Sara Blakely

“Shapewear is the canvas and the clothes are the art.”

“I cut the feet off of a pair of panty hose and it allowed me to wear a pair of great strappy sandals. I didn't see lines but the hose rolled up at my feet - and that's how Spanx born.”

“I did not like the way I looked in a pair of white pants.”

“Every time I went on stage I was so terrified I almost threw up.”

“The word 'Spanx' was funny. It made people laugh. No one ever forgot it.”

“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.”

“My husband is such a healthy eater. Except when it comes to sweets. He never consumes anything except fruit until noon. And then from noon on he might have some brown rice and some tofu, and then, come eight or nine at night, he orders three mud-pie double-chocolate pieces of cake and eats all three of them.”

“Everything about my journey to get Spanx off the ground entailed me having to be a salesperson - from going to the hosiery mills to get a prototype made to calling Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. I had to position myself to get five minutes in the door with buyers.”

“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.”

“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.”

“My revenue was $4 million my first year in business, off of one $20 item.”

“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.”

“I couldn't figure out what to wear under my clothes. The body shapers were too thick at the time.”

“Everything in our society is so purposeful.”

“My saddlebags are why Spanx exist! Now that I have a baby I also have a muffin top.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I cut the feet out of my control top pantyhose to wear under these white pants and that was the ah-ha moment that started Spanx. My own butt was my own inspiration!”

“I didn't like the way it looked in white trousers, and I couldn't find anything to work underneath them.”

“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.”