Rothy’s Inc. (San Francisco) announced that it has appointed current Board member Jenny Ming as CEO and Dayna Quanbeck as President. Those moves come as company cofounders Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin transition from those roles to Board Chair and Chief Creative/Innovation Officer, respectively.
Ming’s career includes serving on the 1994 founding team of Gap’s Old Navy unit, becoming the retailer’s first President from 1999-2006. She went on to serve as President and CEO of Charlotte Russe from 2009 – 2019. In addition to holding a number of board roles, including Levi Strauss & Co. and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan & Hospitals, Ming has served as an independent director at Rothy’s since June 2022.
Additionally, CFO and COO Quanbeck will expand her role, as Rothy’s President. As the company invests in channel and geographical diversification, she will drive critical operations that move the bottom line, the retailer said in a press release on the promotions.
Rothy’s has been helmed by Hawthornthwaite and Martin since its founding in 2012 and launch in 2016. Its signature product is a shoe flat crafted from single-use plastic bottles. Diverting over 166 million bottles from landfill to date, today Rothy’s serves a global community of over 3 million through an ecommerce platform, growing fleet of more than 20 retail stores and a footprint in 19 countries.
“Building Rothy’s has been the experience of a lifetime for Roth and me,” said Hawthornthwaite. “After years spent laying the foundation for long-term profitable growth, we can confidently say that now is the right moment to empower our talented team to take Rothy’s into the future. Jenny is a seasoned operator with an exceptional track record in scaling global retail businesses. Coupled with Dayna’s deep knowledge of our business, having the two lead the next chapter at Rothy’s is a major win for our company, customers and team.”
Ming and Quanbeck’s appointments round out Rothy’s female-led executive team, including Chief Product and Merchandising Officer Heather Archibald, Chief Marketing Officer Jamie Gersch, Chief Supply Chain Officer Heather Howard, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Marie Satterfield and Senior VP of People Michelle Velasquez Pulido.