Mindy Grossman

Mindy Grossman (born September 8, 1957) is the former CEO of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers). Her earlier career included executive roles at Ralph Lauren Corporation and Nike, and she was also CEO of HSN from 2006 to 2017. She has been listed on Financial Timess list of the Top 50 Women In World Business, and was ranked among Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women In The World, as well as in Fortunes Top People in Business.

Early life and education Mindy Grossman was born on September 8, 1957. Her adoptive parents were Donald and Elaine Waldman, a Jewish produce dealer and homemaker on Long Island, New York, who had married young but had been unable to have children.

She attended Manhattanville College in Westchester County, New York, and transferred to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She intended to go to law school after graduation. However, in her senior year at George Washington University, she broke off her engagement to her high-school boyfriend and dropped her plans to attend law school, and instead moved to New York City to go into the fashion industry. From 1978 to 1980, she was an account executive at Jeffrey Banks menswear.

From 1985 to 1988, Grossman worked for WilliWear by Willi Smith. She started out as Vice President of Sales and in 1987 became Vice President of Menswear.

From 1988 to 1991 she was Vice President of Sales and Merchandising at Tommy Hilfiger, Chaps was Ralph Lauren's midprice department-store brand;

She was vice-president of New Business Development at Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation from 1994 to 1995. Grossman calls starting Polo Jeans "my start-up experience"; and took it from a standing start to a $450 million business,

Nike In 2000, Grossman joined Nike, Inc., where she served as Vice President of Global Apparel from 2000 to 2006, overseeing its worldwide multi-billion-dollar apparel business. capitalizing on her expertise in fashion, brand strategy, product development, and retail space management.

In her capacity as head of global apparel, she oversaw global strategic planning; product development; and global apparel manufacturing, operations, sourcing, merchandising, advanced innovation, quality assurance, and compliance and sustainability. She was also responsible for Nike's women's business.

Grossman was credited with showing a footwear company how to be an apparel company. by the end of fiscal year 2005 she had grown it to $4.1 billion, which was 32% of Nike brand revenues.

2006 to 2017: HSN

Arrival at HSN By 2006, a recruiter approached Grossman about IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC), the parent company of HSN, Inc., and after studying HSN's broadcasts she realized that, in her words, "HSN really needed to become more of a lifestyle network that would inspire people through products".

HSN had had seven CEOs in the previous 10 years, and according to Grossman the company, offices, and employees seemed downtrodden and frozen in time. By October 2006 she rolled out HSN's new brand image, tagline, vision statement, customer intention, and advertising. The company's new manifesto was "to create a new lifestyle experience for consumers".

HSN relaunch and taking the company public By mid 2007 the relaunch and redesign of HSN's channel, website, and campus were in effect, and the business started to turn around. The IPO launched in August 2008. A few weeks later the Lehman Brothers collapse occurred, with the subsequent stock-market plunge and recession. Grossman kept HSN afloat and thriving during the tenuous recessional years of 2008 and 2009 via intense economies and stringent dedication to her vision, and by tailoring HSN's marketing to her customers' needs to economize. HSN's success fostered the launch of a second 24-hour television channel, HSN2, in 2010. Grossman's upgraded the product level to high-end products; implemented numerous digital and mobile access options; improved the shopping experience; and brought on celebrities and high-end fashion designers to sell their lines.

HSN improved as a multi-platform business, with an improved shopping experience.

To stay current with technology, Grossman introduced new HSN venues including Shop by Remote (television remote control shopping), HSN Arcade (online games), Video on Demand, HSN Live, shopping via YouTube, and in-flight shopping. She overhauled HSN's website and made HSN a major e-commerce presence; She evolved HSN from a linear network to a multi-platform business, so that nearly half the HSN's revenue came through digital platforms. She brought in high-end fashion designers to sell exclusive fashion lines on the network, garnering Grossman and HSN a front row at Fashion Week. As of 2014, Grossman was one of only 51 women who lead a Fortune 1000 company. In 2015, Fortune published an article stating that from 2002 through 2014, Fortune 1000 companies led by women have performed three times better than the S&P 500, and that HSN's returns since its IPO were one of the top two, even despite the stock-market meltdown which immediately followed its initial public offering. Grossman was the recruited by other retailers, including Penney's, Target, and Avon.

2017 to present: WW Arrival at WW On April 26, 2017, Weight Watchers (now WW) announced that Mindy Grossman would take over as CEO in July 2017, replacing former CEO James Chambers who resigned from the company in the fall of 2016. Once in office, she said that her plan included a push beyond dieting and into well-being, as well as a partnership with Oprah Winfrey, who holds almost 15% of WW's shares and sits on its board of directors. She resigned her position early in 2022.

Directorships and advisories Grossman has been a director of HSN, Inc. since it went public in August 2008. She has been a director of Bloomin’ Brands since 2012. She serves on the Board of Directors of, and as of 2015 is Vice Chair of, the National Retail Federation. She also serves on the Board of Directors of, and as of 2015 is Chair of, the National Retail Federation Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Retail Federation.

She is the chair of the advisory board of Fashion Institute of Technology’s Executive Women in Fashion. She is a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of Business. She is also an advisor at the venture capital firm Metamorphic Ventures.

Grossman is on the Board of Directors of the United States Fund for UNICEF.

In June 2017, Grossman joined the Board of Directors of sports apparel e-commerce retailer Fanatics.

Awards and honors Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women (2009) Financial Times Top 50 women in world business (2010) Financial Times Top 50 women in world business (2011) Forbes World's 100 most powerful women (2011) Fast Companys Top 100 Most Creative People in Business (2011) Woman of Achievement Award from the Women's Project Theater (2011) Corporate Innovator of the Year at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Florida Awards (2011) Business Insiders 50 Sexiest CEOs Alive (2012) Forbes World's 100 most powerful women (2012) Forbes World's 100 most powerful women (2013) Matrix Award (2013) Fortunes Top People in Business #22 (2014)

Personal life Mindy is married to Neil D. Grossman, an investment manager and investment analyst and the creator of Bloombergs Neilytics. They have one child.