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00:00We thought we were creating shoes just for me to run in the Olympics and as we did a deep dive
00:05you know into the industry that's when we really had this this learning that shoes are not being
00:11made for women and what that means is a shoe is made off of mold of a foot and it's the mold of
00:16a man's foot to make women's sneakers and when we learned that it was like okay we are where
00:21we're supposed to be what's going on essence family it's your girl sheree nicole here again
00:30with another edition of essence black women in sports i've been fanning out for the last five
00:34minutes so let me calm myself and i will tell you why because i get the opportunity to chat with a
00:39world-class athlete the most decorated olympian in history with a record check this 20 world
00:46championship medals and 11 medals at the olympic games which includes seven gold medals but beyond
00:52that she's a super mom she's an entrepreneur and she's an advocate for women around the world in
00:57sports and beyond she has a ton of amazing things going on in the sports space and i'm so grateful
01:02to be joined by the track and field icon herself allison felix i can't believe i'm saying that
01:08allison thank you so so much for joining thank you so much for having me and thank you for the intro
01:13absolutely you you are more than deserving and um you know you'll be keeping up and you've had some
01:19great things happening you recently rang the the nasdaq bell for your sports management agency always
01:23alpha first of all i love the name secondly just for you to be able to experience that and all that's
01:27encompassed the success of always alpha you know what say you to how you guys are moving forward
01:31yeah we're so excited i mean women's sports is having such momentum right now and it's long overdue and
01:38at always alpha we get to represent female athletes and just show up for them and celebrate
01:44them holistically and so to be able to think about it for me and a legacy perspective i've learned so
01:51much and i really want to pass that on so speaking of passing things on and moving things forward and
01:56you're you're a newly elected member of the ioc athletes commission allison and for those who don't
02:00know guys this is going to give her direct say in olympic policies which includes how they support women
02:05in sports which is such a big obviously heart passion project for you allison so with that said
02:10with this level of of power essentially that you get and advocacy in the space you know what can
02:15people expect and what can you expect from yourself in this position well i think it's just so important
02:20to have a seat at the table you know i always want to be that representation for other athletes you
02:24know my goal is to make the road easier and not to have as many barriers and so i'm going to continue to
02:30listen to um what our athletes need and how i can fight for them and stand up for them and and just
02:36push um to make things a bit better yeah and you speak of that fight and before i kind of get into
02:42you know what what happened with nike and how that kind of shifted you into the space before that happened
02:48were you aware that there was a advocate in you for others was there a moment in your life when you
02:53realized that that was the case and the gift you had it took a long time for me to get there i'm i'm
02:58the person who i don't like to ruffle feathers you know as an athlete i just really had my head down
03:04you know and i really focused on what i felt like i was supposed to do you know try to win medals
03:09and run as fast as i could and it wasn't until real life circumstances really started to shake things
03:16up where i felt like okay even though i don't feel comfortable um i need to speak out and and it was
03:22definitely an evolution process to get there when we think about speaking out i know some people have
03:28different ways of doing it some people go out and feet to the pavement and protest some people
03:32will post on social media some people will get out get a mic and go for it for you you know what's been
03:37and we'll get more into that as well but what's been your main vein when it comes to how you advocate
03:42for now i i use my voice but it took me time to find my voice that i think we all can do it in our
03:49own way exactly like you said and sometimes it is within our own circles it might be you know holding
03:54certain people accountable um you don't have to have this huge platform to to be an advocate but
04:00um i have understood that i am in a seat where you know i can stand up for other people and i've
04:06really been trying to exercise that muscle to speak out more and you know sometimes you have to
04:12call people out and sometimes it's it is an uncomfortable space but i always think about the
04:17purpose and i think about you know my own children and just trying to make things better for
04:22those who are coming behind me yeah heavy is the cape and the crown a lot of times for for people
04:27who do the work that you do so you know i know your mom there's a lot of other things going on
04:31you're an entrepreneur how do you kind of handle that load of of looking out for other people but
04:36also making sure that you're still giving things back to yourself and also to your family i mean it's
04:41hard i think it's hard for anyone who's juggling a lot of things and i have a great support system and so
04:46i know that i i don't do any of this alone and um that really you know that really is helpful to me
04:53and then i know that i have to fill my own cup you know i i won't be helpful to anybody if i don't do
