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Thinx, the feminine hygiene company behind the eponymous leak-proof underwear brand, is preparing for a fresh start as it welcomes Maria Molland Selby as its new CEO.
Selby, 43, has spent nearly half of her life working in e-commerce marketplaces and digital media and data companies, including stints at Splacer, eBay, Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones and Yahoo!, among other firms.
She tells CNBC Make It that working for Thinx, currently at 35 employees, marks the first time in her career where she truly cares about the company's mission, its foundation and its impact on the world.
Selby says that Thinx "will make the world a better place," which is a prime reason she joined the company. "I love being a part of that," Selby says. "I believe so much in the product and where it can go."
Launched earlier this year, the Thinx Foundation offers programs that teach reproductive health education and subsidizes sanitary products for girls and women in developing countries.
Selby tells CNBC Make It she has a personal connection to the subject: While undergoing five years of IVF and having a baby at 42, doctors informed Selby about the risks associated with prolonged use of traditional feminine hygiene products.
"During that process, I learned so much about reproductive health and suddenly became much more interested in the products that women put in their bodies," Selby says. "That is something that I take personally and want to solve. It's great to be a part of a company that is trying to solve that."
As the new CEO, she likely has her work cut out for her after Thinx's former CEO and co-founder Miki Agrawal resigned from the company following a frenzy of complaints and harassment allegations against her from employees.
But Selby has experience with crisis communications, having worked with e-commerce website Fab.com. In 2013, it went from being a "retail disrupter" valued at $1 billion to being forced to lay off staff and sell itself.
Regardless of Thinx's past, Selby says she doesn't "want to get in there and say things need to change." Why? "Because they don't."
"I know it got a lot of negative press, but ironically my experience at Fab was the best in my career," Selby says. "I learned a ton on both what to do and what not to do."
Notably, Agrawal and the other Thinx co-founders no longer have any active involvement within the company, Thinx told CNBC Make It in a statement.
Instead, she plans to follow advice from a former boss and mentor: "You never want to run away from something, you always want to be running toward something."
Reminiscing about her time at Harvard Business School, which she graduated from in 2002, Selby says putting people first has been the most valuable business lesson she learned there and still follows in her leadership roles today.
"It's all about treating people well," Selby says. "I like to win, but I care deeply about the people that will enable a company that I'm running to get there.
"It's not about me," she adds. "It's about the team."
She adds that, despite the negative press coverage Thinx has attracted, she has found it "wonderfully surprising" to see how the company has performed over that time. She says the company's financial performance is the best it has been over the last few years.
"I'm so proud and I feel really grateful and humbled to be in this position because this company, under their leadership, has really done so well and accomplished so much in such a short period of time," Selby says.
For her first few weeks, she plans to spend a lot of time listening to, learning from and enabling her new Thinx team. She hopes they will also note that she isn't "about the limelight," but prefers her teammates getting "the pat on the back."
"It's important to me that they're able to get the tools that they need to be successful and be rewarded for that, both financially but also just personally in terms of being able to develop their careers," Selby says.
Thereafter, she plans to use her data-focused background to track employee and company performance, set clearly defined goals for her team and get employees more excited about their mission to destigmatize feminine hygiene while giving back menstrual products to women without access.
"You can have the best strategy or the best product or combination of both, but if you don't have the right leaders, or you don't inspire the employees and you don't enable them to take calculated risks, the company is never going to be as successful as it could be," Selby says.
"My goal is to not live in that shadow of negativity and [instead] focus the company on how we can accomplish the dream that Miki and the other two founders had set out," she says. "I think it's a wonderful one."


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Cannabis company Gage Growth Corp. GAGE GAEGF is a step closer to a takeover by cannabis company TerrAscend Corp. TER TRSSF, as its shareholders approved the previously announced arrangement at the special meeting held on Thursday.
TerrAscend's shareholders followed suit and approved the transaction, pursuant to which the company New York and Toronto-based company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding subordinate voting shares of Gage.
Gage's shareholders carrying an aggregate of 120,076,552 votes, representing approximately 56.26% of votes entitled to be cast at the meeting, were represented in person or by proxy at the special meeting.
The special resolution was approved by 99.57% of the votes cast by Gage's shareholders, voting together as a single class, as well as 99.22% of the votes cast by the Shareholders, excluding the votes attached to the shares directly or indirectly held or controlled by Mike Hermiz, Jason Wild and Richard Mavrinac.
"We are pleased that Gage shareholders have expressed their support not only for this transaction but also for the company's vision to strategically expand its brand footprint in a variety of new markets," Fabian Monaco, CEO of Gage said. "Our team looks forward to joining forces with TerrAscend to create higher industry standards in the cultivation, processing, branding, and consumer experiences, as mainstream demand accelerates throughout the country."
The resolution put forth to TerrAscend's shareholders at the meeting regarding the transaction was approved by approximately 99.78% of the votes cast by TerrAscend minority shareholders.
"On behalf of the entire TerrAscend team, I'd like to thank our shareholders for the strong support they have shown for the proposed acquisition of Gage Cannabis, one of the most influential and innovative brands in the United States." Jason Wild, executive chairman of TerrAscend said Friday.
The Deal Details
The companies entered into a definitive agreement in September, under which TerrAscend will acquire all of the issued and outstanding subordinate voting shares of Gage for around $545 million.
The combined business will have operations in five states and Canada, including seven cultivation and processing facilities and 23 operating dispensaries serving both medical and adult-use cannabis markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Shortly after, TerrAscend received prequalification approval for cultivation, processing and retail licenses from Michigan's Marijuana Regulatory Agency pursuant to the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, representing a key closing condition for the acquisition of Gage.
The closing of the transaction is pending regulatory review.
TRSSF Price Action: TerrAscend's shares traded 6.56% higher at $6.37 per share on Friday morning
GAEGF Price Action: Gage Growth's shares traded 5.56% higher at $1.9 per share on Friday morning.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is coming to Florida
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is returning to Florida, in a new venue in Hollywood, on April 16 and 17, 2024. The two-day event at The Diplomat Beach Resort will be a chance for entrepreneurs, both large and small, to network, learn and grow. Renowned for its trendsetting abilities and influence on the future of cannabis, mark your calendars – this conference is the go-to event of the year for the cannabis world.

