Sara Blakely: Shaping the world with Spanx

Sara Blakely grew up in Florida and dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but after failing the LSAT twice, she pivoted to sales and later entrepreneurship. Frustrated by uncomfortable hosiery, Blakely cut the feet off her tights and sparked an idea that would change fashion. With no formal business training, she cold-called hosiery mills and landed her first big break with Neiman Marcus, then with the Oprah Winfrey show. Spanx went from a scrappy startup to a billion-dollar brand that reshaped celebrity style and became a cultural phenomenon.

Journalists Zing Tsjeng and Simon Jack trace Sara Blakely's journey from selling fax machines to building Spanx into a global empire. They explore how she leveraged persistence, marketing, and risk-taking to disrupt an industry dominated by men - and what her story reveals about innovation, branding, and entrepreneurship.

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast from the BBC World Service that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are business leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility. Simon and Zing put their subjects to the test with a playful, totally unscientific scorecard — then hand the verdict over to you: are they good, bad, or simply billionaires?

To contact the team, email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or send a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176. Find out more about the show and read our privacy notice at www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire