Since launching Knix in 2013, Joanna Griffiths has built the retailer into one of the fastest-growing intimate apparel brands globally.
Her journey to success as an entrepreneur had its roots initially with a passion for music.
Griffiths was born and raised in Toronto in the east end.
After high school, she went to Queen’s University for the business program there.
“I was very focused. I was probably the only business student that was there with the goal of working in the music industry,” she said, adding she was singing and playing different instruments at the time.
“I was fascinated by the business side of the music industry and had one singular goal which was to work at a record label . . . I grew up singing jazz.
“I started off singing in church. Both of my grandfathers were ministers and missionaries. So I grew up at a very young age singing in church. I was performing from five years old onwards.”
She played piano and flute as well but for her jazz was one of those disciplines where you really use your voice as an instrument. You can improvise and make up different melodies as you go along.
“I just found it so fascinating and cool,” added Griffiths.
Griffiths ended up working at Universal Music right out of school in the role of National Media and Artist Relations. She then held jobs as Manager of Media Relations for the Toronto International Film Festival; Promotions Manager, Entertainment – Communications, Brand and Marketing Department for CBC Television; and Director of Business Development for bre.ad which was acquired by Yahoo.
“When you join an industry that’s going through a lot of transformation one of two things can happen. You can embrace it and be really open to new ideas and trying for reinvention or you can see a cycle of innovation and people trying to hold and protect what they had. I feel like I joined the music industry during that moment of trying to hold on and not embrace the change,” she said.
At Universal, she introduced the company to Facebook and social media and was really trying to have people think about this new era.
“I was realizing maybe I was in the right industry but at the wrong moment,” explained Griffiths.
“I was fortunate enough to get to work with all these incredible musicians and artists and learned from a very young age that at the end of the day we’re all just people and I would either be incredibly inspired by what people were using their platform and voice for and how they were using that to create change positively in the world, or I would be uninspired by what a wasted opportunity and sort of entitled mindset that some of them had.
“I left and ended up going to Bolivia and doing some development work and really took off on this journey being determined that I only have one life and it was up to me to decide what I wanted to do with it and to have as big of an impact as I could. That was what ultimately led me to leave the industry.”
Around this time she had the idea for Knix but she didn’t work on it for a few years and founded it in August 2012.
After she left the music industry she went back to school and did an MBA at INSEAD, a global school outside of Paris.
“I spent the entire time I was at school doing the research for Knix and found myself at the point of no return where I had this idea, it was a pretty good one, it had the potential to have a large impact on a lot of people’s lives and took the leap of faith to move forward with it instead of first doing more of a traditional corporate role.”
Griffiths is President of Knix and Kt by Knix the direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brands reinventing intimates for real life. Through a focus on impact work and product innovation the brand is on a mission to empower people to be unapologetically free.
She has been cited in hundreds of media publications including Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times and more. She holds multiple patents and is credited with helping invent the leakproof underwear category which is the fastest growing segment within intimate hygiene and has changed the lives of millions of people around the world.
In 2022 Joanna broke the Canadian record for the largest publicly disclosed sale of a private company by a female founder when Swedish health and hygiene Giant Essity purchased 80 per cent of Knix valuing the company at $400M USD. Always one to push for greater change when asked about the record she said she “hopes it is a title she holds for a short period of time and can’t wait to cheer on whoever holds it next.”
When asked to describe her leadership style, she replied: “What you see is what you get.”
“I’m very authentic. Throughout the course of building Knix I realized that authenticity is rare and it can be a powerful tool both in brand building but also in leadership,” explained Griffiths.
“I’m highly ambitious so I think I really push people to think beyond sometimes what they think is possible and to strive for bigger and to strive for a larger impact. And I said this before, I’m casual in nature but I’m not casual about my goals and ambitions. I believe that work should be fun. I believe that the journey is just as important. It’s sort of the end result or destination and trying to facilitate a culture and style that really has that day to day being meaningful and fun.”
Knix’s legacy of breaking taboos dates back to 2013 when they were the first brand to showcase products on people of every size. In 2020 Knix was the first lingerie brand to create an entire TV advertising campaign of women over 50.
Over the past decade, Knix has fought for representation in body diversity, paving the way for a needed shift towards inclusivity in the intimates category and in advertising more broadly. Griffiths is a champion for female entrepreneurship, stressing the importance of supporting female founded businesses and being vocal about the stereotypes that exist around women in business today.
In 2021 she made headlines for disqualifying any potential investors that questioned her ability to run a company and be a mother. Holding her ground worked, and she closed Knix’s $50M Series B financing just three days before giving birth to her twin daughters (on international women’s day no less).
A firm believer that it is every business’s responsibility to give back to the community, in 2022 Knix launched the Knix Fund committing $1M in giving over the next three years. Each year the Knix employees will vote on the fund’s focus and find partner organizations that are working in the community to effect change. The fund’s first mandate is a cause near and dear to the Knix team’s heart, Menstrual Equity.
Griffiths’ long list of accolades includes Waterstone’s Most Admired CEO and Women of Influence’s Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2021 she was the only Canadian to be named one of AdWeek’s Women Trailblazers. Most recently, she was named Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® and represented Canada for the Global title this past June. She holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD, sits on the board of Futurpreneur Canada and released her first book “Life After Birth” via globally renowned publisher Rizzoli in 2021.
She lives in Toronto with her husband, Dave and three kids.
“I try to do things that fill me up and help charge my batteries because this job has been all-consuming for the better part of the last 11 years. So for me that means spending time with friends and family. Getting outside. Traveling. Those are the things that kind of give me joy.”
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