The CEO of a period-proof underwear company slammed by allegations of toxic work environment has admitted that she has long overlooked her human resources department.

Miki Agrawal, who stepped down as CEO last week, responded to the accusations Friday in a public post, attributing her company's lack of HR resources to the hectic pace of its early start-up days.

Thinx brands itself as a feminist company and Agrawal, who is also its co-founder, has previously claimed that their provocative ads are a 'reclamation of how brands treat and speak to women'.

But a report by Racked, published earlier this week, indicates working practices at the company do not align with its female-friendly image. Claims by current and former employees include underpayment, the use of unprofessional language by Agrawal and inadequate maternity leave.

Former Thinx CEO Miki Agrawal (pictured) reacted to accusations of toxic work environment in a public post Friday, admitting she had made 'a ton of mistakes'

Criticism: 'Feminist' company Thinx - which specializes in 'period-proof' underpants, pictured - is under fire amid allegations of toxic working conditions

Groundbreaking: Thinx brands itself as a feminist company and its co-founder and CEO claims its provocative ads, pictured, are a 'reclamation of how brands treat and speak to women'

Agrawal shed some light on the early days of the company in a Medium post - insisting she was posting it as 'a human being, not as a representative of THINX'.

'When I started, like any entrepreneur, I was fighting for the life of the company, the clock was against us and I needed to make sure that we didn’t close our doors after 1 year like 60%+ of businesses do,' she wrote.

That pressure, she said, made her 'maniacally focused on top and bottom line growth'. It was at that time, according to Agrawal, that Thinx's HR department experienced a lagging start.

'One problem area throughout our startup’s story and no different to many in our position: human resources. I didn’t take time to think through it,' she added.

'We grew so quickly and I didn’t hire an HR person (it was hard to rationalize hiring an HR person at the time with only 15 employees and then all of a sudden we were 30 people). I didn’t call references because I needed butts in seats fast. I didn’t put HR practices in place because I was on the road speaking, doing press, brand partnerships, editing all of the creative and shouting from the rooftops about Thinx so we can keep going.'

When some HR demands were aired, the company managed to put 'basic policies' in place, she recounted, including increased health insurance benefits and salary bonuses.

'If we didn’t offer "market based pay" upfront (#startuplife), they got paid a big bonus on the back end which more than made up for it and gave them an incentive to hustle hard with me,' Agrawal wrote.

But problems remained.

'Regardless, the HR issues kept happening and even if I fully stand by the tough personnel decisions I had to make to get us back on track, I didn’t put enough senior management in place internally to run the office and run the day to day of the business while I was handling the external growth and wasn’t in the office,' she added.

Allegations: Claims against the company, whose advertising is pictured, include underpayment and inadequate maternity leave

Unhappy: The allegations have sparked a Twitter backlash from people who have worked with the brand such as writer and LGBTQ advocate Tyler Ford and actress and author Mara Wilson

Speaking out: Ford, who is gender non-binary and trans, described in a series of tweets their 'humiliating' and 'upsetting' experiences working with the brand

Last week it was widely reported that Agrawal had announced she was leaving her role as the company's CEO, but that she told staff she will remain the 'SHE-E-O' and face of the brand.

'I then realized that I’m not the best suited for the operational CEO duties nor was it my passion to do so, so after 12 years of thinking about and working on Thinx (came up with the idea in 2005), I officially stepped down as CEO,' Agrawal confirmed Friday.

She said she ad done her best she could under 'crazy circumstances'.

'Yes, I have made a TON of mistakes along the way but I can proudly say that our company has grown from an idea in my head to an innovation that is worn by millions of satisfied women globally in a few short years,' Agrawal wrote.

She announced that a 'professional CEO', an HR manager and three senior-level managers would soon join the company to implement 'much more rigid' HR policies and handle Thinx's larger departments.

The company - launched in 2014 and named among the best innovations of the following year by Time magazine - came under fire earlier this week when the claims aired, with some customers pledging not to buy its products until they see some policy changes.

Among the accusations made public was the allegation of galling parental leave measures.

'That was so disappointing to all of us — not because we were all planning on getting pregnant, but we were like, "How does that make any sense to work for a company that's for women and we're not even going to give women enough time to heal mentally and physically after they birth a child?" ' one source asked Racked.

One anonymous employee compared the working environment to 'middle school' in an interview with Racked and said it was like 'being in an abusive relationship'

Agrawal has a following of tens of thousands on Twitter and has been awarded numerous awards and accolades as the company's figurehead.

But a former employee told Racked that her office persona is in stark contrast to her public image.

'You'll meet people who just idolize her... [it's] kind of hard to hear people be like, 'She's my feminist hero!' when I've seen her call a former employee a 'b***h' before in a meeting,' the ex-staffer told the website.

The report also alleges that ten people have left the company, which claims to have a staff force of 35, since the beginning of the year alone.

Since the publication of the allegations, others have spoken out publicly to share their negative experiences with the company.

Writer and LGBTQ advocate Tyler Ford, who is gender non-binary and trans, described in a series of tweets their 'humiliating' and 'upsetting' experiences working with the brand, accusing it of using transphobic language and stealing ideas.

Actress and author Mara Wilson tweeted her support for Ford and claimed that she had also had 'disappointing experiences' with the company.

Thinx apologized to Ford and said it is investigating Racked's claims against the company.

Response: Thinx apologized to Ford, whose tweet is pictured, and said it is investigating Racked's claims against the company

Start-up: Thinx was launched in 2014 and named among the best innovations of the following year by Time magazine but it has come under criticism, pictured, following the Racked claims

'Disappointed': Emily Maynard, whose tweet is pictured, was among the customers who contacted the brand on Twitter following the allegations

A spokeswoman for the brand told Daily Mail Online: 'We are devastated to hear about Tyler's account of their experience at the Thinx fashion show. The hypocrisy of it all... we see it.

'Thinx seeks to break barriers for the marginalized and uplift the silenced, and clearly, we still have a ways to go.

'From the bottom of our hearts, we'd like to extend our deepest apologies to Tyler and the LGBTQIA community.

'Tyler, we recognize that we are undeserving of the lessons you are so gracefully teaching us—but we promise to learn from your bravery and do better.'

She added: 'Our leadership is getting to the bottom of these allegations, and, as ever, we are actively working to address and improve our corporate culture.

'We look forward to updating the community as new leaders and corporate processes are put into place.'