“I love hypnotherapy, which helps a lot,” Griffiths said Good luck. “(My hypnotherapist) has worked with many high-profile entrepreneurs, athletes, and creative adults. (We) really worked to change my brain and the way I react to different situations.”

For the past five years he has been working with US-based hypnotherapist Grace Smith after being introduced by a fellow successful founder. Smith, the cofounder of Grace Hypnotherapyhas attracted 78,000 app users and many famous clients—from Fortune 500 CEOs and A-list celebrities, to Olympic athletes and White House officials.

Griffiths says they worked on her fear of failure, facing big business decisions like whether to take Knix public, and potentially being pushed under the microscope as a female founder. Through their one-hour two-week sessions, Griffiths learned how to make smarter decisions “from a place of optimism, instead of fear.”

“We pay too much attention to the fear of failure,” he continued. “Often we don’t allow ourselves to think it through and be like, ‘Okay, if this really fails, what’s going to happen? Do I still have my family? Do I still have my health? Do I still have my inner knowing?'”

Check out the content of hypnotherapy sessions with successful founders

The concept of hypnotherapy reflects many tropes from pop culture; a willing participant who falls under the gaze of a swinging pendant and ticking metronome, unconsciously doing whatever is asked of them. But Griffiths’ sessions with Smith are goal-oriented and meditative, helping him manage burnout and intense decision-making.

The Knix president says hypnotherapy cuts through the noise, and provides clarity on how to best approach what’s urgent. Griffiths and Smith met Zoomingwho spends the first 15 to 20 minutes talking about current challenges, followed by a 30- to 40-minute hypnotherapy session to specifically target his immediate issues. Topics can range from a big decision on the horizon, to how to manage a challenging team dynamic; and one to three times per year, the couple meets in person for all-day sessions, which explore the childhood of the Knix founder, as well as his future career goals.

Over the past half-decade, Griffiths says Smith has helped “address my fears and insecurities, and face them instead of letting them hold me back.”

“I got a lot of clarity about things … Like how I don’t (want) to run a public company, where I got the definition, all the big stuff,” he explained. “I always leave with a very clear vision and representation of what to do next. Like other meditative states, it’s also good for brain health and resetting your nervous system.”

Diagnosed with severe burnout, and learning to recharge

With over a dozen years of experience as a founder, 42-year-old Griffiths has first-hand experience of the social complexity and emotional impact of entrepreneurship.

The Canadian first launched the menstrual brand in Toronto in 2012, after pursuing her MBA at INSEAD in France. To get Knix off the ground, his friends, family, and coworkers all came on board as angel investors, chipping in investments from $15,000 to $100,000. He served as CEO for a decade before securing a $320 million sale that valued Knix at $400 million, when Essity bought 80% of the business. Griffiths recalled the difficulty of the years leading up to the 2022 claim.

Griffiths says she’s witnessed a lot of criticism around female founders—and being placed under a “different set of expectations” only added to her mental strain. He still remembers one time when a high-profile San Francisco VC firm called him “lazy” because he hadn’t posted his outfit that morning. Going public only exacerbated the stress she felt, and Griffiths said she didn’t want to “disappear” like other female founders do after their IPOs.

When COVID-19 swept the world, Griffith’s life didn’t seem to stop changing. Every six months since 2020, there has been some sort of significant shift that has thrown him off his axis. Griffiths weathered the pandemic, had three children, raised a $50 billion series B round, and sold the company for $320 million—all in just two and a half years. After the sale, Griffiths stayed on as president but still wore many hats, and the pressure was mounting. Until 2024 everything changed; Griffiths got seven red eyes in 21 days, and said his “brain was broken.”

“I was diagnosed with severe burnout (in 2024) for the first time, and that opened my eyes. That you need to take care of yourself, and find time to recharge,” recalled the millennial founder. “The hustle culture and wearing being busy as a badge of honor is something that has been placed on us as a sign of success.”

Hypnotherapy helps him combat the deeply rooted American “grind-set.” In managing his chronic burnout, he finally accepted that he couldn’t say yes to everything. Taking some time for himself and setting limits have also become more of a priority after more than a decade in the game.

While Griffiths is no longer at the helm as chief executive, he is still the face and mind behind the multimillion-dollar intimates business. Serving as founder and president, he continues to push the company to new heights—and last December, Knix reached the milestone of 1 billion Canadian dollars ($732 million) in net sales. But as he progressed, he learned to break away from the hustle culture of entrepreneurship.

“I’ve gotten really good at saying no,” Griffiths said, adding that she wishes she had learned to “appreciate quieter moments, downtime, and set boundaries earlier.”