production team explained to Blakely that, while Winfrey usually only promoted the product itself, they sought to travel to Blakely's apartment in Atlanta and interviewed her in her home, as Winfrey was especially interested by the entrepreneur's story. At the time, Blakely was still a fax machine salesperson and needed to enlist the help of friends to act as employees for the purposes of the filming of the episode. Other celebrities who wear the brand are Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba. Blakely was later caught on CCTV by a department store repositioning her products so they were displayed more prominently. Corporate affairs Ownership Spanx is a private company and has not released financial information. Forbes estimates its value at $540 million in 2021. Blakely owns the entirety of the brand and employed approximately 100 personnel as of 2011. Goldman was the CEO of Spanx from 2002 to February 2014, when she resigned. Manufacturing In search of a manufacturing partner, Blakely searched ThomasNet to find North Carolina hosiery manufacturers. Highland Mills in Charlotte, on the recommendation of the CEO’s daughters, ultimately transformed Blakely’s ideas into a prototype sufficient to interest Neiman Marcus. In 2000, the first year of the company’s existence, Blakely recruited friends to fill orders out of her Atlanta apartment, and generated $8 million in retail sales. Because Highland had no interest in distribution, Blakely took Spanx production to a small mill in Siler City, which then went out of business. Acme-McCrary Corporation, a hosiery mill founded in Asheboro, North Carolina, in 1908, then took over production and distribution. Sales have grown from about $15 million in 2002, when Acme-McCrary began working with Blakely, to more than $400 million in 2014. The North Carolina firm is no longer the sole manufacturer of Spanx, but remains highly involved with Blakely in new product development, yarn specifications and manufacturing expertise. References External links Clothing companies of the United States Clothing manufacturers Hosiery brands Lingerie brands Manufacturing companies based in Atlanta American companies established in 2000 Clothing companies established in 2000 2000 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)