The Face oF a Shero
Toronto Life is proud to partner with Hillcrest to celebrate
extraordinary women who exemplify the power of one.
Here are their storiesBrought to you ByAs part of Hillcrest’s Glow Up transformation, we’re celebrating women who are transforming the world around them.
Joanna and Tina tell more of their stories at Torontolife.com/HillcrestSHERO#HillcrestGlowUp #HillcrestSHERO
joanna GriFFiThS
Body positivity warrior. Founder and CEO of Knix, an intimate
apparel company designed for women by women“I’m on a mission to empower women to be unapologetically free,” says
Joanna Griffiths. That’s the central purpose of Knix, an online-only comany
that has reinvented intimate apparel for real women who seek out great-
looking, high-performance and leak-proof underwear. Prior to launching
Knix in 2013, Joanna interviewed hundreds of women in the development
process. “Two things stuck out,” she says. “First, that women were look-
ing for better products across the board. And second, that the intimates
category as a whole was making women feel pretty crappy about them-
selves—broadcasting one message that one very singular body type was
the best body type.” Joanna changed all that. Knix, which has expanded
into a teen and sports line, is accessible to every size, and uses seamless
fabrics for comfort and functionality. Giving back has always been a part
of the equation. In a variety of ways, Knix supports women living with
mental illness, breast cancer survivors, and those fleeing abuse and sex
trafficking. And Knix’s most recent initiative, consisting of sharing stories
and experiences on its website, is about examining women’s identity as
it relates to infertility. It’s a topic Joanna knows intimately. After suffering
a miscarriage, she is now expecting her first child. “We want it to be a
space where we acknowledge the big topic of fertility,” she says. “We want
to tell all kinds of stories.”Dr. Tina MeiSaMi
Oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Founder of the Dr. Borna Meisami
Foundation, which restores hope to women affected by abuseEight years ago, during a time of profound grief, Dr. Tina Meisami decided
to take action. She called on friends and colleagues to help her establish
the Dr. Borna Meismi Foundation, an organization, named after her late
brother, that provides dental services and oral surgery to women escaping
domestic violence. In 2007, Tina had been devastated by the news that
her only sibling had died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. He
was only 40. The Meisamis had grown up with a tight bond: when their
family fled Iran for Toronto after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tina and
Borna relied on each other for strength and direction. “It was a very
nurturing relationship. We took care of each other,” she says. They even-
tually followed in the footsteps of their father, a physician who instilled
in them the power of medicine and the importance of social responsiblity.
Borna became an orthopedic surgeon. Tina pursued oral and maxillofacial
surgery. The foundation has now grown to 26 dentists and dental special-
ists who provide pro bono treatment for women living in shelters across
the GTA. These survivors of violence experience oral disease because of
depression and self-neglect, long-term impacts of abuse. Restoring their
hope has been central to Tina’s work. “I remember our father would say
to us: ‘Your job is helping people because you can,’” she says. “The idea of
giving women their smiles back is at the forefront of our mission.”HillCrest_Dec-FA.indd 109 2018-10-30 9:16 AM