Here is a feast of Sara Blakely quotes to inspire you today! Why would you want to take inspiration from Sarah Blakely? Well, she is quite simply a superwoman!
She is a woman who despite being turned down by several investors managed to see through her hosiery idea from nothing into a multi million dollar business. In 2012, just 12 years after launching her SPANX brand, Forbes named Blakely the the world’s youngest, self-made female billionaire.
Today, the SPANX brand is a household name across many countries in the world and it is all thanks to Blakely’s self belief and perseverence. Now, let’s tune in to Sarah Blakely’s quotes and tap into the mindset of someone who just doesn’t talk the talk but has actually walked the road.
Popular Sara Blakely Quotes That Will Empower You
- “I’ve always leaned toward a feminine, funky style, even in business settings. I used to paint my nails blue in 1993, before it was mainstream.”– Sara Blakely
- “My first account was Neiman Marcus. I cold-called them just like I had cold-called businesses when I was selling fax machines for seven years.”– Sara Blakely
- “Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know.”– Sara Blakely
- “When something I can’t control happens, I ask myself : where is the hidden gift, where is the positive in this?”– Sara Blakely
- “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.”– Sara Blakely
- “You’ve got to visualize where you’re headed and be very clear about it. Take a Polaroid picture of where you’re going to be in a few years.”– Sara Blakely
- “When I was a child, my father used to encourage my brother and me to fail. At the dinner table, instead of asking about the best part of our day, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn’t have something to tell him, he would be disappointed. When we shared whatever failure we’d endured, he’d high-five us and say, ‘Way to go!’ The gift my father gave us by doing this was redefining what failure truly meant.”– Sara Blakely
- “Instead of failure being the outcome, failure became not trying. And it forced me at a young age to want to push myself so much further out of my comfort zone.”– Sara Blakely
- “Every time I went on stage I was so terrified I almost threw up.”– Sara Blakely
- “We don’t have the luxury of time. We spend more because of how we live, but it’s important to be with our family and friends.”– Sara Blakely
- “My revenue was $4 million my first year in business, off of one $20 item.”– Sara Blakely
- “I’d never worked in fashion or retail. I just needed an undergarment that didn’t exist.”– Sara Blakely
- “I think failure is nothing more than life’s way of nudging you that you are off course.”– Sara Blakely
- “Failure is not the outcome – failure is not trying. Don’t be afraid to fail.”– Sara Blakely
- “My advice for an entrepreneur just starting out is to differentiate yourself. Why are you different? What’s important about you? Why does the customer need you?”– Sara Blakely
- “Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ is my go-to song to pump myself up if I’m having a tough time or if I get really nervous right before a speech.”– Sara Blakely
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“I shopped for body shapers for the first time in my life and I was horrified. They were thick – it was like wearing workout clothes and they all had a leg band on one side that showed through the pants.”– Sara Blakely
- “I think very early on in life we all learn what we’re good at and what we’re not good at, and we stay where it’s safe.”– Sara Blakely
- 20th Sara Blakely Quote – “Don’t let what you don’t know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset. And if you do things without knowing how they have always been done, you’re guaranteed to do them differently.” – Sara Blakely
- “Failures are life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you are off course. Trying new things and not being afraid to fail along the way are more important than what you learn in school.”– Sara Blakely
- “I made a conscious decision not to tell anyone in my life. Now I tell people – don’t tell anyone your idea until you have invested enough of yourself in it that you are not going to turn back. When a person has an idea at that conception moment it is the most vulnerable – one negative comment could knock you off course.”– Sara Blakely
- “You’ve got to embrace what you don’t know.”– Sara Blakely
- “I always joke and say I want to invent a comfortable stiletto and then retire.”– Sara Blakely
- “Failure is not attached to outcome, but in not trying. This way, it is about answering to yourself.”– Sara Blakely
- “I think failure is nothing more than life’s way of nudging you that you are off course. My attitude to failure is not attached to outcome, but in not trying. It is liberating. Most people attach failure to something not working out or how people perceive you. This way, it is about answering to yourself.”– Sara Blakely