04:59that and sometimes it looks like actually scheduling something on my calendar or you know sitting in the
05:04car for a few minutes before i head into the house or you know whatever it might look look like
05:09at that you know stage of life but it is so important to make that time i'm a car sitter as well
05:16allison i have to tell you i get a good 20 30 minutes in okay depending on how my day goes
05:21yeah and you know i i still work out a lot i'm a former athlete and for me i don't feel right
05:29if i'm not working out at least four to five times a week and i know sometimes it's hard to kind of
05:34turn that switch off and it's like okay you're not performing at this level anymore you obviously
05:38want to stay well but you have to have some boundaries around how you work out how you how you
05:43move forward in your wellness for you have you found that balance um are you still out there
05:48like yeah i'm going for the gold again what does that look like for you it's definitely been a
05:52transition for sure i've had to like figure out what works for me i was doing a workout um it was
05:58probably a year ago and i was like really taking myself down on the track and i kind of looked around
06:03and i was like oh my gosh like i don't have to be doing this like right so since that moment i was
06:10like i started to do new things i started to play tennis and just you know find ways to push my
06:15bodies my body in other ways that are different that are fun and so i i still love you know a great
06:22challenging workout but i try to um expand you know the way that i i do them now yeah speaking of
06:29expansion let's talk about sage so you know for those who don't know uh allison you know she had
06:34a little runny and with nike wasn't her fault she just got pregnant here we go but uh she called
06:39them out for cutting her pay uh during her pregnancy and rightfully so and so uh with that
06:43sage was kind of birthed as well and um i love how you channeled that that disappointment that
06:49dismissal and even arguably in certain respects that disrespect to then steer your entrepreneurial
06:54efforts in this regard so when when sage kind of came about like were you sitting in a seat of okay
06:59i need to do something right now was this something you had kind of been thinking about prior to and
07:03then this this issue with nike happened and then you moved into it like how did the birth of sage
07:07kind of happen i felt like i always had the spirit of entrepreneurship um but i wasn't sure how that
07:13was going to manifest and when i went through this situation it was really just out of necessity you
07:19know it was in conversation with my brother who is also my business partner my manager and we were
07:24just talking like you know okay what what's the next step and we really looked for another sponsor
07:30and couldn't find it out there and you know he had this idea of doing it ourselves and at first i was
07:35like that feels very big i it just resonated with me like we have the ones uh with the power to create
07:43change instead of asking asking these massive companies to do so when i think about black women
07:49and sometimes how our tone could be misconstrued but also how the responsibilities of looking out for
07:55others kind of just sits on us just innately did you did you kind of war inside with how to approach
08:01people with sage the the even in your advocacy the tone of your voice or what you wrote down like did
08:08you ever kind of tussle with that and if so how did you kind of find that happy medium yeah absolutely
08:13you know i i think for black women that has been the case for so long um that we can be put into a box
08:19and so for me it was about turning this negative situation into something positive and that it was so much
08:27bigger than me and what i went through it was saying that no i see all women and i'm going to
08:32support them and i think that you know all women should have products specifically something specifically
08:37made for our bodies but also it's much larger than that it's standing with women and so i it's an honor
08:43to be able to do that and i just come back to my purpose and you know keep pushing forward um in the
08:49in the face of a lot of adversity yeah speaking of purpose what is one thing that you've learned
08:54about yourself that you didn't realize as you moved through with sage and built this brand
08:58i think just the ability to to pivot you know and the ability to to do something really scary
09:07you know i have you know i'm from the heart of la from the crenshaw district like i didn't grow up
09:13you know seeing the people around me um you know start businesses and and do these different things and
09:19so i felt like i really struggled with imposter syndrome of you know how can i how can i do this
09:25but i think getting over that hurdle and having great mentors and seeing that okay the the people
09:31who are doing this you know i'm capable as well um and that has been probably the the biggest um
09:38surprise and encouragement and thing to get through love it so i want to move to always alpha for a bit i i
09:45just i'm so pro i'm so pro girl power i'm so pro black women in in particular but you know again
09:51as you mentioned it's about all women and you make sure that you know your advocacy ties in it connects
09:56us all which i absolutely love and i love out always alpha as well so when we think about sports
10:01management and sometimes again how females are underrepresented how they're not represented um how
10:07you know athletes of your caliber may struggle with even aligning themselves with the right
10:11representation simply because they're women and kind of don't know where to go you know
