In a Racked story today, we learned that six months into her role as Thinx CEO, Maria Molland Selby has made a slew of changes to fight back against earlier reports of questionable work culture and paltry employee benefits, which led to founder Miki Agrawal’s ousting last year.
Some of these developments aren’t entirely new. Even as Agrawal was taking her leave, Thinx had tweaked its maternity leave policies. (At the time, Agrawal herself was one of three pregnant women at the company.) Racked reports that Thinx employees now receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave. In addition, Thinx has appointed a VP of People Operations, increased health insurance subsidies, and raised salaries. The company also made a number of charitable contributions last year–perhaps, in part, to offset criticisms that Thinx didn’t uphold its feminist messaging.
How employees feel about the changes isn’t entirely clear, though Racked quotes one employee, Natalie Pattillo, who claims there has been a “major shift.” “I know this sounds strange, but it just feels like how a real company should be operating, as opposed to, ‘Oh, we’re a startup, we’re supposed to be cutting corners. That’s part of the deal,'” she told Racked.
Of course, all these changes are likely also intended to convince skeptical consumers (and the media) that Thinx is committed to an equitable, safe workplace–and that the company means what it says in its cheery, feminist ad campaigns.
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