CBS News’ Post

Transcript

Our next guest has been called one of the most successful, and that is the word entrepreneurs in modern history. Sarah Blakely revolutionized shapewear when she created spanks. Got him on right now. She sold the majority stake in her company two years ago. And today she is now trying to disrupt the luxury shoe industry with her new line. I love this name. Sarah Sneaks. Sarah Blakely joins us first on CBS Mornings. And we always love when that happens. Yeah. Ohh. Welcome, welcome, welcome. And Bravo. Thank you. So excited. Our our our head cheese. They're John Tower is a bit of a **** *** and he said this is ohh. Why do you earn? Do you like sneakers but hate how comfortable they are? Let me put it in a high heel and this is what you have done. I so love these. I do too. I so love these. Thank you. So what was your thinking behind it because I keep dreaming of the day that somebody would actually make a comfortable high heel. Well, I was just cute. That's cute. Yes. I was just like you. I cannot wear high heels anymore. They really hurt my feet. Heels were invented. Hundreds of years ago and not much has changed in them and I I wanted a comfortable luxury heel for my closet but I also wanted comfort. But it's a combination of a tennis shoe and a high heel that I'm. I'm struck by yeah. So made you focus on that. OK so during development and it was a long development. A lot of factories. Long development. What is it like 10 years? Yeah like 9 to 10 years starting stopping. Am I going to continue with this but a lot of factories weren't set up to. Kind of do the performance of a sneaker with the stiletto. So it was a lot of trial and error, but I just wanted it to be a really comfortable experience. And I kept saying at one point in development, I go, I just want my high heel to feel like my sneaker. And then I just went, OK, guys, let's just try it and see if it works. I like the silver one. It's nice and light, too. Yeah, they're light. The materials are all Napa leather, really nice Swedes from Italy and France, and they're made in Spain. And you said that about 10 years. On and off. But you were turned down over nine times. Yeah. In terms of. Yeah, trying to present this idea, yes. People not understanding it or buying into it. What did you learn from that experience? But you hit the Sphinx success and you were still didn't seem to matter. I find that interesting. I didn't seem to matter. I was going all throughout Europe. I was talking to factory owners in Spain and Italy, and we would start and then they would get frustrated and give up and they would fire me, basically. And so I got that experience multiple times. And whenever you're doing something really innovative. There's a lot of pushback, but and they are so set on how it's supposed to be done. But the crazy thing is the people making our high heels, they don't wear them. Hmm. In fact, they've never even put them on their foot. I mean, over and over again, they'd be like, that's not how it's supposed to be done. And I'd be like, have you ever worn a hill? And they go, no, never. And I'm like, OK, well, let's just break the mold here. If there is a catch. People are already grumbling about the price point. Yes, because you said always. Yeah, is it ranges from 395 to 5. 95, huh? And it's worth every penny. I mean, there's a lot of innovation in there. My disrupted 3 main pain points that we have with our heels. The 1st is we didn't want the toe box to squeeze your toes. Yes. The second was there's always been a gap between your foot and the shoe in a heel in the middle where the arches, we filled in the gap, so your whole foot supported. And then the third thing is we added the balance, the weight distribution because listen, traditional high heels for hundreds of years. 80% of our weight is on the ball of your foot and 20 percents on the heel. Yes. In sneaks it's more 5050. Ohh. So even though you're in a three inch stiletto, you almost feel like you're flat on the ground. It's like a really weird feeling and they're really, really comfortable for that reason. No, I'm. So you wanna put them on? Yeah, they have. They're both trying to put them on and we gotta run. But like everybody copies spanks. Do you expect people to do that? Yes I do. And Sarah. But I'd always. I'd rather be an innovator than an imitator. Although. There you go. Alright. Sarah blocked the microphone again. So likely Congress. So much, you guys. Thank you.