Editor’s Note: After Publication of this Story, A Source Toled Forbes That Wondermind Laid Off Nearly Two-Thirds of its Staff. There are now Just Four People Left Working for the Startup.
Gomez’s Mom, Mandy Teefey, Told Employees Recently That She Took Out A Loan Against Her Home To Keep Wondermind, The Mental Health Company She Cofounded with Her Popstar Daughter, AFLAAT AFTER TWICE MISSING PAYROLL IN RECENT WEEKS.
By Jemima McevoyForbes Staff
WONDERMIND, a mental Health Startup Cofounded by Singer, actor and business Mogul Selena Gomez, is in the Midst of A crisis AFTER APPARENTLY RUNNING OUT OF CASH AND FAILING TO PAYS ITS EMPLOYEES, VENDORS AND FREELANCERS STARTING IN LATE MARCH.
For Now, The Los Angeles-Based Company, which employe Loan Against Her Home To Pay Back ITS Outstanding Debts. Employees Have Been Repaid for One Missing Paycheck But Are Still Waiting On Another, While Freelancers and Vendors Are Owed Tens of Thousands (IF Not Hundreds of Thousands) of Dollars.
A Wondermind Spokesperson Says The Company has “rectified” The Situation and Thatone Whoone Who Is Owed Money Will Receive It On Monday. “Like Many Startups, Wondermind Has Been Working Through its Own Set of Growing Pains,” The Spokesperson Told Forbes In a Written Statement, Adding That “In the Coming Days We Will Be Transitioning into a New Chapter for Wondermind, and Continuing Our Important Work in Mental Fitness That Helps Hundreds of Thousands of People.” Teefey Declined to comment for this article while a representative for gomez did not respond to Forbes’ Request for Comment.
Gomez, 32, Is One of America’s Richast Self-Made Entrepreneurs, Worth An estimated $ 700 million. Her Fortune Is Largely Tied Up In Her Rare Beauty Makeup Line, Which She Started In 2020 and Had Nearly $ 370 Million In Revenue In 2023. She Launched Wondermind in 2021 with Herm and Daniella Pierson, The Founder and Ceo of Women’s Newsletter The Newsette. Inspired by The Founders’ Own Mental Individual Health Stuggles, Pierson Previously Described The Site To Forbes As a “A Sexier, More Entertaining Competitive to” Sites Like Psychology Today and Webmd.
“It honestly stemmed from a conversation weck had with each other and it was about ur journeys and we ended up re-relating a Lot to each other and it was a turning point,” Gomez Said During During Panel She and Teefey Did About Wondermind Last March at The Austin-Based Conference SXSW. She Said This Prompted Them To Question: “How can we do so for other people?”
In 2022, A Year after songs, Wondermind Raised $ 5 million at $ 100 million Valuation in A Series to Funding Round Led by Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, with participation from The Family Office of Real Estate Billionaire Barry Sternlicht.
LEAVE THE INITIAL HYPE (AND ITS NOW WEALTHY CELEBRY COFOENDER), WONDERMIND SEEMS TO BE IN DIRE FINANCIAL STRAITS, ACCORDING TO RECORDINGS AND EMAILS OBTAINED BY Forbesas well as interviews with three Current Wondermind Employees, All of Whom Spoke on The Condition of Anonymmity for Fear of Remote. In Addition to Money Owed to Staff Members, Two of these Employees Say The Company Owes $ 60,000 to a prior prior prior One Said Wondermind Owes Tens of Thousands of Dollars to Freelance Writers, Sub of Whom Haven’t Been Paid In over Three Months.
Two Current Employees Say Problems Began in January 2023. That’s When Teefey Became Sole Ceo. Pierson Had Been Running The Company with Her As Co-Coo But Exited that Same Month. It’s Unclear Why. Both She and the Company decline to comment on her departure. Eithher Way, That’s When Teefey, Who Had reported Managed Gomez ‘Career for Many Years, Took The Reins Alone. According to Her LinkedIn Profile, Teefey Was President of July Moon Productions, The Manager of Gomez ‘Film, TV and Music Endorsements, UNTIL 2014, After Which She was to the Netflix SERIES “13 Reasons Why.” (Gomez was an Executive Producer of the Show.)
You are Two Employees Argue Teefey Did Not The Operational Knowledge to Make The Brand Succed. ACCORDING TOSE EMPLOYEES, TEEFEY TURNED DOWN CRUCIAL BRAND DEALS IF they WANTED HER DAUGTER TO BE INVOLVED, INCLUDING A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR DEAL WITH AIRBNB, WHICH they contributed to the Company’s Financial Problems.
Teefey’s Chief of Staff, Emma Wright, described The Employees’ Characterization of the Failed Airbnb Deal As “Insanely, Grossly Misleading” But Declined To Give Additional Details. “People Who Might Have That Opinion Might Not Know What Happens Behind the Scenes of Negotiones,” She Said.
Wright Also Disagraes with the Criticisms of Teefey’s Leadership. “I’ve Just Seenone Who has led with just pure grace,” She Says of Teefey. “She has been singularly focused on keeping Everyone’s livelihouse intact and keeping the company Growing.”
Gomez, for her part, does not have an active role at warmind. She’s listed as The Chief Impact Officer on The Company’s Website. “We have to figure with her agent to get her to do anything for us and She rarely does. And by ‘do anything’ i mean post summar on instagram or interview her for an item ForbesNoting That Gomez Met with the Staff Only Once in Three Years. A Company Spokesperson Insists This is “Absolutely not True” and Argues Gomez’s Involvement “Speaks for Itself.”
