Sabrina Cherubini, senior vice president of brand and digital at Hanky Panky, leads with collaboration and inspiration.
Having spent years growing global brand revenue across fast-growing start-ups and a few U.S. Fortune 500 companies at leading advertising firms, Cherubini joined the premium intimates label with a vast knowledge for executing strong consumer-centric strategies. This expertise won her a place in The Lead 60 of top brands in marketing innovation in 2023 and Leaders to Watch in 2024 from CommerceNext.
Importantly, Cherubini told WWD she passes her expertise on to her team. Motivating, inspiring and mentoring is a large priority and an area where she excels greatly as she guides her team at Hanky Panky.
To find her own inspiration, Cherubini looks to female entrepreneurs, goes deep into fandom with her teenagers and prioritizes wellness during her day.
Here, Cherubini talks to WWD about bringing it all together — what inspires her at work and in life, her best career advice and the technology she’s excited to see.
Sabrina Cherubini, senior vice president of brand and digital at Hanky Panky.
WWD: Looking throughout your career, what is a project/launch/product that you are most proud of?
Sabrina Cherubini: Luckily, I’ve had several, but I will focus on the most recent one. I strongly believe customers should be at the center of any company. Not just reading reviews but truly trying your best to understand them. In fashion, and even in intimates, many are focused on making women look beautiful/sexy to someone else. I think, working for a trusted brand like Hanky Panky, it is crucial to go beyond this and understand all the versions of women and how they want to feel.
We identified that one out of three women in the U.S. experiences daily leakage after their first child. We surveyed them and they told us about the taboos surrounding this real pain point and the lack of offerings for feminine daily protection beyond panty liners. We decided to solve this for them by powering our iconic Signature Lace® thongs and panties with Saalt’s patented leakproof technology. We launched Hanky Panky+ and we sold, in the first four days, what we thought we would sell in four to six months. We will continue to uplift all women, and it feels good to fill a void in the marketplace and make such an impact in women’s lives.
WWD: What is a retail/tech trend that you’re excited to see coming to life right now?
S.C.: I can’t not mention AI here. At Hanky Panky, we have always been one of the first brands to test what we believe can either bring operational efficiency or create a better relationship with our customers. We use AI in all departments I oversee.
What I look forward to is for AI to become more of a “pilot,” a decision-making partner based on what and how women want to shop.
WWD: What is your ideal shopping retail experience?
S.C.: Imagine if we could make it more joyful for women to find the right bra? Sixty-eight percent of women don’t like shopping for bras — the industry has not changed much since 1933 in how we measure and fit bras. But women have their own preference, their own shape, and they are on the move, not standing still; it is not only math-related. I would love to leverage AI to make it a pleasant shopping experience for all the versions of us.
WWD: What inspires you?
S.C.: Female entrepreneurs. Women who believe in their vision and in themselves enough to start their own company. I know many of them and I always try to support them as I know how challenging entrepreneurship can be, especially for women. That’s one of the reasons I joined Hanky Panky to lead their direct-to-consumer and marketing growth — founded by two women in 1977, how bold is that?
WWD: What does having a work/life balance mean to you?
S.C.: For me, it is all about knowing myself and listening to my body and feelings. When I start feeling overwhelmed or stressed, I immediately slow down for a few hours or sometimes, a few days. I am someone who can be at 120 percent most of the time, but I learned it was also OK to power down to 80 percent sometimes and come back more creative, strategic or innovative.
I also spend time with friends, laugh with my husband and two teens (teens can be a lot of fun), or just go walk my dog.
WWD: What does that look like? What is a wellness routine must for you?
S.C.: A little more than a year ago, I realized I had to prioritize myself and stop finding excuses to justify not working out. I was a gymnast when I was younger and put aside sports somewhere in my 20s. But two decades later, I decided to change it, to prioritize working out like I would do for an important work meeting. So, it has been more than a year now that I work out 3 to 4 times a week. I have never felt better. At least since my 20s!
WWD: What entertainment has your attention right now?
S.C.: I am reading “The Outsiders” as a promise to my 12-year-old daughter. She studied it in class and said it changed her life. Since then, she read it twice, watched the 1983 movie seven times, and we went to see the musical on Broadway. I want to understand how this book had such an impact on her. I always pick my books, movies and podcasts based on someone I trust sharing how it impacted them.
And of course, how could I not watch “The White Lotus”?
WWD: What is the best advice you would give someone starting out in their career today?
S.C.: Be curious and build your network. Curious because everything is changing so quickly. In marketing and digital, in customer behaviors, and in retail, it became critical to stay curious, be out there, learn from others and experiment.
Network-building because it will be everything for the future executive you might become. My network is composed of other women in leadership roles with whom I can be vulnerable with, marketing and digital leaders with whom we compare notes, exchange learnings, and of course, all those who became friends along the way.