In leaked memo, Lululemon announces Mirror CEO Brynn Putnam will immediately step down from the connected-fitness brand
- Mirror founder and CEO Brynn Putnam is stepping down, effective immediately.
- The announcement was shared in a memo sent by Putnam and Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald on Tuesday.
- Putnam will stay on as an advisor through July 2022 and assist in identifying her successor.
Brynn Putnam is stepping down as CEO of Mirror, the Lululemon-owned connected-fitness brand she founded in 2016, as first reported by CNBC.
In a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald and Putnam announced she will stay on as an advisor to the company through July 2022 as it searches for a successor. Putnam's resignation is effective immediately, according to the memo also shared with Insider by Lululemon a spokesperson.
"Sharing this now allows us to ensure a smooth transition as we identify the next CEO of Mirror, working with an external search firm to find the right candidate to drive the brand's next phase of growth," McDonald and Putnam wrote in the memo.
In the interim, Putnam and McDonald wrote that the company "is in very good hands" and will be led jointly by three current Mirror executives: Tess Hales, head of customer; Olivia Lange, head of operations; and Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll, chief technology officer.
Lululemon acquired Mirror in June 2020 for $500 million, in the midst of the digital fitness boom that took off during the pandemic as Americans sought out alternative methods to work out at home. Over the past year, the company has installed Mirror pop-in shops within 150 Lululemon stores in the US, with the aim of reaching 200 by the end of 2021.
"We've set up really beautiful little workout spaces featuring the Mirror and weights and Lululemon mats and accessories," Putnam told Insider in November 2020. "You can really get a nice workout experience in-store."
Though Lululemon does not disclose Mirror sales or total number of subscribers in financials, McDonald told investors on recent earnings calls that the company has increased marketing spend to raise awareness of the brand, which is competing in an increasingly saturated connected fitness space.
"We're monitoring how macro factors currently impacting the cost of digital marketing are creating some pressure on customer acquisition costs at Mirror," McDonald told investors last month.
Lululemon expects Mirror to deliver between $250 million and $275 million in revenue in 2021.
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