What's good, Hard Knocks community? 💰 

We're pumped you could join us for another great session at the School of Hard Knocks where we keep you up to date on the latest happenings in the business world, wisdom from today's top entrepreneurs, and actionable steps to apply in both your business and personal life.

Today’s Schedule

• The World’s Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire: Sara Blakely’s Journey to the Top

• Free Game: How Josh Galindo Went From Broke to Earning 8-Figures

• From the Hard Knocks Library: Mindset by Carol Dweck

• In Case You Missed It: We Went Around NYC and Interviewed Entrepreneurship Legends Gary Vee and Ryan Serhant

Ready, set, go!🔥

The World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire 👸🏻

For all the ladies of this generation, SPANX is a household name. Behind the shapewear brand that took the world by storm is one of the most iconic female entrepreneurs of all time: Sara Blakely. Sara's story is full of determination and grit and her journey to the top serves as an inspiration for entrepreneurs everywhere.

The Clearwater, Florida native originally planned to become an attorney, but Sara's low scores on the Law School Admissions Test set her on a completely different path. She took on a bunch of odd jobs, including being a stand up comedian and a stint at Walt Disney World. Eventually, Sara got a job selling fax machines door-to-door.

While working that job, Sara was forced to wear pantyhose and she grew frustrated with how conventional pairs looked and felt. She decided it was her mission to totally revamp pantyhose to make them both supportive and stylish. Still at her full time job, Sara created a prototype for her new style and filed for a patent. She also snagged the SPANX trademark.

Sara then got to work shopping SPANX around to major luxury retailers. Her determination paid off and soon, her merchandise was on the shelves of big name brands like Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, and Saks. In 2000, Oprah Winfrey named SPANX as one of her favorite things and Sara's success skyrocketed. A year later, she signed a deal with QVC. 

In 2012, Forbes named Sara the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world and featured her on the cover. (She no longer holds the title for youngest self made female billionaire) Sara sold a majority stake in SPANX in 2021 for an impressive $1.2 billion.

Like most entrepreneurs who made it big, Sara faced some impactful life lessons on her journey. Here are some of our biggest takeaways:

Maximize a Shoestring Budget: Sara Blakely is no stranger to the hustle. She started SPANX without a marketing or advertising budget and paid her friends to create the hype around her product. She also relied on word-of-mouth, networking, and her social connections to boost product recognition. Sara had a laser-focus on getting SPANX big media attention and her drive is what eventually landed her a feature on Oprah. Her motto? "Make it. Sell it. Build awareness."

Embrace Failure: Sara learned to embrace failure at a very early age. Growing up, her father used to ask her what she failed at that week, and if she didn't have anything, he'd be disappointed. Her positive attitude and motivation to turn failure moments into learning opportunities is one of the main factors of her success. At SPANX, Sara was candid about her failures and always discussed them with her teams. Don’t look at failing as a “failure”. Instead lean into failure! Each time you fail gets you closer to your next success.

Become an Innovator: To develop an industry-disrupting idea, you need to dive deep. After her own disappointing experience with pantyhose, Sara went deep into the weeds in research on the shapewear industry. She even cold called manufacturers and visited factories. Once she gathered enough information, she set out to make a product no one had ever seen before and ultimately changed the shapewear game forever. Doing the exact same thing as a company that is bigger than you will not help you dominate the market. Innovating and offering a unique experience and product for the customer can help you disrupt the current landscape of your industry and capture market share.

Words of Wisdom

Free Game

We caught Josh Galindo outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center in his Lamborghini. He shared with us the amazing story of going from broke to generating tens of millions of dollars in the real estate business. His advice is full of golden nuggets and is sure to light a fire under your feet. Here's our biggest takeaways:

Tap Into Resources: Although he didn't come from money, Josh says he did come from resources. We all come from resources, but it's a matter of whether or not we're conscious of them. Sometimes it's not that we lack resources, but we lack resourcefulness. It starts with having the humility and courage to ask for help, and the credit goes to you for having the balls to do so. Don’t be afraid of asking for help - Be afraid of being stagnant.

Stay Woke or Stay Broke: Today's world is full of distractions and Josh believes that's what keeps people broke. Politics, booze, and football can all get in the way of making it to the next level. Is there a time and place to have a good time with friends and family? Absolutely. But if you dislike your current situation or career, then you have to put the distractions to the side and dial in on changing your circumstances. Just remember, no one is coming to save you - it’s up to you.

Fix Your Mindset on Money: You can't save your way to being rich. Many people say "how can I afford that thing" and they look at all their bills / expenses and think about what they can cut out - but instead you should be asking "how can I make more money?" The reality is, deciding not to get your $6 coffee from Starbucks in the morning won’t fix your financial situation. Josh secret is buying cash flowing assets. He's been able to live abundantly through income from rental properties. He takes the earned money he earns from his job or business and invests that into cash-flowing properties. Remember, scared money don't make money - it's up to us to make money work for ourselves so our wealthy can exponentially multiply.

From the Hard Knocks Library

In Case You Missed It

This past Monday we dropped our first ever YouTube video of us going around New York City and this is a very special episode for us because we were able to not only link up with one but TWO entrepreneurship legends - Ryan Serhant and Gary Vee. We talked all about the factors of what made them successful, their life / business advice and more. You aren’t gonna want to miss this one, so give it a watch now🔥

Let Us Hear From You

Do you have any entrepreneurs or stories you would like us to talk about? Please reply back with any ideas or things you would like us to include in future newsletters and we may just cover that story in our next weeks episode!