- On a LinkedIn, Spanx founder Sara Blakely wrote a compelling post with advice about how to handle being single as you head home for the holidays
On LinkedIn, Spanx founder Sara Blakely wrote a compelling post with advice about how to handle being single as you head home for the holidays this week.
“Be the CEO your parents always wanted you to marry! As you head home for the holidays this week… a lot of you will be asked THAT question, you know, the one you hear every year, (the one I heard for almost two decades): ‘SO, when are you getting married?’ Cue the blank stares and awkward silences. 😂 There has always been a huge amount of pressure, especially on women, to get married… and to marry someone successful,” wrote Blakely.
Before Blakely launched Spanx, she sold fax machines door-to-door and over the phone for a company called Danka. And on the nights and weekends, she worked long hours to get Spanx off the ground. In 2000, she quit Danka to work on Spanx full-time.
“I didn’t get married until I was 37. I remember going out to eat alone A LOT in my 20s and 30s and getting looks from people who felt sorry for me. Well-meaning women used to say to me, ‘it’s ok honey… you’ll meet a nice man someday…’ It was rare that anyone ever encouraged me to stand on my own two feet and to have dreams for myself. I saw the limited options my mother and grandmothers had and it fueled my fire to be the CEO of my own life instead of searching for a husband,” Blakely added.
Eventually, Blakely married Jesse Itzler. But that was after she launched Spanx, built a global brand, and ran it as the CEO. And now Blakely has a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes.
Read more about Sara Blakely on Pulse 2.0:
– 8 Tips From Self-Made Billionaire Sara Blakely For Building Successful Companies
– Revolution Rise Of The Rest Raises $150 Million For Second Fund
– Over 200 Philanthropists Have Now Joined The Giving Pledge