10:15when it comes to always alpha what are you guys kind of providing in that vein that are that's
10:19helpful to women who may be wanting to be out the next allison felix or who may already be out there
10:24on the track or otherwise competing and just don't necessarily have the representation they need
10:28absolutely i think it's really about a deep listening to our athletes and to what they want to
10:35accomplish you know in the field of play but off of it as well i think traditionally you know a lot of
10:40these large um sports agencies it's kind of like a cookie cutter model and i i really love the boutique
10:47approach where it's different for every single person and we all have passions and interests and
10:53you know right now um we can build our brands you know create our own content really celebrate uh
11:00individuals holistically and that's really what we look to do and to bring new sponsors in that haven't
11:06been in the space of women's sports and just really build out um strategic plans for each person that
11:11we work with yeah what's one thing uh kind of a main topic that continues to kind of resurface and
11:18ruminate um that you guys have kind of heard the through always alpha from women that you want more
11:25people to kind of grab onto and understand is there one thing in particular i would say probably the
11:30biggest thing is not going down the traditional path you know um we're seeing now more than ever
11:36that we're doing things differently you know we are not staying in the mold i look at myself and even
11:42you know competing in a brand that i owned that is there's going to be so much more of that and i'm so
11:48excited you know to help and assist athletes to be able to to do that and um i i think we're seeing
11:54that women in sports have such rich personalities like there's there's so much there you know away
12:02from the field of play as well um and so i think that's it it's just breaking out of this mold and
12:07saying okay let's do things differently let's have more equity um and and let's be you know let's
12:12celebrate and be unapologetically who we are yeah i want to shift gears a bit and i was watching it was
12:20i think it was an espn feature a couple days ago and there's a professional soccer player she
12:25recently retired she was like i think late 30s or whatever or perhaps and she wanted to be a mom
12:30and ultimately she had to go through a very you know um stressful you know ivf can be stressful but
12:36she had to go through ivf and and she was saying that she assumed because she was a high level athlete
12:40that motherhood would just happen for her when she was ready so her plan was play high level play
12:45retire boom baby and it didn't happen for her that way and as i was watching her tell her story
12:51you know i think about as an athlete sometimes we get so sold into the fact that our bodies haven't
12:57failed us in our particular sport that they may not have challenges later on so with that being said
13:03what say you two women who are who are competing at a high level in sports right now who may want to
13:08be mothers who may not necessarily be doing some of the checks that they need to the fertility checks or
13:13checking in with their doctor just to kind of get a real understanding of their numbers
13:16and who are assuming oh it could just happen for me i'm an athlete i'll be good what say you to them
13:20yeah i mean i think there we need to really i think we're doing a disservice to our female athletes you
13:26know these are conversations that we have to have so early on and i think it's all about choice you know
13:32if you choose to be a mother if you have that desire or if you don't but i think the resources we need
13:38to offer whether it's egg retrievals thinking about these things early on so that we can have
13:43the options because it's heartbreaking to give yourself to your sport for so many number of years
13:50and then when it's time where you really want to lean into family and and exploring that um not to
13:56have as many opportunities i went through an ivf journey myself and i know how challenging that can be
14:01and so i really think that we have to offer more opportunities and also have the conversations much earlier
14:07yeah when we talk about opening up that door of opportunity when we think about advocacy and
14:13even the work that you that you do even i mean this is advocacy what you're saying right now um
14:17how important for it is how important is it for you to continue to kind of help stand and stand in the
14:21gap or spread that awareness when it comes to to women advocating for themselves for their health
14:27especially if they're mothers expected mothers or want to be mothers it's huge i mean what i have
14:33seen is that they're the systems in place are not made for women athletes to continue through motherhood
14:40um it's just it's just not how it was built and so to have a voice as you know as we're trying to
14:47change some of these things and someone to really stand up and say i've actually lived this and this is
14:52what's helpful and you know this is what you know athletes need i think it's really crucial we were able to
14:57bring a nursery to the paris games and it was a huge win you know to be able to say and it was also
15:04mind-blowing that like how did this not happen until you know 2024 um but i think that's a great example
15:11of saying okay i'm gonna raise my hand and say like i think that this is something that needs to be
15:16taking place yeah for sure another thing that needs to continue to take place is is the success that
15:22we're seeing black women in particular have on on the track i was just enamored
15:25by the paris games and in in the track and field and in the representation and it just really made
