WEBVTT
00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.160
Welcome to Future Me, the podcast for dreamers, doers, and champions in the making.
00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.919
Get cozy, take a breath, and let's begin.
00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.239
Did you know Sarah Blakely started her company Spanks with just$5,000 of her own savings?
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:24.480
Money she had earned selling fax machines door to door, and no business experience whatsoever.
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.960
She wrote her own patent application using a textbook from the library because she couldn't afford a lawyer.
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.320
Every single manufacturer she approached said no.
00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:45.200
She eventually convinced one to give her a chance, and within a few years, Spenks was a billion-dollar brand, making Sarah Blakely the youngest self-made billionaire in history at the time.
00:00:45.520 --> 00:01:00.560
Tonight I want to tell you of a story of how a woman with a simple idea, a lot of determination, and absolutely no experience built one of the most successful businesses in the world, and what her father did every single week of her childhood that made all the difference.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:05.760
Hey there, champion.
00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.359
Welcome back to Future Me.
00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.439
It's so good to have you here.
00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:23.359
Let's get cozy, find your spot, pull your blanket up, and let everything else drift a slow deep breath in and breathe it all the way out.
00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:31.359
One more time, breathe in, and breathe out.
00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.560
Let your whole body feel warm and still.
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:38.400
Good.
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:39.920
You're here now.
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:42.319
And tonight's story starts with a question.
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:47.760
Have you ever had a really simple idea, so simple it almost seemed too obvious?
00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.680
And then wondered if it was worth anything?
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:58.239
Sarah Blakely had one of those ideas, and she turned it into something the whole world wanted.
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.599
But the most important part of her story isn't the idea.
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.359
It's what her dad taught her every single week at the dinner table.
00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:10.400
And I think when you hear it, it might change the way you think about things for the rest of your life.
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.800
Sarah Blakeley was born in 1971 in Clearwater, Florida.
00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.360
She grew up in a warm, encouraging family.
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:23.599
Her father was a lawyer, but the most important thing he ever did for Sarah had nothing to do with law.
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.319
Every week at the dinner table, he would ask his children the same question.
00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.120
What did you fail at this week?
00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:32.960
Not what did you win?
00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:34.879
Not what were you best at?
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.800
What did you fail at?
00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:44.719
And if Sarah and her brother had nothing to report, if they hadn't failed at anything, her father would be disappointed.
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:48.080
Because to him, failure meant you were trying.
00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.080
It meant you were reaching.
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.599
It meant you were brave enough to attempt something difficult.
00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.000
He would high-five them for failures.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.840
He celebrated the attempts, not just the outcomes.
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:10.479
That lesson, that failure is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be proud of, became the foundation of everything Sarah would later build.
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.360
After college, Sarah tried to get into law school.
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:14.639
She didn't make it.
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.080
She auditioned to work at Disney World as a character performer.
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:19.599
She was too tall.
00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:30.800
She ended up selling fax machines door-to-door in Florida, knocking on strangers' door in the heat, being told no dozens of times a day for seven years.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.039
Most people would have given up.
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:34.800
Sarah just kept going.
00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:36.800
And she kept noticing things.
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.400
One day she was getting ready for a party and she wanted to wear a pair of cream-colored trousers.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.919
But she didn't have the right underwear to wear underneath them.
00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:51.759
She cut the feet off a pair of tights, wore them under her trousers, and thought, that worked.
00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.000
That actually worked really well.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.319
And then she thought, I wonder if other women have this problem.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.919
They did.
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.080
Millions of them.
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.120
Sarah had$5,000 in savings.
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:16.959
She spent two years researching the hosiery industry in her spare time, calling manufacturers from her apartment at night, writing her own patent with a textbook from the library, designing her own packaging.
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.920
Every manufacturer she contacted said no.
00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:21.680
She wasn't deterred.
00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.120
She kept calling.
00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:36.000
One manufacturer finally agreed to a meeting, and legend has it, that he went home and told his daughters about this woman with the crazy idea, and his daughter said, Dad, that idea is brilliant.
