NEW YORK, NY (June 1, 2015) – New York City-based media startup LittleThings.com, a women’s lifestyle destination for the best feel-good, uplifting, and inspirational content, today appointed Gretchen Tibbits as its first Chief Operating Officer.
Tibbits is a recognized media executive with more than 25 years of general management, strategy, operations, and finance experience. She has led operations and finance for a variety of recognized brands, including Maxim Inc., StyleCaster Media Group, Hearst Business Media, ESPN, and WorkingWomanNetwork.
“Our commitment to publishing quality feel-good content, which we know our readers share with their networks, is the primary reason for our exponential growth in traffic,” said Joe Speiser, LittleThings Co-Founder. “We are now the fifth-largest mobile and the 21st-largest trafficked website in the United States, so the time was right to add a proven media executive to our growing team. I am excited that Gretchen will help set the course for further growth and sustainability.”
Jeremy Liew, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures and a lead investor in LittleThings said, “I am confident that the leadership, commitment to growth, and passion that Tibbits brings to the LittleThings brand will propel its growth.”
“Readership development and brand recognition that Mr. Speiser and the LittleThings team have built since the launch is incredible. I am thrilled to bring my experience in brand building, audience development, revenue stream diversification, and profit generation to the Company,” said Gretchen Tibbits, the newly appointed COO at LittleThings.
She added, “LittleThings represent an incredible business opportunity, and the positive company culture is equally compelling. I relish the challenge of maintaining the work environment that Joe has built – our team reflects the uplifting and interesting nature of our content – as we undergo significant growth of the business.”
Tibbits will focus on overall strategy, branding, advertising sales, talent acquisition, internal and external communications, finance, and reader growth. She serves on a number of boards, is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she was a Lawn Resident, and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business where she was a Stern Scholar.
About LittleThings.com
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York City, LittleThings.com employs a growing team of 30+ producers, writers, designers, and management staff that keenly focus on uplifting, positive, and interesting content via original reporting and selective curation of videos and imagery from around the Web. Our expert writers focus on researching and developing stories that appeal to a growing monthly readership of 75 million visitors. Since its launch, LittleThings has experienced explosive growth, becoming the 5th-ranked mobile and 21st-largest website in the U.S.
History
LittleThings began as an experimental blog that shared positive content on PetFlow.com, the largest social pet ecommerce company in North America. Due to its tremendous popularity and growing web impact, in September 2014 the publishing operation launched as a standalone media startup. Since people are routinely bombarded with negative news, LittleThings offers an online respite that aims to make readers smile. Whether it’s a funny anecdote, an inspiring tale, or a touching performance, our goal is to brighten peoples’ day.