15:32my heart glad and when you think about your own career and then where we're seeing track and field
15:37kind of go with black women uh female athletes in particular what say you to the growth but also the
15:42challenges that you know they face outside of motherhood that you'd like to see curved a bit and
15:47help them get some assistance with yeah i mean i i share that excitement um as you do you know we have
15:53such a a rich history you know in track and field and it's um it's incredible to see that on full
15:59display and to see these black women be celebrated um and and then to know that it's still there's still
16:06a lot of struggle and whether that is equal pay or opportunity outside of the olympic space um it's very
16:13competitive and um just being able to assist you know as we navigate this these challenging times
16:21i guess i would say um and so continuing to push the elevation of these athletes outside of just track
16:28and field and and really show the world you know um what great personalities um what great uh ambassadors
16:35these athletes are yeah and and a lot of times that that personality and that ambassadorship kind of
16:41ties into financial footing and or at least financial opportunities i was uh recently attended
16:46the grand slam track miami and i got a chance to talk to michael johnson just about what grand slam
16:50track is doing to assist these athletes and getting the exposure and hopefully some of them the brand
16:55opportunities so as someone like yourself who does an incredible job of building her own brand who's
17:00continued to align yourself um in a way that brings you a level of finance on and off the track what say
17:06you to the brand building side of the sport we know there's challenges but are there some areas where
17:13you get where you're encouraged and you hope athletes are encouraged as well yeah i'm definitely
17:19encouraged by um our track athletes what they're doing beyond the the field of play and so i think we're
17:25seeing a lot of them really showing their personalities creating their own content um building brands and
17:32stepping outside of this hat of only being an athlete and we're really learning about them and
17:37i think that that can be the challenging thing about the olympics is that for a lot of viewers they have
17:42this two-week window where they they watch you but if we can expand that and i think grand slam track and
17:48other leagues that are popping up are are great examples of that because it really takes us outside of
17:54the olympic cycle and says these are the same athletes and this is what they do you know in between the
17:59olympic years and we're getting a glimpse inside of their life and we really need to lean on that and
18:04i think it is um a huge upside that that is starting to happen yeah you're such an anchor allison and you
18:11take it on the chin you're so humble um for those who don't know before we before we got going with
18:16this interview we were fangirling out one of our amazing editors answered that myself we're fangirling
18:20uh before we got started and you were just so so gracious and humble and and and with that said you
18:26know i think sometimes we're so we're so great we don't necessarily sit in it enough to realize how
18:32important we are to to that next generation you are vital um to this this up-and-coming generation
18:37of athletes not just track and field um do you feel that that sense of vitality and also what's the
18:44importance for you and making sure that you continue to build bridges uh not only with where you are
18:48presently but with those that are coming behind you well i appreciate that i received that
18:53um i i guess for me it's there have been people who have paved the way and poured into my life
18:59jackie joyner-kersey has been a mentor a friend to me um since my very beginning and i think she
19:06really just taught me what mentorship looks like and and what a true role model is and so um i do my
19:12best to be available to all the current athletes um that they can reach out and if i can assist in any
19:19way and then i i i do my best to fight for them you know behind the scenes as well and so the legacy
19:25is so important to me and i i just want to make sure that they have a great path and um don't hit
19:30some of the barriers that a lot of us have have faced before them we talk about we talk about legacy
19:35it's almost like you you led me to to my closing question um with that said you know when people
19:41when people's mentioned allison felix the the track star um you know we obviously understand you
19:48how iconic you are just just from a medal in performance standpoint but is there one word
19:52that you you'd love to hear when it comes to just what you've been able to do on the track and also
19:58one word that that speaks to what you've been able to do off of it i think on the track you know i hope
20:05you know i'm remembered as being fierce a fierce competitor um and and off of the track you know i hope
20:11that people see that i've really tried to advocate advocate for for other women mothers um and and
20:18just try to leave things better than i found them yeah we see you for sure i want to make sure people
20:24can um lock arms with you if they want to connect with you um and with all the great work that you're
20:29doing how can they do that yes um you can follow me everywhere at allison felix and um at
20:35seish.com and always alpha.com alice and felix it happened i still can't believe it but i appreciate
20:44it nonetheless enjoy your spring slash summer and thank you so much for the conversation
20:49thank you for having me
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