Sara Blakely

Blakely was born on February 27, 1971, in Clearwater, Florida. She is the daughter of Ellen (née Ford), an artist, and personal injury lawyer 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 Blakely planned to become an attorney, she reconsidered after scoring very poorly 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.

After her short stint at Disney, Blakely accepted a job with office supply company Danka, where she sold fax machines door-to-door. She was quite successful in sales and was promoted to national sales trainer at the age of 25. Forced to wear pantyhose in the hot Florida climate for her sales role, Blakely disliked the appearance of the seamed foot while wearing open-toed shoes but liked the way that the control-top model eliminated panty lines and made her body appear firmer. For her attendance at a private party, she experimented by cutting off the feet of her pantyhose while wearing them under a new pair of slacks and found that the pantyhose continuously rolled up her legs, but she also achieved the desired result.

In 2008, Blakely married Jesse Itzler, the co-founder of Marquis Jet. Together, they have four children. She is a convert to Judaism.

In 2006, Blakely launched the Sara Blakely Foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training. Richard Branson acted as a mentor to Blakely and, at the conclusion of The Rebel Billionaire, surprised Blakely with a $750,000 check to start the Foundation.

Since its launch, The Sara Blakely Foundation has funded scholarships for young women at the Community and Individual Development Association City Campus in South Africa and Blakely appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, donating $1 million to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. In 2013 Blakely became the first female billionaire to join the "Giving Pledge," Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's pledge, whereby the world's richest people donate at least half of their wealth to charity.

In 2019, Blakely paid $162,500 at an auction for the black pants worn by Olivia Newton-John in Grease; the proceeds from which benefited Newton-John's cancer treatment center in Melbourne, Australia.

The next year, Blakely pledged to give $5 million to support female-run small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2026, Florida State University awarded Sara Blakely with Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to commemorate her work as an inventor and philanthropist.