Joanna Griffiths is the pioneer of leakproof underwear. After learning that 1 in 3 women experience leaks, she revolutionized a new category of underwear built with women’s bodies in mind. From there, she launched Knix into one of the fastest-growing intimate apparel brands in the world—expanding into wireless bras, period underwear, a line for teens, maternity wear, swimwear and activewear, and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Ashley Graham, Megan Rapinoe, Nicole Scherzinger, and Kristen Bell. The response was clear—this was a product women needed.
When SheDoesTheCity first interviewed Griffiths back in 2013, before Knix’s official launch, she had sold $25,000 worth of underwear. When we caught up with the Toronto-based Knix founder and president this month, the company had sold 20 million pairs of their groundbreaking leakproof underwear. In fact, in the time it took you to read this paragraph, that number increased—Knix sells an item every seven seconds. Griffiths also made history in 2022 when she sold Knix for $320 million—the largest sale of its kind by a female founder in Canadian history.
But before her whirlwind success with Knix, Griffiths began her career in media and entertainment, including a stint at CBC. So it was rather fitting that in her first year of business, she went through a rite of passage for many Canadian entrepreneurs—pitching on Dragon’s Den. Griffiths still recalls the moments leading up to her life-changing experience on the show. “I remember how nerve-racking and excited it felt. I can still remember the moment right before walking on set like it was yesterday,” she says.
Griffiths appeared on Season 9 of Dragon’s Den, receiving offers from four out of five dragons before accepting a deal with Jim Treliving. This week, Griffiths goes back to where it all started with Dragon’s Den Full Circle, a special 2-part finale event. Griffiths will return as a guest dragon alongside four other successful Canadian entrepreneurs who launched their companies with the help of the series.
“When I look back [on my pitch], I feel extremely proud,” she says. “Not because it was perfect, but because I showed up authentically and believed deeply in what we were building.”
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In the 13 years since she built her underwear empire, Griffiths tells us that visibility for women founders has improved significantly. “Female founders are being celebrated in ways they weren’t a decade ago. There’s also more community — especially here in Canada — women supporting women in tangible ways,” she says.
However, access to capital continues to be a huge challenge. In Canada, women receive about 4% of VC funding—despite owning 21% of the country’s private sector businesses. “Women still receive a fraction of venture funding overall,” Griffiths says. “We also need more women writing the cheques, sitting on boards, and making investment decisions. Representation at the top changes outcomes.”
Throughout her career, Griffiths has been open about the realities that come with being a woman and an entrepreneur. In 2021, while pregnant with twins in her third trimester, potential investors raised concerns about her pregnancy affecting the business. She refused to work with these investors—ultimately raising $53 million in capital just days before she gave birth to her twin daughters.
“You’re often building a business while challenging deeply ingrained systems at the same time,” Griffiths says. “There’s emotional labour in educating markets while building a business. But, that’s also where the opportunity lies.”
Perhaps the best example of this is Knix’s early adoption of inclusive marketing—since 2014, they’ve been dedicated to featuring women of all sizes and ages in their marketing campaigns. This was a bold move— at the time, Griffiths tells us, showing real bodies wasn’t considered “brand-friendly”. Certain investors told Griffiths that her vision was not going to work.
“In the early days, some people told us it was “too real”…that women wanted to buy into a fantasy,” Griffiths said. “But our community told us the opposite, they felt seen. When women began sharing their own stories with us, when they told us it was the first time they saw themselves reflected in a campaign, I knew we were doing it right.”
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Knix has gone on to launch several successful campaigns that not only promoted inclusivity and body positivity, but opened up larger, much-needed conversations about women’s health. In 2018, Knix’s Faces of Fertility podcast shone a light on stigmatized topics like miscarriage and infertility. In 2021, they launched Life After Birth, a book of photography and stories capturing real-life postpartum experiences. And in 2023, Knix launched a campaign to raise awareness about the 34 potential symptoms of perimenopause.
“When Knix started openly talking about all kinds of women’s health topics, it wasn’t a conversation people were used to having, there was all sorts of stigma,” Griffiths says. While there are certainly more conversations being had today, Griffiths notes there are still massive gaps when it comes to women’s health, and that underrepresentation in healthcare comes with real consequences.
“We need more transparency in medical research and more funding for women’s health,” she says. “We also need to normalize conversations around perimenopause, sexual health at all ages, fertility challenges and postpartum recovery. Not as niche issues, but as essential life stages.”
Griffiths recently served as an executive producer on The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs, and Who Has Control, a documentary coming to Paramount+ on March 6. The film chronicles the fight to bring a “female Viagra” to market, and the ongoing fight for bodily autonomy and gender equality in healthcare.
“I encourage everyone to watch this,” Griffiths says. “I believe in amplifying women’s voices, ensuring they are heard and seen with the overall mission of changing systemic issues.”
Griffiths is supporting the film through Knix Fund, her company’s philanthropic arm that has also provided funding to organizations like The Period Purse, Moon Time Sisters, and #HappyPeriod. For Griffiths, her deep commitment to funding and supporting women is part of what keeps her going through difficult times with her business.
“It’s easy for imposter syndrome to kick in. When the business is challenged, it’s natural for most founders to look inwards first,” she says. “That’s why attaching yourself to a mission that is bigger than simply selling products is incredibly important. It acts as your north star through both the good days and the bad days.”
As Griffiths comes full circle this week, she tells us it feels “surreal” to return as a guest Dragon—sitting on the other side as prospective entrepreneurs pitch her in the same place she stood over a decade ago.
“To be on the other side, sitting in the chair is something I have dreamed of for years,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “There was something so special about all five of us – having once been in the pitcher’s shoes that made it feel….Important. Important to dream big. To push through the hard days, weeks and even years and that truly anything can happen.”
Dragons’ Den will mark its milestone 20th season with a two-episode, Full Circle finale event on Thursday, February 26 at 8 p.m. and Thursday, March 5 at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.
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