Sep 23, 2026 · 17 min · 11 segments
Are you waiting for the results to prove that you’re ready to become the CEO you want to be? In Part 2 of the Stop Playing Small series, I break down the identity shift needed to build a bigger…
Heather TerveenHost
In 1998, a 27-year-old woman named Sarah Blakely was selling fax machines door to door in Florida.
What she did have was a pair of pantyhose she'd cut the feet off of, $5,000 in savings and an idea.
Most people, when they have an idea like that, write it in a notebook and tell their friends about it at brunch.
She drove to a hosiery factory in North Carolina and asked them to manufacture her prototype.
and really got laughed out of the room, if you've ever heard her retell the story.
She walked into Neiman Marcus with a FedEx envelope of samples and demanded a meeting.
The buyer almost passed, so Sarah, in the middle of the meeting, pulled the buyer into the bathroom, took off her own pants, and tried Spanx on in front of her to demonstrate.
She built a billion dollar company without taking a dollar of outside investment.
While every gatekeeper in fashion was telling her she didn't belong in fashion.
She did not earn the identity of founder of a billion dollar brand first and then claim it.
In 1998, a 27-year-old woman named Sarah Blakely was selling fax machines door to door in Florida.
What she did have was a pair of pantyhose she'd cut the feet off of, $5,000 in savings and an idea.
Most people, when they have an idea like that, write it in a notebook and tell their friends about it at brunch.
She drove to a hosiery factory in North Carolina and asked them to manufacture her prototype.
and really got laughed out of the room, if you've ever heard her retell the story.
She walked into Neiman Marcus with a FedEx envelope of samples and demanded a meeting.
The buyer almost passed, so Sarah, in the middle of the meeting, pulled the buyer into the bathroom, took off her own pants, and tried Spanx on in front of her to demonstrate.
She built a billion dollar company without taking a dollar of outside investment.
While every gatekeeper in fashion was telling her she didn't belong in fashion.
She did not earn the identity of founder of a billion dollar brand first and then claim it.
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3 of 7
The Bathroom Pitch That Won
One founder refused to wait for permission.
Your Success Has A Thermostat
Success can trigger hidden patterns of self-sabotage.
Audacity Built The Business
A small-town practice challenged every market assumption.
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