How Sara Blakely Built Spanx and Found Her Next Big Purpose

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The Midlife Chrysalis

Chip Conley

28 episodes

1 day ago

The Midlife Chrysalis is a one-hour podcast hosted by Chip Conley, bestselling author of Learning to Love Midlife and founder of MEA (Modern Elder Academy). Chip and his high-profile guests – including Maria Shriver, Hoda Kotb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Michael Franti, and more – dive into raw, vulnerable conversations about the profound transitions they’ve experienced in midlife. Listeners get a rare look at how even the most successful individuals have to navigate life’s pivotal changes – and gain practical wisdom they can apply in their own lives for a more fulfilling and purposeful next chapter.

Self-Improvement

Education

RSS

All content for The Midlife Chrysalis is the property of Chip Conley and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Self-Improvement

Education

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How Sara Blakely Built Spanx and Found Her Next Big Purpose

The Midlife Chrysalis

1 hour 6 minutes 14 seconds

3 months ago

How Sara Blakely Built Spanx and Found Her Next Big Purpose

What happens when a self-made billionaire steps away from the company she built and faces the big question: What’s next?

In this inspiring episode, the founder of Spanx opens up about her journey from door-to-door sales to creating a global brand, the emotional challenges of selling her company, and how she’s redefining success, purpose, and identity in midlife. It’s a raw and uplifting conversation about reinvention, intuition, and finding meaning beyond business.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:56 Family background and kids

03:47 Childhood struggles and early mindset shift

06:32 Discovering Wayne Dyer and self-growth

09:00 Letting go of law school plans

09:46 Intuition and coping mechanisms

13:25 Selling fax machines and rethinking her path

14:17 The idea for Spanx is born

18:40 Building Spanx and landing Neiman Marcus

22:37 Growing Spanx without advertising

25:30 Selling Spanx and facing an identity shift

31:51 Midlife change and grief

34:44 Creating Sneaks brand

43:54 Psychology behind the second venture

47:32 Perimenopause, health issues, and PMDD

50:19 Modern Elder Academy experience

53:37 Focusing on presence and meaning

55:42 Introverts, extroverts, and integration

58:17 Feminine energy as a superpower

59:42 Wisdom bumpersticker

1:02:26 Chip’s final thoughts

Learn more about MEA at ⁠https://www.meawisdom.com/

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