- “When I’m bored or tired of being blonde, I’ll throw on a wig. It’s a lot less of a permanent way to change your look, and I have about 10 – all different colors, shapes, bobs, long hair, short, feathered.”– Sara Blakely
- “I aim to be pretty – I gave up dressing to be sexy in the eighties.”– Sara Blakely
- “Everything in our society is so purposeful.”– Sara Blakely
- “Failure to me became not trying versus not succeeding.”– Sara Blakely
- “My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn’t have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. Don’t be afraid to fail.”– Sara Blakely
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“Don’t let what you don’t know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset.”– Sara Blakely
- “I think my story says that, when women are given the chance and the opportunity, that we can achieve a lot. We deliver.”– Sara Blakely
- “Perseverance is the key to starting a successful business.”– Sara Blakely
- “I’d get kicked out of buildings all day long, people would rip up my business card in my face. It’s a humbling business to be in. But I knew I could sell and I knew I wanted to sell something I had created. I cut the feet out of those pantyhose and I knew I was on to something. This was it.”– Sara Blakely
- “Money is fun to make, fun to spend and fun to give away.”– Sara Blakely
- “It’s really a full-time job to manage our lives.”– Sara Blakely
- “The thought of my mortality – I think about it a lot. I find it motivating. It can be any time that your number’s up.”– Sara Blakely
- 40th Sara Blakely Quote – “Ideas, even million-dollar ones, are most vulnerable in their infancy; don’t share them with too many people. However, don’t hide your plan from people who can help you move it forward.” – Sara Blakely
- “Ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.”– Sara Blakely
- “I got a call from the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah had chosen Spanx as one of her favorite products in 2000. I had boxes of product in my apartment and I had two weeks notice that she was going to say she loved it on TV and I had no shipping department.”– Sara Blakely
- “Most of the reason we don’t do things is because we’re afraid to fail. I just made a decision one day that I was not not going to do things in my life because of fear.”– Sara Blakely
- “The thing about fashion – it’s like ducks going quack, quack quack. It’s being dictated from above, and it just makes me want to rebel against it.”– Sara Blakely
- “I started thinking about joy. Everything in our society is so purposeful. Let’s bring joy back to the experience.”– Sara Blakely
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“I took a Fear of Flying class, and I always missed the class, because I was always flying.”– Sara Blakely
- “Don’t solicit feedback on your product, idea or your business just for validation purposes. You want to tell the people who can help move your idea forward, but if you’re just looking to your friend, co-worker, husband or wife for validation, be careful. It can stop a lot of multimillion-dollar ideas in their tracks in the beginning.”– Sara Blakely
- “What I most identify with is effortless fashion, looking as if someone’s not put a lot of effort into their look.”– Sara Blakely
- “I grew up in a house where my father encouraged my brother and me to fail. I specifically remember coming home and saying, ‘Dad, Dad, I tried out for this or that and I was horrible,’ and he would high-five me and say, ‘Way to go.’”– Sara Blakely
- “I have this system where if I buy three or four new things, I give away three or four things. Sometimes, it’s a very painful system, but shopping is even better when you know that someone else who needs it will be getting. Keep the clothing karma going, I say.”– Sara Blakely
- “My saddlebags are why ‘Spanx’ exist! Now that I have a baby I also have a muffin top.”– Sara Blakely
It is clear from Blakely’s story that huge success can come out of failure. She is living testimony to that. The industry she wanted to enter was male dominated and there she was a young female, and her ideas were thrown out. Regardless, with a vision and persistence she ploughed through and eventually she got the yes she needed.
It was only that one yes that she received that transformed her life. As you go about your day today, just remember that it is your commitment to your vision that matters. Yes, people will knock you down, yes your ideas will be laughed at or sometimes ridiculed but if you are committed to your vision, a way will be found.
May be today be the day that you decide to trust your instincts and listen to that inner voice. May Sarah Blakely’s quotes instill within you a strong sense of belief and a ‘can do’ attitude.
Success can be yours, dream it, believe it, and you will achieve it!
