When people first hear Misty Elliott's name, many automatically think: "Don't you mean Missy Elliott?" Even a Google search of her name includes results for the US rapper.
Misty Elliott, however, is famous for her name in the fashion industry, following the success of the brand she has been working for over the past decade. As vice president for international sales of Spanx, a shapewear brand from the US, Elliott is an influential part of the company that has been driven from a small entrepreneurial business into a global success, using what she calls a "girlfriend-to-girlfriend" approach.
With a journalism background and experience in the publishing industry, Elliott has a mind for advertising and a passion for public relations.
She joined Spanx when the company was very new, as its twelfth employee. She built overall communications strategies and media positioning from the ground up, developing media, celebrity and community relations, and creating an internal PR department with minimal use of external agencies.
It is not that Elliott does not believe in advertising _ she just feels that there are more organic and genuine ways to make a brand known.
"It's more about being where the women are, working with women and reminding them who we are as a brand," Elliott said.
"In the US, we always go to events for women. That associates women with our brand, which is all about girl power. If we reach the right women and they experience our product, they talk about it on their own. It's very authentic because we're not forcing someone to talk about something. It just happens. Fortunately, we've created great products that continue that girlfriend-to-girlfriend phenomenon."
Spanx reached an all-new level when a certain "girlfriend", Oprah Winfrey, praised the product on her show. That, coupled with mentions from ABC News' 20/20, Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, catapulted Spanx into worldwide brand recognition.
"For a small company that doesn't have much to advertise, we probably wouldn't be here without [The Oprah Winfrey Show]," Elliott said.
She also credited the brand's success to women around the world, who have the tendency to call up their girlfriends and share exciting news, such as having found a great product. That, she said, is the most organic and sincere advertising approach. It also helps a lot that sometimes those women are celebrities with lots of fans and followers.
"Spanx wouldn't be where we are today without celebrities all over the world telling the world that they've got their Spanx on," Elliott said. "I can't take responsibility for that. It's something very special when a woman puts on her Spanx for the first time and she just has to tell her girlfriends. Some of these women happen to be very glamourous women and celebrities who have the cameras on them, and they tell the world that they wear Spanx.
"We never pay any kind of endorsement and we never ask celebrities to talk about us. It happens very organically. It's become famous because of what we call a girlfriend-to-girlfriend approach. Women tell their friends and it kind of spreads all over the world."
One of Elliott's proudest moments was when Oprah invited Sara Blakely, founder and owner of Spanx, on to the show. Elliott said she felt overwhelmed with joy seeing Blakely build the company from scratch and becoming someone with whom Oprah would want publicise. But her biggest source of pride is that Spanx is a company that empowers women.
"Sara has given millions of dollars to help women around the world. She's sent hundreds of girls in Africa to school. We always say that our product may be about shaping women, but our company is about shaping lives. We give back by helping women," Elliott said.
The company, Elliott said, also attempts to give other women a chance to succeed in business. In its catalogue, which is sent to millions of people, Spanx features a product selected from a pool of entries submitted by ordinary women.
"We choose a product and give them a whole page in our catalogue. The woman gets to tell her story and showcase her product," Elliott said. "We don't get any money out of it _ everything goes to that woman. We just want to give them the exposure for the business for which she probably can't afford to advertise yet. Sara feels that Oprah was her moment, and she wants to give other women that moment. That will help them build strong businesses as well."
Working in a shapewear business, Elliott said has seen how much pressure women are under to be beautiful. She said the key is to never be too hard on yourself and to cherish imperfections.
"I think women are very demanding of themselves and we always want to be our very best," Elliott said. "What makes us great is wanting to be our best, but it can also have a negative effect _ never being satisfied. Wearing Spanx is like saying, 'I know I'm not perfect, but I can put on this and it makes me feel my best.' As women, we have to be comfortable in our own skin and who we are. Our products remove some of those insecurities. Some of our biggest clients are A-list Hollywood celebrities who are already slim, but for them, it's all about being confident enough to glide across the room looking elegant. It's something that makes life a little easier."
