Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

Do you wear Spanx? I do, now and then. At least on the rare occasion that I’m not in yoga pants or my favourite mom jeans. I’m not only a fan of the way Spanx can slim the extra lumps and bumps that this beautiful 49-year-old body has, but I’m also a huge fan of the woman behind the brand --- Sara Blakely.

Sara started Spanx with a $5000 investment that she had saved up from her job as a door-to-door fax salesperson in 2000. She often tells the story of filling orders in her living room and making deliveries solo.

Over the past 21 years, Spanx has made Sara a LOT of money. She was first placed on Forbes billionaires list in 2012 and has made it there again this week, having sold a majority share of Spanx to equity giant Blackstone in a deal which values the company at $1.2 billion.

So, does this firmly put Sara Blakely in the ‘successful woman’ category? If you go on to LinkedIn, you’ll see articles about her everywhere. She is someone we all look up to right? I certainly do - innovative entrepreneur, self-made billionaire. Damn.

But what about our own definition of success? Do you need to have a billion dollars in the bank to be a success? Because, c’mon. Sara’s a bit of unicorn right? And I don’t want any of us thinking that we aren’t a success because we haven’t built a business like Spanx.

What are your pillars of success (if not a billion dollars in your bank account)?

When it comes to my professional life, my pillars are things like:

• Doing work I love every day, connecting with amazing women
• Working from home in a beautiful office with my pup by my side
• Being able to do my work from anywhere in the world
• Having the means to be able to travel where and when I want (first plane trip since the pandemic started coming up in a few weeks - NYC here I come!)
• Having flexibility with my day so I can go for walks in my city’s river valley

To help you uncover what your pillars of success are, I have a gorgeous new FREE resource for you to download: 31 Journal Prompts to Help You Discover Success On Your Terms

So yes, you can appreciate women like Sara Blakely. You can look up to her and know that there are unicorns out there that have totally kicked ass and have pocketed a billion bucks.

But also keep in mind your pillars of success. Keep those pillars as your focus when you're building the life you love.

xo Deidra