Female Founders that Eff-Up Company Culture

Away, Outdoor Voices, The Wing, Thinx, ThirdLove, Refinery29, Reformation, ... What do they all have in common? Yes, female founders. But also, female founders that have recently come under fire for toxic work cultures. 

Many have stepped down. Some returned quite surprisingly and quickly. 

What is going on? Is this a case of sensationalism or solid reporting? Or, both? 

Toxic Cultures Are Bad. Period. Full Stop. 

Many of the allegations are quite serious and completely unacceptable. There have been calls of sexual harassment, poor or hostile treatment of unrepresented groups, overworking and under paying, belittling, berating, gaslighting, and toxic and abusive workplaces. 

There have also been claims of "mean girl" cliques and behavbiors. Some at Outdoor Voices claimed they often cried and had anxiety, usually as a result of unclear and unrealistic expectations being dumped on junior team members with no help or guidance. Similar claims were made at ThirdLove. 

The Response

How do you respond to such allegations? Many stepped down and issued statements hinting at the allegations and some form of responsibility. Some defended themselves publicly. Some did both. (All to be taken with a grain of PR salt). 

Tyler Haney, founder of Outdoor Voices, acknowledged, "I certainly wish I was more equipped for the trials and tribulations of being a manager of people." 

Audrey Gelman, co-founder of The Wing recently talked to Fast Company about some of the times she has gotten it wrong as a leader. 

Yael Afalo, founder of Reformation, who faced claims of racism admitted she failed her team as a leader. She also stated, "I was not a very good leader when it came to our team, which is why I stepped back two years ago." Ahhhh, what steps did she take to become a better leader in that time? 

Then the defense....

Steph Korey, co-founder of Away, stepped down in December 2019 and weeks later was back at the helm. She cited inaccurate reporting that led Away to spped up a CEO transition already underway. What was inaccurate? 

Haney who resigned in February and came back in June, took to Instagram to defend herself and speak out. She claimed that there is a trend lately in the media of interviewing ex-employees of female-founded companies and reporting claims at face value without any context. When she stepped down fellow female founders including Emily Weiss of Glossier, Jen Rubio of Away and Jenn Hyman of Rent and Runway (which faced its own criticism for a toxic work culture), rallied around her and offered public support. 

Most recently, Steph Korey found herself back in the hot seat with calls for her to step down (again) after she not only posted a picture of herself dressed as a Native American, but blamed the media (particularly female journalists) for criticizing her and calling the attacks "female founder hit pieces". 

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Are Female Founders Being Targeted? 

In March, Jenn Hyman tweeted "I am sooo done with the takedown of the visionary female founder story. Next! Let's try to understand the context behind the story and cover the positive alongside the critique."

"Targeted" might not be the right word. More likely, the media, followers and employees, and the public hold them to a higher standard. 

Society expects that women leaders should not only be strong, decisive but also collaborative and likeable. Winne app founder Sarah Maukopf wrote for TechCrunch in December: "Articles often highlight when female CEOs curse, yello and show anger or bawdiness, because the shock value is higher than when male CEOs demonstrate these behaviors. We ask women leaders not only to be successful, but also to be ladeylike and likeable."

I believe that is true. (There are many leadership traits assigned to women that explain exactly why women make great leaders - but let's just acknowledge that there is this "nice" vs. what has been called the "bitch" factor). 

It is challenging for all founders to assume the role of CEO of a scaling company. I spend my time helping founders, particularly female founders, make that transition, so I know first-hand how overwhelming it is. It is no surprise that Steph Korey remarked on her return that she had been working with an executive coach since the DEcember incidents. 

It's hard - the pressure and stress, the number of stakeholders founting on you, competing interests, personalities, etc. The expectations to be perfect, to get it right all the time may fall disproportionately on women. Many of these female founders have been put on aspirational pedestals by the media. 

In many cases, these women are also out there painting their brand and their lives and the aspirational (hello filtered Instagram pics - in fairness, we as consumers expect them to live their life in the public eye, aligning their personal brand with their company values. Hello baby pics and inspiring quotes, beautiful highly stylized photos that need to look natural, on point brand messaging and partnerships, active healthy lifestyles, a tribe cool bosslady friends, etc.) 

Some are out there representing a brand that capitalizes on the fact they are led by women, or as ThirdLove promotes, "by women, for women". It evokes this sense of women empowerment - we are doing things differently. We stand for something. Too bad, employees at ThirdLove claim that Heidi Zak's co-CEO and her husband, David Spector, was condescending, intimidating and a bully. Further, the company had "policies" that said don't try to negotiate your salary, don't leave before 6pm, don't work from home (I imagine that one has changed). Noen of those sound supportive of women to me. 

As someone who works with founders on their culture, I think a toxic culture is devastating to the business and its most important asset, its team members. And, much of what has been alleged is unacceptable behavior. At the same time, this is also about the media which values the shock factor. The sensational stories, the fall from grace. If you accept that is part of the public's interest, then doesn't it beg the question is it more shocking when it is a female founder vs a male founder?