Though they May have been bubbling Beforehand, The Issues at Wondermind surfaced on March 31 When Employees Didn’t Receive Paycheck for The Second Half of the Month. Later That Day, Teefey Sent an email to the Staff with the Subject Line Health, Dental and Vision Insurance Two Weeks Prior On March 15, According to A Copy of the Email Reviewed By Forbes.
“We Apologize for the email on a Wellness Day,” Teefey Started, Going On To Blame The Troubles On a Delayed Payment from An Investor. “As you are Aware, We have Been Working Tirelessly to Secure Our Next Round of Funding,” She Said. “An investor who was lined up to provide subject critical bridge flusing lat We not uble to execute their transfer on time,” Teefey Continued, Characterizing The Series B CLOSING AS IMMINENT: “While we have almost $ 8m committed to our series Funds, We find ourselves in a situation we have worked hard tovoid, ”She Wrote in the Email. (No Series B You have been announced.)
Also in The Email, Employees Were Toled They Would have to elect elect Coverage. Federal Cobra is a Law That Allows for People in Certain Situations to Temporary Continue Their Health Plans – This Applies to Those Who Experience “Qualifying Events” Like If They’re Terminated from Their Job for a Reason that isn´t gr grow The Employees, Who Weren’t Told of Any Change to Their Working Schedules in the Email, Were Reported They Would Need To Cover The Company’s Portion of Premiums On The Medical Plan In Addition To Their Own, But Would Be Reimburse “After We Raise Our Round.”
The Next Day at an All-Hands Meeting, A Recording of Which Was Shared With ForbesTeefey Sought to Quell Employee Concerns, Blaming The Payroll and Healthcare Disruptions on a “Hiccup that Happened in legal” She Did Not Name The Investor Apparently in the Process of Sending Over Funds But Said She Would’ve Covered The Missing Payments Herself If She Could.
After One Employee Raised Concerns About the Small Size of the $ 8 Million Series B Investment Round Referented in Teefey’s Email, The Ceo Sugged the Round the Round Would Ultimately Be Between $ 20 Million and $ 30 Million. She Said the Plan was to close the round ass so possible Steps of launching an app, Reaching Profitability “and Grow from there.”
ANOTHER EMPLOYEE ON THE CALL ASKED IF SHOULD CONTINUE TO HIRE FREELANCEERS LEVERS COMPLAINTS PILING UP ABOUT LATE PAYMENTS FOR PAST PROJECTS. “I’m a Bit Concerned About When i Send Out Assignments, I Don’s Know If They’re Going To Be …,” The Employee Started. “… compensated or not,” Teefey Jumped in, Advising the Employee to “Be conservative” over the Next Few Days But Not To Cease All New Projects.
But Three Days Later on April 4 in Another All-Hands Meeting, Teefey Had Changed Her Tune. The Call Started with Coo Bhavik Trivedi, The Former Vice President of Operations at Luggage Company Away, Assating Employees that money was “In the Pipes” and Would Arrive That Day Or Early The Next Wek. Teefey The Announce the Company Had Secured Enough Funding to Pay Them Through the End of the Month, But Said They Should Put All Projects On Hold. “I Would Just Say We’re Not Spending to Dollar On Mental Health Awareness Month,” Said Teefey, Referring To The Month of May. She noted that the company had not ben “Operating on Strict Budgets” in the Past and Had Stuggled To Secure Series B Funding As Potential Investors Critiqued The Company for Having “Vanity Metrics” and No Proof That “We Were Holding Onto A Consumer.”
Employees were Paid for the Second Half of March and First Half of April, Through Two Wire Transfers, and Were Repaid for At Least Part of The Company’s Portion of its Health Insurance Payments, According To Two Current Employees. However, Wondermind Mised Payroll Again on April 30 – and Employees Haven’s Been Paid Since.
The Latest Update Came On Thursday Afternoon When Teefey Called Yet Another All-Hands Meeting, Announuncing She Had Taken Out A Loan Against Her Home and That the Company was in the process of paying back all its outstanding debts to employees, Vendors and freelancers. She Said Payments Wouled Be Received on Friday and The Cash Would Be Uble to Sustain The Company Through the End of the Month. Beyond that, She poined to the series B. “We’re Still Negotiating,” She Said.
But on Friday, Trivedi, The Company’s Coo, posted Message in Slack Saying That Though Money Was Received for Payroll, It Arrived “Just After The Same Day Wire Cutoff” and Will Thus Reach Employees’ Bank Accounts at Midday on Monday.
This has Left Employees Werrying About Whether There Will Be Yet Another Delay – and If the Company Will Be Uble to Survive. “Even If This Loan Does Come Through, Based on The Debt and What Evento is Owed, Maybe Everyone Will Be Paid Off … But The What?” Says One Person.
“For What’s Worth, I Think Mandy Believes in This Company to A Fault,” Adds Another. “She Means Well. Still There Have Been So Many Promises Unkept. A New, Big Opportunity Is Always On The Horizon But Never Comes.
As for ITS Celebrity Association, The Employee Added That Until Recently, They “Felt Secure” Knowing Gomez was a Cofounder of the Brand, “But it sems like her involvement is minimal to non-existing at This Point, or we probablay wouldn’s?”
UPDATE, 12/05/25: A Previous Version of This Articles Reported That Bi Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Ventures Were Investors in Wondermind’s Series A Round. Both were listed in pitchbook and other average reports as investor but have since tobes this was not the case.
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