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.439
You have to make it.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.680
He called Sarah the next day.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:45.360
She named the company Spanx, designed the packaging herself, and sold it out of her apartment.
00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:55.600
She convinced a buyer at Neiman Marcus, one of America's most famous department stores, to take a meeting and then pulled out her product right there in the bathroom to show how it worked.
00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.839
Neiman Marcus placed an order.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:04.720
Then Oprah named Spanx one of her favorite things of the year, and overnight, everything changed.
00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.240
Sarah Blakely became the youngest self-made female billionaire in history.
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:25.759
Not because she had connections or a business degree or a lot of money to start with, because she had a simple idea, the courage to believe in it when nobody else did, and a father who had taught her from childhood that failing just means you're trying.
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:37.120
She has since given away half her wealth, signed the giving pledge along with some of the world's greatest philanthropists, and spent years encouraging other women to start businesses and back themselves.
00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:46.720
Because she knows better than almost anyone that the only thing standing between a good idea and something extraordinary is the courage to keep going.
00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.759
I want you to think about something.
00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.160
Sarah's dad asked his kids every week, what did you fail at?
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:59.439
I want to ask you the same thing, put in a gentler way.
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.800
Is there something you tried recently that didn't go the way you hoped?
00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.120
Something you attempted and it didn't work out?
00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.680
Something you were brave enough to try even though you weren't sure?
00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.759
If there is, I want you to feel proud of that.
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.519
Really proud.
00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:31.680
Because attempting something hard, something new, something uncertain, that takes a lot of courage.
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.199
More courage than staying safe and never trying at all.
00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:40.480
Sarah Blakely was rejected by every manufacturer she called.
00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.040
She was turned down for law school.
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.879
She was told she was too tall to be a theme park character.
00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:51.279
She spent seven years being told no by strangers at their front doors.
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:55.519
And every single one of those no's was just part of the path to yes.
00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.120
Your no's are part of your path too.
00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:08.720
So the next time something doesn't work, the next time you try and fall short, I want you to imagine Sarah's dad sitting across from you at the dinner table.
00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:12.560
And I want you to hear him say, Tell me about it.
00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:14.879
I'm proud of you for trying.
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.319
Because that is exactly what he would say.
00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.279
Let's say these phrases together.
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:27.920
Let every single one be true.
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.800
I am brave enough to try, even when I might fail.
00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.240
My ideas are worth believing in.
00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.639
Every no brings me closer to yes.
00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:56.639
I back myself even when no one else does.
00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.160
I am future me.
00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:21.360
As you drift towards sleep tonight, I want you to picture an idea.
00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.160
It might be something you already have.
00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.959
Or something that hasn't arrived yet.
00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:28.800
Just let one come.
00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.360
It might feel small, maybe even silly.
00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:38.879
That's okay.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.519
Sarah Blakely's idea was cutting the feet off her tights.
00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.720
That's it.
00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:46.960
That was the whole thing.
00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.519
Now picture yourself backing that idea.
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.639
Believing in it when nobody else does.
00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.480
Working on it quietly, steadily, one small step at a time.
00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:10.559
Picture the moment it works.
00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:17.360
You did that.
00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:23.440
With your idea, with your courage, with your refusal to give up.
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:32.080
You are inventive, you are brave, and your best idea might be the one you haven't had yet.
00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.559
Good night, champion.
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.360
See you next time on Future Me.
00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:47.919
A note from parents.
00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:55.200
Sarah Blakely's father changed her relationship with failure before she ever had a chance to face it in the real world.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.279
You can do the same.
00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:04.720
Starting tonight, try asking your child at dinner once a week, what did you try this week that was hard?
00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.279
What didn't go perfectly?
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.639
And when they answer, celebrate that attempt.
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.080
High-fi them for the try, not just the result.
00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:19.759
Over time, that simple ritual builds a child who is not afraid to reach.
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:30.879
Seven episodes, seven extraordinary lives, and one child who has fallen asleep night after night, hearing that their dreams are worth chasing.
00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.120
That is what you have given them.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.399
Keep going, because so will we.
