretty).

5.) I know you did the patent yourself, except for the claims part. I read in the opening link above that you found a lawyer to do the claims part for a couple hundred dollars. How did you manage to persuade him for that price? My persistence and passion did him in. You have to really believe in yourself in the beginning its your only chance.

6.) When Oprah decided to send out a camera crew, why did you feel like you had to have other people over pretending to work for you? Was it perhaps that you didn’t want to seem too much like a business prodigy/freak of nature? Or was it for the sake of those retail stores watching, so you wouldn’t seem like such a super small operation? Actually neither, I thought it was hilarious when they said they wanted to film me having a staff meeting, and I had no staff. It was just a spontaneous reaction to call all my friends over.

7.) You’ve mentioned elsewhere that a patent is only as good as you are willing to defend it? Have you had to defend your Spanx patent yet? Have you ever gone to court, or has rattling the saber loudly sufficed? No I have not defended it yet. It is a tough business decision when people knock you off.

8.) Did you have a patent when Neiman Marcus ordered their first stock of Spanx from you? If not, did that worry you at all? Yes my patent had already been filed and was pending.

9.) Did you ever think of trying to raise money? Did you have the goal of owning the company 100%? In the tech world, that’s often unheard of, so congrats on that coup of sorts. It never dawned on me to raise money, it only dawned on me to get it all done with $5,000 which was my savings.

10.) Was it lonely at the top? I mean, at what point did you decide that you just couldn’t do everything yourself? About 3 years into the business I hired a CEO. She and I work closely together, but she runs the day to day business. It is a very great moment when you can afford to hire your weaknesses, or delegate the parts you least enjoy.

11.) How was hanging out with Richard Branson? I’ve heard he’s one crazy dude, in life and business. Was that inspiring? He is amazing; however I don’t recommend hanging out with him if you have a fear of flying!

12.) Do you realize how perfect your Spanx name is? You say it’s provocative and you’re right. I was talking to my mom about this interview and she raised her eyebrows and smiled, having never heard the name before. I had to quickly explain. That’s pretty much the perfect response because it gets people interested right off the bat. Yes, I had to learn quickly in selling copiers door to door for 7 years you have about 10 seconds to confuse them, peak their interest, or make them smile to get the next 10 seconds.

13.) Do you remember the brainstorming session where you thought of Spanx? Was there a progression of ideas that led you to it, or did it kind of pop out of nowhere and hit you in the, *cough-ahem*, behind? (Couldn’t resist could I? Well, at least I didn’t ask if it sprung from some sort of personal preference!)…but you thought it! I had no focus group or help on the name, just about a year of really bad names I came up with and wrote on scrap paper on planes, in rental cars etc.. One of the really bad ones was “open-toed delilahs”… can you imagine.

14.) Have you ever thought of writing a book detailing your experiences with Spanx? Editors must be salivating over you! Yes when the time is right.

15.) What are your plans after you get your foundation up and running? I just launched the sarablakelyfoundation.com website last night actually. I’m very excited about the opportunity to give back and help women globally through education and entrepreneurship.

16.) Do you have any new Spanx-caliber ideas up your sleeve that you can hint at? Think boobs.