metro

Spanx from page 9

Cinderella rags-to-riches story.
With an investment of $5,000
and with no previous experience in
fashion or retail, Blakely redefined
the girdle, patented the design, built
the brand and launched the company
that would catapult her in 2012 to
the Forbes List of the Richest People
on the Planet.
Sara Blakely is the name on the
packaging. But the Spanx story isn't
hers alone.
In 2002, Laurie Ann Goldman
was on the fast track in a 10-year
career in marketing and licensing at
the Coca-Cola Co. Though she had
taken Coca-Cola's licensing operation
to a billion-dollar
business worldwide,
The Women's
she was destined for
greater things. Taking Philanthropy
the leap from a senior Sabra Division
Presents
position in one of the
world's largest com-
panies, she took the
job of running Spanx,
leading a handful
of employees work-
ing out of a three-
room bungalow near
Atlanta, Ga.
From a spunky
startup to a power-
house, Spanx expand-
ed as fast as America's
appetite grew for the
brand's cheeky blend of Lyrca, red
carpet glamour and quirky humor.
Today Spanx is to shapewear what
Kleenex is to tissues: the brand syn-
onymous with the category. Under
Goldman's leadership, Spanx has
become the No. 1 selling shapewear
in major department stores — a $350
million business with 12,000 retail
outlets in 50 countries around the
globe.
Spanx is a privately held company
that in many ways works like a close-
knit family. More than 40 percent of
its 160 employees are working moms.
From the top down, as new products
are wear tested — in the office — it's
not uncommon for people to pull
down their pants, hike up their skirts
or strip down to a swimsuit — all in
a day's work. Spanx tests every prod-
uct on women (and men, too) of all
shapes and sizes.
Known for her leadership style
that is both warm and demand-
ing, Goldman's message rings true
and is clear. "If you see a problem,
don't wait for someone else to solve
it. If you can't measure it, you can't
improve it. Above all: work hard,
think creatively and take things per-
sonally."
Her advice to entrepreneurs?

THAN

10 January 2 • 2014

iN

Think big, listen and hold out to hire
the right people.
Thinking big, Women's
Philanthropy of Jewish Detroit
chose Laurie Ann Goldman as the
inspiration and guest speaker for an
unprecedented program in gratitude
for the more than 800 women who
have committed their energies and
resources to "lift, boost and support"
the Jewish community of Detroit
through their gifts to Federation's
2014 Annual Campaign.
The Big THANX Event takes
place Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m.
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield.
"This is our
THANX Event wel-
coming women (and
men, why not?) to
come as our guests
and enjoy an enter-
taining and meaning-
ful night out with
friends who share
their commitment
to the benefits of
giving back to our
community," says
Barbara Kappy, who
co-chairs Women's
Philanthropy Sabra
Leadership along
with Debbie Levin
and Fran Newman.
Invitees to the Thanx Event include
donors of $365 — a dollar a day or
more — to Federation's Annual 2014
Campaign.
More than 500 are expected to
attend the event. "It's a new year,
a great time to lift our spirits and
renew our commitment to the
important work at hand," says Roz
Blanck, Women's Philanthropy
Campaign chair. "This is our time to
pull together and show our strength
in numbers, not just in dollars and
cents, but in our actions and com-
mitment to a vibrant Jewish com-
munity"

❑

Vivian Henoch is the editor of

myjewishdetroit.org, where this story

first appeared.

Register for the Big THANX
event, taking place at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan.14, at Southfield's
Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
online at http://jewishdetroit.
org/event/sabra-the-thanx-event .
For more information, contact
Marianne Bloomberg at (248)
642-4611 or Bloomberg®jfmd.
org .

They Got The Beat

Local couples win national ballroom
dance competition.

Talia Barrington and Jordan Cowan

Lynne Meredith Golodner
Special to the Jewish News

F

or the third time this year,
husband-wife ballroom dance
team Jordan Cowan and Talia
Barrington won a national dance com-
petition. Both instructors at Fred Astaire
Dance Studio in Bloomfield Hills, they
were at the Orlando Fred Astaire National
Dance Championship and took first place
in the pro novice division, advancing them
to the next division.
The pair were part of a group from the
studio who traveled south to compete,
including students like Doug and Donna
Fish of Southfield, who also won prizes.
"Our students and instructors find that
dancing is a great way to express their cre-
ativity, get exercise and connect with oth-
ers in a deeper way. This is exactly what
I hoped for when I opened this studio in
2006," says Evan Mountain, studio owner
with his wife, Lada.
Cowan, 23, and Barrington, 26, are both
Jewish; they met while competing in ice
dancing. They took their talents off the
ice and onto the parquet — and ended up
not only dance partners, but life partners
as well. On Dec. 20, they'll celebrate their
first wedding anniversary.
"It feels great to win," Cowan says.
"Since we are new to competing in
ballroom, we feel honored to receive
recognition so early on in our careers.

Competition makes us better dancers and
teachers. We have a goal, which unites
us and drives us to work even harder
togethet"
Barrington adds, "I love the music and
how I can engage with it in such an active
and exciting way."
Cowan says, "As someone with a more
analytical mind, dancing forces me to
bring a creative side out and act without
overthinldng."
They say they share a common goal,
beyond just their relationship, "to be bet-
ter, to grow together and achieve as a
team. Dancing allows us to see past petty
differences to a greater future, both pri-
vately and on the competition floor."
And as dance instructors, the pair, who
live in Ann Arbor, agree that they learn
more when teaching than when dancing
themselves.
"Teaching is getting to dance with 100
people a week, and I learn a ton," Cowan
says. "That's what makes a great teacher —
teaching one thing over and over again:'
Cowan hails from Los Angeles;
Barrington grew up in London, England.
"The people at the studio are the closest
thing we have to family for 1,000 miles,"
says Cowan, who proposed at the dress
rehearsal for the dance studio's winter
showcase.
While Cowan started dancing as a way
to beef up an admittedly "scrawny" stat-
ure, Barrington came at it from a different