00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.160
Welcome to Future Me, the podcast for dreamers, doers, and champions in the making.
00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.919
Get cozy, take a breath, and let's begin.
00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.239
Did you know Sarah Blakely started her company Spanks with just$5,000 of her own savings?
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:24.480
Money she had earned selling fax machines door to door, and no business experience whatsoever.
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.960
She wrote her own patent application using a textbook from the library because she couldn't afford a lawyer.
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.320
Every single manufacturer she approached said no.
00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:45.200
She eventually convinced one to give her a chance, and within a few years, Spenks was a billion-dollar brand, making Sarah Blakely the youngest self-made billionaire in history at the time.
00:00:45.520 --> 00:01:00.560
Tonight I want to tell you of a story of how a woman with a simple idea, a lot of determination, and absolutely no experience built one of the most successful businesses in the world, and what her father did every single week of her childhood that made all the difference.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:05.760
Hey there, champion.
00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.359
Welcome back to Future Me.
00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.439
It's so good to have you here.
00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:23.359
Let's get cozy, find your spot, pull your blanket up, and let everything else drift a slow deep breath in and breathe it all the way out.
00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:31.359
One more time, breathe in, and breathe out.
00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.560
Let your whole body feel warm and still.
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:38.400
Good.
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:39.920
You're here now.
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:42.319
And tonight's story starts with a question.
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:47.760
Have you ever had a really simple idea, so simple it almost seemed too obvious?
00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.680
And then wondered if it was worth anything?
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:58.239
Sarah Blakely had one of those ideas, and she turned it into something the whole world wanted.
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.599
But the most important part of her story isn't the idea.
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.359
It's what her dad taught her every single week at the dinner table.
00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:10.400
And I think when you hear it, it might change the way you think about things for the rest of your life.
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.800
Sarah Blakeley was born in 1971 in Clearwater, Florida.
00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.360
She grew up in a warm, encouraging family.
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:23.599
Her father was a lawyer, but the most important thing he ever did for Sarah had nothing to do with law.
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.319
Every week at the dinner table, he would ask his children the same question.
00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.120
What did you fail at this week?
00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:32.960
Not what did you win?
00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:34.879
Not what were you best at?
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.800
What did you fail at?
00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:44.719
And if Sarah and her brother had nothing to report, if they hadn't failed at anything, her father would be disappointed.
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:48.080
Because to him, failure meant you were trying.
00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.080
It meant you were reaching.
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.599
It meant you were brave enough to attempt something difficult.
00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.000
He would high-five them for failures.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.840
He celebrated the attempts, not just the outcomes.
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:10.479
That lesson, that failure is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be proud of, became the foundation of everything Sarah would later build.
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.360
After college, Sarah tried to get into law school.
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:14.639
She didn't make it.
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.080
She auditioned to work at Disney World as a character performer.
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:19.599
She was too tall.
00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:30.800
She ended up selling fax machines door-to-door in Florida, knocking on strangers' door in the heat, being told no dozens of times a day for seven years.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.039
Most people would have given up.
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:34.800
Sarah just kept going.
00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:36.800
And she kept noticing things.
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.400
One day she was getting ready for a party and she wanted to wear a pair of cream-colored trousers.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.919
But she didn't have the right underwear to wear underneath them.
00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:51.759
She cut the feet off a pair of tights, wore them under her trousers, and thought, that worked.
00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.000
That actually worked really well.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.319
And then she thought, I wonder if other women have this problem.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.919
They did.
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.080
Millions of them.
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.120
Sarah had$5,000 in savings.
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:16.959
She spent two years researching the hosiery industry in her spare time, calling manufacturers from her apartment at night, writing her own patent with a textbook from the library, designing her own packaging.
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.920
Every manufacturer she contacted said no.
00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:21.680
She wasn't deterred.
00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.120
She kept calling.
00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:36.000
One manufacturer finally agreed to a meeting, and legend has it, that he went home and told his daughters about this woman with the crazy idea, and his daughter said, Dad, that idea is brilliant.
