What you need to know:

• Three of Frank Body’s cofounders – Jess Hatzis, Bree Johnson and Alexander Boffa – are stepping down from the executive team after an 11-year run.
• Fourth cofounder, Steve Rowley, remains as CEO.
• The news comes as Frank Body marks the sale of over 30 million products in 179 countries.
• A deal to sell off a stake to Chinese firm, EverYi Capital in 2021, reportedly put the group’s market value at about $100 million.
• Hatzis said her focus now is on book writing plus building out the education arm and services of branding agency, Willow & Blake.

There’s a co-founder and executive reshuffle going on at Frank Body, with long-time CMO, Jess Hatzis, and two of her co-founders stepping back from day-to-day duties and into advisory and board-only positions.

Hatzis told Mi3 moving on from her c-suite role was a decision she’s taken 11 years to come to. Hatzis is one of the co-founders and the first (and only) CMO for Frank Body, which started in 2013 with one coffee scrub product and about $10,000 in funds. Since then, it’s sold more than 30 million products in 179 countries. A deal to sell off a stake to Chinese firm, EverYi Capital in 2021, reportedly put the group’s market value at about $100 million.

“Every year as we strategise for the future of business, we also do a personal check in as friends: How are you feeling? What are our future plans and aspirations? This year as we asked each other that question and we found we shared similar thoughts,” Hatzis told Mi3.

“Being entrepreneurs at heart, there is always a draw to get out of our comfort zones and create new experiences. We are fortunate the business is in a place where we have an incredible heads of department team that we have trained and mentored for many years and this evolution also offers room for them to grow.” Under the latest reshaping of the executive team, two other co-founders – Bree Johnson, who has worked across brand, creative, people and expansion, plus Alexander Boffa, who has been chief operating officer – are also stepping back from their roles but remain on the advisory board. Both will also maintain their board of director roles.

Johnson, as Mi3 reported earlier this year, has already begun spreading her wings into investing, taking part in a $20.5m capital raising round for attribution platform vendor, Tracksuit.

Frank Body CEO, Steve Rowley is the only co-founder remaining in the executive team. Hatzis said there are no plans for future restructures.

“We think ourselves incredibly lucky to take that ever elusive founder step onto the advisory board and know things are in trusted and capable hands,” Hatzis said. “Stepping into an advisory role allows me to offer the company strategic advice whilst exploring my other passions. And of course, I’ll remain on the board of directors as a shareholder.”

The marketing leadership reins, meanwhile, are being taken up by Hatzis’ 2IC, Candace MacPherson, who has been global head of marketing since November 2020. Her prior professional credentials include senior marketing roles with LÓreal, NARs Cosmetics and SpaceNK.

For Hatzis, the special moments that stand out are suitably entrepreneurial in nature. “It’s not the billboards or TVCs or celebrities, it’s always the customer that makes me the happiest,” she said.

“Once I was on a flight and the woman next to me pulled a Frank Body lip balm out of her bag; I was grinning from ear to ear seeing our product in the wild for the first time. The messages and emails we get from happy customers have always made my day. I distinctly remember a teenage girl emailing us to tell us how the products had helped a skin condition on her legs and she no longer felt self-conscious in her school dress. It was the best email.

“Being customer-centric is, to me, the mark of a great CMO and a great brand.”

Keeping the culture in tough retail times

With so many co-founders stepping back from day-to-day, on-the-floor duties, the challenge for Frank Body is going to be one of culture.

“Instilling the values and guiding principles of Frank Body in every employee has been paramount since day one,” Hatzis commented. “I feel confident our team will continue to bring them to life for our customers.”

It comes with the double whammy of ongoing dour retail conditions, which Hatzis acknowledged.

“The retail landscape has not looked this bleak for a long time, but purpose-led brands and those with strong brand propositions who are willing to break the status quo will succeed. As we like to say, in times of great adversity, we must risk it for the biscuit,” she said.

Alongside advising, Hatzis is now turning more attention back to her agency, Willow & Blake, founded with Johnson in 2010. Last year, the business debuted an education arm, called Of Course, to provide brand strategy training. It’s a go at your own pace course with video instruction Hatzis said had been in the works for years.

“Acknowledging that for a lot of founders the capital to invest in an agency partner isn’t always available, we wanted to create a price sensitive branding course that could take them from zero to launch, guiding them through our process of brand strategy and messaging to naming and tone of voice all the way through to launch strategy,” she said.  

There are a few books in the works too, including one on branding. “It has been incredible to get back to my writing roots over the last few months,” she added.