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Gianelli Vineyards of Jamestown took home a gold medal at the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition of American wines in the world with more than 5,000 entries.
Gianelli's 2008 Dolcetto was awarded the prize. Its 2008 Sangiovese Super Tuscan also won a silver medal.
The Gianiellis will pour their 2008 Dolcetto at the San Francisco Wine Competition's public tasting Feb. 29 at Fort Mason.
"We are thrilled about winning these awards at this prestigious wine competition," said Lorie Gianelli, the vineyards' co-owner with her husband, Ron. "We knew all along that our wines were good and could stand up to the best of them. All of us work so hard in the vineyard, and we have a highly respected Sierra foothill winemaker, Chuck Hovey."
Gianelli Vineyards is at 12581 Algerine Road, Jamestown. The tasting room at 18263 Main St. in downtown Jamestown is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, call Gianelli Vineyards at 532-0414, the tasting room at 984-1500 or visit online at gianellivineyards.com.


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SkillOnNet has further improved its service portfolio as the online casino platform provider adds Push Gaming, the igaming developer, to its content roster.
This will mean that players in SkillOnNet-powered online casinos will now be able to access the complete suite of slots from the developer, which includes titles such as Jammin’ Jars, Wheel of Wonders, Razor Shark and Joker Troupe.
Major milestone for Push Gaming
Of the deal, Fiona Hickey, Head of Sales at Push Gaming, said: “SkillOnNet powers some of the most popular online casino brands in regulated markets across Europe so integrating our full suite of games into its portfolio is a major milestone for Push Gaming.
“The partnership means that our games are made available at more casinos than ever before and that players across the whole network can enjoy the exciting and entertaining experience our slots provide and that we have built our reputation on.”
The incorporation brings the portfolio of SkillOnNet games to more than 3,500 online slots, casino, table, live dealer, bingo and instant win games from brands including PlayOJO, Mega Casino, Spin Genie, PlayToro and Turbonino.
In addition, the company also offers operators a range of responsible gambling and secure gaming tools, a number of payment options, regional currencies, and a reward program that includes regular picks and slot tournaments.
Michael Golembo, director of sales and marketing at SkillOnNet, added: “We go to great lengths to offer our operator partners the widest selection of quality online casino content and in that regard Push Gaming is an excellent addition to our already impressive portfolio.
“They are responsible for some of the most successful online slot games over the past 12 months, including smash hits such as Razor Shark and Joker Troupe, and we believe they will prove to be incredibly popular with players across our network of casino brands.”


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Airbnb Inc. has closed its new funding round at $1 billion that values the home-rental site at $31 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, giving it an ample cash cushion to stave off an initial public offering.
Google Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures led the round, which included investments from existing shareholders Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Airbnb has raised over $3 billion since it was founded in San Francisco in 2008.
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Today, No Man’s Sky director Sean Murray announced the next free update for No Man’s Sky: Frontiers. The announcement comes on the game’s fifth anniversary as a celebration of everything developer Hello Games and the No Man’s Sky community have achieved.
Murray shared the announcement in a tweet featuring a video that PlayStation social media accounts also posted simultaneously. The video covers the last five years of the game’s development, from launch and then through each update until today. It ends with a small tease simply stating that Frontiers will arrive soon.
The announcement is accompanied by a post from Murray on the PlayStation Blog. He explains that the game has been on quite a journey since the initial announcement at E3 2014. Murray recounts how he was excited about the updates that launched in the year or so after the game, but as he relays, he didn’t get that same feeling recently until last year with the enhanced version of the game coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Murray ends by stating that Frontiers “in some ways it is just another update, but in other ways, it’s a missing piece of the sci-fi fantasy that we’ve always wanted to add, and very fitting for our fifth anniversary.” The name “Frontiers” suggests a new horizon for players to explore, boldly going beyond the limits of travel into new, uncharted systems in search of life. But of course, we won’t know for sure until the update launches.
The main content that players have been waiting for in No Man’s Sky is the third Expedition. After the Expeditions update, the game had two fantastic Expeditions, the second one of which ended with players being rewarded with the Normandy SR1. Should Frontiers tie into Expeditions and produce a regular schedule, it will please fans who are eager for more of this content to no end.
Traditionally, Murray’s Twitter account has always been the place to watch for teasers for No Man’s Sky updates. He usually posts an emoji that’s somehow related to the update’s name, with the update launching for all platforms a few hours later. However, it’s unlikely we’ll see Frontiers launch today, considering that all sources say it’s coming soon, indicating a slightly less imminent release date and time.
Murray’s blog post ends by outlining how there’s still so much more Hello Games wants to try with No Man’s Sky, meaning there will always be more updates on the way. Murray’s final message about Frontiers reads: “We want to thank everyone who has travelled with us so far, and those that have still to join this ambitious voyage.” This could be a teaser for a link between Frontiers and Star Trek: Voyager. Only time will tell.