Sara Blakely: How Humor Became a Category Creation Tool

Most founders are taught to neutralize their personality as they scale.
Be more “professional.” More measured. More polished.

Sara Blakely did the opposite—and built a billion-dollar category because of it.

She didn’t just invent a product. She invented a tone for an entire category that didn’t exist yet. And that tone—self-aware, disarming, humorous—became her Principal Voice.

This week in our Principal Voice Series, we’re closing with a leader who proves something critical for modern CEOs:

Personality, when used with intention, isn’t a liability.

It’s leverage.

The Context: A Category No One Wanted to Talk About

Before Spanx, shapewear lived in the shadows. It was sold quietly, explained awkwardly, and marketed without confidence. The category was functional, not aspirational. Necessary, but never celebrated.

Blakely understood something most founders miss:

You don’t change a market by overpowering it.
You change it by reframing how people feel inside it.
Instead of apologizing for the product, she normalized it.

Sara didn’t hide the problem, she named it.

Instead of positioning herself as an expert, she positioned herself as a real woman who’d figured something out and was willing to laugh about it.

That was the unlock.

Humor Wasn’t a Gimmick. It Was Strategy.

Blakely’s humor wasn’t cute. It wasn’t performative. And it certainly wasn’t accidental.

It did three very strategic things:

It lowered defenses
It made the brand memorable
It humanized the founder

People didn’t feel sold to. They felt understood.

Watch a Principal Voice in Action

If you want to see what intentional personality in leadership actually looks like, watch Sara Blakely’s MasterClass trailer:

In under two minutes, you see exactly why her leadership style works.

She’s relaxed. Self-aware. Unpolished, but in the best way. Completely in command of her story.

There’s no posturing. No performance. No attempt to sound corporate.

And yet, her authority is unmistakable.

This is the difference between having personality and leading with it.

Why This Matters for CEOs Today

Most CEOs don’t lack personality.

They suppress it. They’re told to sound credible.

To be less expressive. To sand down the edges that make them memorable.

The result is leaders who are impressive on paper and interchangeable in practice.

Blakely shows a different path. Authority doesn’t require seriousness. Credibility doesn’t require conformity. Leadership doesn’t require a personality transplant.