Joanna Griffiths

Director

Founder and President
Knix and Kt by Knix

Joanna Griffiths is the Founder and President of Knix and Kt by Knix, the direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brands reinventing intimates for real life. Since launching the company in 2013, Joanna has built Knix into one of the fastest-growing intimate apparel brands globally. Through a focus on impact work and product innovation the brand is on a mission to empower people to be unapologetically free. 

Joanna 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% of Knix valuing the company at $400M USD. Always one to push for greater change when asked about the record Joanna 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.” 

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. Joanna 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 Joanna made headlines for disqualifying any potential investors that questioned her ability to run a company and be a mother. Holding her ground worked, and Joanna 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, 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. 

Joanna’s long list of accolades includes Waterstone’s Most Admired CEO and Women of Influence’s Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2021 Joanna was the only Canadian to be named one of AdWeek’s Women Trailblazers. In 2023, Joanna was named Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® and represented Canada for the Global title. Joanna holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD and released her first book “Life After Birth” via globally renowned publisher Rizzoli in 2021. 

Joanna is a Toronto native where she lives with her husband, Dave and three kids.