Sara Blakely

Shark Tank Biography

Sara Blakely is the founder and sole owner of Spanx, the brand that is constantly inventing more comfortable undergarment options for women that just happen to also make your butt and gut look amazing, and now, thankfully, makes killer leggings, too!

The brand was born from a simple goal – find something to wear under white pants to make them more flattering. After some creativity with scissors and control top pantyhose, Spanx is now a successful business with offerings that extend far beyond its original shapewear.

In 2006, Sara also founded her eponymous foundation, which has set aside millions of dollars to empower and elevate women and girls. She also created the Leg Up initiative, which empowers female entrepreneurs to build successful businesses and create economic opportunity in their communities.

Sara lives in Atlanta with her husband and four kids. She is an advocate of women being whatever they want to be, but most importantly being their own boss!

Follow Blakely on Facebook @spanx

She has appeared on Shark Tank beginning in Season Nine.

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Additional Information

Like several of the sharks from the main cast, Sara also been a guest on NPRs How I Built This. Her interview took place before she appeared in the tank but it is still an enlightening interview into the process and challenges of building Spanx.

Shark Comparison

As with most of the guest sharks, there's really just not enough data to draw any conclusions about the type of deals Sara prefers to invest in. She has appeared in just three episodes throughout Season Nine (although she appears to be wearing the same clothes in each, implying that they were all shot on the same day) and invested in just two deals.

If there is one thing that might be interesting, it's that for an entrepreneur who made their fortune in apparel, neither of the two deals she made in the tank were for companies in the apparel category. This, however, could be for many different reasons though, not limited to the idea that she was only presented two apparel deals and one of them was primarily aimed at pets. Perhaps if she returns for Season Ten we might be able to draw some