Question 1

True or false: Sara Blakely invented Spanx while working as a lawyer in New York.

Accepted Answer

False. She was selling fax machines and performing comedy, not practicing law. She didn’t attend law school.

Question 2

True or false: Sara Blakely cut the feet off her pantyhose to create the first Spanx prototype.

Accepted Answer

True. She literally cut the feet off control-top pantyhose to test her idea, leading to the invention of Spanx.

Question 3

True or false: Sara Blakely sold Spanx to a major corporation for $1 billion in cash.

Accepted Answer

False. She never sold Spanx; she retains 100% ownership of the privately held company, making her a rare independent billionaire.

Question 4

True or false: Sara Blakely was the youngest self-made female billionaire in history.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2012, at age 41, Forbes named her the youngest self-made female billionaire, a record she held for years.

Question 5

True or false: Sara Blakely donated her entire fortune to charity in 2020.

Accepted Answer

False. She is a major philanthropist (e.g., giving $5 million to women entrepreneurs), but she didn’t donate her entire fortune.

Question 6

True or false: Sara Blakely wrote her own patent for Spanx to save money.

Accepted Answer

True. With no legal background, she wrote the patent herself using a textbook, saving thousands in legal fees.

Question 7

True or false: Sara Blakely’s father encouraged her to celebrate failures as a child.

Accepted Answer

False. Her father actually asked, “What did you fail at this week?” to normalize failure, but that’s true—this statement flips it to a false claim.

Question 8

True or false: Sara Blakely once worked as a stand-up comedian before starting Spanx.

Accepted Answer

True. Before Spanx, she performed stand-up comedy and even sold fax machines door-to-door, which honed her sales skills.

Sara Blakely Trivia Questions