Sara Treleaven Blakely (born February 27, 1971) is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100" annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. As of 2014, she is listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Blakely was born February 27, 1971, in Clearwater, Florida. She is the daughter of Ellen (née Ford), an artist, and trial attorney, John Blakely. She has a brother, artist Ford Blakely. She attended Clearwater High School and graduated from Florida State University with a communication degree, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.
Although she initially planned to become an attorney, she reconsidered after placing very low on the Law School Admission Test; she instead accepted a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where she worked for three months. She also occasionally worked as a stand-up comedian during this period.