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.439
You have to make it.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.680
He called Sarah the next day.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:45.360
She named the company Spanx, designed the packaging herself, and sold it out of her apartment.
00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:55.600
She convinced a buyer at Neiman Marcus, one of America's most famous department stores, to take a meeting and then pulled out her product right there in the bathroom to show how it worked.
00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.839
Neiman Marcus placed an order.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:04.720
Then Oprah named Spanx one of her favorite things of the year, and overnight, everything changed.
00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.240
Sarah Blakely became the youngest self-made female billionaire in history.
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:25.759
Not because she had connections or a business degree or a lot of money to start with, because she had a simple idea, the courage to believe in it when nobody else did, and a father who had taught her from childhood that failing just means you're trying.
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:37.120
She has since given away half her wealth, signed the giving pledge along with some of the world's greatest philanthropists, and spent years encouraging other women to start businesses and back themselves.
00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:46.720
Because she knows better than almost anyone that the only thing standing between a good idea and something extraordinary is the courage to keep going.
00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.759
I want you to think about something.
00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.160
Sarah's dad asked his kids every week, what did you fail at?
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:59.439
I want to ask you the same thing, put in a gentler way.
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.800
Is there something you tried recently that didn't go the way you hoped?
00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.120
Something you attempted and it didn't work out?
00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.680
Something you were brave enough to try even though you weren't sure?
00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.759
If there is, I want you to feel proud of that.
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.519
Really proud.
00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:31.680
Because attempting something hard, something new, something uncertain, that takes a lot of courage.
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.199
More courage than staying safe and never trying at all.
00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:40.480
Sarah Blakely was rejected by every manufacturer she called.
00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.040
She was turned down for law school.
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.879
She was told she was too tall to be a theme park character.
00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:51.279
She spent seven years being told no by strangers at their front doors.
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:55.519
And every single one of those no's was just part of the path to yes.
00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.120
Your no's are part of your path too.
00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:08.720
So the next time something doesn't work, the next time you try and fall short, I want you to imagine Sarah's dad sitting across from you at the dinner table.
00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:12.560
And I want you to hear him say, Tell me about it.
00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:14.879
I'm proud of you for trying.
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.319
Because that is exactly what he would say.
00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.279
Let's say these phrases together.
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:27.920
Let every single one be true.
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.800
I am brave enough to try, even when I might fail.
00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.240
My ideas are worth believing in.
00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.639
Every no brings me closer to yes.
00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:56.639
I back myself even when no one else does.
00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.160
I am future me.
00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:21.360
As you drift towards sleep tonight, I want you to picture an idea.
00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.160
It might be something you already have.
00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.959
Or something that hasn't arrived yet.
00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:28.800
Just let one come.
00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.360
It might feel small, maybe even silly.
00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:38.879
That's okay.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.519
Sarah Blakely's idea was cutting the feet off her tights.
00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.720
That's it.
00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:46.960
That was the whole thing.
00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.519
Now picture yourself backing that idea.
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.639
Believing in it when nobody else does.
00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.480
Working on it quietly, steadily, one small step at a time.
00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:10.559
Picture the moment it works.
00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:17.360
You did that.
00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:23.440
With your idea, with your courage, with your refusal to give up.
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:32.080
You are inventive, you are brave, and your best idea might be the one you haven't had yet.
00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.559
Good night, champion.
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.360
See you next time on Future Me.
00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:47.919
A note from parents.
00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:55.200
Sarah Blakely's father changed her relationship with failure before she ever had a chance to face it in the real world.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.279
You can do the same.
00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:04.720
Starting tonight, try asking your child at dinner once a week, what did you try this week that was hard?
00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.279
What didn't go perfectly?
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.639
And when they answer, celebrate that attempt.
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.080
High-fi them for the try, not just the result.
00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:19.759
Over time, that simple ritual builds a child who is not afraid to reach.
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:30.879
Seven episodes, seven extraordinary lives, and one child who has fallen asleep night after night, hearing that their dreams are worth chasing.
00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.120
That is what you have given them.
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Keep going, because so will we.
